Bahodir Yo'ldoshev

Bahodir Yo'ldoshev was born on 7 September 1945 in Kattaqo'rg'on, Samarkand region, into a family of performers. In 1970 he graduated from the directing department of the Ostrovsky Tashkent Theatre and Art Institute and trained at the Bolshoi Drama Theatre in Leningrad under G. A. Tovstonogov.

He began at the Hamza Uzbek Academic Drama Theatre in the late 1960s, became its director in 1971, and in 1974, at 28, its chief director, a post he held until 1984. That year he moved to the Yosh Gvardiya theatre (later the Abror Hidoyatov Uzbek State Drama Theatre) as chief director and artistic director.

His productions include «The Antics of Maysara», «Farmonbibi Got Offended», «The Secrets of the Parandja», «The Black Belt», «Iskander», «Firidun», «Nodirabegim» and «The Silk Road». «The Daughters-in-Law's Revolt», after Said Ahmad's comedy, was staged more than a thousand times. From 1992 he was several times chief director of the «Sharq taronalari» international music festival, and in the 1990s he staged celebrations for Mirzo Ulugbek's 600th anniversary, Navruz and Tamerlane's 660th anniversary.

As an actor he appeared in Uzbek films from 1971: Alchinbek in the series «Fiery Roads», Mukhtarov in «A Meeting by the High Snows», Umarkul in «The Long Echo in the Mountains» and others. In 1999–2000 he directed the comedy «Neputyovyy muzh». In 2009 he founded the «Diydor» youth experimental theatre studio and led it until his death.

He was Honoured Art Worker of the Uzbek SSR (1979) and won the Hamza State Prize of the Uzbek SSR (1989); later he became People's Artist of Uzbekistan and received the orders «Mehnat shuhrati» (1998), «For Selfless Service», «El-yurt hurmati» and «For Outstanding Merit» (2019). Bahodir Yo'ldoshev died in Tashkent on 16 May 2021.