Rustam Urazayev

Rustam Renatovich Urazayev was born on 21 January 1958 in Tashkent. He was a Soviet, Uzbek and Russian film and television actor and a director of films and TV series. His father was Uzbek and his mother Russian.

He graduated from an art college (design and art decoration department) and then from the history faculty of Tashkent State University. He had no formal acting training: directors cast him for his looks.

He came to cinema in 1975. He became known for playing the cook Tahir in the musical comedy «Повар и певица» (1978); the same year he played Ulugbek in «Дом под жарким солнцем». In the 1980s he appeared in «Захват», «Если любишь…», «Заложник» and «Случай в аэропорту».

In 1989–1990 he had prominent roles in «Шакалы», «Гу-га», «Принц привидение» and «Восточный коридор, или Рэкет по…». He later appeared in «Век просвещения» (1991), «Ангел в огне» (1992) and «Красный поезд» (1993), and in the 2000s in Russian films and series such as «Псевдоним «Албанец»», «Меч», «Стреляющие горы», «Легавый» and «Вирус».

From 2006 he worked as a director: «Женские истории», «Глухарь», «Меч», «Легавый», «Учитель в законе. Возвращение», «Свидетели», «Паутина» and many episodes of «След». His last work was «Вирус» (2019), which he directed and in which he played Vyacheslav Terletsky.

He was a member of the Union of Cinematographers of Russia. Rustam Urazayev died in Moscow on 18 May 2023, aged 65.