Shukur Burkhanov

Shukur Burkhanov was born on 15 September 1910 in Tashkent. He grew up in a strict Muslim family whose religious views forbade acting, so to join the Uzbek drama theatre he had to leave home. While still a student at an agricultural technical school he took part in a drama circle.

In 1928 he joined the troupe of the State Uzbek Drama Theatre, which later moved to Tashkent and became the Hamza Theatre (today the Uzbek National Academic Drama Theatre). He studied at the theatre's studio in 1929–1931 and trained at the Moscow Art Theatre in 1930, an experience he later credited for his ability to play classical roles such as Romeo, Hamlet and Oedipus. He stayed with the same company until 1987.

In his early years he played Azamat in Kamil Yashin's “Yondiramiz” (1932), Bakhodyr in “Vayrona” (1934) and Gulyam in “Nomus va muhabbat” (1936). His first major success was Gafur in Hamza's drama “Boy ila xizmatchi” (1939). In 1940 he was named People's Artist of the Uzbek SSR.

During and after the war he played contemporary heroes: the title role in “Oleko Dundich” and General Rahimov in Yashin's play of that name (1950). He played Lenin in Nikolai Pogodin's “The Kremlin Chimes” (1947) and in Yashin's “Guiding Star” (1957), and the Mayor in Gogol's “The Government Inspector” (1952).

Later he turned to classics and tragedy: Hamlet and Brutus in Shakespeare's “Hamlet” and “Julius Caesar”, Voynitsky in Chekhov's “Uncle Vanya”, Oedipus in Sophocles' “Oedipus the King”, and Ulugh Beg in Maqsud Shaykhzoda's play “Mirzo Ulugh Beg”. For his portrayal of Ulugh Beg he received the Hamza State Prize of the Uzbek SSR in 1964. In 1959 he was named People's Artist of the USSR.

He also worked extensively in film: Karabatyr in “Tohir and Zuhra” (1945), Gafur in the film “Boy ila xizmatchi” (1954), the Tsar Kalin in Aleksandr Ptushko's “Ilya Muromets” (1956), Ulugh Beg in “The Star of Ulugh Beg” (1964) and Yalantush in “Storm over Asia” (1965).

Shukur Burkhanov died in Tashkent on 15 August 1987 (14 August in some sources) and was buried in the Chigatoy cemetery. A documentary, “People's Artist Shukur Burkhanov”, was made about him, and a street in Tashkent bears his name.