Mihai Volontir

Mihai Volontir
Mihai Volontir in a 1960s film
Born	Mihai Volontir March 9, 1934 (1934-03-09) (age 77) Glinjeni, Greater Romania
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1957-present

Mihai Volontir (born March 9, 1934) is a Moldavian actor.

Early life and career

Volontir has been an actor at National Theatre "Vasile Alecsandri" from Bălţi since 1957

Volontir was born on March 9, 1934 in the village of Glinjeni, Romania, now part of the present day Rezina district in Moldova). He attended the Pedagogical Institution in Orhei from 1952 to 1955.

After over a decade of working in theatre, Volontir began appearing in films made at the Moldova-Film studio in 1967. He became famous in the late 1970s after his roles in In the Zone of Special Attention and The Gypsy film series. The films were so popular that he is still strongly associated with his character, Budulai, a wise lone gypsy. His performance resulted in increased tolerance towards gypsy communities in the USSR. The film series was revived fifteen years later with a new production as well as a TV series.

He continues to work at the Vasile Alecsandri Theatre in Bălţi, where he has been employed as an actor since 1957.

Awards

• The National Prize 1971
• The National Prize of the Russian Federation 1980
• The Prize Vasiliev Brothers Russian Federation 1980
• Honored artist 1984

See also

• Cinema of Moldova

External links

• Mihai Volontir on IMDB
• Volontir biography and photos

Persondata
Name	Volontir
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	March 9, 1934
Place of birth	Glinjeni, Greater Romania
Date of death
Place of death