Mihai Volontir
Encyclopedia
Early life and career
Volontir was born on March 9, 1934 in the village of GlinjeniGlinjeni
Glinjeni may refer to several places in Moldova:*Glinjeni, a commune in Făleşti district*Glinjeni, a commune in Şoldăneşti district...
, Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, now part of the present day Rezina district in Moldova
Moldova
Moldova , officially the Republic of Moldova is a landlocked state in Eastern Europe, located between Romania to the West and Ukraine to the North, East and South. It declared itself an independent state with the same boundaries as the preceding Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1991, as part...
). He attended the Pedagogical Institution in Orhei
Orhei
Orhei is a city and the administrative centre of Orhei District in Moldova with a population of 25,680. Orhei is approximately 50 kilometers north of the capital, Chişinău.-Demographics:...
from 1952 to 1955.
After over a decade of working in theatre, Volontir began appearing in films made at the Moldova-Film
Moldova-Film
Moldova-Film is a Moldovan film studio and production company founded in 1952 in the Moldavian SSR.- History:Moldova-Film was founded in 1947 in Chişinău as a branch of the Central Studio for Documentary Film. In 1949 the branch was taken over by the Odessa Film Studio and in 1952 became an...
studio in 1967. He became famous in the late 1970s after his roles in In the Zone of Special Attention
In the Zone of Special Attention
In the Zone of Special Attention is a 1977 Soviet action movie directed by Andrei Malyukov. It achieved cult film status among several generations of the Russian Airborne Troops and veterans, and, along with Hit Back, it became part of their popular culture...
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