Stanislav Chekan was a Russian character actor best known as Captain
Mikhail Ivanovich in the popular Soviet comedy
Der Brillantenarm (1969).
He was born Stanislav Yulianovich Chekan on June 2, 1922, in
Rostov-na-Donu, Rostov province, Russia. In 1937 his father, Julian
Chekan, was arrested on accusations of anti-Soviet activity under
dictatorship of Joseph Stalin. At age 15,
young Stanislav Chekan was locked up in a Soviet labor camp for
juveniles. There he revealed his acting talent and participated in
amateur drama productions for prisoners. After liberation, from 1938 to
1941, he studied acting under
Yuri Zavadsky at Rostov Theatrical School.
There his classmate was
Sergey Bondarchuk; the two actors
became lifelong friends and eventually worked together in several
films.
In 1941, Chekan was recruited in the Red Army, and served in the
infantry during the Second World War. He was wounded in battle, and was
decorated for his courage on the battlefield. After an honorable
discharge, he was assigned as actor to the front-line Theatre of the
Red Army. There Chekan gave numerous performances entertaining troops
at the front lines during WWII.
After the war, he had a brief stint at Odessa Drama, then moved to
Moscow and was member of the Central Theatre of the Red Army. Chekan
made his film debut in
Syn polka (1946). He shot to fame in
the Soviet Union with his portrayal of the legendary wrestler Ivan
Poddubny in Der Ringer und der Clown (1957).
During the 60s and 70s, he appeared in comedies by director
Leonid Gaidai. Over the course of his
career, Chekan played over 50 roles in Russian film and television
productions.
Stanislav Chekan was designated Honorable Actor of Russia (1955). From
1958 to 1993 he was member of the Film Actors Theatre-Studio in Moscow.
He died of a heart failure on August 11, 1994, in Moscow, and was laid
to rest in Vagankovskoe Cemetery in Moscow, Russia.
