Today, on January 25, Russia marks the 80th birth anniversary of the legendary singer and actor Vladimir Vysotsky (1938-1980).
Born in Moscow in 1938, Vladimir Vysotsky went on to become a very talented singer, songwriter and actor. Among his best roles in cinema are the police captain in the TV series, The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed; the White Army officer in Two Comrades Were Serving; and Don Juan in Little Tragedies. His most famous theater role was Hamlet at the Taganka Theater, Moscow's progressive stage in the 1960s-1970s.
According to the poll, conducted by All-Russia Public Opinion Research Center, 38 years after his death Vysotsky is still the 20th century’s key icon for Russians after the first man in space Yuri Gagarin. The poll shows that almost every Russian knows his name, while 92% of those familiar with his work said that they had been positively affected by it.
