Andrey Aleksandrovich Goncharov[a] (2 January 1918 – 7 September 2001) was a Soviet and Russian theater director, pedagogue and author.

Goncharov, the People's Artist of the USSR (1977), received numerous state awards, including Hero of Socialist Labour (1987) and Order of Lenin (1987).

[2][3] Andrey Goncharov was born on 2 January 1918, in the Sennitsy [ru] village of the Ryazan Governorate (now part of Moscow Oblast) where he spent his early years.

In the 1920s the family moved to Moscow; his father worked as a piano teacher, his mother was a professional actress.

In 1936 Goncharov enrolled into the Russian Institute of Theatre Arts; he studied in the actors' class of Vasily Toporkov, then moved to the director's group led by Nikolai Gorchakov.