Sergey Obraztsov

[1] Obraztsov was born on 22 June 1901 in Moscow into the family of a schoolteacher and a railroad engineer.

Between 1922 and 1931, he worked as an actor with Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko in one of the studios of the Moscow Art Theatre.

During his numerous tours abroad, Obraztsov helped to popularize artistic puppetry in the United States, Britain, and other countries.

Besides more than 70 plays for children and grown-ups that he staged in his theatre, Obraztsov also directed the first short-length puppet film under the title Looking at a Polar Sunset Ray in 1938, and also a number of documentaries.

He was awarded the Stalin Prize in 1946, named People's Artist of the USSR in 1952, and a Hero of Socialist Labour in 1971.