In 1921 he moved to Petrograd and entered the Saint Petersburg State Theatre Arts Academy which he finished in 1926.

In 1937 he entered the Alexandrinsky Theatre where he served till his death, both as an actor and stage director.

He is mostly remembered for his comedy roles in movies such as True Friends (1954), Heavenly Slug (1945) and Cinderella (1947).

He also played one of the main parts in the war drama The Cranes Are Flying directed by Mikhail Kalatozov that won the Palme d'Or at the 1958 Cannes Film Festival.

[4] Together they had two daughters (Anna and Ekaterina) and one son Pyotr Merkuryev (1943—2010), who also became a prominent Soviet/Russian actor and musicologist.