[3][1] He first gained renown as a stage actor in the adaptations of Russian classics by Vera Komissarzhevskaya and other directors.

In 1913, he turned to cinema and started producing screen versions of great Russian fiction: Anna Karenina (1914), The Kreutzer Sonata (1914), A Nest of Noblemen (1914), War and Peace (1915, co-directed with Yakov Protazanov), and On the Eve (1915).

His roles won him a high critical acclaim and the title of People's Artist of the USSR (1947).

[1] In 1968 a memorial plaque was erected in Saint Petersburg (Potemkinskaya Street, 9), architect is Vladimir Vasilkovsky.

Text on the board: "People's Artist of the USSR Vladimir Rostislavovich Gardin lived in this house from 1927 to 1965" (Russian: «В этом доме с 1927 года по 1965 год жил народный артист СССР Владимир Ростиславович Гардин».