Aleksey Mikhaylovich Mikhalyov
Encyclopedia
Aleksey Mikhaylovich Mikhalyov (26 December 1944—9 December 1994) was a Russian translator and lately a well-known home video
voice-over translator from English. Among numerous films and cartoons, translated by him into Russian, are The Jungle Book
, The Witches of Eastwick
, Apocalypse Now
, Pretty Woman
and The Silence of the Lambs. Subsequently the Alexey Mikhalyov Prize for best Russian film translation was established.
Mikhalyov had also translated William Faulkner
, John Steinbeck
's East of Eden, Muriel Spark
's The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, J. M. Coetzee and other authors.
, Mikhalyov worked as a translator in Afghanistan
. Fluent in Persian, he then arrived to Iran
, where he established a friendly relations with Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
.
Subsequently Mikhalyov became a personal translator of Leonid Brezhnev
. At one meeting Brezhnev introduced Mikhalyov to a certain official with "this is our young communist Aleksey Mihalyov". Mikhalyov easily countered: "I'm not a communist". Nonetheless Brezhnev said: "Admit [him] urgently". Mikhalyov ultimately entered the USSR Union of Writers
and the Union of Cinematographers. The experts called his voicing-over "a film with Mikhalyov performance". Mikhalyov was acquainted with eminent Azeri singer Muslim Magomayev, who had gathered a vast collection of films, translated by Mikhalyov.
Mikhalyov died from leucemia at the age of forty nine.
Home video
Home video is a blanket term used for pre-recorded media that is either sold or rented/hired for home cinema entertainment. The term originates from the VHS/Betamax era but has carried over into current optical disc formats like DVD and Blu-ray Disc and, to a lesser extent, into methods of digital...
voice-over translator from English. Among numerous films and cartoons, translated by him into Russian, are The Jungle Book
The Jungle Book (1967 film)
The Jungle Book is a 1967 American animated film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. Released on October 18, 1967, it is the 19th animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series. It was inspired by the stories about the feral child Mowgli from the book of the same name by...
, The Witches of Eastwick
The Witches of Eastwick (film)
The Witches of Eastwick is a 1987 American horror comedy based on John Updike's novel of the same name. Directed by George Miller, the film stars Jack Nicholson as Daryl Van Horne, alongside Cher, Susan Sarandon, and Michelle Pfeiffer as the eponymous witches...
, Apocalypse Now
Apocalypse Now
Apocalypse Now is a 1979 American war film set during the Vietnam War, produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The central character is US Army special operations officer Captain Benjamin L. Willard , of MACV-SOG, an assassin sent to kill the renegade and presumed insane Special Forces...
, Pretty Woman
Pretty Woman
Pretty Woman is a 1990 romantic comedy film set in Los Angeles, California. Written by J.F. Lawton and directed by Garry Marshall, this motion picture features Richard Gere and Julia Roberts, and also Hector Elizondo, Ralph Bellamy, and Jason Alexander in supporting roles. Roberts played the only...
and The Silence of the Lambs. Subsequently the Alexey Mikhalyov Prize for best Russian film translation was established.
Mikhalyov had also translated William Faulkner
William Faulkner
William Cuthbert Faulkner was an American writer from Oxford, Mississippi. Faulkner worked in a variety of media; he wrote novels, short stories, a play, poetry, essays and screenplays during his career...
, John Steinbeck
John Steinbeck
John Ernst Steinbeck, Jr. was an American writer. He is widely known for the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden and the novella Of Mice and Men...
's East of Eden, Muriel Spark
Muriel Spark
Dame Muriel Spark, DBE was an award-winning Scottish novelist. In 2008 The Times newspaper named Spark in its list of "the 50 greatest British writers since 1945".-Early life:...
's The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, J. M. Coetzee and other authors.
Life
Aleksey Mikhalyov was born in the family of a journalist and a ballet dancer Zoya Mikhalyova. Having graduated from the Institute of Asian and African Countries at the Moscow State UniversityMoscow State University
Lomonosov Moscow State University , previously known as Lomonosov University or MSU , is the largest university in Russia. Founded in 1755, it also claims to be one of the oldest university in Russia and to have the tallest educational building in the world. Its current rector is Viktor Sadovnichiy...
, Mikhalyov worked as a translator in Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
. Fluent in Persian, he then arrived to Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, where he established a friendly relations with Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
Mohammad Rezā Shāh Pahlavi, Shah of Iran, Shah of Persia , ruled Iran from 16 September 1941 until his overthrow by the Iranian Revolution on 11 February 1979...
.
Subsequently Mikhalyov became a personal translator of Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev – 10 November 1982) was the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , presiding over the country from 1964 until his death in 1982. His eighteen-year term as General Secretary was second only to that of Joseph Stalin in...
. At one meeting Brezhnev introduced Mikhalyov to a certain official with "this is our young communist Aleksey Mihalyov". Mikhalyov easily countered: "I'm not a communist". Nonetheless Brezhnev said: "Admit [him] urgently". Mikhalyov ultimately entered the USSR Union of Writers
USSR Union of Writers
The USSR Union of Writers, or Union of Soviet Writers was a creative union of professional writers in the USSR. It was founded in 1932 on the initiative of the Central Committee of the Communist Party after disbanding a number of other writers' organizations: RAPP, Proletkult, and VOAPP.The aim of...
and the Union of Cinematographers. The experts called his voicing-over "a film with Mikhalyov performance". Mikhalyov was acquainted with eminent Azeri singer Muslim Magomayev, who had gathered a vast collection of films, translated by Mikhalyov.
Mikhalyov died from leucemia at the age of forty nine.