Donatas Banionis is a Lithuanian and Soviet actor. He is best known in the West for his performance in the lead role of Tarkovsky

Andrei Tarkovsky

Andrei Arsenyevich Tarkovsky was a Soviet and Russian filmmaker, writer, film editor, film theorist, theatre and opera director, widely regarded as one of the finest filmmakers of the 20th century....

's Solaris

Solaris (1972 film)

Solaris is a 1972 film adaptation of the novel Solaris , directed by Andrei Tarkovsky. The film is a meditative psychological drama occurring mostly aboard a space station orbiting the fictional planet Solaris. The scientific mission has stalled, because the scientist crew have fallen to...

as Kris Kelvin.

Banionis began his career with some films in Lithuanian

Lithuanian language

Lithuanian is the official state language of Lithuania and is recognized as one of the official languages of the European Union. There are about 2.96 million native Lithuanian speakers in Lithuania and about 170,000 abroad. Lithuanian is a Baltic language, closely related to Latvian, although they...

, but he would later play mainly in Russian language

Russian language

Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...

 films. He has also worked outside the USSR like in the title role Goya of the USSR-GDR coproduction Goya - oder Der arge Weg der Erkenntnis (1971), directed by Konrad Wolf

Konrad Wolf

Konrad Wolf was an East German film director, son of Friedrich Wolf, brother of Markus Wolf....

 and in the title role as Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...

 in the 1976 DEFA-production Beethoven - Tage aus einem Leben.

In addition to films, he is a popular actor in the theatre of Panevėžys

Panevežys

Panevėžys see also other names, is the fifth largest city in Lithuania. As of 2008, it occupied 50 square kilometers with 113,653 inhabitants. The largest multifunctional arena in Panevėžys is the Cido Arena...

, where he has been acting since the age of 17, and which was frequented by Donatas' fans from all over the former Soviet Union. His first teacher was Juozas Miltinis

Juozas Miltinis

Juozas Miltinis was a Lithuanian theatre director and founder of the Panevėžys Drama Theatre. Miltinis has brought up a number of actors.-Biography:...

. He also acts in Vilnius

Vilnius

Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...

, in the Lithuanian National Drama Theatre

Lithuanian National Drama Theatre

Lithuanian National Drama Theatre , located on Gediminas Avenue in Vilnius, is one of the biggest theatres in Lithuania. Since its establishment in 1940, it has staged over 200 performances. The theatre's current repertoire mixes classical and modern theatre Lithuanian National Drama Theatre ,...

.

Filmography

• Marite (1947) - cameo
• Nobody Wanted to Die
  Nobody Wanted to Die
  Nobody Wanted to Die is a 1966 Lithuanian film made in Soviet Lithuania and directed by Vytautas Žalakevičius. Žalakevičius, actor Donatas Banionis, and cinematographer Jonas Gricius were awarded USSR State Prize for the film in 1967.-Cast:...
  
  (1966) - Vaitkus
• Dead Season
  Dead Season (film)
  Dead Season is a 1968 Soviet spy film directed by Savva Kulish based on a screenplay by Aleksandr Shlepyanov and Vladimir Vajnshtok and featuring Donatas Banionis and Rolan Bykov.-Cast:...
  
  (1968) - Ladeinikov
• The Red Tent
  The Red Tent (film)
  The Red Tent is a joint Soviet/Italian 1969 film directed by Mikhail Kalatozov.The film is based on the story of the mission to rescue Umberto Nobile and the other survivors of the crash of the Airship Italia. It features Sean Connery as Roald Amundsen and Peter Finch as Nobile. The script was...
  
  (1969)
• Goya (1971) - Goya
• King Lear
  King Lear (1971 USSR film)
  King Lear is a 1971 Soviet film directed by Grigori Kozintsev, based on William Shakespeare's play King Lear.-Cast:* Jüri Järvet - King Lear * Elza Radzina - Goneril* Galina Volchek - Regan* Valentina Shendrikova - Cordelia...
  
  (1971)
• Solaris
  Solaris (1972 film)
  Solaris is a 1972 film adaptation of the novel Solaris , directed by Andrei Tarkovsky. The film is a meditative psychological drama occurring mostly aboard a space station orbiting the fictional planet Solaris. The scientific mission has stalled, because the scientist crew have fallen to...
  
  (1972) - Kris
• Mama, I'm Alive
  Mama, I'm Alive
  Mama, I'm Alive is a 1977 East German film directed by Konrad Wolf. It was chosen as East Germany's official submission to the 50th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film, but did not manage to receive a nomination...
  
  (1977)
• Faktas
  Faktas
  Faktas is a 1981 Soviet war film directed by Almantas Grikevicius. It was entered into the 1981 Cannes Film Festival, where Yelena Solovey won the award for Best Supporting Actress.-Cast:* Regimantas Adomaitis* Donatas Banionis* Juozas Budraitis...
  
  (1981)
• Niccolo Paganini (1985) - Luigi Germi
• Anastasia (2006)

External links