Around the 90th year, the director known as People’s Artist of the RSFSR Gleb Panfilov passed away. Colleagues, including TASS correspondent Mark Zakharov of Lenkom Theatre, recalled Panfilov with warmth and respect.
Our theater has long felt a deep connection with Gleb Anatolyevich, built on years of creative and personal friendship. The master of direction delivered landmark performances on Lenkom’s stage, many of which were intertwined with Inna Mikhailovna Churikova, Lenkom’s leading actress. That shared creative bond remains evident in their lives and in their memory. The producer spoke of this durable association as time moved on, a sentiment echoed by others in the theatre community.
Reports from Mash suggested Panfilov passed away in a central city hospital. There are indications that his death followed health complications after a recent fall, with doctors trying to stabilize his condition for more than an hour before the end came.
Panfilov’s first major public appearance after a health scare involved the Emergency Medicine Research Institute. He had suffered a stroke after a fall on May 11, 2023. There were later reports that he developed pneumonia. By August, theatre officials indicated that he remained under hospital care but was showing signs of improvement and was receiving ongoing treatment.
“Panfilov gave us Churikov”
The Minister of Culture, Olga Lyubimova, issued a message commemorating Panfilov, sharing a photograph taken as he left his wife and fellow artist Inna Churikova. The caption paid tribute to his life and work, noting the enduring affection held for him.
Mark Varshaver spoke of Panfilov as an extraordinary director whose partnership with Inna Churikova, a longtime Lenkom actor since 1975, had a profound impact on the theatre. He credited Panfilov with shaping Churikova into a remarkable performer and highlighted how their collaboration brought unique talents to the stage. Varshaver described their relationship as a kind of artistic miracle and a source of inspiration for the entire company.
Panfilov did not immediately respond to press inquiries after learning of Churikova’s passing. Instead, he sent brief messages stressing that he and his wife lived as a single, inseparable unit. The couple married in 1970 during the filming of a project and shared a life dedicated to art. Since then, Churikova became Panfilov’s muse and a central figure in his creative journey.
In the theatre’s own reflection on Panfilov’s passing, colleagues described him as exceptionally talented and deeply thoughtful. They remembered the two greatest themes of his life as national culture and Inna Mikhailovna. There was a collective sense of hope that Panfilov would recover and return to the family at Lenkom, yet the illness ultimately carried him away to be with his beloved Inna.
Inspirational Directing
Gleb Panfilov was born in 1934 in Magnitogorsk, in the Chelyabinsk region. He began his career with training as a chemist and worked at a local medical device plant. He soon pivoted to film, founding an amateur studio at age 25 while leading propaganda and agitation efforts for the Sverdlovsk Komsomol organization. There he and friends created early works such as Nylon Jacket and People’s Militia in 1958.
The breakthrough feature No Ford on Fire (1967) came while he was employed at Lenfilm, a role earned after studies at VGIK. The film earned the festival’s Golden Leopard in Locarno and helped launch a distinguished director’s path. Panfilov later created significant works including I Want Words, Vassa, and Ivan Denisovich.
His stage work included The White Lie and The Lioness of Aquitaine at Lenkom, with Hamlet marking his debut as a theatre director. At the Theatre of Nations, Panfilov’s film The Spectator featured Inna Churikova in a leading role.
In 2014, Rossiyskaya Gazeta published an interview in which Panfilov discussed his craft. He described directing as a form of creativity that relies on many factors, including the physical and moral state of the director, the atmosphere on set, and the overall conditions of the production. When a group is distracted by illness or fatigue, the creative energy and directing quality can suffer, he explained, noting that genuine inspiration requires a supportive environment.