Donatas Banionis

Donatas Banionis (b. April 28, 1924), known in Russian as Донатас Юозович Банионис), is a Lithuanian actor, popular in the Soviet Union. He is best known in the West for his performance in the lead role of Tarkovsky's Solaris as Kris Kelvin.

Banionis was born in Kaunas, Lithuania.

Banionis begun his career with some films in Lithuanian, but he would later play mainly in Russian language films. He has also featured in German language films, playing Beethoven in Beethoven - Tage aus einem Leben in 1976 and Goya in Goya - oder Der arge Weg der Erkenntnis (1971).

Russian President Vladimir Putin decided to become "chekist" after watching a popular film Dead Season that starred Banionis in the role of an intelligence officer (Donatas said that Putin confirmed this when they met in person).

In addition to films, he is a popular actor in the theatre of Panevezys, where he has been acting since the age of 17, and which was frequented by Donatas' fans from all over the Soviet Union. He also plays in Vilnius, in Lithuanian National Drama Theatre.

External links

• Banionis' IMDB entry