Oleg Vidov obit

Oleg Vidov, Russian Actor in ‘Red Heat’ and ‘Wild Orchid,’ Dies at 73

A star in the USSR, he defected in 1985 and later acquired distribution rights to the famed Soyuzmultfilm animation library. 

He was not on the list.

Oleg Vidov, a box-office star in the Soviet Union who defected to the U.S. and appeared in Red Heat with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Wild Orchid opposite Mickey Rourke, has died. He was 73.

Vidov died Monday from cancer-related complications in Westlake Village, Calif., his friend Kathy Jura announced.

Born in Filimonki on the outskirts of Moscow, Vidov was the son of a schoolteacher and a Finance Ministry deputy. He graduated from the acting and directing departments of VGIK, the USSR’s acclaimed film school, and appeared in several features in his native land, including The Headless Horseman (1972).

Although Soviet actors at the time were generally not permitted to work abroad, Vidov was allowed to travel to Denmark to star in The Red Mantle (1967), directed by future Babette’s Feast helmer Gabriel Axel, and to Yugoslavia to co-star in The Battle on the River Neretva (1969).

Selected filmography

My Friend, Kolka! (1961) (uncredited)

The End of the World (1962) as Vanya

An Easy Life (1963) as theater visitor

Esli ty prav... (1964)

Walking the Streets of Moscow (1964) as Chap on a Bicycle (uncredited)

I Am Twenty (1965) (uncredited)

The Blizzard (1965) as Vladimir

An Ordinary Miracle (1965)

The Tale of Tsar Saltan (1967) as Tsarevich Gvidon

Hagbard and Signe (1967) as Hagbard

Uzrok smrti ne pominjati (1968) as Nemacki pukovnik

Ima ljubavi, nema ljubavi (1968)

Battle of Neretva (1969) as Nikola

Waterloo (1970) as Tomlinson

Mission in Kabul (1970) as Skazkin

Gentlemen of Fortune (1971) as Lieutenant Vladimir Slavin

Lion's Grave (1971) as Masheka

Tecumseh (1972) as Elliot

Lützower (1972) as Major Margent

Train Stop — Two Minutes (1972, TV Movie) as Igor Maksimov

Za vsyo v otvete (1973)

The Headless Horseman (1973) as Morris Gerald

Adventures of Mowgli (1973) (voice)

All in Response (1973) as presenter

Moscow, My Love (1974) as Wolodja

Pokoj, rci, jad (1975) as Gavriil

Ivanov's Family (1975) as Nikolai Osintsev

Rudin (1977) as Sergey Pavlovich Volyntsev

Die Fledermaus (1979, TV Movie) as Alfred

Urgent ... Secret ... Hubchek (1982) as Staff Captain Petrov

Cry of Silence (1983) as Pavel Kolchin, the huntsman

Demidovs (1984) as Nefyodov

Jenseits der Morgenröte [de] (1985, TV miniseries) as Ivan

Orkestar jedne mladosti (1985) as Brauske

U zatvoru (1985) as Slobodan

Red Heat (1988) as Yuri Ogarkov

Wild Orchid (1990) as Otto Munch

Three Days in August (1992) as Gen. Vlasov

Prisoner of Time (1993) as Alexander Jadov

Love Affair (1994) as Russian Businessman

The Immortals (1995) as Junkyard Owner

Police Story 4: First Strike (1996) as Russian Group #7

2090 (1996) as Tony

Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies (1999) as Osip Krutchkov

A Christmas Tree and a Wedding (2000) as Man

Thirteen Days (2000) as Valerian Zorin

Monkey Love (2002) as Professor Dworkin

Alias (2005-2006, TV Series) as Laborer

Say It in Russian (2007) as Drunk Russian Man

Player 5150 (2008) as Russian Dignitary

Hollywood Seagull (2013) as Nina's Grandfather

6 Days Dark (2014) as Sergej Nikolajevich