Biography

Frunze Vaghinaki Dovlatyan (Armenian: Ֆրունզե Վաղինակի Դովլաթյան; May 26, 1927 – August 30, 1997) was an Armenian film director, screenwriter and actor. Frunze Dovlatyan was born in Gavar, Soviet Armenia, a brother to Vram Dovlatyan. He was a theater actor before becoming a director. He starred as an actor in Armenian provincial theatres from 1941 and then in Gabriel Sundukian Drama Theatre of Yerevan, where he was awarded Stalin Prize for his performance in the role of Hrayr in the play Ays astgherë mern en ("These Stars Are Ours"). In 1959, he graduated from the directing department of the All-Union State Institute of Cinematography (VGIK) in Moscow, where he studied under Sergei Gerasimov. His most well-known film is Barev, yes em ("Hello, That's Me!", 1967), which received the State Prize of the Armenian SSR. Dovlatyan headed the Armenfilm state film studio in the 1980s. He was awarded the title of People's Artist of the USSR in 1983. He died in Yerevan aged 70. He is buried in Tokhmakh Cemetery in Yerevan.