In Memory

Joan, my deepest condolences to you 💦💧💧💧I had almost quit FB for a while, and just recently learned about the tragedy. I know you tried very very hard to keep him in as good health as you could. I'm away from Thousand Oaks since this year in Colorado to cool down from its heat, and wouldn't be able to come to a memorial. But I am very very grateful to have worked with two of you and being around your kind family circle. If I haven't told you that earlier, having to stay 10 years in Moscow losing tragically all my closest relatives and friends I couldn't abandon, it's because those losses hurt so immensely I couldn't make myself open up, speak or write. Even after I got back to US, I almost lost spoken English and so haven't tried to come see both of you, please forgive me. I wish you endure losing your dear spouse and will not get broken-hearted and ill!...

I eventually cured myself from long griefs with cooking, making music and poetry. I just wrote this for Oleg and you:

From Alex and Anna Van Kovn

From Yelena Makarczyk

Fan

Hello, dear Joan. Now only with great difficulty found your mail. Because I write so late. Please accept my sincere condolences in connection with death of Oleg Borisovich. It is a terrible loss. I'm 25, I live in Russia, in the Urals, with 6 years Oleg is my favorite actor, the example of a man who loves his country. He is a great actor, my favorite film with his participation "Moscow, my Love." Unfortunately, my dream is to meet with Oleg and did not work. But I was lucky one day to write him and get his response in November 2014. Then I congratulated him with all holidays, we corresponded by e-mail. I have more than 10 years of collecting around the world, all that is about Oleg: newspaper, postcards, booklets, postcards, autographs. I have a fairly good archive. Especially for You I took a picture of it and send it to You in memory of Oleg. Thank you for so many years You kept and took care of Oleg, You were his Muse and angel. .. Thank You!!! I love You very much, God Bless You!

www.hollywoodreporter.com

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

12:11 PM PDT 5/16/2017 by Mike Barnes

A star in the USSR, he defected in 1985 and later acquired distribution rights to the famed Soyuzmultfilm animation library. 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). Producer Dino De Laurentiis then hired Vidov for a role in Waterloo (1970), a Russia-Italy co-production that starred Rod Steiger, Christopher Plummer and Orson Welles. In 1985, Vidov immigrated to the U.S., taking up residence in Los Angeles, and went on to appear in films including Love Affair (1994), The Immortals (1995), Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies (1998), Thirteen Days (2000) and Monkey Love (2002) and on TV shows including The West Wing and Alias. The state-owned Soviet TV channels stopped playing his movies after his defection but eventually bowed to popular demand and broadcast them without using his name. Only after perestroika were his credits restored in 1987. After the fall of the USSR, Vidov returned to Russia numerous times. In honor of his 70th birthday, Channel One Russia gave him a primetime party on its popular Let Them Talk program hosted by Andrey Malakkov. In 2015, Vidov served as the voice of Andrei Tarkovsky in a documentary called Time Within Time, based on the revered Russian filmmaker's diary. It was directed by P.J. Letofsky, son of the late entertainment journalist Irv Letofsky. Vidov and his wife, Joan Borsten Vidov, formed Films by Jove, a production and distribution company, in 1988. Four years later, they obtained international distribution rights to the Soyuzmultfilm animation library, which held about 1,200 Russian films produced from 1936-91. They financed digital restoration of several works, including Mikhail Baryshnikov's Stories From My Childhood, which aired on PBS in 1998, helping to popularize Russian animation around the world. The Vidovs sold rights to the library to Russian businessman Alisher Usmanov in 2007. In addition to his wife, survivors include his sons Viacheslav and Sergei. A memorial service will take place at 1 p.m. on Saturday at Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

Variety

Veteran Russian Actor Oleg Vidov Dies at 73

Rebecca Rubin

Variety May 16, 2017

Russian actor Oleg Vidov, who appeared in more than 50 films including 1967’s “Hagbard and Signe” (“The Red Mantle”), has died. He was 73. The veteran performer died on Monday in Westlake Village, Calif. from cancer-related complications, according to an official release. Vidov’s film credits include “Battle of Neretva,” “Waterloo,” where he worked alongside Rod Steiger, Christopher Plummer and Orson Wells, and “The Red Mantle,” which played in competition at Cannes. For his work in “The Red Mantle,” Vidov traveled to Denmark, although Soviet actors were typically not permitted to work abroad at the time. Vidov moved to the United States in 1985, residing in Los Angeles. He returned to Russia many times after the fall of the USSR. His Hollywood film credits include “Red Heat,” “Wild Orchid,” and “Love Affair.” In addition to his film career, Vidov also appeared in the HBO TV movies “The Immortals” and “Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies,” and on television in “The West Wing” and “Alias.” At age 70, he was the voice of Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky in the documentary “Time Within Time.” He is survived by his wife, Joan Borsten Vidov, his sons Viacheslav and Sergei, and his grandson. The Vidov family requests any remembrances of of the late actor be sent to his Facebook page.