Vladimir Gribunin

Vladimir Fyodorovich Gribunin (17 April 1873 – 1 April 1933) was a Russian actor born in Kostroma, in the Russian Empire, who built his career primarily at the Moscow Art Theatre while also appearing on Broadway during the 1923–1924 season.

Gribunin trained in drama at the Maly Theatre Drama college under Mikhail Sadovsky before joining the Moscow Art Theatre in 1898, an association he maintained until his death thirty-five years later. Among the roles that earned him particular critical recognition were Nikita in Leo Tolstoy's Power of Darkness and Simeonov-Pishchik in Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard. His portrayal of Kuroslepov in the 1926 Moscow Art Theatre production of Alexander Ostrovsky's An Ardent Heart was regarded as the pinnacle of his artistic career. The value he held within the company was made clear as early as 1904, when co-founder Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, writing to Konstantin Stanislavski amid concerns about losing actors to military service during the Russo-Japanese War, singled out Gribunin as the one performer whose absence would genuinely diminish the theatre's character.

His Broadway appearances took place during the Moscow Art Theatre's 1923–1924 engagement in New York, during which he performed in The Depths, The Brothers Karamazoff, The Lady from the Provinces, The Three Sisters, and The Cherry Orchard, among other productions. In addition to his stage work, Gribunin appeared in three early Soviet films: Alyosha's Pipe (1919), Threesome (1919), and Limping Landlord (1920). In 1925 he received the title of Meritorious Artist of the RSFSR. The actress Vera Pashennaya was his wife.