The Most Famous

ACTORS from Georgia

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This page contains a list of the greatest Georgian Actors. The pantheon dataset contains 13,578 Actors, 11 of which were born in Georgia. This makes Georgia the birth place of the 52nd most number of Actors behind Thailand, and Morocco.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Georgian Actors of all time. This list of famous Georgian Actors is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Georgian Actors.

Photo of Vakhtang Kikabidze

1. Vakhtang Kikabidze (1938 - 2023)

With an HPI of 57.36, Vakhtang Kikabidze is the most famous Georgian Actor.  His biography has been translated into 39 different languages on wikipedia.

Vakhtang Konstantinovich Kikabidze (Georgian: ვახტანგ კიკაბიძე vakht’ang k’ik’abidze; 19 July 1938 – 15 January 2023), also known as Buba (Georgian: ბუბა) was a Soviet and Georgian actor, singer-screenwriter, producer, composer and politician who served in the Parliament of Georgia from 2020 until his death.

Photo of Akim Tamiroff

2. Akim Tamiroff (1899 - 1972)

With an HPI of 57.08, Akim Tamiroff is the 2nd most famous Georgian Actor.  His biography has been translated into 35 different languages.

Akim Mikhailovich Tamiroff (born Hovakim Tamiryants; October 29, 1899 – September 17, 1972) was an Armenian-American actor of film, stage, and television. One of the premier character actors of Hollywood's Golden Age, Tamiroff developed a prolific career despite his thick accent, appearing in at least 80 motion pictures over a span of 37 years. He was nominated twice for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performances in The General Died at Dawn (1936) and For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943), winning the first ever Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor for the latter. Orson Welles, a friend and oft-collaborator, praised him as "the greatest of all screen actors."

Photo of Mikheil Gelovani

3. Mikheil Gelovani (1893 - 1956)

With an HPI of 55.36, Mikheil Gelovani is the 3rd most famous Georgian Actor.  His biography has been translated into 26 different languages.

Mikheil Giorgis dze Gelovani (6 January [O.S. 25 December 1892] 1893 – 21 December 1956) was a Soviet and Georgian actor, known for his numerous portrayals of Joseph Stalin in cinema, starring in fifteen historic movies mostly about the early Soviet era. He was recognized as People's Artist of the USSR in 1950.

Photo of Sofiko Chiaureli

4. Sofiko Chiaureli (1937 - 2008)

With an HPI of 55.34, Sofiko Chiaureli is the 4th most famous Georgian Actor.  Her biography has been translated into 30 different languages.

Sophia Chiaureli (Georgian: სოფიკო ჭიაურელი; 21 May 1937 – 2 March 2008), professionally known as Sofiko Chiaureli, was a Soviet Georgian actress. Thought to be the muse of filmmaker Sergei Parajanov, she played a significant role in the 20th century Georgian theater and was associated with the country's two most prominent theaters, the Rustaveli Theatre (1964–1968) and Marjanishvili Theatre (1960–1964, 1968–2008).

Photo of Mikheil Chiaureli

5. Mikheil Chiaureli (1894 - 1974)

With an HPI of 52.56, Mikheil Chiaureli is the 5th most famous Georgian Actor.  His biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Mikheil Chiaureli (Georgian: მიხეილ ჭიაურელი, Russian: Михаил Эдишерович Чиаурели, 6 February 1894 – 31 October 1974) was a Soviet Georgian actor, film director and screenwriter. He directed 25 films between 1928 and 1974. He was awarded the Stalin Prize five times in 1941, 1943, 1946, 1947, and 1950.

Photo of Leila Abashidze

6. Leila Abashidze (1929 - 2018)

With an HPI of 51.90, Leila Abashidze is the 6th most famous Georgian Actor.  Her biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

Leila Abashidze (Georgian: ლეილა აბაშიძე; August 1, 1929 – April 8, 2018) was a Georgian actress, director and writer. She was Meritorious Artist of Georgia, People's Artist of Georgia, a recipient of Order of the Red Banner of Labour, as well as of awards of European and Asian film festivals, and has her own honorary star in front of Rustaveli cinema on Rustaveli Avenue in Tbilisi, Georgia. During her career she was widely considered as the "Mary Pickford of the USSR". She is one of the most popular Georgian and Soviet actresses.

Photo of Dodo Abashidze

7. Dodo Abashidze (1924 - 1990)

With an HPI of 51.11, Dodo Abashidze is the 7th most famous Georgian Actor.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

David 'Dodo' Abashidze (Georgian: დავით [დოდო] აბაშიძე; Russian: Дави́д Ива́нович Абаши́дзе; 1 May 1924 – 26 January 1990) was a Soviet Georgian film actor and director. He was named People’s Artist of Georgia in 1967. After his death a Tbilisi street was named in his honor. He appeared in 50 films between 1954 and 1988. Abashidze studied at the Shota Rustaveli Theater Institute in Tbilisi, graduating in 1949. He then joined the troupe of the Rustaveli Theater but after a few years dedicated himself fully to cinema. Abashidze’s film debut was the role of Bichiko in Siko Dolidze’s comedy The Dragonfly (1954, from Nikoloz Baratashvili’s Marine), which became a box-office hit throughout the USSR. Over the following three decades, the actor worked with all leading directors of Georgian cinema and worked in a variety of genres ranging from historical adventure to contemporary drama and musical comedy. Tengiz Abuladze and Revaz Chkheidze cast him in their successful joint debut Magdana’s Donkey (1955), Otar Ioseliani in Falling Leaves (1966), Eldar Shengelaia in Unusual Exhibition (1968), and Georgi Danelia in Don't Grieve (1969). Another notable role was of the shepherd Sosana who resists urban modernization in The Grand Green Valley (1968). One of Abashidze's greatest achievements was the co-direction of two pictures with Sergei Paradjanov: The Legend of Suram Fortress (1984) and Ashik Kerib (1988), where he also acted as well.

Photo of Merab Ninidze

8. Merab Ninidze (b. 1965)

With an HPI of 47.63, Merab Ninidze is the 8th most famous Georgian Actor.  His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Merab Ninidze (Georgian: მერაბ ნინიძე; born 3 November 1965) is a Georgian actor. In the English-speaking world, he is best known for the roles of Walter Redlich in Nowhere in Africa and Oleg Penkovsky in The Courier.

Photo of Medea Japaridze

9. Medea Japaridze (1923 - 1994)

With an HPI of 47.04, Medea Japaridze is the 9th most famous Georgian Actor.  Her biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Medea Japaridze (20 February 1923 in Tbilisi – 31 March 1994) was a Soviet and Georgian actress. People's Artist of the Georgian SSR.

Photo of Nina Ananiashvili

10. Nina Ananiashvili (b. 1963)

With an HPI of 46.93, Nina Ananiashvili is the 10th most famous Georgian Actor.  Her biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Nina Ananiashvili (born: Nino Ananiashvili, Georgian: ნინო ანანიაშვილი; born March 19, 1963) is a Georgian ballerina and artistic director of the State Ballet of Georgia. She has been described by the Daily Telegraph as one of the twelve greatest ballerinas of all time, and in 2002 was named Best Ballerina of the Year by the US Dance Magazine. Ananiashvili has been a prominent fixture of the Soviet, Russian and Georgian ballet scene for decades. Shortly before the fall of the Iron Curtain, in 1987 a New York Magazine critic praised her as "the best thing about the Bolshoi's Giselle whether she appeared in the title role or as the queen of the wilis." In 2014, a film of her 1991 performance in Giselle with the Bolshoi ballet was released.

People

Pantheon has 14 people classified as Georgian actors born between 1893 and 1991. Of these 14, 4 (28.57%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Georgian actors include Merab Ninidze, Nina Ananiashvili, and Tinatin Dalakishvili. The most famous deceased Georgian actors include Vakhtang Kikabidze, Akim Tamiroff, and Mikheil Gelovani. As of April 2024, 3 new Georgian actors have been added to Pantheon including Dodo Abashidze, Yelena Kuzmina, and Tinatin Dalakishvili.

Living Georgian Actors

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Deceased Georgian Actors

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Newly Added Georgian Actors (2024)

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Overlapping Lives

Which Actors were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 10 most globally memorable Actors since 1700.