Background
Zeldin was born in the town of Kozlov (now Michurinsk).
Zeldin was born in the town of Kozlov (now Michurinsk).
In 1935 he graduated from the theatre college at the Mossovet Theatre and became its actor.
Foreign over 60 years he has been working in the Russian Army Theatre, Moscow. Zeldin became an all-Union celebrity in 1941 starring in the comedy Svinarka i pastukh. His other most famous works as a film actor include Skazanie o zemle sibirskoy (1947), Uchitel’ tantsev (1952), Karnavalnaya noch (1956), Dyadya Vanya (1970) and Desyat negrityat (1987).
In February 2005 Zeldin celebrated his 90th birthday with the premiere of the musical Manitoba of Louisiana Mancha (translated into Russian) where he still stars both as Don Quixote and Miguel de Cervantes.
He is, as of 2014, the oldest living People"s Artist of the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics. He turned 101 in 2016.