Iuozas Miltinis

Miltinis, Iuozas Ionovich 

(Juozas Miltinis). Born Sept. 3 (16), 1907, in the village of Dabikine, in present-day Akmene Raion, Lithuanian SSR. Soviet director and actor. People’s Artist of the USSR (1973).

In 1931, Miltinis graduated from the Kaunas Theater Studio. From 1932 to 1938 he studied theater and film in France and Great Britain, where he also worked in the theater. In 1939 he became the director of a theater studio. From 1940 to 1954, and since 1959, Miltinis has been the principal director of the Panevėžys Drama Theater, which was an outgrowth of his studio.

Miltinis’ best productions include Pogodin’s The Silver Valley (1941), Ben Jonson’s Volpone (1941, 1971), Miller’s Death of a Salesman (1958), Shakespeare’s Macbeth (1961), Virgin Soil Up-turned, based on Sholokhov’s novel (1964), Borchert’s Outside the Door (1966), Dürrenmatt’s Frank the Fifth (1969), and Strindberg’s Dance of Death (1973).

In 1940, Miltinis began teaching in the theater’s studio. Miltinis has trained many outstanding actors, including D. Banionis and B. Babkauskas. Miltinis has been awarded the State Prize of the Lithuanian SSR (1965), the Order of Lenin, the Order of the Badge of Honor, and a number of medals.