Victor Kostetskiy

• Name — Victor Kostetskiy • Birth Name — Victor Aleksandrovitch Kostetskiy • Born — 12 April 1941 • Birthplace — Zhmerynka, Ukrainian SSR, USSR • Died — 6 November 2014 • Place of death — Saint-Petersburg, Russia • Occupation — Actor, theatre teacher • Years Active — 1965–2014 • Awards — * Honored Artist of the RSFSR (1978) • Gold Soffit (2008)

Kosteskiy was born in Zhmerynka. He lived in St. Petersburg. He spent eighteen months in the graphic arts department of the Herzen Pedagogical Institute. In 1965 he graduated from Saint Petersburg State Theatre Arts Academy (Boris Sohn's course).

Between 1965 and 1972 he was actor of the Leningrad Lenin Komsomol theater, then he became actor of the Leningrad Theater of Musical Comedy (until 1989). He then joined the main cast of Drama Theater Pushkin, leaving the theater in 2008. In his last years he only played in the combination company productions of the theater Comedians.

Some of Kostetskiy's most famous roles were in films directed by Vladimir Vorobyov: Wedding of Krechinsky, Truffaldino from Bergamo and Treasure Island. He also often participated in the dubbing of foreign and animated films.

He appeared in the 1991 teleplay of the first part of The Lord of the Rings as Gandalf. From 1990 until his death in 2014 he was a lecturer at the Department of Musical Comedy, Head of the Department of stage movement and speech at the St. Petersburg Conservatory.

He was twice married, has two daughters from different marriages and three grandchildren. Kostetskiy died on 6 November 2014 at the age of 74.

• Truffaldino from Bergamo (Труффальдино из Бергамо, 1977, TV Movie) as Florindo Aretusi • Treasure Island (Остров сокровищ, 1982, TV Movie) as Dr. Livesey • The Life of Klim Samgin (Жизнь Клима Самгина, 1988) as Georgy Gapon • Bandit Petersburg (Бандитский Петербург, 2000) as deputy of General Attorney of Russia • Deadly Force (Убойная сила, 2000-2006) as Major-General Alexander Aleksandrovich Maksimov