Aleksandr Ostuzhev

Alexander Alexeyevich Pozharov (Russian: Александр Алексеевич Пожаров; April 28 [O.S. April 16] 1874 in Voronezh – March 1, 1953 in Moscow), better known by the stage name Alexander Ostuzhev (Russian: Александр Остужев) was a Russian and Soviet drama actor. Ostuzhev became the lead actor of the Maly Theatre company in Moscow in 1898.

He completely lost hearing by 1910 yet managed to stay on stage and play leading roles at Maly until 1952, including critically acclaimed productions of Othello (1935) and Uriel da Costa (1940).

Alexander Pozharov was born in the family of a railroad engineer in Voronezh. After two years in high school he was expelled after a conflict with the schoolmaster and had to rely on accidental jobs to make a living. He played as an amateur at a local drama theatre where he was spotted by Alexander Yuzhin. Yuzhin invited Pozharov to Maly Theatre College of Acting in Moscow and granted him a scholarship of 300 roubles annually. Pozharov trained at the College of Acting under Alexander Lensky and Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko for two years.

In 1898 Lensky set up his own company of actors at Maly Theatre, inviting Pozharov. Young actor adopted stage name Ostuzhev (based on Russian: стужа/stuzha, English: frost), antonymous to his real surname (based on Russian: пожар/pozhar, English: fire). Most common version, later retold by Ostuzhev himself, connects the choice with the director's fear of the public mistaking the actor's real surname with a fire alarm call. Historian Yury Eichenwald proposed a different, perhaps parallel, version, that Lensky chose surname Ostuzhev for being opposite to Alexander's hot temper on stage and in real life. In 1901 the media named him the perfect Romeo (his first top billing at Maly), but soon his explosive personality backfired: Ostuzhev physically assaulted another actor and was forced to leave Maly. Ostuzhev joined the private Korsch Theatre company for the 1901–1902 season and was later readmitted to Maly, where he would play for the next five decades.

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