Rudolf Nureyev(1938-1993)
- Choreography
- Actor
- Director
He was an ethnic Tatar. He was educated at the Leningrad Ballet School
and starred with Kirov Ballet. His first film was a USSR short Le
Corsaire (1958). While performing in Paris in 1961 he defected to the
West. He then performed internationally, becoming an Austrian citizen
in 1982. The English/French documentary
I Am a Dancer (1972), directed by
Pierre Jourdan featured him and his
long-time partner Margot Fonteyn. He
played Rudolph Valentino in the film
Valentino (1977) and Daniel Jelline in
Exposed (1983), his last film. In 1982,
he starred in the US stage revival of "The King and I".
