Oleg Taktarov: filmography and personal life (photo)

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Today we invite you to get to know the outstanding Russian athlete and actor Oleg Taktarov. He started his career as a mixed martial artist. Today, he is a popular film actor both in America and abroad. We invite you to get to know our compatriot who managed to conquer Hollywood, learn about the details of his career and personal life.

Oleg Taktarov: photo, biography

The future star of the fighting ring and big screens was born on August 26, 1967 in the Russian city of Sarov (former Arzamas-16), located in the Nizhny Novgorod region. His parents were in the military. Little Oleg learned to read very early and by the age of eight he had studied almost all the books that he could find in the house. He especially liked travel stories.

When the boy was 10 years old, his father, who was a professional boxer in the past, sent his son to a local sports school specializing in sambo and judo. Vitaly Karlovich Mikhailov became his coach, who quickly noticed great abilities in Oleg. One day he told the boythat he sees in him a future world champion, which eventually became a reality. Therefore, despite the fact that Oleg wanted to become an actor since childhood, he decided to work hard in sports.

In 1990, he became a master of sports of the USSR in judo. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Oleg, like many compatriots, started his own business. About this experience, he later even wrote his own book called “Victory at any cost.”

Fighting career

In 1993, Oleg, who went in for sports stubbornly, decided to take part in the Golden Dragon tournament held in Riga. To his surprise, Taktarov became the winner. This inspired him to participate in other similar tournaments, which allowed him to save money and move to the United States, where he dreamed of realizing himself as an actor. However, for several years he had to return to the role of a fighter, speaking at prestigious championships.

Oleg Taktarov: filmography, the beginning of an acting career

After numerous auditions and castings in 1999, the "Russian Bear" finally gets his first serious film role. It was the painting "Fifteen Minutes of Fame". And so began Oleg's acting career, which he had dreamed of since childhood.

In 2001, he decided to say goodbye to big sport and devote himself entirely to cinema. Over the next few years, such films with Oleg Taktarov as "My Friend's Love Adventure" (2001), "Let's do it together"(2001), Rollerball (2002), Red Kite (2002), 44 Minutes (2003), Bad Boys 2 (2003) and Sins of the Fathers (2004). During this time, he happened to work on the same set with such Hollywood stars of the first magnitude as Robert de Niro, Jean Reno, Al Pacino, Nicolas Cage, Robert Duvall and others.

In 2005, the actor has been in Namibia for a long time. A film about African shamans called National Treasures was filmed there. While working on the project, Oleg, along with his colleagues and other employees, found himself in a critical situation, which almost turned into a real tragedy.

So, the film crew is stuck in the desert without food or water for almost two weeks! As a result, when the film was edited, it turned out that Taktarov appeared on the screen for only a few minutes. This greatly disappointed Oleg, taking into account all the hardships and difficulties that he had to endure during the filming. In the end, he decides to try his luck at home.

Work in Russian cinema

At home, the career of the famous fighter and actor rapidly went up the hill. His very first work in the film "Hunting for the Manchurian Deer", in which he played the role of Vitka Kamaz, brought Oleg success and recognition of the audience from Russia. In 2008, the premiere of a domestically produced film called "Montana" took place, where Taktarov brilliantly played the main role.

In addition, Oleg took part in the work on several more Russian-made films, among which arehighlight "Melee", "Afghan", "Male Season" and others.

The picture of Kazakh director Yerken Yalgashayev called "Close Fight", filmed in 2007, brought together both local celebrities and Hollywood representatives on the set, among which are Eric Roberts, David Carradine, Gary Busey, Kung Le, Olivier Gruner. Actor Oleg Taktarov also took part in the work on the project. Despite the strong cast, the film was shown only at closed screenings and was not released to the general public.

However, the "Russian bear" did not forget about Hollywood, regularly appearing on the big screen in American-made films. So, he played one of the central roles in the sensational film "Predators". Also, the actor’s excellent performance can be seen in such films as “Masters of the Night”, “The Life and Death of Bobby Zee”, as well as in the series “Miami Vice. Department of Morals.”

Recent works

Among the latest works of the actor, there are several very successful Russian projects, such as "Ticket to Vegas", "Generation P", "Viy" and "Courier from Paradise". Taktarov also continues to successfully combine roles in domestic films with participation in Hollywood films. In addition, as many as six films with Oleg are expected to be released in the near future. In one of them, he will play a major role.

Private life

Oleg Taktarov, whose filmography, as well as fighting achievements, is quite impressive, on the love front, however, did not achieve much success. He was marriedthree times, and all his marriages, unfortunately, ended in divorce.

The first wife of the "Russian bear" was a girl named Milena. Their marriage lasted five years, during which the first son of Oleg was born, who was named Sergey.

With his future second wife - Kathleen - Taktarov met after an offensive defeat in the fighting arena. Oleg then fell into depression, and the girl gave a friendly shoulder. Over time, their relationship grew into something more, and the lovers decided to get married. Kathleen gave birth to Oleg's son, who was given the name Keaton.

The third legal wife of Taktarov was Russian Maria. However, this marriage broke up a few years later. It turned out that Oleg did not really value family life all the time, always putting his career first.