RAYKIN, ARKADI ISAAKOVICH

RAYKIN, ARKADI ISAAKOVICH (1911–1987), Soviet Russian vaudeville actor and director. After theatrical training in Leningrad, Raykin became widely known in the U.S.S.R. for his mime and impersonations. In 1939 he established the Variety and Miniature Theater in Leningrad, becoming its director. One of his most popular impersonations was that of Charlie Chaplin. He also appeared as Don Quixote and caricatured many types in his act Intourist Hotel. In later years his satire of bureaucrats and pseudointellectuals became more caustic. In 1962 Raykin appeared at the International Festival of Pantomime in West Berlin, and in 1964 in England. His wife, Ruth Joffe-Raykin, was a writer and an actor, as were his daughter Yekaterina and his son Konstantin.