"Today is a black day": legendary Ukrainian actor Bohdan Kozak passed away in Lviv

The outstanding Ukrainian actor Bohdan Kozak has died in Lviv at the age of 84. He was a People's Artist of Ukraine, Shevchenko Award laureate, a brilliant narrator of Taras Shevchenko's poetry, and a teacher for a whole generation of Ukrainian actors.

Famous Ukrainian figures reacted to the death of the prominent master of the stage.

"Today, at the age of 84, Bohdan Kozak, one of the brightest figures of modern national theater in Ukraine, passed away. He was an actor and analyst. He had a sharp mind and great diligence. He knew how to make fun of himself. A great master of the artistic word, his 'Shevchenkiana' is a great pride of Ukrainian culture," Maksym Kozytskyi, head of the Lviv Regional Theater Association, said.

"Oh, my God! I've just been informed that you are no longer with us, Bohdan Mykolaiovych," Irma Vitovska wrote on her Facebook page, "Our dear Bohdan Mykolaiovych! I have no words now... Today is a black day. You were not only my Teacher. You were my great Friend. Now you will remain so in my memory and soul. A bright mind makes a soul look deep into itself... or maybe outside itself into the invisible world? So perhaps I will be able to tell you everything there, and we will definitely talk and laugh again."

"Two days ago, you sent me a funny video, and I liked it because I couldn't write for some reason," the artist added, "I thought I'd get to it in a week. And now I'm really sorry that I didn't do it right away. And now I'm afraid that I won't be able to say goodbye to you in your dear Lviv for the same reasons. Tomorrow, during the Parastas service, I will be standing several hundred kilometers away in the church and will be with your soul. Fly, dear Teacher, Master and Friend. Today is a painful day..."

"You were a handsome man, a talented actor and teacher," Ksenia Basha, an actress at the Ivan Franko Theater, addressed the actor, "Thank you for always taking care of my mother... I am very sad that you are no longer with us. My condolences to your wife, Marta, your family, and all your students."

An actor of the Maria Zankovetska National Theater, Bohdan Kozak combined acting with teaching at the theater's studio, taught at the acting department of the Lysenko Lviv State Conservatory, was the head of the Department of Theater Studies and Acting, and in 2004-2010 was the dean of the Faculty of Culture and Arts at the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv.

He has played more than 100 roles in productions of both national and translated world drama. The most famous among them: Don Juan ("On ne badine pas avec l'amour" by Pedro Calderón), Borнs ("Doky sontse ziide, rosa ochi vyïst’" by Marko Kropyvnytskyi), Mozart ("Mozart and Salieri" by Alexander Pushkin), Clarence ("Richard III" by William Shakespeare), Brianskyi ("Flag Bearers" by Oles Honchar, B. Antkiv), Ivan ("Vanity" by Ivan Karpenko-Karyi), Zadorozhnyi ("Stolen Happiness" by Ivan Franko), Tarelkin ("The Death of Tarelkin" by Alexander Sukhovo-Kobylin), Arbenin ("Masquerade" by Mikhail Lermontov), Iago, Polonius, Macbeth ("Othello", "Hamlet", "Macbeth" by William Shakespeare), Tartuffe (comedy of the same name by Jean-Baptiste Poquelin/Molière), Peter the Great (Pavlo Polubotok by Kost Burevii), Voznyi (Natalka Poltavka by Ivan Kotliarevskyi), and many others.

Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!