YEREVAN, JULY 4, ARMENPRESS: Today, July 4, is the birthday of the prominent Armenian actor, great comedian of cinema and theater Mher (Frunzik) Mkrtchyan. He would have become 85. He was born and raised in Gyumri. His love for the arts and especially theater was expressed since the early childhood, when he attended painting, music and theater classes.

“He was thin, big-nosed, but it turned out that God gave him a huge artistic talent. We lived in a communal apartment. Frunzik was 10 then. He made the entrance of the second floor a theater stage, put a curtain, which he personally opened every time and showed us mono-performances. We laughed or saddened and he improvised, talking about everything he was thinking about and that was a real art”, - said once the brother of the great actor Albert Mkrtchyan, Armenpress reports.

He is one of the most famous actors in Armenia and even in former soviet countries. He is considered to be very talented person who is always in the mind of every Armenian. Frunzik Mkrtchyan is the greatest Armenian actor of second half of 20th century. He was born 4th of July, 1930 in Leninakan, current Gyumri. He studied in Leninakan Art College and Theatre Studio, then finished at the Acting Department of Yerevan Institute of Fine Arts and Theatre.

Since 1953 he performed in the Sundukyan Drama Theatre of Yerevan. He also directed many successful productions, best of them Maxim Gorky’s “On the Bottom”. His cinema career began in 1955. After a debut in “01-99″ film, which has received a general recognition. F. Mkrtchyan forever contacted with cinema. His famous roles in Rolan Bykov’s “Aybolit-66″ (1966), Leonid Gaidai’s ‘The Prisoner of the Caucasus” (1966), and Georgi Daneliya’s “Mimino” (1977) earned him the reputation of one of the leading comedy actors in the Soviet Union. But that reputation sometimes overshadowed his real talent and emotional deepness which he put in his roles. Mkrtchyan’s talent was latent in a combination of comedy and dramatic nature. This is very valuable and rare quality for the actor.

In 1993 on 29th of December, his brother found him lying dead in his condo in Yerevan. On 31-st of December Yerevan has said Good Bye to its idol – Frunzik Mkrtchyan. Thousands of people attended the funeral of their beloved actor. Frunzik was only 63.

Mher Mkrtchyan’s house-museum operates in Gyumri, with rich materials referring to the actor's life, career, as well as his personal belongings.