The Russian information space was shaken by the news that the scandalous Russian theater and film actor, TV presenter, and Honored Artist of Russia Mikhail Efremov was released on parole from a colony for killing a man during a drunken accident. The case received wide publicity in 2020.
"Apostrophe" publishes facts about the Russian artist and how attitudes towards the Russian Federation's war against Ukraine have changed.
Mikhail Efremov was born on November 10, 1963 in Moscow in a difficult family. His father Oleg Efremov and mother Alla Pokrovskaya were actors, so his life's choice of profession also fell on the creative sphere. While still a schoolboy, he took part in the Moscow Art Theater play "Going, Look Back!". He began acting in films early. He was invited to take part in the filming of the film "When I Become a Giant" in 1978, that is, while still a schoolboy.
From 1982 to 1984, he served in the USSR Armed Forces. In 1987, he graduated from the Moscow Art Theater School and became the director of the Sovremennik-2 Studio Theater, where actors Nikita Vysotsky and Maria Evstigneeva played, but the troupe quickly disbanded.
Then, from 1991 to 1996, he was an actor at the Chekhov Moscow Art Theater, and since 2006, he has been invited to join the jury of the Higher League of the KVN. On television, from 2009 to 2014, he hosted the popular program "Wait for Me."
Since 2011, he has participated in the "Citizen Poet" project on the "F5.ru" website and the "Echo of Moscow" radio station, where he recited poems by Dmitry Bykov.
He got into scandals several times for appearing on stage intoxicated.
On the evening of June 8, 2020, in the center of Moscow, Efremov crossed a double solid road in a car in inadequate condition and hit a Lada van, the driver of which died in the hospital. An examination revealed a mixture of alcohol and drugs in the actor's blood. He was sentenced to eight years in a colony, the term being reduced to 7.5 years for a fatal accident.
On March 24, 2025, it became known that a court in Russia had granted the artist's request for parole. At the court hearing, he stated that he would no longer drink alcohol and would never get behind the wheel. The court banned Efremov from driving and changing his address without notice until the actual term had expired, and he was required to report to his place of residence once a month.
After being imprisoned, Mikhail Yefremov supported the Russian Federation's war against Ukraine. Whereas before his imprisonment, in the "Citizen Poet" project, he sharply criticized the actions of the Russian authorities, in particular Vladimir Putin, and supported Ukraine.
We previously wrote about the details of the release from prison of actor Mikhail Efremov in the Russian Federation.