From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Oleg Ivanovich Yankovsky (Russian: Оле́г Ива́нович Янко́вский; February 23, 1944 – May 20, 2009) was a Soviet/Russian actor who has excelled in psychologically sophisticated roles of modern intellectuals. In 1991, he became, together with Alla Pugacheva, the last person to be named a People's Artist of the USSR.