Real name: Михаил Александрович Чехов (Mikhail Aleksandrovich Chekhov)

Michael Chekhov (29 {O.S. 17} August 1891, Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire — 30 September 1955, Beverly Hills, California, USA) was a Russian-Soviet and later American actor, theatre practitioner, stage director, and distinguished pedagogue, nephew of legendary Russian writer Anton Chekhov, and student of renowned Konstantin Stanislavski (1863—1938), who referred to Chekhov as one of his most brilliant pupils. Between 1914 and 1917, he was married to an actress Olga Chekhova, née Knipper (1897—1980), sister of composer and Soviet spy Lev Knipper (1898—1974). Mikhail developed his teaching and acting methodology in the early 1930s, known as the "Checkhov method" today. Between 1928 and 1936, Chekhov lived in Europe, first based in Berlin and later in Paris and Riga, Latvia. After spending three years in London, Mikhail Chekhov immigrated to the United States in 1939. Primarily a stage actor, he also appeared in several notable films, including Alfred Hitchcock's Spellbound (1945), starring Ingrid Bergman and Gregory Peck (3), for which Checkhov earned an Oscar nomination as the "Best Actor in a Supporting Role." He was an Honored Artist of the RSFSR (1924).