Andrey Yaroslavtsev was born on August 6, 1957, in Moscow, Russia, and passed away on December 26, 2021.
He was a legendary Soviet and Russian theater, film, and dubbing actor, widely considered one of the most recognizable voices in the Russian-speaking world. A 1978 graduate of the Shchukin Theater School, he spent nearly two decades as a member of the prestigious Vakhtangov Theatre troupe. However, it was his extraordinary career in dubbing—encompassing over 240 films and numerous iconic video games—that cemented his legacy. He was the definitive Russian voice for characters such as Optimus Prime in the Transformers saga, Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter series (starting from The Prisoner of Azkaban), and Gimli in The Lord of the Rings. Gamers revered him as the voice of Zoltan Chivay in The Witcher series, Captain Price in Call of Duty, and Zeratul in StarCraft II.
