{{Short description|Estonian and Soviet actor}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Infobox person | name = Leonhard Merzin | image = Leonhard Merzin.jpg | caption = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1934|2|10|df=yes}} | birth_place = Aruküla, Kudina Parish<br>(now Maardla, Mustvee Parish) | death_date = {{Death date and age|1990|1|2|1934|2|10|df=yes}} | death_place = Tartu, then part of Estonian SSR, Soviet Union | occupation = Actor | years_active = 1964–1986 | children = 3, including Helena Merzin-Tamm
}}
'''Leonhard Merzin''' ({{langx|ru|Леонха́рд Ри́хардович Ме́рзин}}); 10 February 1934 in Aruküla, Kudina Parish (now Maardla, Mustvee Parish) – 2 January 1990 in Tartu<ref name="БС">[http://www.kino-teatr.ru/kino/acter/m/sov/2816/bio/ Леонхард Мерзин. Биография]</ref>) was an Estonian theatre and film actor, one of the Estonian actors active in the Soviet Union and abroad. He played in more than 50 films.<ref name="БС"/> His most notable role in Estonia is "Teacher Laur" in ''Spring'' (''Kevade'') and as Edgar in Soviet Union adaption of King Lear (''Korol Lir'').<ref name="БС"/>
==Biography== From 1952 to 1954 Merzin studied at the Tartu Art School and in 1969 he graduated from the Viljandi School of Cultural Education.
Merzin also tried hand as a painter, mostly depicting nature and flowers. thumb|right|250 px|Tombstone on the actor's grave He is buried at the Raadi cemetery in Tartu.
==Filmography== {| class="wikitable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Role ! Notes |- |1965|| ''Külmale maale'' || Väljaotsa Jaan || |- |1968|| ''Inimesed sõdurisinelis'' || Mänd || |- |1968|| ''Dead Season'' || Father Mortimer || |- |1968|| ''Libahunt'' || Jass || |- |1969|| ''Hullumeelsus'' || Kristus || Uncredited |- |1969|| ''The Gladiators'' || Laar || |- |1969|| ''Spring'' || Laur || |- |1970|| ''King Lear'' || Edgar || |- |1971|| ''Risk'' || Kurtz || |- |1972|| ''Back to Life'' || Arno || |- |1972|| ''In the Black Sands'' || Peltin || |- |1973|| ''Maaletulek'' || Mart || |- |1973|| ''Dmitry Kantemir'' || Russet || |- |1973|| ''Racers'' || Bruno Lorenz|| |- |1973|| ''Identification'' || Peter || |- |1974|| ''Dangerous Games'' || 2241 || |- |1975|| ''The Balloonist'' || Charles Rigaut || |- |1975|| ''Diamonds for the Dictatorship of the Proletariat'' || Auguste|| |- |1976|| ''Trust'' || Jukka Rahja || |- |1977|| ''Waiting for Me on Earth'' ||Colonel Belousov || |- |1979|| ''Special Forces'' || Ozyoryn || |- |1981|| ''I Do Not Guarantee Personal Safety...'' || Yevgeniy Krakovskiy || |- |1986|| ''Race of the Century'' || Donald Crowhurst || (final film role) |}
== References == {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{IMDb name|0581727}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Merzin, Leonhard}} Category:1934 births Category:1990 deaths Category:People from Mustvee Parish Category:Estonian male film actors Category:Estonian male stage actors Category:Soviet male film actors Category:20th-century Estonian male actors Category:Soviet theatre directors Category:Estonian theatre directors Category:Burials at Raadi cemetery
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