Filmmaker, TV and radio host Tigran Keosayan dies at 59

Russian Armenian filmmaker, actor, TV and radio host Tigran Keosayan has passed away at the age of 59, his wife, RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan, announced on Friday.

“Last night Tigran passed away. Thank you to everyone who prayed. Please do not call me or my family now,” Simonyan wrote.

Keosayan suffered cardiac arrest in December last year, experienced clinical death and subsequently fell into a coma, where he remained for nine months under intensive care in a Moscow hospital.

The son of Soviet director Edmond Keosayan, he starred in Poor Sasha, Silver Lily of the Valley, The Crimean Bridge: Made with Love! and other films. He also hosted the satirical talk-show International Sawmill.