Armenian actor Artashes Aleksanyan dies at 64

Honoured Artist of Armenia Artashes Aleksanyan has died at the age of 64, his friend Harutyun Bogaryan revealed.

Speaking to Armenpress, Bogaryan said the actor had been in hospital for three days before his death early on Monday. Aleksanyan would have turned 65 on 17 July.

Born in Yerevan in 1961, Aleksanyan trained at the studio of the Gabriel Sundukyan National Academic Theatre under Khoren Abrahamyan before studying at the All-Union State Institute of Cinematography (VGIK) in Moscow under Armen Dzhigarkhanyan.

Over a career spanning more than four decades, he worked in theater, film and television in Armenia, Russia and the Czech Republic. He appeared in numerous productions, including Don't Be Afraid, Poker.am, Garegin Nzhdeh, Russian Ark, Special Unit and The Other Side of the Medal, as well as several television series.

As a stage director, Aleksanyan also led productions marking the 1,700th anniversary of Armenia's adoption of Christianity as a state religion and commemorating the Armenian Genocide.