The message said, in part:
“You have lost a person you loved, while Russia has lost a great artist and stage director who was brilliant and infinitely talented. He lived a thrilling, quintessentially Russian life: sincere and grand. And we love him for it.”
The head of state also sent a message expressing his condolences to the Chekhov Moscow Art Theatre, which said, in part:
“His name has become a symbol of a whole epoch. Oleg Yefremov lived in tune with the times and remained always modern. A creator by birth and a real leader, he established a theatre which now bears his name, the Yefremovsky.
“Mr Yefremov’s colleagues and students were influenced by his strong and extraordinary personality, just like all of us, his audience, who will remember and love him for many years to come.”