Movies

Actor Dies After Refusing Hospitalization: Roman Madyanov Was 62

Roman Madyanov had been diagnosed with cancer in 2020.
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Actor Roman Madyanov (Роман Мадянов), has died, according to multiple news outlets. The movie and TV actor has been dealing with cancer since 2020 but had recently refused hospitalization. He was 62.

According to MK, loved ones found Madyanov, an actor best known for starring in the Oscar-nominated movie Leviathan, unresponsive on a couch at his home in Russia on Wednesday morning. He could not be revived.

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The death came after a tough year for Madyanov, whose condition reportedly worsened in early 2024. He apparently had to be hospitalized due to health issues over the summer, including undergoing hip surgery. Madyanov felt negative about his experience in the hospital and refused to return despite his cancer symptoms becoming worse in September. He was unable to eat and even lost consciousness; however, he still refused to be hospitalized.

“He was always optimistic,” his son, who was also named Roman, told LIFE after the passing. “Despite his deteriorating condition, he believed that he could pull through. In his last days, he still said that everything would be fine,”

Per News.ru, ‘s widow Natalya spoke at his funeral, saying: “He was my life. Quarrels don’t matter, we must love each other and be together.”

In addition to his work as mayor Vadim Sergeyevich Shelevyat in the Golden-Globe-winning Leviathan, Madyanov notably played Huckleberry Finn in Hopelessly Lost, a 1973 adaptation of Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. He also appeared in movies such as The Last Frontier and the biopic about hockey player Valeri Kharlamov, Legend No. 17.