Lithuanian theater and film actor, director, and musician Kostas Smoriginas has died at the age of 72.
His son, opera singer Kostas Smoriginas, announced the news on Facebook on Wednesday.
"My dad, Kostas Smoriginas, passed away last night," he wrote.
Born in Kaunas in 1953, Smoriginas attended primary and secondary schools in the city from 1960 to 1971.
He studied acting at the State Conservatory from 1971 to 1975 under Dalia Tamulevičiūtė and Irena Bučienė.
Smoriginas worked as an actor and director at the Youth Theater from 1975 to 1999 and again from 2004.
He played some of his most significant roles in productions directed by Tamulevičiūtė and Eimuntas Nekrošius, appeared in films from 1976, and directed plays in various Lithuanian theaters.
While still a student, he began writing songs based on Lithuanian poetry and became a prominent figure in Lithuanian sung poetry. In 1995, together with actors Saulius Bareikis and Olegas Ditkovskis, he founded the group Actor's Trio, which performed in Lithuania and abroad and released several albums. From 2000, he began giving solo concerts.
Smoriginas was awarded the USSR State Prize in 1987 and received Lithuania's Kristoforas Award in 2000 for his portrayal of Macbeth in Eimuntas Nekrosius' production of the same name.
He was honoured with the Lithuanian National Culture and Art Prize in 2001 and received the Knight's Cross of the Order for Merits to Lithuania in 2007.
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