Gregory Hlady, born in the charming Ternopil region of Ukraine, relocated to Kyiv after completing high school and graduated from the prestigious Karpenko-Karyi Theater Institute with a degree in acting and cinema.
Intrigued by the art of directing, he enrolled in the directors' program at the State Institute of Theatre Arts in Moscow, where he studied under the guidance of the renowned Russian director, Anatoly Vassiliev.
As one of Vassiliev's exceptional graduates, Hlady quickly became one of the most sought-after stage and cinema actors and directors in Eastern Europe.
However, his approach to theater did not resonate with the Soviet authorities, prompting him to leave Kyiv for Tallinn, Estonia, in 1989.
In 1990, a contract to perform in "Six Characters in Search of an Author" took him to Montreal, where his French-language production of Franz Kafka's "Amerika" garnered critical acclaim in both Montreal and Brussels.
His production of Harold Pinter's "The Homecoming" earned him the Quebec Theater Critics' Award for best directing in the 1991-1992 season.
Throughout his career, Hlady has directed plays as diverse as Dostoyevsky's "The Idiot" in Lausanne, Switzerland, Ionesco's "Exit the King" in Montreal, and Sophocles' "Electra" in Montreal.
He has also conducted master classes in Austria, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, and Ukraine, and has appeared in various productions, including Vassiliev's company in Rome.
Last year, he appeared in a Paramount film, The Sum of All Fears (2002),and this year, he will star in Kim Nguyern's new feature film, Le marais (2002).
Currently, the Ukrainian actor is appearing in Paula de Vasconcelos' Montreal theatre production of "The Other".
Gregory Hlady is fluent in English, French, Lithuanian, Polish, Russian, and Ukrainian, and makes his home in Montreal.
