Actors - Juhan Viiding

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	Actors - Juhan Viiding

Juhan Viiding (1948-1995), Estonian poet and actor.

Juhan Viiding was born June 1, 1948 in Tallinn. His father was Paul Viiding, also a known poet and writer in Estonia. He was the youngest of four children and also the only boy. He was intellectualy precocious and restless youngster. During 1968-1972 Viiding studied theatre and stagecraft in Tallinn's National Conservatoire. After graduation he worked in Tallinn's National Drama Theatre (now Estonian Drama Theatre) until his death in February 21, 1995.

Juhan Viiding who until 1975 published his poetry books under the pseudonym of Jüri Üdi (George Marrow) was the brightest talent to appear in Estonian poetry in the ‘70s. Born in Tallinn, he worked from 1972 as a professional actor at the Estonian Drama Theatre (playing, among numerous other roles, Shakespeare’s Hamlet). During the last ten years of his life Viiding staged many plays, his favourite authors being Beckett, Ionesco and Betsuyaku. Unlike the major poets ofthe immediately preceding generation (Rummo, Kaplinski, Runnel), he never wrote essays or criticism. The heteronymic poetics of the modern Portuguese classic Fernando Pessoa (whose selected poetry was translated into estonian in 1973), might haveserved as an impulse for Juhan Viiding in creating the poet Jüri Üdi.However, the difference is that the "marrow" of Juhan Viiding’s poetry remained in his George Marrow; what followed, under his authentic name, lacked the former brilliance. Jüri Üdi’s playfulness and rich undertones gave way to a more direct and pathetic expression. One can only guess if Viiding’s intention was to develop another poetic voice, in addition to that of Jüri Üdi, or he simply realized that the Soviet era of ideological symbols - finely described in his "Jüri’s Yarn" - was coming to an end and the actor Jüri Üdi could change his masks for Juhan Viiding’s true face.

On February 21, 1995 Juhan Viiding commited suicide.

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Juhan Viiding's works

"Närvitrükk" (Nerve Print, 1971)

"Aastalaat" (Year's Fair, 1971)

"Detsember" (December, 1971)

"Käekäik" (1973)

"Selges eesti keeles" (In Plain Estonian, 1974) Note: As a footnote of the title Viiding requested that the name of the language in the title has to be renamed to the one that was used for translating. Therefore the translation of the title should be "In Plain English"

"Armastuskirjad" (Love Letters, 1975)

"Mina olin Jüri Üdi" (I Was George Marrow, 1978)

"Elulootus" (Hope of/for Life, 1980)

"Tänan ja Palun" (Cheers and Please, 1983)

"Osa" (Part, 1991)

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