Bunchuk (née Bur-Bunchuk) Yekaterina Osipovna(3 November 1895, Kharkiv – 4 February 1968, Riga) — actress.
Yekaterina Bunchuk graduated from the A. Petrovsky Theatre Studio in 1916 and made her debut at N. Sinelnikov’s Theatre. She performed at theatres in Kharkiv, Kazan, and Rostov-on-Don. In 1917, she married stage actor Yuri de Bur, a French national. In 1918, they moved to Moscow, where she performed under directors Fyodor Komissarzhevsky and Konstantin Mardzhanov. In 1922, she moved to Petrograd, performing under Konstantin Nezlobin.
In 1923, Yekaterina Bunchuk moved with her husband to Latvia and, from 1924, worked at the Riga Russian Drama Theatre (with a break from 1941–1944 during the theatre’s closure). During the Second World War, she worked at a knitwear factory. Following a denunciation, she was to be sent to the ghetto as a Jew, but remained free thanks to assistance from her former husband Yuri de Bur. After the liberation of Riga, she returned to the stage.
Bunchuk's most notable roles in the classical repertoire included works by:
A. N. Ostrovsky:
Mamaeva in Enough Stupidity in Every Wise Man (1935)
Vera Filippovna in The Heart Is Not a Stone (1940)
Kruchinina in Without a Dowry (1946)
Gurmyzhskaya in The Forest (1948)
Lidia Cheboksarova in Mad Money (1952)
Murzavetskaya in Wolves and Sheep (1953)
A. P. Chekhov:
Ranevskaya in The Cherry Orchard (1931, 1960)
Yelena Andreyevna in Uncle Vanya (1933, 1940)
Masha in Three Sisters (1935, 1938)
M. Gorky:
Nastya in The Lower Depths (1933)
Polina in Enemies (1946)
Maria Lvovna in Summerfolk (1952)
Bogaevskaya in Barbarians (1958)
Other roles included:
Yekaterina Ivanovna in The Brothers Karamazov (1926, after Dostoevsky)
Katharina in The Taming of the Shrew by Shakespeare (1926)
Title role in the operetta Mademoiselle Nitouche by F. Hervé
Masha in The Living Corpse by L. N. Tolstoy
Yelena in The Days of the Turbins by M. A. Bulgakov (all 1927)
Title role in Elizabeth of England by F. Bruckner (1931)
Lady Milford in Intrigue and Love by F. Schiller (1934)
Title role in Anna Christie by E. O’Neill (1938)
Mrs. Alving in Ghosts by H. Ibsen (1956)
In Latvian drama:
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Matilda in The Prodigal Son by R. Blaumanis (1928, 1937)
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Antonia in The Tailors’ Days in Silmachi by R. Blaumanis (1934)
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Inga in The Tīrelis Swamps by M. Zīverts (1938)
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Anna Ugalniece in Even Though It’s Autumn by G. Priede (1960)
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She also appeared in the film Deceived (1961) as the convent prioress.
In 1955, Bunchuk was awarded the title of People’s Artist of the Latvian SSR.