Vovsi (Wowsy) Arkady Grigoryevich (1899, Riga – 1971, Moscow) – actor.

Arkady Vovsi was born into a teacher’s family. He graduated from GITIS (State Institute of Theatre Arts) in 1926. While still a student, he performed on the stage of the Zamoskvorechye Theatre. From 1930, he was an actor at the Second Moscow Art Theatre (2nd MKhAT). His notable roles during this period included Diego in The Spanish Curate by J. Fletcher and P. Massinger, and the driver Taratut in The Watchmaker and the Hen by I. A. Kocherga (both in 1934).

From 1936 to 1938, he worked at the MGSPC Theatre (from 1938 – the Mossovet Theatre). In 1938, he joined the Lenin Komsomol Theatre. In March 1953, following the accusation of his cousin, Professor M. S. Vovsi, in the “Doctors' Plot,” Vovsi was dismissed from the theatre. He was reinstated only after the case was closed and his cousin rehabilitated. He remained at the theatre until the end of his life.

Over a career spanning 50 years, he created a wide range of diverse stage roles, including Korshunov in Poverty is No Vice by A. N. Ostrovsky, Shvandya in Lyubov Yarovaya by K. A. Trenyov, Golub, Vorontsov, and Tikhiy in A Love Story (1941), So It Will Be (1944), and Under the Chestnut Trees of Prague (1945) by K. M. Simonov; Fekin in Filming is in Progress by E. S. Radzinsky (1965), among others.

He also worked as a stage director. His productions included Schoolmates by B. Laskin (Lenin Komsomol Theatre, 1945), The Heirs by A. Y. Brushtain (Young Spectator’s Theatre, 1946), and the variety performance The Husband, the Wife and the Master of Ceremonies (1957) for T. M. Dudnik, E. A. Arnoldova, and M. N. Garkavi.

Vovsi taught at GITIS, holding the rank of Associate Professor. In 1962, he was awarded the title of People’s Artist of the RSFSR.