Lutfali Abdullayev

Lutfali Amir oglu Abdullayev (Azerbaijani: Lütfəli Abdullayev) was an Azerbaijani theatre and film actor. Lutfali Abdullayev was born into a merchant family in the city of Nukha, presently known as Shaki. He developed his interest towards acting while watching touring actors perform on the stage of local theatres. Actor Ahmad Anatollu noticed young Abdullayev's fondness and suggested that he be sent to Baku to learn about theatre from prominent Azerbaijani actors. At the age of 14, he started attending vocal classes and learning to play the horn at the Azerbaijan State Conservatoire. In 1939, he became a trouper at the Azerbaijan State Theatre of Musical Comedy where he worked until his death. Comedy became the main genre of his acting.

Main roles in classic Azerbaijani films (such Vali inThe Cloth Peddler (1945); Balaoghlan in the 1956 screen version of Uzeyir Hajibeyov's musical comedy "If not this then that; Zulumov in "Where is Ahmad?" 1965), etc.) gained Abdullayev great fame. He was reportedly compared to Igor Ilyinsky by Russian critics. He would often receive role offerings from various Russian theatres but chose to turn them down because of his poor command of the Russian language.