Theatre director, screenwriter, film historian, and amateur artist. Honoured Artist of the RSFSR (1966). In 1923, he enrolled at the Conservatory. In 1931, he graduated from the Faculty of Philology at Moscow State University. From 1933 to 1935, he worked at the Meyerhold Theatre. In 1936, he was repressed and sent to labour camps, where he continued his work as a stage director. During his years in Kolyma, Varpakhovsky staged 23 productions, including plays by N. Gogol, M. Gorky, A. Ostrovsky, Y. Schwartz, and other playwrights. Verdi’s opera "La Traviata" was particularly successful. After his release, he worked successfully in theatres in Tbilisi, Kyiv, and Leningrad. In 1956, he returned to Moscow. In 1957, he was appointed Chief Director of the Yermolova Theatre. He later worked at the Maly Theatre and the Vakhtangov Theatre. In Moscow, he directed more than 20 productions, including "Masquerade" by M. Lermontov (1962), "The Days of the Turbins" by M. Bulgakov (1967), "An Optimistic Tragedy" by V. Vishnevsky (1967), and "Mad Money" by A. Ostrovsky (1969). His final production was A. Ostrovsky’s "Wolves and Sheep" at the Stanislavsky Moscow Drama Theatre. In addition to his theatrical work, Leonid Varpakhovsky worked in television, organised theatre festivals, and created circus programs. The Bakhrushin State Theatre Museum holds articles about Varpakhovsky, letters addressed to him, as well as transcripts of discussions of his productions with his handwritten annotations