Alexander Ostuzhev (born Pozharov) was a Russian and Soviet stage actor, and People's Artist of the USSR. Born in 1874 in Voronezh, he began his stage career in 1895 at the Voronezh Theatre, where he was noticed by Alexander Yuzhin, who helped him enroll in the dramatic courses of the Moscow Theatre School. In 1898, he joined the troupe of the Maly Theatre, where he performed for the rest of his life (with the exception of a brief break during the 1901–1902 season to work at the Korsh Theatre). Around 1908, the actor began to lose his hearing due to disease, and by 1910, he was completely deaf. Despite this, he did not leave the stage, developing a unique method: he memorized all his lines before the first rehearsal to read his partners' lips, and sometimes acted as a prompter unnoticed by the audience. The pinnacle of his career was the role of Othello in William Shakespeare's eponymous tragedy, directed by Sergei Radlov in 1935. He was also renowned for his roles as Neznamov ("Guilty without Guilt"), Quasimodo ("The Hunchback of Notre-Dame"), the Baron ("The Covetous Knight"), and Acosta ("Uriel Acosta"). The online collection of the Bakhrushin Theatre Museum features photographs of Alexander Ostuzhev in various roles, as well as other materials related to the actor.