Ulyanov joined the Vakhtangov Theater in 1950 and became its artistic director in 1987. He was also the chairman of Russia's Theater Professionals Guild in 1991-1996.
He acted extensively both on stage and the movie set, often portraying staunch Communist leaders and military commanders.
The Brothers Karamazov, a 1969 film he co-directed, was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign-Language Film.
His lead role as a factory executive in Yuli Raizman's 1982 film Private Life, another Academy Awards nominee, earned him a Golden Lion for best actor at the Venice Film Festival.
More recently, he appeared as Julius Caesar in the screening of William Shakespeare's play (1990), Pontius Pilate in a film version of The Master and Margarita (1994), and a veteran marksman in The Rifleman of the Voroshilov Regiment (1999), directed by Stanislav Govorukhin.
