Mark Bernes

Mark Naumovich Bernes (Russian: Ма́рк Нау́мович Берне́с) (born Menakhem-Man Neukh-Shmuylov Neyman, Russian: Мена́хем-Ман Не́ухович Не́йман; 8 October [O.S. 25 September] 1911, – 16 August 1969) was a Soviet film actor and a Russian chansonnier. He is widely regarded as among the most popular artists of the Soviet stage in the 1950s-1960s, and performed a number of poignant songs about World War II, including "Dark Is the Night" (Russian: Тёмная ночь, "Tyomnaya noch"; 1943) and "Cranes" (Russian: Журавли, "Zhuravli"; 1969). He is also credited with playing a primary role in the formation of the golden fund of Soviet song classics.