MOSCOW (AP) — The wife of Russian actor Vladimir Zeldin, who has been described as the world's oldest working actor, says that he has died in Moscow. He was 101.

Russian news agencies quoted his wife, Ivetta Kapralova, as saying he died early Monday in a Moscow hospital.

The actor shot to stardom with the role of a shepherd in "They Met in Moscow."

The shooting began a few months before the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. The 26-year old Zeldin was conscripted and sent to the front line before Josef Stalin's order recalled him to Moscow to continue the shoot.

Zeldin, whose career spanned from iconic movie parts in the 1940s to theater appearances in recent years, was due to appear on stage in early November.