Vladimir Pavlovich Basov was born in Urazov, Kursk region, on 28 July 1923, (now it is Urazovo Settlement in Valuy District of the Belgorod Region).

During the Great Patriotic War he served as a captain of an artillery division.

In 1952 Vladimir Basov graduated from Director's Faculty of VGIK, where he had studied under M.Romm and S.Yutkevich.

From 1952 he worked as a director and an actor at the Mosfilm Studio.

He debuted as an actor in an episodic role in School of Courage (1954). Altogether Basov played more than 80 film roles.

Vladimir Pavlovich Basov was an outstandingly specific actor, a talented director and one of the most mysterious cinema masters. He created a whole gallery of strange freaky characters. The actor had an original face, varied mimics, great virtuosity and irresistible charm.

For the majority of film viewers Basov is first of all an actor - vivid, infectiously ridiculous and unpredictable. His appearance on screen was short, with rare exceptions, but unmistakably well-aimed. His first “shot” of the kind was the role of a floor polisher in the film I Step Through Moscow. The character appeared accidentally. The film didn’t have critical attitude to life, which was fashionable at that time. The fact was outlined by critics, who severely slanted it. So the filmmakers had to make up the role of the floor polisher disaffected about everything at the height of the film shooting. By chance Vladimir Basov was passing by the studio and he was asked to play the episode. This is how the eminent comic actor appeared on film screen. Plastic, very tall and gaunt, he instantly riveted attention on himself, and his melancholy eyes and not quite clear "deep" statements made the viewers reflect on the biography of this ridiculous character. This is what Basov was like in the films 33 (1965) (a museum director), Big Break (1972) (a photographer), Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears (1980) (a visitor), Look for a Woman (1982) (a client).

Vladimir Basov’s brilliant gift of acting was used by different directors in most varied film genres. He was magnificent in screen versions of the classics (Crime and Punishment (1970), The Flight (1970), The Roundabout (1970)), modern comedies (Au-u! (1975), Domestic Circumstances (1977)), heroic films (The Soldier of the Supply Column (1976), etc).

There stand out his splendid roles in children's films. First of all, it is unforgettable Duremar in the fairy tale The Adventures of Buratino (1975), Stamp in the adventure film The Adventures of Electronic (1979) and the Wolf in the film-fairy tale About the Little Red Riding Hood (1977).

Meanwhile, Vladimir Pavlovich as a film director made exclusively serious cinema: Fight on the Way (1961), The Shield and the Sword (1968), Dangerous Corner (1972) (a screen version of J.B. Priestley’s TV play, in which the director managed to convey the dramaturgic nerve), Seven Shouts in the Ocean (1986), etc. Therefore the films of Basov as an actor and films of the Basov as a director did not go together in any way and were not associated with the same person for general public.

Vladimir Basov died of the second heart attack on 17 September 1987.