Yevgeny Vladimirovich Knyazev, PAR (; born 9 August 1955) is a Russian stage and film actor and drama teacher. He has served as a rector of the Boris Shchukin Theatre Institute since 2003.
Yevgeny Knyazev was born in the suburb of Tula, the settlement of Skuratovo (now within the city limits), into a working-class family.
He graduated from the Tula Polytechnic Institute in 1977 with a degree in mining engineering. During his studies, he began acting in the institute's amateur theater and later in the "Dialog" People's Theater at the Tula Trade Unions Palace of Culture. In 1978, he enrolled in the Boris Shchukin Theatre Institute. Upon graduation in 1982, he was accepted into the Vakhtangov State Academic Theatre. During his work at the theater, he has performed in more than twenty plays.
He made his film debut in 1983.
Since the mid-1990s, he has performed in commercial theater productions and at various theaters.
Since 1994, he has been teaching at the Boris Shchukin Theatre Institute (serving as its rector since 2003). As an artistic director, he has graduated two acting classes (in 1998 and 2004). He currently heads a special course for the Moscow Operetta Theatre.
Knyazev is a member of the public council of the Russian Jewish Congress.
In March 2014, he signed a letter of support for the Russian annexation of Crimea.
During the 2018 Moscow mayoral election, he was a of mayoral candidate Sergey Sobyanin.
In 2022, Knyazev supported the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
During the 2024 Russian presidential election, he was a of presidential candidate Vladimir Putin.