Following in the footsteps of his elder brother Yuri, and with the blessing of his father, it was decided that Vitaly would become an actor. So in 1959 he was accepted into a theatrical school where he trained under N. A. Annenkov, and also with Boris Markovich Kazan. He went to work in a variety of theatres and worked alongside the likes of J. Baryshev, M. Fomina, T. Ryzhova, M. Kononov, V. Pavlov. Amongst his favorite performances was his role in Your Uncle Misha where he made a friend of the remarkable actor V. Hohrjakov.



When work in the theatre flagged, the cinema beckoned. Solomin made his film debut as Cyril in The Elder Sister (1966). In it he played alongside actors such M.Zharov, T.Doronina. He also made a particular impression with his performance in director Junnikov’s Every Dog Has His Day (1973). Although working continually in films, Solomin continued to perform in theatrical circles and enjoyed some success in a performance of Uncle Vanya .



On television, Solomin had also made a solid impact with leading roles in Igor Maslennikov’s series The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson which brought him further roles in both The Winter Cherries and Queen of Spades . While working as Doctor Watson in the popular Sherlock Holmes series, he became a close friend of co-star Vasily Livanov, whom he considered one of his favorite actors.



In 1995-1996. V.Solomin tried his hand at directing with the film Hunting . He received fair recognition for his work and a designation as a - National Actor of Russia (1991), and was the winner of the Premium of Moscow (1998). He was a member of the Union of Theatrical Figures and the Union of Cinematographers of Russia.



Vitaly Solomin was hospitalized on April 23, 2002 after suffering a massive stroke. It happened in the Malyi Theatre in Moscow during a performance of Wedding of Krechinsky a play he was directing.

He was rushed to the Sklifosovsky Hospital and underwent surgery but remained in intensive care until his death on May 27, 2002. He was 60.