Peter Rollberg Historical Dictionary of Russian and Soviet Cinema p.282 "As a film actor, Iakovlev made his debut in the supporting part of Chakhotkin in Konstantin Iudin's Behind the Footlights (Na podmostkakh stseny, 1956). When Ivan Pyr'ev cast the virtually ... In the 1980s and 1990s, he lent his star power to a few daring projects of newcomers, most prominently Sergei Ovcharov' s original Nikolai Leskov adaptation The Left-Hander (Levsha, 1986)."
