Ryazan Governorate
Andrey Goncharov was born on 2 January 1918, in the Sinitsy village of the Ryazan Governorate (now part of Moscow Oblast) where he spent his early years. In 1920s the family moved to Moscow; his father worked as a piano teacher, his mother was a professional actress. In 1936 Goncharov enrolled into the Russian Institute of Theatre Arts; he studied in the actors' class of Vasily Toporkov, then moved to the director's group led by Nikolai Gorchakov. In 1940 in Ivanovo Goncharov presented his diploma production of Oleksandr Korniychuk's "In the Steppes of Ukraine". In 1941 he graduated the Academy.