Pyotr Todorovsky is a Merited Artist of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (1967) and the People's Artist of the RSFSR (1985).
The film director belongs in the glorious military generation of Russian cinematographers. Just like Grigory Chukhraya, Vladimir Basov, Yury Ozerov, Vasily Ordynsky, Stanislav Rostotsky he survived the Great Patriotic War, training at infantry school, fighting at the frontline, and wounding.
Pyotr Todorovsky started his career in cinema as a cameraman. He graduated from the Cameramen Faculty of the VGIK (1954, Boris Volchek's studio). From 1955 he worked as a cameraman at the Odessa Film Studio for about ten years .
He tried his wings as an actor in the films It Was a Month of May, and The Bog.
Afterwards Pyotr Todorovsky undertook film direction as a self-educated person and that is where his talents manifested themselves: he became a playwright, a composer, and, the main thing, a film director.
Viewers immediately noticed his special manner: lyricism, soft humour, laughter shaded with sadness, manly reserved dramaticism and modest poetry. He showed rare ability to work at the joint of genres and make humane, kind, understandable films "about life".
In 1983 Pyotr Todorovsky directed the glorified film Field Novel nominated for Oscar in the category The Best Foreign Language Film.
The year 2004 saw the screen version of Pyotr Todorovsky's autobiographical story Remember — Don't Remember (The Best Years of Our Life). The resulted TV series Cadets (directed by A. Kavun) was nominated for the  Emmy International award for the first time in the history of the Russian television.
Pyotr Todorovsky is also known as the composer and the author of songs to a number of movies. The Russian seven-stringed guitar improvisator and accompanist, he even accompanied to Vladimir Vysotsky in recording his songs.
In 2010, shortly before his jubilee, the renowned Russian film director gave an interview for the radio Freedom.
Pyotr Todorovsky died on May 24, 2013 and was laid down to rest at the Novodevichy Cemetery.
His son is the famous film director Valery Todorovsky.