Valery Panov and his wife Galina, ousted from Leningrad’s famed Kirov Ballet after requesting visas to emigrate to Israel, have a star-studded cast of British and American performers and writers campaigning in their behalf. Sir Lawrence Olivier, Paul Scofield, Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Arthur Miller, Dustin Hoffman, Tennessee Williams and choreographer Sir Frederick Ashton head an international campaign pressing Soviet authorities to grant the Panovs permission to leave the USSR.
In addition, the casts of 20 current London theatrical productions have joined the international campaign for the Panovs. Sir Lawrence recently visited the Soviet Ambassador in London, Mikhail Smirnovski, who agreed, after some hesitation to communicate with Moscow regarding the Panovs. The Ambassador apparently was anxious to avoid the cancellation of visits by Soviet artists to Britain.
But Soviet Embassy officials refused yesterday to accept a petition on behalf of the Panovs delivered to the Embassy gates by a group of demonstrating actors and dancers. The officials said they could not accept the documents for transmission to Moscow because it was Sunday and the Embassy was closed.
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