Aleksei Dmitrievich Zharkov was born on March 27, 1948 in Moscow. In 1960, the director Mark Donskoy chose Alexei for the role of Petit in his film Hello, children!, where the 14-year old Zharkov played one of the main roles - a Soviet teenager who becomes friends with a Japanese girl who survived the tragedy of Hiroshima. In 1963, Alexei Zharkov was confirmed for an episodic role in Rolan Bykov's comedy The Lost Summer. In 1966, Zharkov starred in the role of Kohl in the military film Such a Big Boy. Aleksei Zharkov graduated from Moscow Art Theater School. Between 1971-1988 Zharkov was an actor of the Yermolova Theatre. In 1988–2000 years - an actor of Chekhov Moscow Art Theatre. Zharkov returned to Yermolova theater in 2000. Later, Zharkov took part in the performances of the St. Petersburg Theater Center on Kolomenskaya. In the late 1970s, Zharkov played the role of Nicholas's driver in the film Getting to Know the Big, Wide World by Kira Muratova, after which he began actively acting in films. Alexei Zharkov played both major and minor roles in the films The Last Hunt, The Wife Forsaken, The Quay, The Cask with the Cucumber, The Scream of the Loon, Citizen Leshka, The Night Accident, Three Times about Love. The first great success was brought to Alexei Zharkov in the works Torpedo Bearers by Semyon Aranovich and My Friend Ivan Lapshin by Alexei German, as well as in the drama Parade of the Planets by Vadim Abdrashitov. In total, Aleksei Zharkov played more than a hundred roles in the cinema, among which was Taras Postnikov in the historical filmMikhailo Lomonosov, policeman William Henry Blore in the crime filmTen Little Niggers, banker Danglars in the adventure film The Prisoner of Château d'If, investigator Sergei Ryabinin in the film Criminal talent, criminal Chibis in the action movieLet Sleeping Dogs Lie, lawyer Ivan Stashkov in the black comedy Stalin's Testament, Artemy Filippovich Strawberry in comedy Inspector, a self-taught breeder Gladishev in the comedyLife and Extraordinary Adventures of Private Ivan Chonkin, the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the historical dramaKhrustalyov, My Car!. Among the last works of the actor was the role of Alexei Dolgoruky in the historical series by Svetlana DruzhininaSecrets of palace coups, member of the combat group Petra Kosenko in the action series Zeta Group, the head physician in the drama by Karen ShakhnazarovWard №6.
Aleksei Zharkov married only once, in 1972 to a former flight attendant Lybov. They had two children: Maxim and Anastasia, who like her famous father went into the acting profession. In 2012, Zharkov experienced a stroke, after which the actor became temporarily paralyzed. After that he lived in his dacha outside of Moscow. At the beginning of March 2016 he suffered a new attack. Aleksei Zharkov died on 5 June 2016 in Moscow; the cause of death was heart failure after a long illness. The actor is buried in a small cemetery in the Naro-Fominsk.
