Samandar Rzayev was born on 2 January 1945 in Aghsu. He took part in the drama club in Aghsu district. From 1964 to 1968 he studied in the drama and film acting faculty of the Mirzaagha Aliyev Azerbaijan State Theatre Institute. His acting teachers were Rza Tahmasib, Mehdi Mammadov and Adil Iskandarov. In 1968, while in his final year at the institute, he was accepted into the company of the Azerbaijan State Academic National Drama Theatre at the invitation of chief director Tofig Kazimov. His first role was Horatio in the production of William Shakespeare's tragedy "Hamlet."
