Vyacheslav Vasilievich Tikhonov (1928-2009) - Soviet and Russian actor. People's Artist of the USSR. He gained the greatest popularity thanks to the role of the intelligence officer Isaev-Shtirlitsa in the series "Seventeen Moments of Spring".
There are many interesting facts in the biography of Tikhonov, which we will talk about in this article.
So, before you is a short biography of Vyacheslav Tikhonov.
Biography of Tikhonov
Vyacheslav Vasilyevich Tikhonov was born on February 8, 1928 in Pavlovsky Posad (Moscow region). He grew up and was brought up in a simple family that has nothing to do with cinema.
His father, Vasily Romanovich, worked as a mechanic at a factory, and his mother, Valentina Vyacheslavovna, worked as a teacher in a kindergarten.
Childhood and youth
During his school years, Tikhonov's favorite subjects were physics, history and mathematics. In high school, he got himself tattooed with his name "Glory" on his arm. In the future, he had to carefully hide her while participating in filming.
When Vyacheslav was 13 years old, the Great Patriotic War broke out (1941-1945). Soon he entered the school, where he received the profession of a turner.
After graduating from college, the young man got a job as a turner at a military plant. After the end of the working day, he loved to go to the cinema with his friends. He especially liked the picture about Chapaev.
It was during this period of his biography that Vyacheslav Tikhonov was eager to become an actor. However, he did not tell his parents about this, who saw him as an agronomist or engineer. In 1944 he was enrolled in the preparatory course of the Automotive Institute.
The following year, Tikhonov tried to get an acting education at VGIK. It is curious that initially they did not accept him to the university, but after the end of the exams, the applicant still agreed to enroll in the group.
Films
On the big screen Vyacheslav appeared in his student years, playing Volodya Osmukhin in the drama "Young Guard" (1948). After that, for about 10 years he received minor roles in films and at the same time played on the theater stage.
In 1957, a significant event took place in Tikhonov's creative biography. He became an actor of the Film Studio. M. Gorky, and also played the main character in the melodrama "It was in Penkovo". This role brought him all-Union popularity.
The following year, Vyacheslav again got a key role in the film “Ch. P. - An emergency. " An interesting fact is that this film turned out to be the leader of film distribution in the USSR in 1959 (more than 47 million viewers), and the only film of the Dovzhenko studio that topped the distribution rating of the USSR.
Then Tikhonov played mainly the main characters, remembered by the viewer for such works as "Warrant Officer Panin", "Thirst", "We Will Live Until Monday" and "War and Peace". In the last picture, he was transformed into Prince Andrei Bolkonsky.
Curiously, the epic War and Peace has won many prestigious awards, including the US National Council of Film Critics Award for Best Foreign Language Film, as well as Golden Globe and BAFTA in the Best Foreign Language Film categories.
In 1973, Vyacheslav Tikhonov was approved for the role of Standartenfuehrer Stirlitz, an undercover Soviet intelligence officer, in the cult 12-episode series Seventeen Moments of Spring. This picture created a real sensation, as a result of which it is still considered one of the best in the history of Soviet cinema.
After that, Tikhonov was assigned the unofficial status of an intelligence officer. The actor was so skillfully embodied in his character that this image was attached to him for the rest of his life. It is worth noting that he himself did not associate himself with the character of Stirlitz.
In 1974 Vyacheslav Vasilievich was awarded the title of People's Artist of the USSR. The most famous filmmakers sought to cooperate with him. In the years that followed, he starred in a number of iconic films including They Fought for the Motherland and White Bim Black Ear.
It is interesting that Tikhonov passed screen tests for the role of "Gosha" in the Oscar-winning drama "Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears", but director Vladimir Menshov preferred Alexei Batalov to him.
In the 80s, the artist played many more main characters, but he never had such fame and popularity, which brought him the role of Stirlitz. From 1989 until his death, he held the position of artistic director of the TVC "Actor of Cinema".
After the collapse of the USSR, Tikhonov remained in the shadows. He very hard endured the consequences of perestroika: the collapse of the ideals that determined the course of his entire life, and the change of ideology turned out to be an unbearable burden for him.
In 1994 Nikita Mikhalkov offered him a small role in the melodrama Burnt by the Sun, which, as you know, won an Oscar in the Best Foreign Language Film nomination. Then he was seen in such works as "Waiting Room", "Boulevard Novel" and "Essay for Victory Day."
In the new millennium, Vyacheslav Tikhonov did not seek to appear on the screen, although he was still offered different roles. The last film in which he played a key character was the fantastic thriller Through the Eyes of the Wolf, in which he played a scientist and inventor.
Personal life
Tikhonov preferred not to flaunt his life, because he considered it unnecessary. His first wife was the famous actress Nonna Mordyukova, with whom he lived for about 13 years.
In this marriage, the couple had a son, Vladimir, who died at the age of 40 from an addiction to alcohol and drugs. The divorce of the spouses passed peacefully and without scandals. Some biographers of Tikhonov argue that the reason for the breakup was Mordyukova's betrayal, while others were in love with the Latvian actress Dzidra Ritenbergs.
In 1967, the man married the translator Tamara Ivanovna. This union lasted 42 long years, until the death of the artist. The couple had a daughter, Anna, who later followed in her father's footsteps.
In his free time, Tikhonov liked to go fishing. In addition, he was fond of football, being a fan of the Moscow "Spartak".
Sickness and death
In recent years, Vyacheslav Vasilyevich led an ascetic lifestyle, for which he received the nickname "The Great Hermit". In 2002 he suffered a heart attack. After 6 years, he underwent an operation on the heart vessels.
Although the operation was successful, the man had kidney failure. Vyacheslav Tikhonov died on December 4, 2009 at the age of 81.
Tikhonov Photos
