Pavel Kadochnikov

Pavel Petrovich Kadochnikov (1915-1988) - Soviet theater and film actor, film director, screenwriter and teacher. Laureate of 3 Stalin Prizes and People's Artist of the USSR.

There are many interesting facts in the biography of Pavel Kadochnikov, which we will discuss in this article.

So, before you is a short biography of Kadochnikov.

Biography of Pavel Kadochnikov

Pavel Kadochnikov was born on July 16 (29), 1915 in Petrograd. He grew up and was brought up in a simple family that has nothing to do with cinema. During the Civil War, he and his parents moved to the Ural village of Bikbard, where he spent his childhood.

Childhood and youth

In the village, Pavel went to a local school. At the same time, he was fond of drawing. His mother, who was an educated and wise woman, instilled in him a love of painting.

In 1927, the Kadochnikov family returned home. By that time, their hometown was renamed Leningrad. Here Pavel was admitted to a children's art studio.

During this period of his biography, Kadochnikov dreamed of becoming an artist, but his dreams were not destined to come true. Due to the serious illness of his father, who could not fully provide for his family. As a result, Pavel dropped out and began working as a locksmith's assistant in a factory.

Despite the hard working days, the young man continued to visit the art studio. It was here in 1929 that he became acquainted with the theater. He was noticed by one of the leaders of the theatrical circle, who was looking for a performer of ditties for his performance.

Kadochnikov performed so brilliantly on stage that he was immediately admitted to a theater studio, where he soon got his first role in a production.

Theatre

At the age of 15, Pavel becomes a student at the theatrical college at the Leningrad Youth Theater. An interesting fact is that he was enrolled in a technical school, not having time to get a secondary education. Soon the educational institution was given the status of an institute.

At this time, the biography of Kadochnikov stood out noticeably against the background of other fellow students. He followed fashion, wore a bow tie and a sweatshirt, and sang Neapolitan songs, attracting the attention of many girls.

Having become a certified artist, Pavel began working at the local Youth Theater. Later, he became one of the most talented actors in the city, as a result of which he was trusted to play completely different characters.

It is curious that when Kadochnikov was barely 20 years old, he was already teaching speech technique at the theater school. He worked as a teacher for about three years.

Films

Pavel Kadochnikov first appeared on the big screen in 1935, playing Mikhas in the film "Coming of Age". After that, he got the main roles in the patriotic films "The Defeat of Yudenich" and "Yakov Sverdlov". By the way, in the last work, he immediately reincarnated into 2 characters - the village guy Lyonka and the writer Maxim Gorky.

At the height of the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) Kadochnikov starred in the historical and revolutionary film epic "Defense of Tsaritsyn". It told about the first defense of Tsaritsyn (in 1918) by the troops of the Red Army under the command of Joseph Stalin and Kliment Voroshilov.

In the postwar years, Pavel Kadochnikov continued to be offered the roles of key characters. Especially popular was the military drama "The Exploit of the Scout", in which he was transformed into Major Fedotov. For this work, he was awarded his first Stalin Prize.

The following year, Kadochnikov received the second Stalin Prize for his role as Alexei Meresiev in the film The Story of a Real Man. An interesting fact is that during the filming, the actor constantly wore prostheses in order to portray his character as best as possible.

It is no less interesting that the real Alexei Meresiev was delighted with the courage of Pavel Kadochnikov, noting that he was more like a real hero.

In 1950, a man was seen in the film "Far from Moscow", for which he received the Stalin Prize for the third time. Since Kadochnikov constantly played fearless characters, he became hostage to one image, as a result of which he became more and more uninteresting for the viewer.

Things changed after 4 years, when Pavel Petrovich starred in the comedy "Tiger Tamer", which brought him a new wave of popularity. There were rumors that there was an affair between him and the "tamer" Lyudmila Kasatkina, and that the actor even wanted to leave the family for her sake. However, Lyudmila remained faithful to her husband.

In the following decades, Kadochnikov continued to appear in films, and also became a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1967). In the mid-60s, he decided to take up directing, wishing to achieve success in this field.

Directing

Leaving directing was associated with another reason. In the mid-60s, Pavel Kadochnikov began to receive fewer and fewer proposals from film directors. Only in 1976, after a long break, Nikita Mikhalkov invited him to star in "An Unfinished Piece for Mechanical Piano".

During the lull, Kadochnikov painted pictures, was fond of modeling, and also wrote literary works. It was then that he began to think about a director's career.

In 1965, the premiere of the artist's first tape, Musicians of One Regiment, took place. After 3 years, he presented the film-fairy tale "The Snow Maiden", in which he played the king Berendey. In 1984 he directed the melodrama I Will Never Forget You.

In 1987, Kadochnikov presented his last work - the biographical film "Silver Strings", which tells the story of the creator of the first Russian instrumental orchestra Vasily Andreev.

Personal life

Pavel's first wife was his classmate at the technical school Tatyana Nikitina, who would later become a theater director. In this marriage, the couple had a boy, Constantine. In the future, Konstantin will follow in his father's footsteps.

After that, Kadochnikov married the actress Rosalia Kotovich. Later they had a son, Peter, who also became an artist. Life developed in such a way that Pavel Petrovich outlived both sons.

In 1981, Peter died tragically after falling from a tree, and 3 years later, Konstantin died of a heart attack. If you believe the artist's granddaughter, then the grandfather also had an illegitimate son, Victor, who lives in Europe today.

Death

The death of both sons had an extremely negative impact on the health of the actor. Only thanks to cinema did he manage to cope with despondency. Pavel Kadochnikov died on May 2, 1988 at the age of 72. The cause of death was heart failure.