Evgeny Pavlovich Leonov (1926-1994) - Soviet and Russian theater and film actor. People's Artist of the USSR. Laureate of the State Prize of the USSR, the Lenin Komsomol Prize, the State Prize of the RSFSR them. brothers Vasiliev and the State Prize of Russia. Chevalier of the Order of Lenin.
There are many interesting facts in the biography of Yevgeny Leonov, which we will talk about in this article.
So, before you is a short biography of Yevgeny Leonov.
Biography of Evgeny Leonov
Evgeny Leonov was born on September 2, 1926 in Moscow. He grew up in a simple family that has nothing to do with cinema.
The actor's father, Pavel Vasilievich, worked as an engineer at an aircraft plant, and his mother, Anna Ilyinichna, was a housewife. In addition to Eugene, a boy Nikolai was born in this family.
Childhood and youth
The Leonov family lived in an ordinary communal apartment, occupying 2 rooms. Yevgeny's artistic abilities began to manifest themselves in childhood, as a result of which his parents sent him to a drama circle.
Everything went well until the moment when the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) began. At that time, the biography of the future actor barely finished 7 classes.
During the war years, all members of the family worked at an aircraft plant. Sr. Leonov was engaged in the design of aircraft, his wife worked as a timekeeper, Nikolai was a copyist, and Yevgeny became an apprentice to a turner.
In 1943, Leonov successfully passed the exams at the Aviation Instrument-Making College named after V.I. S. Ordzhonikidze, however, in his third year of study, he decided to enter the drama department of the Moscow Experimental Theater Studio.
Theatre
At the age of 21, Evgeny Leonov graduated from the studio and eventually was accepted into the troupe of the Moscow Drama Theater. K. S. Stanislavsky.
Initially, the young actor was offered only minor roles, as a result of which he was paid much less than the leading artists. For this reason, he had to earn money in the cinema, where he also played episodic characters.
They began to trust Leonov with the main roles in the theater only when he had already become a popular film actor.
In 1968, Evgeny Pavlovich moved to work at the Moscow Theater. V. Mayakovsky. It was here that he played one of the best roles in his creative biography - Vanyushin the father in the production of Vanyushin's Children.
A few years later, Leonov had serious disagreements with the head of the theater, Andrei Goncharov. The master closed his eyes for a long time to the fact that Eugene often missed rehearsals because of filming a movie, but could not forgive him for participating in a fish advertisement.
In the heat of anger, Goncharov gathered all the actors of the theater and threw a hat in his hands to collect money for Leonov, since he needed them so badly that he dropped to filming a commercial. After this incident, Evgeny Pavlovich moved to Lenkom, which was headed by Mark Zakharov.
In 1988, during a tour in Hamburg, Leonov experienced clinical death caused by a massive heart attack. He underwent an urgent coronary artery bypass grafting. The man was in a coma for 28 days and was able to return to the stage only after 4 months.
Films
Yevgeny Leonov first appeared on the big screen in 1948. He played a janitor in the short film "Pencil on Ice". After that, they did not trust him for key roles for a long time, as a result of which he played minor characters.
Leonov's first success came in 1961, when he was transformed into a "trainer" in the comedy "Striped Flight". It was after this that many famous directors wanted to cooperate with him.
After 3 years, Evgeny showed himself in a completely different way, playing the Cossack Yakov Shibalok in the drama "The Don Tale". The dramatic role was played by the actor so truthfully and touchingly that Leonov won 2 prizes at once - at the All-Union Festival in Kiev and at the International Festival in New Delhi.
In 1965, Yevgeny Pavlovich starred in Danelia's comedy "Thirty Three", which gained great popularity in the USSR. An interesting fact is that from this moment on, Leonov will star in all the films of this director until the end of his days. Later Danelia will call him her "talisman".
In 1967, viewers will see their favorite artist in the fairy tale film "The Snow Queen", where he will be transformed into King Eric. Next year he will appear in the film "Zigzag of Fortune".
After that, one of the most famous cartoon characters, Winnie the Pooh, spoke in Leonov's voice.
In the 70s, Yevgeny Leonov's creative biography was replenished with such cult films as Belorusskiy Vokzal, Afonya, Elder Son, Ordinary Miracle, Autumn Marathon and Gentlemen of Fortune. In order to more convincingly play a thief named Associate Professor in the last film, he visited the cells of the Butyrka prison, where he could observe the behavior of real criminals.
In the 80s, viewers saw Leonov in the films "Behind the matches", "Tears were falling", "Unicum" and other projects. Danelia's tragicomedy "Kin-dza-dza!", Which was filmed in the Karakum desert, deserves special attention.
During the filming, the heat was so unbearable that the entire film crew cursed endlessly. The film director even managed to quarrel with the non-conflict Leonov, from whom for 20 years he had not heard a single harsh word.
Painting "Kin-dza-dza!" influenced the modern Russian-speaking culture, and many of the fictional words from the film entered the spoken language. By that time Leonov was already the People's Artist of the USSR.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Yevgeny Pavlovich starred in 3 films: "Nastya", "Felix Bureaus" and "American Grandpa".
Personal life
Since Leonov was not tall (165 cm) and had a rather mediocre appearance, he felt very uncomfortable in dealing with women.
The guy met his future wife, Wanda Vladimirovna, in 1957, during a tour in Sverdlovsk. In the same year, young people played a wedding, having lived a long and happy life together.
In this marriage, a boy Andrei was born, who in the future will follow in the footsteps of his father.
Since 1955 Leonov was a member of the CPSU. He was fond of football, being a fan of the Moscow "Dynamo".
Death
Evgeny Pavlovich Leonov died on January 29, 1994 at the age of 67. The cause of his death was a detached blood clot when he was going to the play "Memorial Prayer".
When the audience learned that the production was canceled due to the actor's sudden death, none of those who came to the performance returned their ticket to the box office.
Photo by Evgeny Leonov
