Andrey Sergeevich (Andron) Konchalovsky (Mikhalkov-Konchalovsky, present name - Andrey Sergeevich Mikhalkov; genus. 1937) - Soviet, American and Russian actor, theater and film director, screenwriter, teacher, producer, journalist, prose writer, public and political figure.
President of the Nika Film Academy. People's Artist of the RSFSR (1980). Laureate of 2 Silver Lion prizes at the Venice Film Festival (2014, 2016).
There are many interesting facts in the biography of Konchalovsky, which we will talk about in this article.
So, before you is a short biography of Andrei Konchalovsky.
Biography of Konchalovsky
Andrei Konchalovsky was born on August 20, 1937 in Moscow. He grew up in an intelligent and wealthy family.
His father, Sergei Mikhalkov, was a famous writer and poet, and his mother, Natalya Konchalovskaya, was a translator and poet.
In addition to Andrei, a boy named Nikita was born in the Mikhalkov family, who in the future will become a world famous director.
Childhood and youth
As a child, Andrei did not need anything, because together with his brother Nikita he had everything he needed for a full life. Their father was a popular children's writer whom the whole country knew.
It was Sergei Mikhalkov who was the author of a number of works about Uncle Stepa, as well as the anthems of the USSR and Russia.
From an early age, his parents instilled in Andrei a love of music. For this reason, he began attending a music school, piano class.
After receiving the certificate, Konchalovsky entered the music school, which he graduated in 1957. After that, the young man became a student at the Moscow State Conservatory, but studied there for only a couple of years.
By the time of his biography, Andrei Konchalovsky had lost interest in music. For this reason, he entered the directing department at VGIK.
Films and Directing
Named Andrei at birth, at the very beginning of his creative activity, the guy decided to call himself Andron, and also take a double surname - Mikhalkov-Konchalovsky.
The first film where Konchalovsky acted as a director was "The Boy and the Dove". This short film won the prestigious Bronze Lion award at the Venice Children's Film Festival.
At that time, Konchalovsky was still a student at VGIK. By the way, at that time he became friends with the equally famous film director Andrei Tarkovsky, with whom he wrote scripts for the films Skating Rink and Violin, Ivan's Childhood and Andrei Rublev.
A few years later, Andrei decided to experiment, having removed the black-and-white tape "The story of Asya Klyachina, who loved but did not marry."
The story of "real life" was heavily criticized by Soviet censors. The film was released on the big screen only 20 years later.
In the 70s Konchalovsky presented 3 dramas: "Uncle Vanya", "Sibiriada" and "Romance about Lovers".
In 1980, a significant event took place in the biography of Andrei Sergeevich. He received the title of People's Artist of the RSFSR. In the same year, the man went to Hollywood.
In the United States, Konchalovsky gained experience from colleagues and continued to work actively. A couple of years later, he presented his first work, filmed in America, entitled Mary's Beloved.
Since then, he has directed films such as Runaway Train, Duet for a Soloist, Shy People, and Tango and Cash. It is worth noting that the Americans reacted coolly to the work of the Russian director, with the exception of the last tape.
Later Andrei Konchalovsky became disillusioned with American cinema, as a result of which he returned home.
In the 90s, the man made several films, including the fairy tale “Ryaba Chicken”, the documentary “Lumiere and Company” and the mini-series “Odyssey”.
An interesting fact is that Odyssey, based on the famous epics of Homer, became at that time the most expensive project in the history of television - $ 40 million.
The film received positive reviews from world film critics, as a result of which Konchalovsky was awarded an Emmy award.
After that, the drama House of Fools appeared on the big screen, followed by The Lion in Winter. In 2007 Konchalovsky presented the comedy melodrama "Gloss".
A couple of years later, Andrei Konchalovsky acted as a co-producer for the film "Last Sunday", for which he was nominated for an Oscar.
In addition to working in cinematography, Konchalovsky staged several performances in Russia and abroad. Among his works: "Eugene Onegin", "War and Peace", "Three Sisters", "Crime and Punishment", "The Cherry Orchard" and others.
In 2013, Andrei Sergeevich became the head of the Russian film academy "Nika". The following year, his next drama "White Nights of the Postman Alexei Tryapitsyn" was published. For this work, the author was awarded the "Silver Lion" for the best director's work, and the "Golden Eagle" for the best screenplay.
In 2016 Konchalovsky presented the film "Paradise", which was nominated from Russia for the Oscar, in the nomination "Best Film in a Foreign Language.
After 2 years, Andrei Sergeevich shot the epic painting "Sin", which presented the biography of the great Italian sculptor and artist Michelangelo.
As in the previous film, Konchalovsky acted not only as a director, but also as a scriptwriter and producer of the project.
Personal life
During the years of his life, Andrei Konchalovsky was married 5 times. His first wife, with whom he lived for 2 years, was the ballerina Irina Kandat.
After that, the man married the actress and ballerina Natalia Arinbasarova. In this union, the boy Yegor was born, who in the future will follow in the footsteps of his father. After 4 years of marriage, the couple decided to leave.
Konchalovsky's third wife was the French orientalist Vivian Godet, whose marriage lasted 11 years. In this family, the girl Alexandra was born.
Andrew has repeatedly cheated on Vivian with various women, including actresses Liv Ullman and Shirley MacLaine.
For the fourth time, Konchalovsky married television announcer Irina Martynova. The couple lived together for 7 years. During this time, they had 2 daughters - Natalia and Elena.
An interesting fact is that the director has an illegitimate daughter, Daria, from actress Irina Brazgovka.
The fifth wife of Konchalovsky, with whom he lives to this day, was TV presenter and actress Julia Vysotskaya. The man met his chosen one in 1998 at the Kinotavr film festival.
In the same year, the lovers played a wedding, becoming a truly exemplary family.
It is worth noting that Andron Konchalovsky is 36 years older than his wife, but this fact in no way affects their relationship. In this union, the boy Peter and the girl Maria were born.
In October 2013, a terrible tragedy occurred in the Konchalovsky family. The director lost control while driving along one of the French roads.
As a result, his car drove into the oncoming lane and then crashed into another car. Next to Andrei was his 14-year-old daughter Maria, who was not wearing a seat belt.
As a result, the girl was injured and was urgently admitted to a local hospital unconscious.
As of 2020, Maria is still in a coma, but doctors are optimistic. They do not exclude that the girl can come to her senses and return to a full life.
Andrey Konchalovsky today
In 2020, Konchalovsky filmed the historical drama Dear Comrades, where his wife Yulia Vysotskaya went to the main role. The film tells about the shooting of a demonstration of workers in Novocherkassk in 1962.
Since 2017, Andrey Sergeevich has been in charge of the Memorial Museum-Workshop named after A. Pyotr Konchalovsky.
During the 2018 presidential elections, he was among the confidants of Vladimir Putin.
Konchalovsky publicly called for the introduction of the death penalty in Russia for pedophiles who killed their victims. In addition, he proposed to toughen penalties for various types of crimes.
For example, for theft on an especially large scale, Andrei Konchalovsky called for the perpetrators to be imprisoned for 20 years with confiscation of property.
In 2019, the man was awarded the TEFI - Chronicle of Victory award in the category "Best Director of a Television Film / Series".
Konchalovsky has his own account on Instagram. By 2020, over 120,000 people have subscribed to its page.
Konchalovsky Photos
