The professor's advice, Vysotsky's reproach and first aid to Barley: how Leonid Kuravlev lived

At the age of 85, the legendary Soviet and Russian actor Leonid Kuravlev, who was the favorite artist of Shukshin and Gaidai, died. It was easy to work with him, he did not drink and did not go out, he quickly grasped the tasks set by the director, played honestly, talentedly.

In total, Leonid Vyacheslavovich has more than 200 film roles. He played both seasoned cheaters and funny simpletons, which he played very well. First of all, we will remember Leonid Kuravlev for the roles of Shura Balaganov from The Golden Calf, Georges Miloslavsky from the film Ivan Vasilyevich Changes Profession and Afonya from the comedy of the same name by Georgy Danelia.

The future actor was born on October 8, 1936 in a working-class family, his father Vyacheslav Yakovlevich worked as a mechanic at an aircraft factory, and his mother Valentina Dmitrievna worked as a hairdresser.

In 1941, when Leonid was four years old, a denunciation was written against his mother, after which the woman was sentenced under the article “counter-revolutionary activity”. After that, the mother of the future actor spent several years in exile in Kazakhstan, then she was transferred to the Murmansk region, and later to the Kola Peninsula. And only in 1948 Valentina Dmitrievna was allowed to live with her son, who moved to live with her in the village of Zasheek.

Leonid Kuravlev and his mother were allowed to return to Moscow only in 1951, where the Kuravlev family was reunited. By this time, the guy had already graduated from school, and it was time to start thinking about a profession.

Kuravlev was advised by his cousin to study acting. She herself wanted to be an actress, but did not pass the competition at VGIK. The main arguments for this profession were the lack of the need to pass mathematics.

Two rounds of entrance exams ended successfully, but in the third round Kuravlev was “replenished”. An angry applicant in the corridor was met by one of the teachers, who advised him to try in a year.

The next two years, Leonid was preparing for admission, working in a stuffed animal factory, and later in an optics factory. In 1955, the applicant’s dream came true – he entered the VGIK. The head of the course, Boris Vladimirovich Bibikov, did not like the fact that Kuravlev was a modest student and almost expelled Leonid in his second year.

This attitude forced Kuravlev to change his attitude to studying, he overcame the complex in himself and already in the third year, together with his classmate Svetlana Druzhinina, staged an excerpt from Henrik Ibsen on the stage of his native university.

It was this production that got two young directors, then VGIK graduates Andrei Tarkovsky and Alexander Gordon. Appreciating Kuravlev’s talent, they invited him to their graduation project “Today there will be no dismissal”, where the young actor played a pioneer named Morozov. This was his first film role.

Immediately after graduating in 1960, Leonid Vyacheslavovich went to the Film Actors Theater, where he worked for 32 years until the collapse of the Soviet Union. Of course, Kuravlev’s biography shows that he is more of a film actor than a theater actor.

In the year of graduation from the university, the actor starred in two films – the adventure film “Midshipman Panin” and Vasily Shukshin’s thesis “From Lebyazhye it is reported”.

A few years later, at the invitation of Shukshin, Leonid Vyacheslavovich will play with him a simple man – the driver Pavel Kolokolnikov in the film “Such a Guy Lives”, after which the actor really became famous.

Shukshin and Kuravlev created the image of a kind, simple guy. This is a vivid image that was not at all like many poster heroes of films of those years.

A year later, Vasily Makarovich’s next film “Your Son and Brother” is released, in which Kuravlev played a dramatic role – he played one of the protagonist’s sons – Stepan. The hero of Leonid Vyacheslavovich escapes from prison shortly before his release, the reason is simple – he missed his home.

It turned out that it was Shukshin who gave the actor a ticket to a big movie. Kuravlev greatly appreciated communication with Shukshin and even named his son Vasily in his honor. Meanwhile, Leonid Vyacheslavovich refused the main role in the film “Stoves and Benches” – he did not want to become a hostage of a comedic image.

In 1967, unexpectedly for the audience, Leonid Kuravlev starred in the role of Khoma Brut in the horror film “Viy”, where he created a wonderful tandem with actress Natalya Varley. By the way, on the set, the actress could be seriously injured when she fell from a coffin during a high-altitude flight in a church. Her partner responded immediately by grabbing the actress who didn’t have a scratch on her.

Although Kuravlev did not play the main role in Shukshin’s comedy, directors working in this genre competed to name the actor in their films. Having agreed, he became one of the best Soviet comedians. He was a favorite actor of Gaidai, Schweitzer and Danelia.

Kuravlev’s talent is very broad. Not everyone can imagine this, but he has played sharply negative roles more than once. Remember his radio operator named Sorokin from the film Unjudgemental, who turned out to be a traitor, or Gestapo officer Eisman in the serial film Seventeen Moments of Spring. Or the thief Valka Smoked in the film “The Meeting Point Cannot Be Changed” – Leonid Vyacheslavovich created an interesting picture with a couple of strokes.

Once on the set Vladimir Vysotsky told his colleague Kuravlev that he behaves in isolation and his hand is sluggish when shaking hands. After that they stopped talking. Perhaps Vysotsky’s “trick” is due to the fact that both of them once auditioned for the main role in the film “Such a Guy Lives”, but Shukshin chose Kuravlev because they were friends. Then Vysotsky retired because friendship is a sacred concept. And here I was able to remind a colleague of an old case.

All his life Leonid Vyacheslavovich lived with a woman whom he loved from an early age. This is Nina Vasilyevna. The departure of his wife 10 years ago was a severe blow for the actor. He sought solace in the Orthodox faith. In 2015 he retired from the cinema for reasons of age. I’ve been living in a nursing home for the past six months. One of the best actors died on January 30, 2022 at the age of 85.

Source: tayni-mirozdaniya.ru

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