The death of Nikolai Eremenko: what “uncertainties” remain


Biography

Nikolai Eremenko Jr. is a Soviet and Russian film actor, star of the films “Pirates of the 20th Century”, “June 31”, “Red and Black”, “In Search of Captain Grant”. The films in which the actor participated were popular with viewers and film critics. He had no passing roles.

Nikolai Eremenko was born into an acting family. A joyful event occurred on February 14, 1949 in Vitebsk. The future actor spent his childhood and youth here. Later, Eremenko Jr. more than once recalled his Spartan upbringing. The years in the concentration camp did not have the best effect on my father's character. Eremenko Sr. was strict with his son, sometimes excessively. The boy was glad that his parents toured a lot.

Actor Nikolai Eremenko Jr.
Actor Nikolai Eremenko Jr.

In the yard, Kolya was called “Artist,” which angered the boy and drove him crazy. His comrades had hooligan nicknames, but he had creative ones: he didn’t want to stand out.

Nikolai spent his childhood in the theater. One time Kolya got so excited behind the scenes that he forgot and went on stage. There, in front of the audience, he asked his mother (and Galina Aleksandrovna was in character) to button his trousers. The performance was disrupted, but Vitebsk spectators discussed the boy’s prank for a long time.

Nikolai Eremenko Jr. in his youth

At school, Nikolai was an average student and did not like mathematics. The teenager knew that he would be an artist. Having received the certificate, Eremenko Jr. decided to enter VGIK, but was late for the competition. The following year he entered - Nikolai did not hide the fact that he got into a prestigious university thanks to his father. The young man studied with Sergei Gerasimov, whom many dreamed of joining. The course was stellar. Four Natashas studied with Eremenko - Belokhvostikova, Bondarchuk, Arinbasarova and Gvozdikova. Nikolai was not a diligent student: he skipped lectures, acted as a hooligan, and had bad behavior. The young man was often reprimanded and transferred from one course to another conditionally.

Eremenko Jr. had to prove his right to be called an actor on the set more than once.

“Kolya became an alcoholic, it ruined him”: Nikolai Eremenko’s mother spoke about her son

Yesterday marked the 69th anniversary of the birth of People's Artist of Russia Nikolai Eremenko Jr.

. The actor passed away in May 2001. Nikolai’s 89-year-old mother met with the Minsk correspondent of the Sobesednik.ru portal and talked about what led the artist to death. People's Artist of Belarus Galina Aleksandrovna Orlova recalled her son's youth and his difficult relationships with women.

Nikolai Eremenko Jr. decided to become an actor immediately after graduating from school. Before the eyes of the teenager was the example of his father - People's Artist of the USSR Nikolai Eremenko Sr. The mother admits that her son’s admission to VGIK is “pure cronyism,” but Sergei Gerasimov managed to reveal the talent of the uptight, shy student.

Nikolai’s first film work was the role in the film “By the Lake” as a mentor. Eremenko worried for many years that millions of viewers admired his performance in “Pirates of the 20th Century,” and Gerasimov’s film “Red and Black” based on Stendhal, for which the actor carefully prepared, did not receive such success. Galina Aleksandrovna considers this result logical: it is easier for an adventure western to gain popularity, but Gerasimov’s film had to be thought about.

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On this day, February 14, Nikolai Nikolaevich Eremenko (junior) (1949−2001, 52 years old) was born in Vitebsk. Let us remember the films with his participation: “By the Lake”, “Hot Snow”, “Red and Black”, “Tavern on Pyatnitskaya”, “Pirates of the 20th century”, “At the beginning of glorious deeds”, “In search of Captain Grant”, “I declare war on you”, “Son for father”, “June 31”, “Brigade” and others. Died of a stroke. Everlasting memory. #actor #actorkino #film actor #USSR #Soviet Union #to be remembered #Nikolayeremenko #pirates of the 20th century #at the beginning of glorious affairs #Peter's youth #father's son #actor #USSR #nikolayeremenko

A post shared by Ivan Sadovnikov. From Russia. (@ivan.sadovnikov) on Feb 14, 2020 at 12:15am PST

The roles of Nikolai Eremenko Jr.
Gallery of three photo collages The artist’s mother believes that the nineties undermined her son’s health. The situation after the collapse of the USSR was difficult: “This time is a terrible phenomenon, cinema fell into a hole, and it was not clear whether it would ever get out or not. Now they have finally started doing something worthy like Legend No. 17, but in the 90s they were filming only bandits. At that time, many talented artists drank themselves to death and died. And Kolya drank himself to death. This is what destroyed him, turning into a disease.”

Nikolai's parents did not know that their son had become an alcoholic. He lived in Moscow, rarely appeared in Minsk, and his wife Vera did not tell her father-in-law anything. Galina Aleksandrovna recalls with bitterness that alcohol greatly changed her son and ruined his health.

Neither the artist’s parents nor his wife knew that he had another family - Tatyana Maslennikova gave birth to Nikolai’s daughter Tatyana. “I don’t know why Kolya didn’t show them to us, apparently he was afraid that dad and I wouldn’t understand this and would judge us. He only let it slip once, when I told him that we need a grandson, we already have a granddaughter, and he replied: Well, they’re just girls. Even then I started thinking, like, what kind of girls are they, he has one daughter, but I didn’t ask again,” recalls Galina Aleksandrovna.

Mother is sad about her personal life. Nikolai lived with his wife Vera for many years - in 1975 their daughter Olga was born. The first years everything was fine, and in the future the parents did not hear rumors about the spouses’ quarrels. In one of his interviews, Nikolai said: “We, Eremenkas, do not betray our wives,” and a year later he divorced Vera after 27 years of marriage.

Already in adulthood, the actor came to the conclusion: “I am not created for family life, a lone wolf.”

After his divorce from Vera, the artist introduced assistant director Lyudmila, who was 18 years younger than him, to his parents. However, Nikolai never managed to officially marry her. According to the mother, her son did not have the main women in his life - “everyone in between.” Galina Aleksandrovna was never able to accept Nikolai’s daughter from Tatyana Maslennikova and does not communicate with her granddaughter, whom she saw for the first time in her life as an 11-year-old at her son’s funeral.

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Happy birthday, Kolya! #Nikolayeremenko #ourkino #friendscomrades #memory #cinema #actors

A post shared by Anatoliy Sivushov (@sivushov) on Feb 13, 2018 at 10:33pm PST

Galina Aleksandrovna spoke about the last hours of her son’s life. In May 2011, when not even a year had passed after the death of his father from a heart attack, the actor became ill. Lyudmila tried to call an ambulance, but Nikolai forbade her: “When I’m drunk, no ambulances!” The couple waited until the evening for a narcologist, and at night the artist lost consciousness and was taken to the Botkin Hospital with a stroke. Lyudmila called Galina Alexandrovna and shouted: “He’s still alive, come!” The mother does not remember how she got to Moscow from Minsk:

“I went into the intensive care unit, saw Kolya naked, covered with a sheet, his hands were tied, he was breathing through a machine. I asked the doctors: Can he hear me? They said no. Then she asked: Will he ever come to his senses? The doctor said: No! He had about three hours to live. I slid down the wall and lost consciousness. They pumped me out, and all this time I sat next to my son, talking to him about everything.”

Nikolai Eremenko’s mother bitterly said that her son’s ex-wife Vera and granddaughter Olga used to come to see her in Minsk, but in recent years they stopped even calling her. Galina Aleksandrovna has never seen her six-year-old great-granddaughter Anya, who is growing up to be a real artist. Nikolai’s last companion lives in Minsk and sometimes visits her common-law husband’s mother. Lyudmila does not accept accusations of the artist’s death: “I blame myself most of all, it seems that I didn’t do something, didn’t insist on calling an ambulance rather than waiting until the evening for the narcologist to arrive. But over the years you realize that everything is in God’s hands. And are those people who talk about Kolya on talk shows friends?! I’ll tell you honestly, Eremenko was a deeply lonely person.”

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OUR ARTISTS!! SLEEP PEACEFULLY AND PRAY TO GOD FOR US

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