Childhood
Evgeny Leonov was born on September 2, 1926 in Moscow into the family of an aircraft factory engineer and a housewife. Zhenya, together with his parents and older brother Kolya, lived in a communal apartment, in two small rooms. Anna Ilyinichna and Pavel Vasilyevich Leonov were hospitable hosts, so they often received guests in the house.
When Zhenya was 10 years old, he was invited to audition for a children's film, the filming of which required a fat and funny boy. However, Leonov’s debut did not take place, as he was shy and could not pronounce a phrase from the text.
A year later, Evgeny Leonov nevertheless enrolled in a drama club organized at school. The boy was so fascinated by the classes that he firmly decided to become an actor.
Choosing a theater career
Every day Evgeny Leonov understood more and more clearly that he was created for the stage. Having learned that the Experimental Theater Studio was recruiting students, he went to audition for its director, Rostislav Zakharov. Having successfully passed the exams, Leonov began to spend all his time in the studio. Andrei Aleksandrovich Goncharov provided him with special assistance in mastering the secrets of the acting craft.
Getting started in the theater
In 1947, Evgeniy completed his studies at the studio. Having received his diploma, he came to the Moscow Theater of the Dzerzhinsky District. There he was offered a role in the production of “Peers”. However, a year later the troupe was disbanded. The Dzerzhinsky Theater itself was transformed into the Moscow Stanislavsky Drama Theater, where Leonov was transferred along with the most promising actors. There he appeared on stage for a long time only in episodic roles. Since the salary was sorely lacking, the young actor took on any part-time work. During this period, he actively acted as an extra and even played cameo roles in the films “Happy Flight” and “Pencil on Ice.”
Theater
After graduating from drama school, Evgeny Leonov entered the service of the Moscow Theater of the Dzerzhinsky District. The hallmark of the theater was the play “Peers,” where the young actor played Kolka. But less than a year had passed before this theater was disbanded, and in its place the famous Stanislavsky Moscow Drama Theater was organized, headed by the famous Soviet theater director Vladimir Dudin. Leonov's troupe was accepted into the new theater, but young actors were not trusted with the main roles, so Evgeniy played in the crowd. They paid little money for this, and the actor had to work part-time in films, at first also as an extra.
Gradually, Leonov began to be offered more and more serious roles, but real recognition of his dramatic talent on stage came to the actor when he was already a real movie star. In 1966, the comedian, famous by that time throughout the Soviet Union, played the serious dramatic role of Creon, the tyrant king in the play “Antigone” by the ancient Greek playwright Sophocles, which was staged at the Stanislavsky Theater by Boris Lvov-Anokhin. In 1979, the artist left the Stanislavsky Theater to join his former teacher Andrei Goncharov, who at that moment was the artistic director of the Mayakovsky Theater.
Evgeny Leonov loved his profession to the point of becoming a workaholic. He went on stage with a fever and pneumonia. But, despite this, Goncharov was dissatisfied with him, because the actor often refused to participate in performances due to filming in films. The last straw was the shooting of a popular actor in a fish commercial. The director angrily gathered the entire troupe and insulted Leonov in front of the team, offering to throw the hat around in order to collect money for the actor, since he needs it so much that he stoops to advertising. Leonov went to see Mark Zakharov at the Lenin Komsomol Theater.
In 1988, during a Lenkom tour in Hamburg, Evgeny Leonov experienced clinical death. He played the Defendant in the play “Dictatorship of Conscience,” and three days after the performance his heart stopped. Leonov underwent coronary bypass surgery, but immediately after the operation the actor suffered a massive heart attack. The artist lay in a coma for sixteen days, and all this time the whole country worried about his beloved actor. And he returned.
Less than six months after clinical death, Leonov again appeared on stage in a play with the symbolic title “Funeral Prayer,” playing the main role of Tevye the Milkman. The artist was involved in this performance for six years.
The first serious works in cinema and theater
Actor Yevgeny Leonov played his debut role in cinema in 1955. He played the role of Mishka Snegirev in the detective drama by I. Kheifits “The Rumyantsev Case”. During the same period, the actor starred in the adventure film “The Road” by A. Stolper.
Despite his success in the field of cinema, Leonov was unable to get major roles in the theater. He even admitted to his colleagues that he doubted whether he had chosen the right profession.
Fortunately, already in 1954, director M. Yanshin offered him the role of Lariosik in the play “Days of the Turbins”. This work by Leonov earned recognition from viewers and positive reviews from critics.
Beating, coma and rehabilitation - Evgeniy Leonov-Gladyshev fights for life
Evgeniy Leonov-Gladyshev
Evgeny Leonov-Gladyshev had a difficult childhood. With the move to Leningrad, his family was left without a livelihood, and his mother sent Evgeniy to a boarding school. Life surrounded by orphans turned out to be not so bad: the child gained not only friends, but also a profession - a drama club functioned within the walls of the institution. In the 70s, the artist was already known from the films “Waves of the Black Sea”, “Siberiad” and “The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed”. Over decades of work, he played more than 80 roles.
On January 24, the actor turns 68, and on this day the main thing his colleagues wish for him is health. In August 2018, under strange circumstances, Evgeniy Borisovich received a serious traumatic brain injury. Most were inclined to think that the artist was beaten and left in serious condition on the street.
Relatives and friends are doing everything to ensure that Leonov-Gladyshev finally recovers from what happened and returns to the stage. Relatives have no doubt that the star of “Deadly Force” will recover: he had to endure many trials, but he always passed them with dignity.
FROM BOARDING SCHOOL TO THE CINEMA
Evgeny Leonov-Gladyshev in his youth
At the front, Boris Leonov served as a pilot, and he met Lyudmila Gladysheva after the end of the war in Gatchina, where she worked as a waitress in a canteen. Together with his beloved, the pilot moved to Vilnius. There their children Evgeniy and Andrey were born.
Dad got a job at a plant as an electronics engineer, and in the late 50s he was transferred to Leningrad. The family moved from a luxurious Lithuanian apartment to a room in a communal apartment. Domestic problems could not help but affect the marriage, and soon Evgeniy’s parents divorced. It was difficult for Lyudmila alone to feed her children, so she sent her eldest son to a boarding school for orphans, and her youngest Andrei to a 24-hour kindergarten.
“Although the living conditions in the boarding school were harsh, there was one wonderful outlet for me there: a drama club. At the age of 12 I played the banker Shipuchin in Chekhov’s “Jubilee”. The audience roared: “Zhenya, come on, burn!” And this sank into me like a drug,” Leonov-Gladyshev shared.
The image of Vasya Vekshin has become the actor’s calling card
One day, the assistant director of “Republic of SHKID” came to the boarding school and selected Evgeniy and his friend from among all the teenagers. So the 14-year-old boy made his film debut, albeit as an extra. This event only strengthened the artist’s confidence that his destiny was on the other side of the screen. Having received the certificate, the applicant entered LGITMiK.
As a student, he starred in the adventure drama Turn on the Northern Lights, and played his first leading role in the film Docker. The artist began to be recognized on the street with the premiere of “Siberiada.” On the advice of Andrei Konchalovsky, then Evgeny took the double surname Leonov-Gladyshev so that viewers would not confuse him with the star of “Gentlemen of Fortune.”
The actor played a small but memorable role in the film “The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed.” The image of Vasya Vekshin became the calling card of Evgeny Borisovich. In subsequent years, he had no end to proposals: “The Fall of the Condor,” “Fires,” “Don’t Shoot at the Pass!”
Evgeny Leonov-Gladyshev was remembered by viewers from the TV series “Deadly Force”
In the new century, interest in the artist increased after Lethal Force, where he played Major Shishkin. In 2005, Leonov-Gladyshev was invited to play the main role in the project “Ataman”, and three years later the melodrama “Father” with his participation was released. The actor’s filmography also included the series “Streets of Broken Lanterns” and “Wings of the Empire.”
“Let’s break through, opera”: how did the fates of the heroes of the series “Streets of Broken Lanterns” turn out?
In addition, Evgeny Borisovich tried himself as a director, co-directing the drama “The Supreme Measure” with Viktor Trakhtenberg. Later, Leonov-Gladyshev worked on the films “House of Hope” and the biographical film “I Have the Honor.”
In fact, the age of television series did not please the artist: there was a danger of losing his profession, “depreciating” in the market, and the quality of modern cinema left much to be desired. Therefore, in 2010, he got a job at the Theater on Vasilievsky. “I was warned, even though I myself knew that actors in the theater do not live well. But at the same time, they were brought up on the best traditions of Russian culture and literature. The performance requires enormous energy, psychological, and physical expenditure. The life of the human spirit is what you need to think about,” reasoned Evgeniy Borisovich.
BROKEN MARRIAGES
Evgeniy married Lyudmila as a student
The artist first got married when he was a third-year student at the institute. Lyudmila Firsova was considered the first beauty of the university; according to Leonov-Gladyshev, Mikhail Boyarsky himself courted her.
“The face is clean, directly sculpted, I never wore makeup at all. Stately, taller than me, lush breasts, and a tiny waist,” described Evgeniy Borisovich. “It’s a pity that her acting career didn’t work out for her: she played in a couple of episodes in the films where I starred, and that’s all.” She worked at the Saltykov-Shchedrin Library.”
At first, the newlyweds huddled in a communal apartment, then moved together to a separate two-room apartment. Both dreamed of children, but Lyudmila’s long-awaited pregnancy occurred only eight years after the wedding. In 1979, Leonov-Gladyshev’s first child, Artem, was born. Those around them believed that an idyll reigned in the family, but over time the relationship became obsolete. After spending 23 years together, the couple separated.
“And when Temka was 14 years old, Lyudochka passed away - throat cancer,” complained Evgeniy Borisovich. “I organized everything for treatment, but then I went abroad, and... Luda died practically in the arms of her son.”
The actor’s marriage to Tatyana Khodorchenko lasted almost 18 years
Subsequently, the artist became close to Artem and did not hide from him that he had left Lyudmila for another woman. Being one step away from divorce, the actor began an affair with Tatyana Khodorchenko. Evgeny Borisovich was the chairman of the Screen Actors Guild of St. Petersburg, and Tatyana worked as the chief accountant in the office that sponsored the organization.
“When her company went bankrupt, I offered to become our organizing secretary. She agreed and smoothly joined our ranks - she was friendly with everyone, the actors fell in love with her, we began to get closer and closer to her,” the artist explained. — I found out that Tatyana is divorced and has a daughter. When we got married, Katya was 12 years old, and I raised her. He dressed, put on shoes, fed, helped, did not spare anything. For her, I will forever remain “Uncle Zhenya.” Katya graduated from the Vaganova Ballet Academy and became a prima dancer at the Opera and Ballet Theater in Israel.”
The actor’s second union lasted almost 18 years, although the spouses were completely different people. It turned out to be difficult for an accountant to understand how one could rush to a colleague’s house at two in the morning to help him with money. Tatyana increasingly accused the artist of cheating, and the relationship completely deteriorated. Leonov-Gladyshev suggested that the chosen one break up and stop pointless arguments.
TRAGEDY
Elena Skripkina takes care of a celebrity after an injury
The actor did not face loneliness - Elena Skripkina, candidate of historical sciences, soon became his common-law wife. Everything was going well: for his 65th birthday, the artist bought a new apartment, and his son often came to see him. Leonov-Gladyshev did not complain about the lack of work either. Who would have thought that very soon the whole country would be worried about his health?
In August 2018, Evgeniy Borisovich was expected on set in Moscow, but he never made it to the location: the star was found unconscious near a St. Petersburg store and was urgently hospitalized at a local clinic with a serious head injury and broken ribs. Versions of what happened varied: was it an accident, or did the bandits hit the actor in the head?
The star of “Deadly Force” Evgeny Leonov-Gladyshev fell into a coma
According to doctors, the artist suffered a cerebral hemorrhage. After emergency surgery, the star of detective series was transferred to the neurosurgery department. There were rumors that the actor fell into a coma, but his son Artem assured others that the victim’s condition had stabilized. Leonov-Gladyshev was assigned to a regular ward, and a few months later he was discharged home.
“The dynamics are positive. He underwent rehabilitation first at Parkhomenko, then in Sestroretsk, and in the near future he will be admitted to Bestuzhevskaya. Now he is working on restoring his speech, there is a possibility of returning to his profession,” said actor Sergei Koshonin.
Galina Bokashevskaya’s statement about the actor’s serious condition excited fans
Considerable amounts of money were spent on the artist’s treatment, and relatives turned to concerned people for help. As a result, the movie star's family managed to raise enough money for rehabilitation. First of all, to restore the actor’s speech and motor activity.
For a long time, nothing was heard about Evgeniy Borisovich’s condition, so the revelation of his colleague Galina Bokashevskaya in the spring of 2019 seriously worried fans. “Now Zhenya is very bad, he practically doesn’t speak. In the hospital, he suffered a brain hemorrhage, from which he has not yet recovered,” Bokashevskaya complained.
Colleague of Evgeny Leonov-Gladyshev: “He’s really bad”
However, the actress later explained that she had been misunderstood: they were talking about Leonov-Gladyshev’s condition at the beginning of rehabilitation, and now he is much better. “We haven’t seen each other for six months. We are going to play in a play soon. Thanks to the support of his family and the love of the audience, Zhenya began to recover,” Galina shared with StarHit.
Alexander Pankratov-Cherny helped an old friend when he was in trouble
Slowly the actor began to speak. For this, Elena Skripkina thanks, first of all, representatives of the Artist Foundation and Alexander Pankratov-Cherny. Alexander Vasilyevich has been friends with Leonov-Gladyshev for 40 years and could not stay away when he needed financial help.
Wife of Evgeny Leonov-Gladyshev: “Every month we spend 230 thousand on rehabilitation”
Every three months, Evgeniy Borisovich undergoes a rehabilitation course worth 230 thousand rubles. The actor has a long road ahead to a full recovery, but his loved ones believe that the audience will see him on stage more than once.
Based on materials from EG.ru, NevNov, Tele.ru, “Gorodovaya”.
Photo: PhotoXPress.ru, Anatoly Lomokhov, Gennadiy Usoev / Legion-Media, personal archive, still from the film “The meeting place cannot be changed”, still from the series “Deadly Force”
Further filmography of Evgeny Leonov
In the 1960s, the actor starred with several famous directors. Leonov’s most notable works of this period include “Zarechensky Grooms” (dir. V. Merezhko), “The Magician” (dir. P. Todorovsky), “Virineya” and “The Snow Queen” (dir. V. Fetin) and “Not Grieve" (dir. G. Danelia), etc.
In subsequent years, the actor managed to create other successful screen images. Among them, it is especially worth noting Leonov’s works in the films “Belorussky Station” and “Gentlemen of Fortune”. In the first film, the actor played the role of the former intelligence chief, and in peacetime, a modest mechanic, Ivan Prikhodko, and in the second, he had to create two diametrically opposed images in one picture: a criminal and the head of a kindergarten. The viewer highly appreciated both of Leonov's works, and the films themselves became classics of Soviet cinema. People of all ages have been watching them with pleasure for more than 4 decades.
Talking about the actor’s filmography, one cannot help but say a few words about his work on cartoons about Winnie the Pooh. Thanks to them, Leonov’s voice became familiar to millions of children.
Film work in the 70s and 80s
In the second half of the 1970s, Leonov brilliantly played the role of the king in “An Ordinary Miracle” by Mark Zakharov, and he also often starred with Georgy Danelia.
In particular, in the filmography of Evgeny Leonov, a special place is occupied by the films “Afonya”, “Don’t Cry!”, “Thirty Three”, “Mimino” and “Autumn Marathon”. In addition, the actor starred in the science fiction film “Kin-dza-dza”.
Another success of Leonov is his role in the film by E. Ryazanov “Say a word for the poor hussar,” in which Evgeny Pavlovich played the provincial actor Bubentsov.
Movies
Yevgeny Leonov first appeared on the big screen in 1948. He played a janitor in the short film “Pencil on Ice.” After this, he was not trusted with key roles for a long time, as a result of which he played minor characters.
Leonov's first success came in 1961, when he played the role of a “trainer” in the comedy “Striped Flight.” It was after this that many famous directors wanted to collaborate with him.
Three years later, Evgeny showed himself in a completely different image, playing the Cossack Yakov Shibalok in the drama “The Don Tale.” The dramatic role was performed by the actor so truthfully and touchingly that Leonov was awarded two prizes at once - at the All-Union Festival in Kyiv and at the International Festival in New Delhi.
Evgeny Leonov in the comedy “Gentlemen of Fortune”
In 1965, Evgeny 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 transform into King Eric. Next year he will appear in the film “Zigzag of Fortune.”
After this, 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 “Belorussky Station”, “Afonya”, “Eldest Son”, “Ordinary Miracle”, “Autumn Marathon” and “Gentlemen of Fortune”. In order to more convincingly play a thief nicknamed 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 Dripped,” “Unicum” and other projects. Danelia’s tragicomedy “Kin-dza-dza!”, which was filmed in the Karakum desert, deserves special attention.
Evgeny Leonov and Yuri Yakovlev in the comedy “Kin-dza-dza!”
During filming, the heat was so unbearable that the entire crew cursed endlessly. The film director managed to quarrel even with the non-conflict Leonov, from whom he had not heard a single harsh word in 20 years.
The painting “Kin-dza-dza!” influenced modern Russian-speaking culture, and many made-up words from the film entered the spoken language. By that time, Leonov was already People's Artist of the USSR.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Evgeniy Pavlovich starred in 3 films: “Nastya”, “Detective Bureau Felix” and “American Grandfather”.
Illness and death
Leonov worked in theater and cinema, not sparing his health. In the summer of 1988, during a tour in Germany, the actor became ill. In the ambulance, his heart stopped beating and he experienced clinical death. Leonov underwent a complex operation. Fortunately, the actor was able to overcome the illness and after 4 months began work on the production of “Funeral Prayer.” Its premiere took place in October 1988. This work was the last for Evgeny Pavlovich.
Health problems made themselves felt again. On January 29, 1994, Leonov passed away. He was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery in Moscow.
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In this theater, the artist played his best roles, and for the role of Tevye in “Funeral Prayer” he received the State Prize of Russia.
In the photo: Leonov in the comedy “Zigzag of Fortune”
The artist appeared on stage with this performance for six years. He returned to her six months after heart surgery and clinical death, which he experienced during a tour in Germany.
“Why did my heart give out: was it a nervous time or a nervous profession? I believe that a person wears out not from creativity - from fate. Because he constantly fights for his place in the sun. For the right to a role...”, said Evgeny Leonov.
Leonov family
Evgeny Pavlovich was extremely shy in his youth. This made it extremely difficult for him to communicate with representatives of the opposite sex. One day in 1957, during a theater tour in Sverdlovsk, actor Evgeniy Leonov met a girl named Wanda. She turned out to be a student at a music pedagogical school and made a great impression on the young man. While the tour lasted, Evgeny and Wanda met every day. Returning to the capital, the actor did not forget about the Sverdlovsk beauty. He repeatedly called the girl and asked her to come to him in Moscow. Finally, Wanda arrived in the capital, and Eugene proposed to her. In the fall of the same year, the couple arranged a modest youth wedding. The newly-made husband was sure that he and Wanda should have common professional interests, so she had no choice but to enter GITIS. In 1959, the couple had a son, Andrei.
Subsequently, Wanda worked for many years in the literary department of the Lenkom Theater. As for Andrei Leonov, he became an actor and TV presenter, and in 1997 received the title of Honored Artist of the Russian Federation.
Now you know the biography of Evgeniy Pavlovich Leonov. Although the famous actor is not with us, he continues to delight admirers of his talent who are ready to review “Gentlemen of Fortune” or “Striped Flight” for the hundredth time.
Personal life
Since Leonov was short (165 cm) and had a rather mediocre appearance, he felt very awkward in communicating with women.
The guy met his future wife, Vanda Vladimirovna, in 1957, during a tour in Sverdlovsk. That same year, the young people got married, living a long and happy life together.
Evgeny Leonov with his son Andrey
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 Dynamo Moscow.
