Georgy Stepanovich Zhzhenov (1915-2005) is a famous Soviet theater and film actor, Honored Artist of the USSR. During his magnificent career, he played over 70 film roles, including “The Fate of a Resident,” “Beware of the Car,” “The Crew,” and “Hot Snow.” Zhzhenov's heroes have always been distinguished by their strong, strong-willed and fearless character. Having survived the difficult years of his youth, part of which was the test in the camps, he managed to start a new life and revealed his talent on the theater stage and in cinema. Georgy Stepanovich is the author of over 10 books in which he recalled the difficult years he lived in prison.
Childhood
Georgy Zhzhenov was born on March 9 (22), 1915 in Petrograd. His parents had peasant origins and came from the Tver province. Father Stepan Filippovich was widowed early and was left with small children in his arms. Soon he married Maria Shchelkina, who bore him a son, George. As the actor recalled, the family did not live well, and the father often drank, raising his hand against his wife. But the mother showed patience and kindness, so the son always called her “my beautiful mother.”
Zhzhenov lived on Vasilyevsky Island for over 20 years. Here the future actor graduated from the seventh grade of a labor school. To continue studying in the physics and mathematics profile, it was necessary to pass an examination test. However, the young man chose a polytechnic career over the circus and theater. In order to have the opportunity to study within the walls of the circus technical school, Georgy used his brother’s documents and for some time introduced himself as Boris. True, he later admitted that he was joking, and the teachers forgave him.
Biography
Georgy Zhzhenov is an actor, People's Artist of the USSR, well known to film fans for such films as “Beware of the Car,” “Crew” and “The Fate of a Resident.” He was born on Vasilyevsky Island in Petrograd into a family from a simple peasant family. Georgy had an older brother, Boris, who several times played a very significant role in the fate of Zhzhonov.
Actor Georgy Zhzhenov
Gosha studied at a school with a focus on physics and mathematics, but science actually attracted him little. At the age of 15, he used his brother’s documents and entered the variety and circus technical school in the acrobatic department. Later, the young man confessed to his teachers what he had done and received the final diploma in his own name. It was at the circus that the young guy was noticed by directors and invited to the movies.
After starring in the first film, Georgy Zhzhenov gave up his career as a circus performer and entered the Leningrad College of Performing Arts. While still studying, he acted a lot and by the time he graduated from the acting department he was already quite famous. But in 1937, trouble awaited George.
Georgy Zhzhenov and his brother Boris
His brother Boris was convicted of not going to a mourning demonstration over the murder of S. M. Kirov. The whole family was deported to Kazakhstan, and Boris himself died near Vorkuta. But Georgy refused to leave Leningrad. Director Sergei Gerasimov supported him, and the actor managed to stay.
But not for long - the authorities quickly found a new key. On one of his tours, Georgy Zhzhenov met and talked with another passenger on the train, who turned out to be an American diplomat. This meeting was enough reason to accuse the actor of espionage and treason. Zhzhonov was exiled and lived in exile until 1953.
Arrested Georgy Zhzhenov
True, at the request of the same Gerasimov, he managed to get a job in theaters in Pavlov-on-Oka and Norilsk, where Georgy Stepanovich became friends with Innokenty Smoktunovsky. Zhzhenov also acted in films at the Sverdlovsk Film Studio. Only in 1955 did he manage to rehabilitate himself and return to big cities. At first he lived and worked in Leningrad, and in 1968 he moved to Moscow and joined the troupe of the Mossovet Theater.
First dares
Soon Zhzhenov, together with fellow student Zh. Smirnov, prepared an ex and began performing in the Shapito circus. It was here that directors noticed him and invited him to act in films. In 1932, the first film with the participation of the artist, “The Hero’s Mistake,” was released, in which he played a tractor driver. It is interesting that this picture became the debut for another famous actor E. Kopelyan. The work on the set impressed Georgy so much that he firmly decided to continue his studies at the Leningrad College of Performing Arts, from which he graduated in 1935. True, Zhzhenov later admitted that he “exchanged the healthy smell of the playpen for the smell of acetone in the studio pavilions.”
At this time, Georgy was in great demand, getting a job at two film studios, Lenfilm and Belgoskino, and starred in several films: Chapaev, Crown Prince of the Republic and Golden Lights.
Hard times
The murder of S. Kirov at the end of 1934, who led Leningrad, opened up space for mass repressions that fell on the heads of innocent people. One of the victims of the bloody Moloch was George’s brother Boris, absurdly accused of anti-Soviet activities. The family, who were supposed to go into exile in Kazakhstan, also got it. Georgy categorically refused to leave, and it cost him dearly.
In 1938, he participated in the work on the film “Komsomol Men” and went with the film crew to the Far East to the city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur. On the train, he got into a conversation with an American who had come to the USSR on a business visit. This led to accusations of espionage. In July 1938, the actor was arrested, he was given serial number 605, and a year later he received a five-year sentence. “I realized that I was a sliver of wood, to be played with as much as anyone wanted,” the actor later recalled.
As a result, Zhzhenov was sent to Kolyma, where he worked in the gold mines for 4 years. These were the most difficult years when we had to endure the pangs of hunger for a long time. The mother who was looking for him sent her son a parcel, which could not be delivered to the settlement due to impassable roads. Miraculously, Georgy managed to ask his superiors to take time off to pick up the long-awaited cargo, dreams of which provoked severe hallucinations. In severe frost and snowstorm, he went to collect the parcel. The actor, deprived of strength, was on his last legs, but the head of the settlement unexpectedly helped, taking him there on a sleigh. Despite numerous requests to send him to serve his sentence in the Magadan Theater, on the stage of which prisoners performed, Zhzhenov never received permission to do this. But in 1943 he was given almost two more years in the camps.
At this time, the actor met the director and actor K. Nikanorov, with whom he would be friends until his death. Just before the end of the war in the spring of 1945, Georgy was released early for good behavior and got a job at the Magadan Polar Drama Theater. After 2 years, he returned to the capital and, under the patronage of his teacher S. Gerasimov, went to Sverdlovsk, where he began acting in the film “Alitet Goes to the Mountains.” But work on it was interrupted and moved to Moscow, where Zhzhenov was forbidden to be. This forced him to go to the provincial theater of Pavlovsk-on-Oka.
But fate again turned out to be unkind to the actor. In 1949, he was arrested again and spent 6 months in prison in Gorky. Then he was sent to polar Norilsk, where until 1953 he served in the local drama theater. After the death of I. Stalin, a wave of rehabilitation began, which also included Zhzhenov. In 1955, by decision of the Leningrad Military Tribunal, his honorable name was returned.
KisTv
03/22/1915 - 12/08/2005, Moscow
People's Artist of the USSR (1980)
Laureate of the State Prize of the RSFSR named after. Vasilyev brothers (1975, for the role of Bessonov in the film “Hot Snow”)
Prize for contribution to Russian cinema at the Constellation Film Festival (1992)
Award of the Kinotavr Film Festival in the category “Presidential Council Award for a Creative Career” (1995)
“Crystal Turandot” Award - Award of the Association of Cultural Workers, “Muse of Freedom” “for long-term service to the theater” (1995)
Nika Award in the category “Honor and Dignity” (1997)
Order of Merit for the Fatherland, IV degree (1996)
Order of Merit for the Fatherland, III degree (1998)
Order of Merit for the Fatherland, 2nd class (2000)
Parents
Gergiy Zhzhenov was born on March 22, 1915 in Petrograd. His parents - father Zhzhenov Stepan Filippovich and mother Shchelkina Maria Fedorovna - were from peasants of the Tver province. With the beginning of the revolution, the Zhzhenov family moved to the village. Having safely waited out the turbulent years, in 1919 they returned to Petrograd again and settled on Vasilyevsky Island (at the corner of the First Line and Bolshoy Prospekt).
From the circus to the cinema
From an early age, Georgy became interested in the circus, theater and cinema. Therefore, after graduating from the seventh grade of a school with a physics and mathematics focus, he decided not to continue further education. In 1930, having borrowed documents from his older brother Boris (born 1913), Georgy entered the acrobatic department of the Leningrad Variety and Circus College under the name Boris Zhzhenov. Subsequently, he, of course, confessed, and the teachers forgave him for this “joke.” In his second year, Georgy, together with his classmate Georges Smirnov, rehearsed the cascade ex and began performing at the Leningrad Circus “Chapiteau” as “2-Georges-2” in the genre of cascade acrobatics. Film workers drew attention to Zhzhenov’s speeches. He was invited to play the main role of tractor driver Pashka Vetrov in Eduard Ioganson’s film “The Hero’s Mistake” (1932). Efim Kopelyan, no less famous today, made his debut with him. After this film, Georgy Zhzhenov decided to leave his circus career and become an actor. Having graduated from the variety and circus technical school that same year, he entered the film actor department of the Leningrad Institute of Performing Arts. Although Georgy Stepanovich kept his love for the circus, as the first youthful romantic attempt at introducing himself to the world of art, until the end of his life.
Arrest
In 1935, Georgy Zhzhenov graduated from the institute. By that time, he had already acted in films several times: “Crown Prince of the Republic”, “Golden Lights”, “Chapaev”. It seemed that nothing foreshadowed trouble... In December 1936, after the murder of S.M. Kirov in Leningrad, Georgy’s elder brother Boris was arrested and convicted in the spring of 1937 on the absurd charge of “anti-Soviet activities and terrorist sentiments.” The Zhzhenov family (father, mother and three sisters), who lived with his brother, was deported to Kazakhstan. Georgy categorically refused to go into exile. He was reminded of this. During the filming of the film “Komsomolsk” (1938), together with the then famous stars of Soviet cinema N. Kryuchkov, P. Aleinikov, I. Kuznetsov and others, Zhzhenov traveled by train to Komsomolsk-on-Amur. During the trip, he met an American who was traveling to Vladivostok to meet a business delegation. This acquaintance became fatal for Georgy Stepanovich. He was used as a pretext for accusations of espionage. On the night of July 4-5, 1938, on the absurd charge of espionage, he was arrested by the NKVD of the USSR. Through blackmail and threats, he was forced to admit guilt. By an absentee resolution of the OSO NKVD of the USSR, he was sentenced to 5 years in prison. Back in 1939, in the transit camp in Vladivostok, where the stages to Kolyma were formed, they said that in Magadan there was a theater in which prisoners worked together with civilian artists. From the very beginning of his stay in Kolyma, G.S. Zhzhenov repeatedly made requests to be sent to work in his specialty, but all his requests had no response. Those convicted under Article 58 were not accepted into this theater.
Release and new arrest
Until 1943, Georgy worked at the Dalstroy gold mines. I worked as the only dispatcher in the garage of a regional excavator station, but I also had to drive the wheel myself. This was followed by another 21 months of camps. At this time, fate brought Georgy Stepanovich together with Konstantin Aleksandrovich Nikanorov - an artist, director, and a good person. Friendship with him continued until his death in the 50s. On March 26, 1945, Zhzhenov was released early from the camp for good behavior and conscientious work. Until December 1946, he worked at the Magadan Polar Drama Theater. In the spring of 1947, Zhzhenov returned to the “mainland” of Moscow for a job assignment. At the request of his first teacher S.A. Gerasimov, he was sent to Sverdlovsk to work in a feature film studio. There, Georgy began filming in Mark Donskoy’s drama “Alitet Goes to the Mountains,” but he was not destined to finish filming. In 1948, the studio was closed, and film production was transferred to Moscow, where Zhzhenov was prohibited from living. Georgy got a job at a drama theater in the city of Pavlovsk-on-Oka. After working there for a year, on June 2, 1949, Zhzhenov was arrested again. He spent six months in prison in Gorky, and then was sent to Norilsk, into exile, where he worked in the drama theater until 1953.
Life from scratch
On December 2, 1955, Zhzhenov was rehabilitated in both cases by the military tribunal of the Leningrad Military District. By that time he was 38 years old, and he had to start his professional life as an actor from scratch. Zhzhenov returned to Leningrad and was accepted into the regional drama theater, where he worked until 1962. He also played at the Leningrad Theater. Lensovet. At the same time, Georgy Zhzhenov began acting in films. But here his acting fate was quite difficult. For a long time he could not truly open up. Yes, he acted quite a bit, but, as a rule, in supporting roles (“Alien Relatives”, “On the Far Island”), or in films that did not have much audience success (“Hockey Players”, “Death of the Squadron”). The actor’s most notable works of those years were his roles in the films “Corrected to Believe” and “The Night Guest.”
Fame
Oddly enough, Georgy Zhzhenov’s first fame came after, in general, a small role. In the legendary comedy by Eldar Ryazanov “Beware of the Car” (1966) he played a traffic inspector. The actor got into the character so accurately that his character was immediately remembered by the audience. Another bright and memorable work was this time the main role in the duology “The Path to Saturn” and “The End of Saturn”, where Zhzhenov starred together with the wonderful actor Mikhail Volkov. In 1968, Georgy Stepanovich moved to Moscow and began working at the Theater. Mossovet. Over the years, he played more than a hundred roles on the stage of this theater. Zhzhenov’s finest hour in cinema came after the release of Veniamin Dorman’s adventure film “The Resident’s Mistake” (1968). Zhzhenov played the son of the Russian emigrant Count Tulyev, an experienced intelligence officer with extensive international experience, nicknamed Nadezhda, sent to Russia to carry out a very difficult and risky mission. The film was such a great success that it was decided to make a sequel - in 1970 the second film, “The Fate of the Resident,” was released. Twelve years later, Veniamin Dorman returned to the audience’s favorite characters. In 1982, the third film, “Return of the Resident,” was released, and in 1986, the fourth film in the tetralogy, “The End of Operation Resident,” was released. So, for 20 years (!), viewers watched with unflagging interest the complex turns of life of the hero Zhzhenov.
Other film works
Over the years of his creative activity, Georgy Zhzhenov played about 70 roles in films. Many films with his participation enjoyed truly popular love and became classics of Russian cinema. Zhzhenov was especially successful with strong-willed characters. Thus, in the television film “All the King's Men,” Georgy Zhzhenov played Willie Stark. It must be said that the famous actor Pavel Luspekayev, whose fame was brought to fame by the film “White Sun of the Desert” (customs officer Vereshchagin), was originally planned for this role. Filming began in 1970, but the death of this actor forced the filmmakers to look for a replacement. The choice was made on Zhzhenov, and he coped with this task brilliantly (the film was released in 1972). In the same year, Gavriil Egiazarov’s film “Hot Snow”, based on the novel of the same name by Yuri Bondarev, was released. Georgy Stepanovich played General Bessonov in this film. In terms of drama, this role was weaker than the previous ones, but it was for this role that the actor was awarded the State Prize of the RSFSR. Vasiliev brothers. To some extent, it can be considered that this was a reward for all his previous work. In 1979, in the legendary disaster film “Crew,” Georgy Zhzhenov played the role of airliner commander Andrei Vasilyevich Timchenko. Other works include roles in the detective story “A Cure for Fear” and the heroic drama of the Great Patriotic War “Gateway to Heaven.”
Tragedy
Three weeks before his death, Georgy Zhzhenov fell unsuccessfully at home. As a result, he suffered a fracture of the femoral neck. On November 21, 2005, the actor was brought to the Pirogov National Medical and Surgical Center, where the next day the artist underwent surgery. It seemed the worst was over. However, on December 4, 2004, Georgy Zhzhenov was again hospitalized in one of the Moscow hospitals. This time - with inflammation of the respiratory tract. After a thorough examination, he was diagnosed with lung cancer. Doctors fought for the actor’s life until the last... Georgy Stepanovich Zhzhenov passed away on December 8, 2005 at 10:45 am in the Centrosoyuz hospital at the 91st year of his life. The actor's funeral took place on December 10 at the Novodevichy cemetery in Moscow (site No. 10).
New life for an honest man
After rehabilitation, Georgy Stepanovich settled in Leningrad and until 1962 he worked at the Leningrad Regional Drama Theater, at the same time, since 1960, performing on the stage of the Theater. Lensovet. Zhzhenov also tried to return to cinema, but for a long time luck passed him by. The actor mainly got episodes (“On Dalniy Island”, “Alien Relatives”) and roles in unnoticeable films (“Death of the Squadron”, “Hockey Players”). The only exception is the work in the film “The Night Guest”.
In 1961, the film “Planet of Storms” was shot, whose release coincided with Yu. Gagarin’s flight into space. The director of the film decided to present his vision of planetary exploration in the near future. Such a non-trivial plot by the standards of that time allowed the actors to shine, including Georgy Stepanovich, who played one of the most memorable roles after returning from prison.
The real breakthrough happened where no one expected. In 1966, E. Ryazanov decided to film the comedy “Beware of the Car” and invited Zhzhenov to play the role of a traffic inspector. The character he played immediately fell in love with the audience, who noted the actor’s talent. In 1968, he appeared as General Timerin in the dilogy “The Path to Saturn” and “The End of Saturn.” In the same year, due to a conflict with director I. Vladimirov, Zhzhenov moved to the capital, where he worked for a long time at the theater. Mossovet.
As in the movies, on the theater stage he often played the roles of strong personalities going against fate. The actor’s most successful works during the Moscow period were “Funeral in California” (host), “Leningradsky Prospekt” (Zabrodin), “Evening Light” (Arbuzov). The role of the elderly Admiral Panaev in the production of A. Stein’s play “The Black Midshipman” deserves special attention. The actor managed to convincingly show the moral character of the hero, which combined deep moral convictions with true humanity. Inspector Ghoul from the play “He Came” based on the play by J.B. Pristily, performed by Georgy Stepanovich, was so convincing and organic, calling from the stage for kindness and justice, that the viewer sometimes thought that he was in front of a real policeman, because the actor played with virtually no makeup.
Fans of the actor will remember very well his very touching role in the play “On the Golden Lake,” which tells the story of the love of two elderly people and shows, through the prism of their fate, how deep human relationships can be carried through a lifetime.
“My whole life is a complete mistake”
Only by 1955 was Georgy Stepanovich completely rehabilitated and finally released from Soviet camps - at that time he was 40 years old. Then he was able to return to the stage again. At the end of the 50s, the actor began performing at the Leningrad Regional Drama Theater, and after some time he returned to cinema. Fame and love from the audience came to him after the release of Eldar Ryazanov’s tragicomedy “Beware of the Car”, where he played the role of a traffic inspector.
The real boom around the artist began in 1968 after the release of the first part of the tetralogy about the Soviet intelligence officer, “The Resident's Mistake.” Surprisingly, his very first film had a similar title; Georgy Zhzhenov loved to joke about this:
“My whole life is a complete mistake: a hero, a resident, and so on...”
In 1979, Zhzhenov played an airliner commander in the first Soviet disaster film, “Crew.” In total, the actor has about 70 films, but he categorically refused to play villains. Georgy Stepanovich acted in films until 1998, most recently appearing in the historical films “Ivan the Great”, “The Invisible Traveler” and “The Corral”.
Finest hour
Every person has episodes about which he can say that this was his finest hour. In the life of Georgy Stepanovich, it was V. Dorman’s film “The Resident’s Mistake,” in which he played the experienced intelligence officer Count Tulyev, who was sent to our country to carry out a dangerous mission. The film made an indelible impression on the Soviet audience, and based on numerous requests from workers, it was decided to film a sequel called “The Fate of a Resident,” which was released in 1970. The beloved movie hero remained with his fans further, because the director, after a 12-year pause, shot a sequel to the film “Return of the Resident” and “The End of Operation Resident,” turning it into a tetralogy.
It so happened that the directors offered Zhzhenov the roles of heroes with a strong and strong-willed character. In 1971, he played Willie Stark in the film All the King's Men. Initially, P. Luspekayev starred in this role, but his unexpected death forced him to start all over again. Georgy Stepanovich was not afraid to replace a famous actor and did it brilliantly. In 1972, filming of the film “Hot Snow” ended, in which Zhzhenov vividly embodied the image of General Bessonov on the screen, for which he was awarded the State Prize.
Personal life
Zhzhenov’s first wife was actress Evgenia Golynchik, whom he met during his studies. But after his arrest, at the last meeting in transit, he asked not to hold on to him and to live as he wanted. The next time they met only after George returned from his first exile, and they were already complete strangers. During his exile, he began to live with actress Lilia Vorontsova, with whom he had a daughter, Elena. She lived in an orphanage for some time, and after her release, her father took her in to raise her.
The actor’s third wife was also an actress, Irina Makhaeva, who performed on the stage of the Norilsk Theater. She did a lot to rehabilitate her husband, devoting two years of her life to this. The couple had a daughter, Marina, who later became a philologist.
After Zhzhenov returned to his small homeland, the marriage broke up. The last wife of Georgy Stepanovich was the famous actress Lydia Malyukova, who served on the stage of the Theater. Lensovet. This marriage gave birth to a daughter, Yulia, who received an acting education and teaches at VGIK.
Georgy Stepanovich Zhzhenov passed away in Moscow on December 8, 2005 from lung cancer and was buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery.
Repressions, for which Zhzhenov was imprisoned
During a trip to Komsomolsk to film a film of the same name, the actor talked on the train with a passenger who turned out to be an American diplomat. One of his colleagues reported “to the right place” and the authorities charged Georgiy with “espionage and high treason.” In 1939, the actor was sentenced to 5 years in the camps and transferred to Kolyma.
In 1944, while still serving his sentence, Georgy began performing on the stage of the Magadan Musical and Drama Theater (the head of the propaganda team, recognizing a former actor in the exhausted prisoner, achieved Georgy’s transfer first to his brigade, and then to the Magadan Theater). After his release, he served there for another year as a civilian actor. Then, for several years, he managed to work at the Sverdlovsk Film Studio and at the Drama Theater in Pavlovsk-on-Oka.
In 49, Georgy was again arrested and exiled to Norilsk, where on the stage of the Drama Theater. Mayakovsky served until he was 53 years old. His colleague and friend was I. Smoktunovsky. Only in 55 the actor was completely rehabilitated and was able to return to Leningrad.
