Childhood and youth
Boris Livanov was born in Moscow on May 8, 1904. Father Nikolai Aleksandrovich Livanov performed under the stage name Izvolsky. In his youth he was an actor in provincial theaters, and since 1905 he performed on the stage of the Moscow Struisky Theater. In 1947, Nikolai was awarded the title of Honored Artist of the RSFSR.
Actor Boris Livanov
The mother of the future actor is Nadezhda Sergeevna Shutinskaya-Livanova. Boris had a sister, Irina, who later became an operetta actress. The girl had success in the musical theaters of Irkutsk, Sverdlovsk and Rostov.
At the age of 16, Boris left to serve, but was expelled when the young man’s real age was revealed. From 1922 to 1924 he studied at the fourth studio of the Moscow Art Theater with N.V. Demidov. After graduation, he was accepted into the Moscow Art Academic Theater as an actor.
Boris Livanov in his youth
One of his first roles was the image of Prince Shakhovsky in the play “Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich.” In the first years, Boris was involved in productions of “Othello”, “At the Gates of the Kingdom” and others. Already in the early 30s he became the leading actor of the Moscow Art Theater, playing leading roles in “Crazy Day, or The Marriage of Figaro”, “Dead Souls”.
Tickets for performances with Livanov were sold out in the first hours of sales, crowds of fans guarded Boris at the exit from the Moscow Art Theater. The actor personified the cult of personality, brilliant and talented. Critics and directors considered Livanov’s main quality to be authenticity - each created image was as if “tailored” according to Boris.
Boris Livanov in the theater
Livanov can be called Stalin’s favorite - the leader showered Boris with orders and titles. The actor had five Stalin Prizes. The number was not a record, for example, aircraft designer Sergei Ilyushin received the award 7 times, but not many of the actors Joseph Vissarionovich celebrated this way.
Despite this, Stalin once banned a performance with the participation of Livanov - “Hamlet”, where Boris acted as the main character. Judging by the memoirs, this happened due to the fact that Livanov was not a member of the party.
Boris Livanov - biography
Boris Livanov is a Soviet film and theater actor, in his filmography there are over thirty films and more than twenty roles in performances of both Russian classics, such as “Three Sisters”, “Woe from Wit”, “The Brothers Karamazov”, and foreign ones, including including “The Marriage of Figaro”, “Othello”.
Childhood
Boris was born into the family of provincial theater actor Nikolai Livanov on May 8, 1904. The talent of his father, the founder of the future acting dynasty, can only be judged by how it manifested itself in future generations, because film archives with Nikolai Livanov’s performance simply do not exist.
Photo: Boris Livanov in his youth
During the Civil War, sixteen-year-old Boris Livanov fought for a year under the command of Alexander Strizhenov, whose sons Oleg and Gleb also became famous actors. But soon Boris was expelled from the army due to the fact that he hid how old he really was.
Having chosen an acting profession for himself, Boris Livanov began studying at the 4th studio of the Moscow Art Theater, and made his debut in 1925 on the stage of the same theater in the play “Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich”, playing the role of Andrei Shuisky in it. He also participated in the productions of “At the Gates of the Kingdom”, “Untilovsk”, “Othello” and others. The actor’s bright character was noticed by viewers and critics after his roles as Count Almaviva in “Crazy Day, or The Marriage of Figaro” and Nozdryov in “Dead Souls,” staged in 1934 and staged by Mikhail Bulgakov. In this role, the charm of his personality was especially felt.
Theater
In the theater, Boris Livanov successfully played roles both in the classical repertoire and in plays by modern authors. For forty years he participated in many productions of the Moscow Art Theater.
In the 40s and 50s, Livanov made the most of his creative potential. Among his notable roles are Solyony in the production of “Three Sisters”, Chatsky in “Woe from Wit”.
The directorial work of Boris Nikolayevich Livanov began in 1953, when he was commissioned to stage the play “Lomonosov”, where he also played the role of the great Russian scientist. Since then, Livanov has combined two jobs in the theater, acting and directing. Boris Livanov directed the plays “Our Youth”, “Front”, “The Master” and became one of the first directors working in Soviet times who began staging performances based on the works of Dostoevsky in the theater. In The Brothers Karamazov in 1960, he played Dmitry in his own way. The last theatrical role played by Boris Livanov in 1963 was the main role in “Yegor Bulychev and Others.” After finishing his acting career, Livanov continued to work only as a director. The last performance he staged was the famous Moscow Art Theater “The Seagull” by A.P. Chekhov.
The main thing for Boris Livanov, of course, was the theater, but he played many more roles in cinema. He began acting in films before he began acting in the theater. He played his first film role in the fairy tale “Morozko,” beloved by viewers to this day. Later, Livanov starred with such famous Soviet directors as Eisenstein, Kozintsev, Romm, Kheifitz and others.
Among his best film works: Dubrovsky in the film adaptation of Pushkin’s story “Dubrovsky”; Prince Pozharsky in the historical film “Minin and Pozharsky”; captain Rudnev in the heroic film “Cruiser “Varyag””; Lomonosov in the biographical film “Mikhailo Lomonosov”.
In 1953, the actor vividly played the role of Prince Potemkin in Romm’s historical film “Admiral Ushakov.” Contemporaries who saw him not only in films or on stage, but also heard the characteristic Lebanese bass with its famous pauses on the radio, recall that Boris Livanov was very popular. In his last film work, he brilliantly played a surgeon in the film “Degree of Risk” based on the then sensational story “Thoughts and Heart” by the outstanding professor of medicine Amosov.
Personal life
Boris Nikolaevich had an extraordinary sense of humor, his well-aimed, well-spoken phrases often became aphorisms, and he was also good at drawing cartoons and caricatures. One day the famous Kukryniksy invited him to work together, to which Livanov said: “I can’t. You’ll have to sign: “Are they Kukryniksy?”
Joseph Stalin highly appreciated the talent of Boris Livanov. He was awarded many government awards and state prizes for acting and directing. In 1948, Boris Nikolaevich Livanov became People's Artist of the USSR. Theater tales are still told about the actor’s relations with those in power. He did not fawn over his superiors and was distinguished by freedom of speech and a sharp tongue. Once at the Moscow Art Theater they presented a group of young actors by name, and the day before Khrushchev spoke at the CPSU Central Committee with a public exposure of the anti-party group Malenkov-Kaganovich-Molotov.
Photo: Boris Livanov
Molotov's patronymic name is Vyacheslav Mikhailovich. Among those represented was Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Nevinny. Livanov instantly reacted to this combination; his remark immediately followed: “Vyacheslav Mikhailovich is innocent! ...And Lazar Moiseevich?” Vasily Livanov, the son of an actor, said that according to Stanislavsky, any person of art has two paths - to love art in himself or himself in art, Boris Nikolaevich had a love for art in himself, he clearly understood the value of the talent given to him by God.
In 1970, Livanov was supposed to be approved as the head of the Chekhov Moscow Art Theater. During his vacation, while Boris Nikolaevich and his wife Evgenia Kazimirovna were vacationing in the south, the theater troupe turned to the Minister of Culture Furtseva with a request to appoint Oleg Efremov as head of the theater. Having learned about this, Boris Livanov was very worried about what had happened and did not enter the theater for two years.
He lived only 68 years. There is a memorial plaque installed at house 6 on Tverskaya Street, where he lived since 1938. In 2003, the release of Leonid Filatov’s program “To Be Remembered” was dedicated to him.
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Livanov’s personal life was always of interest to his fans, but was closed from prying eyes. His only son Vasily continued the family tradition and also became a favorite actor with the audience. The grandson of the famous actor, born two years after the death of his grandfather, was also named Boris. Unfortunately, his fate is quite sad. He brought a lot of grief to his parents. Having started a quite successful film career in his youth, Boris led a wild life and was convicted of murdering a man. Now he is free, he has a daughter, Eva.
Selected filmography
- 1924 - Morozko
- 1927 - Kastus Kalinowski
- 1936 - Dubrovsky
- 1939 - Minin and Pozharsky
- 1949 - Battle of Stalingrad
- 1949 - Fall of Berlin
- 1960 - Dead Souls
- 1968 - Risk level
- 1970 - Kremlin chimes
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Movies
His creative biography in cinema began in 1924 with the short film “Morozko” directed by Yuri Zhelyabuzhsky. In 1927, Boris starred as Minister Tereshchenko in S. Eisenstein’s silent feature film “October”; the film is considered the first in Soviet film-Leninism.
Boris Livanov in the film "Admiral Ushakov"
Livanov became famous for his main role in the film adaptation of the story of the same name “Dubrovsky”, which was released in 1936. Boris was successful in the roles of legendary Russian men, for example, Prince Potemkin in the film “Admiral Ushakov”, Commander Rudnev in “The Cruiser Varyag”.
In 1945, the feature film-play “Guilty Without Guilt” based on the comedy of the same name by A. Ostrovsky was released, where Livanov played the role of provincial official Grigory Lvovich Murov. Famous actors Alla Tarasova, Viktor Stanitsyn, Olga Wiklandt and others became Boris’s partners on the set.
Boris Livanov in the film “Guilty Without Guilt”
Livanov brilliantly embodied not only positive, but also negative characters. The vivid image of the White Guard general Mamontov in “Oleko Dundich” is a small role, but one of the most memorable in the film.
In the 50s, Boris Livanov tried himself as a director: he staged the play “The Seagull” on the stage of his native Moscow Art Theater. In 1970, Boris was supposed to take the post of director of the Moscow Chekhov Art Theater, but the troupe, behind Livanov’s back, demanded from higher management that Oleg Efremov be hired for the position. Boris took this event hard.
Personal life
Boris Livanov's wife, Evgenia Kazimirovna, is Polish by nationality, one of the first Moscow beauties of that time. From her first marriage to an Italian, she had a daughter, Natalya, and from her marriage to Livanov, a son, Vasily. The latter recalled that his parents were often envied: his mother for having an eminent husband, his father for having a beautiful wife.
Boris Livanov and his wife Evgenia
The future spouses met at a dinner after a performance with Livanov’s participation. Son Vasily tells the memories of Boris’s friends: before meeting his mother, his father married often - about once every three months. Having met yet another “fate,” he assured those around him that love is forever. But only Evgenia was able to build a serious relationship with him. The couple began living together in 1934 and married a quarter of a century later.
The family was friendly, guests constantly came to the house, often famous ones: Boris Pasternak, Alexander Dovzhenko, artist Pyotr Konchalovsky. Boris's son, Vasily Livanov, continued the dynasty, becoming a famous Russian theater and film actor. The father did not support his son's desire to follow in his footsteps. Boris was afraid of family inertia: his grandfather was an actor, his father an actor. Livanov Sr. was worried that Vasily did not have enough abilities.
Boris Livanov with his family
However, Livanov Sr. was worried in vain. In 1979, the premiere of the detective television film “Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson: Acquaintance” was released. After this role, Vasily woke up famous. Previously, in 1960, father and son worked on the same set in the film “The Blind Musician.”
One of the grandchildren of the People's Artist of the USSR was named Boris in honor of his eminent grandfather. He appeared 2 years after the death of Livanov Sr. In 2009, a tragedy occurred in the family: Livanov’s grandson was accused of murder. The parents managed to reclassify the article to a more lenient one, Boris received 8 years in prison.
Boris Livanov and Vasily Livanov
In 2014, the grandson of Boris Livanov was released on parole. In 2020, the media learned that the former prisoner intended to marry actress Maria Golubkina. They celebrated New Year 2020 together; whether the couple is dating now is unknown.
Grandchildren and great-grandchildren of Boris Livanov
The grandson of the famous actor and director was also named Boris after his grandfather.
But, unfortunately, this scion of the famous acting family did not follow in the footsteps of his father, grandfather and great-grandfather and did not become an artist. He was born two years after the death of his famous grandfather. At the age of thirty-five, while celebrating the New Year, he was accused of murdering a man. After this incident, he was sentenced by the court to eight years. He is currently free and raising his daughter Eva.
Death
Boris Livanov died on September 22, 1972 (according to other sources - October 23 of the same year), the cause of death was heart failure.
Boris Livanov in recent years and the monument at his grave
He was buried in plot No. 2 of the Novodevichy cemetery. There is a memorial plaque installed at house No. 6 on Tverskaya Street, where the actor lived since 1938.
