Semyon Strugachev, Russian actor: biography, films, personal life

Childhood and youth

Semyon Strugachev was born on December 10, 1957 in the Khabarovsk Territory, in the urban village of Smidovich, in the Jewish Autonomous Region. The future theater and film actor was raised by his mother, because his father Mikhail Strugashvili left his wife and four children. It is known that Georgian and Jewish blood flows in Semyon Mikhailovich’s veins. The actor's peculiar appearance allowed him to transform himself on the stage of theater and cinema into foreigners - French, Italians, and various marquises.

Actor Semyon Strugachev

The single-parent family moved to Birobidzhan, where Strugachev lived until he was 17 years old. The boy grew up in a boarding school because his mother could barely make ends meet and could not provide for her children. Despite the fact that Semyon Mikhailovich’s childhood was poor, and the boy did not know what it was like to have a chest of drawers full of toys, the actor still remembers that happy time with warmth in his soul. When Semyon was little, he wanted to reproach his father, so he dreamed of being better than everyone else and studying with straight A's. But on the first day of school the boy received a B.

“I cried, screamed, I had a real hysteria! After all, I didn’t keep my promise, and this discouraged any desire to study,” the artist admitted in an interview.

It is known that the young man’s artistic talent began to manifest itself from childhood: while at school, Semyon Mikhailovich participated in amateur performances and surprised listeners with his songs, for which he received the nickname Birobidzhan Nightingale. The boy tried to imitate the voice of the Italian singer Robertino Loretti, and perhaps Strugachev would have achieved recognition and fame not in cinema, but on the stage, but fate made its own adjustments.

Semyon Strugachev in childhood

The fact is that in adolescence, Semyon’s voice, like that of all boys, began to break, which is why he could not please music lovers with his ringing tenor, so the Birobidzhan Nightingale sank into oblivion. When the guy turned 16, he began serving in the folk theater, on the stage of which Semyon Mikhailovich’s creative biography began.

Semyon Strugachev in his youth

He played in the classic production of Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky’s comedy play “Our People – We Will Be Numbered.” It is known that having received a certificate of secondary education, the young man continued his studies; his choice fell on the Far Eastern Pedagogical Institute of Arts, from which he graduated in 1979 and became a certified specialist.

Strugachev Semyon Mikhailovich

Theater and film actor. People's and Honored Artist of Russia. He plays on the stage of the Lensovet State Theater. Known for the films “Peculiarities of the National Hunt”, “Operation Happy New Year!”, “Deadly Force”, “Prisoner of the Caucasus”, “Foundling”, “Death of the Empire”.

Semyon Strugachev was born on December 10, 1957 in the urban village of Smidovich, Jewish Autonomous Region. The boy was raised by his mother because his father left his wife and four children. Soon, the family moved to Birobidzhan, where the young man lived until he was seventeen years old. Artistic talent began to manifest itself from childhood: while at school, he took part in amateur performances and surprised listeners with his songs, for which he received the nickname Birobidzhan Nightingale. The student tried to imitate the voice of the Italian singer Robertino Loretti, and perhaps would have achieved recognition and fame on the stage, but fate made its own adjustments.

During adolescence, Semyon, like many boys, began to break his voice, which is why he could not please music lovers with a ringing tenor, so the Birobidzhan Nightingale had to disappear. In high school, Strugachev began serving in the city folk theater, on the stage of which the creative biography of the future cinema star began.

Semyon played in the classic production of Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky’s comedy play “Our People - We Will Be Numbered.” During his time working in the theater, he showed himself to be a versatile artist who excels in comedic roles. And this is not surprising, because he considers the following masters of the genre to be his teachers: Charlie Chaplin, Louis de Funes, Pierre Richard, Evgeniy Leonov.

Having received a certificate of secondary education, Semyon Mikhailovich Strugachev continued his studies, his choice fell on the Far Eastern Pedagogical Institute of Arts, from which he graduated in 1979 and became a certified specialist. The actor served at the Samara Drama Theater, performed on the stage of the Lensoveta Theater, played at the Mayakovsky Theater and worked in multiple enterprises. It is noteworthy that Strugachev received the Audience Award for his performance of the role of Moo de Bell in the play “Frederick, or the Boulevard of Crimes.”

Very often, artists who have realized their creative potential on the theater stage move to cinema to broaden their acting horizons and try themselves in a new role. Semyon Strugachev: no exception; this talented man’s track record includes more than fifty remarkable and diverse film works.

For the first time on a film set, Strugachev appeared in Andrei Chernykh’s drama “The Austrian Field,” which was released in 1991. A year later he played in the film We're Going to America, and later appeared in The Secret of Winemaking. Also, he participated in the film “The Time of Sorrow Has Not Come Yet,” where he starred alongside actors Pyotr Mamonov, Mikhail Svetin and Valery Priemykhov.

The actor received real fame only after Alexander Rogozhkin’s film “Peculiarities of the National Hunt” was released in 1995, the cast of which included Ville Haapasalo, Alexey Buldakov, Viktor Bychkov, Sergei Kupriyanov, Igor Sergeev and other cinema stars. The comedy tells the viewer about the Finnish adventurer Raivo, who is in the Russian outback and wants to learn about the life of the Russian people.

Therefore, the foreigner persuades his friend to introduce him to the national hunt, however, instead of the promised fun of Nimrod, the young man gets acquainted with the traditional forty-degree drink and gets involved in endless adventures. In this film, which, thanks to the acting, earned an honorary Nika award, Semyon Strugachev played Leva Soloveichik: an extravagant criminal investigation officer from St. Petersburg.

The role went to Semyon Mikhailovich almost immediately, because according to the director’s idea, this character had to have a long nose. It is noteworthy that for the same reason the role could have gone to another artist, Alexander Lykov, who during the filming of “Peculiarities of the National Hunt” was busy in another project.

The new century began for the actor with the continuation of the comedy “Peculiarities of National Hunting in Winter,” which was beloved by the audience, and in 2003 Semyon Mikhailovich again reincarnated as Lenya Soloveichik, playing in the film “Peculiarities of National Politics.” A year later, Strugachev, together with Dmitry Nagiyev, Yuri Galtsev, Alexander Tsekalo, Klara Novikova, starred in the comedy series “Beware, Zadov! or The Adventures of an Ensign." In 2005, he played a role in the film adaptation of Mikhail Bulgakov’s immortal work “The Master and Margarita.”

Director Vladimir Bortko gave Strugachev the role of Yeshua Ga Notsri's student, Levi Matthew. Semyon Mikhailovich was lucky to work on the same film set with such actors as Alexander Galibin, Oleg Basilashvili, Vladislav Galkin, Kirill Lavrov, Sergei Bezrukov, Valentin Gaft. In the same 2005, Strugachev appeared in Vitaly Mukhametzyanov’s comedy “Hello, we are your roof!”, which also starred Mikhail Politsemako, Andrei Fedortsov, Bari Alibasov, Yuri Aizenshpis and Evgeniy Buldakov.

Strugachev often demonstrates his singing talent. In the film “Peculiarities of National Ice Fishing, or Full Breakaway” in 2007, Semyon Mikhailovich performed the song “Man and Cat,” which gained unprecedented popularity among Internet users. Among other things, the actor is familiar to viewers from the films: “Answer Me”, “About Love”, “Revenge is an Art”, “Demon and Ada”, “Crossmaster”, “Order for One”, “Day of the Dodo”, “Chkalov”, "Sherlock Holmes".

In 2020, Semyon Strugachev played the main role in Polina Belyaeva’s work “Can I Ask Nina?”, which tells the story of a Moscow official who was sent back in time through a phone call. In 2018, the actor appeared in several projects at once, among which are “The First Guy in the Village”, “Angels Die Twice”, “Come in Large Numbers” and “Svetlana”. The following year, 2020, he starred in the film “The Foundling,” where he played Shlemanson, a buyer of stolen goods.

Strugachev also took part in the comedy film Goodbye, America, which is scheduled to premiere on April 22, 2020. The plot of the film tells how Viktor Sergeevich goes to the United States of America to visit his daughter and is horrified to discover that his grandson Paul, although he speaks Russian, does not understand simple things that are familiar and understandable to every boy in Russia. In this film, Semyon Mikhailovich perfectly performed the role of Solomon.

Awards of Semyon Strugachev

Honored Artist of the Russian Federation (1999)

For his performance in the role of Mu de Zvon in the play “Frederick, or the Boulevard of Crimes” he was awarded the audience award of the St. Petersburg society “Theater”.

People's Artist of the Russian Federation (2008)

Medal of the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, II degree (2018)

Creativity of Semyon Strugachev

Filmography

1991 - Austrian field - blind artist 1992 - We are going to America 1994 - The secret of winemaking 1994 - Elixir - Sorcerer / Shadow / Artist 1995 - Iron Curtain 1995 - Arrival of the train 1995 - The time of sadness has not yet come - Sasha Shmukler 1995 - Peculiarities of the national hunt - Leva Soloveichik 1996 - Operation “Happy New Year!” - Leva Soloveichik 1997 - The story about Richard, Milord and the beautiful Firebird 1998 - Peculiarities of national fishing - Leva Soloveichik 1998 - Kept woman 1999 - Boldino autumn 2000 - Peculiarities of national hunting in winter - Leva Soloveichik 2001 - Old songs about the main thing. Postscript - conductor 2002 - Lethal force-2 - Semyon Chernyga, forensic expert, police captain 2002 - Russian special forces - black tracker Leonid, "Woodpecker" 2003 - Peculiarities of national politics - Leva Soloveichik 2003 - Don’t make biscuits in a bad mood 2003 - St. Petersburg 2004 - Obsession - Uncle Michel 2004 - Special forces in Russian 2 - black tracker Leonid, "Woodpecker" 2004 - Lethal force-4 - Semyon Chernyga, forensic expert, police captain 2004 - 2006 - Be careful, Zadov! - Sergei Perzho, Zadov's neighbor 2005 - Death of the Empire - Franz Fleishman 2005 - Golden Medusa - Leonid 2005 - The Master and Margarita - Levi Matvey 2005 - Hello, we are your roof! - Sergei Valerievich Dubrovsky 2005 - Lethal force 5 - Semnn Chernyga, forensic expert, police captain 2005 - Heavenly life (TV series) - Ilya Trauberg, Israeli Air Force pilot 2006 - First ambulance - Josephine, Goofy 2006 - Cheerful neighbors - Grisha Belenky 2006 - Professor in law - Leonid 2006 - Lethal force-6 - Semyon Chernyga, forensic expert, police captain 2007 - Peculiarities of national ice fishing, or Breaking away to the fullest - Zinovy 2007 - Light in the documentary-fiction pavilion 2007 - Return of the prodigal husband - Samson 2007 - Law of the Hare 2008 - Happy Funeral 2008 - Beauty demands - Buzikov Anton Semenovich 2008 - Answer me - doctor 2009 - About love 2009 - Country of captive children - Alik 2010 - Demon and Ada 2010 - Demons - Lenya 2010 - Revenge - art - Sazonchik 2012 - Cinderella - Mikhail Levitsky 2012 - Leader of the different-skinned people 2012 - Dodo Day 2012 - Odnoklassniki.ru: CLICK your luck - Alexei's father 2012 - Chkalov - Leonid Igorevich Fesenko, commander of the flight squad 2013 - Sherlock Holmes - Charles Gautier, Ambassador of France 2014 - Taste of America - Alik 2014 - Captive of the Caucasus! - Coward 2020 - Great - Count Lestok, life doctor 2020 - Bouncer - Ivan Vitoldovich Sharabanov, head 2020 - Fugitive - Don 2020 - First guy in the village - Grishchenko, local police officer 2020 - Angels die twice - Leicester (in production) 2020 - Come in large numbers - Alexey 2020 - Svetlana - Wolf Messing 2020 - Foundling - Shlemanson, buyer of stolen goods 2020 - Goodbye, America, Solomon

Cartoon dubbing

1995 - Elixir 2004 - Eternal Variations. Novella 1. Demon

Roles in the theater

"Love till death"

"Cylinder". Primorsky Regional Academic Drama Theater named after Gorky

"The Extraordinary Adventures of T.S. and G.F." Primorsky Regional Academic Drama Theater named after Gorky

"Jacques and His Master"

"Frederick, or the Boulevard of Crimes"

"The Magician from Lublin"

“Ay love yu” (enterprise)

“Kroshka”, Theater named after. Lensovet, then in the enterprise "Theatre Dom", performer of the role of Edmond Fontange and director of the play.

"Spanish Ballad", Alfonso VIII, King of Castile

"My wife's husband." Teatralnaya

"Love in Italian"

“Children spoil relationships” Theater named after. Mayakovsky, Edmond Fontange, as well as the production director of the play

"Duenna" Teatralnaya

Family of Semyon Strugachev

Father - Misha Strugashvili, chairman of the collective farm.

The first wife is Marina, a classmate at a theater university.

Second wife - Svetlana. But the marriage did not work out with her either.

The third wife is Tatyana Evgenievna Titova (born 1960), an actress, in 1984 she graduated from the acting studio of Pyotr Lvovich Monastyrsky at the Samara Academic Drama Theater named after Gorky. She worked on the stage of this theater for several years, where she met Semyon Strugachev. Daughter - Evgenia.

13.04.2020

Theater

Of course, during his service in the theater, Semyon Mikhailovich showed himself to be a versatile artist who is flawless in comedic roles: as soon as Strugachev appears on the theater stage, the audience, consisting of sophisticated ladies and gentlemen, is literally bursting with laughter. And this is not surprising, because Semyon Mikhailovich considers such masters of the humorous genre as Charlie Chaplin, Louis de Funes, Pierre Richard, Evgeny Leonov, Igor Ilyinsky and other actors to be his teachers.

Semyon Strugachev in the play “Kroshka”

At the Primorsky Regional Academic Theater named after. Gorky Strugachev Semyon Mikhailovich served since 1980, and it was there that his artistic talent manifested itself. For the first time in a comedy role, Semyon Mikhailovich performed in Kama Ginkas’s play “The Extraordinary Adventures of T.S. and G.F.”, where he not only amused the audience to the point of stomach cramps, but also delighted the sophisticated audience by playing musical instruments.

Semyon Strugachev in the theater

The actor also served at the Kuibyshev Drama Theater, performed on the stage of the Lensoveta Theater, played at the Mayakovsky Theater and worked in multiple enterprises. It is noteworthy that Semyon Strugachev received the Audience Award for his performance as the colorful character Mu de Ring in the play “Frederick, or the Boulevard of Crimes.”

Voice acting for cartoons[ | ]

1995 - Elixir
2004 - Eternal Variations. Novella 1. Demon

Theater roles[ | ]

"Love till death"
"Cylinder". Primorsky Regional Academic Drama Theater named after Gorky
"The Extraordinary Adventures of T.S. and G.F." Primorsky Regional Academic Drama Theater named after Gorky
"Jacques and His Master"
"Frederick, or the Boulevard of Crimes"
"The Magician from Lublin"
“Ay love yu” (enterprise)
“Kroshka”, Theater named after. Lensovet, then in the enterprise "Theatre Dom", performer of the role of Edmond Fontange and director of the play.
"Spanish Ballad", Alfonso VIII, King of Castile
"My wife's husband." Teatralnaya
"Love in Italian"
“Children spoil relationships” Theater named after. Mayakovsky, Edmond Fontange, as well as the stage director of the play
"Duenna" Teatralnaya

Movies

Very often, artists who have realized their creative potential on the theater stage migrate to cinema to broaden their acting horizons and try themselves in a new role. Semyon Mikhailovich Strugachev is no exception; this talented man’s track record includes more than 50 remarkable film works.

Semyon Strugachev in the film “The Secret of Winemaking”

For the first time, Strugachev performed in front of the director’s cameras in Andrei Chernykh’s drama “The Austrian Field,” which was released in 1991. A year later, Semyon Strugachev played the role in the film “We're Going to America” (1992), and later appeared in “The Secret of Winemaking” (1994). In 1995, the actor took part in the film “The Time of Sorrow Has Not Come Yet,” where he worked on the same film set with Pyotr Mamonov, Mikhail Svetin and Valery Priemykhov.

Semyon Strugachev in the film “Peculiarities of the National Hunt”

But the actor received real fame only after he played in Alexander Rogozhkin’s film “Peculiarities of the National Hunt,” the cast of which included Ville Haapasalo, Alexey Buldakov, Viktor Bychkov, Sergei Kupriyanov, Igor Sergeev and other film stars. The comedy tells the viewer about the Finnish adventurer Raivo, who is in the Russian outback and wants to learn about the life of the Russian people.

Therefore, the foreigner persuades his friend to introduce him to the national hunt, however, instead of the promised fun of Nimrod, the young man gets acquainted with the traditional forty-degree drink and gets involved in endless adventures. In this film, which, thanks to the acting, earned the honorary Nika Award (1996), Semyon Strugachev played Leva Soloveichik, an extravagant criminal investigation officer from St. Petersburg.

Semyon Strugachev as Leva Soloveichik

The role went to Semyon Mikhailovich almost immediately, because according to the director’s idea, this character had to have a long nose. It is noteworthy that for the same reason the role could have gone to Alexander Lykov, who during the filming of “Peculiarities of the National Hunt” was busy in another project. The character of Lev Soloveichik became Strugachev's calling card.

“I often go up to Rogozhkin and say: “He made Bychkova “Cuckoo” and debunked Kuzmich.” And all my life I have been on the Left. How Morgunov and Vitsin went (Nikulin was more fortunate). Or like Demyanenko, he was a simpleton Shurik all his life,” admitted Semyon Mikhailovich in an interview.

The new century began for the actor with the continuation of the comedy “Peculiarities of National Hunting in Winter” (2000), beloved by the audience, and three years later Semyon Mikhailovich again reincarnated as Lenya Soloveichik, playing in the film “Peculiarities of National Politics” (2003).

In 2004, Strugachev, together with Dmitry Nagiyev, Yuri Galtsev, Alexander Tsekalo, Klara Novikova and other actors, took part in the filming of the comedy series “Beware, Zadov! or The Adventures of an Ensign,” and in 2005 he played in the film adaptation of Mikhail Bulgakov’s immortal work “The Master and Margarita.”

Semyon Strugachev in the film "The Master and Margarita"

In the same 2005, Semyon Mikhailovich appeared in Vitaly Mukhametzyanov’s comedy “Hello, we are your roof!”, where Mikhail Politsemako, Andrey Fedortsov, Bari Alibasov, Yuri Aizenshpis and Evgeny Buldakov also played.

Semyon Strugachev and Andrei Fedortsov in the film “Hello, we are your roof!”

The handsome actor (Semyon Mikhailovich’s height is 182 cm) continues to demonstrate his singing talent. In the film “Peculiarities of National Ice Fishing, or Full Breakaway” (2007), Semyon Mikhailovich performed the song “Man and Cat,” which gained unprecedented popularity among Internet users.

Among other things, Semyon Mikhailovich is familiar to viewers from the films “Answer Me” (2008), “About Love” (2009), “Revenge is Art” (2010), “Demon and Ada” (2010), “Crossmaster” (2012), “Order for one” (2012) “Day of the Dodo” (2012), “Chkalov” (TV series, 2012), “Odnoklassniki.ru: CLICK your luck” (2012), “Sherlock Holmes” (TV series, 2013), etc. .

Semyon Strugachev: films that brought all-Russian fame

As for popularity, of course, fame came to Strugachev after starring in the film “Peculiarities of the National Hunt,” directed by Alexander Vladimirovich Rogozhkin, People’s Artist of the Russian Federation. The plot of the film ironically tells about the mentality of the people and the peculiarities of Russian hunting. For 1994, due to the director's techniques and the originality of the plot, the film became a debut and an example of Russian comedy. The film earned its fame as a folk film thanks to its ensemble cast. Semyon Mikhailovich himself played a prominent role in it. According to the actor, the role of Leva Soloveichik, a criminal investigation officer from St. Petersburg, was quite easy for him. Mutual understanding between the cast and Alexander Rogozhkin was observed throughout the filming of the entire film, and this left the most vivid and pleasant memories.

Strugachev’s no less colorful role in the adventure series about the police – “Deadly Force”. For several seasons, Semyon Mikhailovich coped well with the role of a forensic expert.

Currently, actor Semyon Strugachev is involved in the sketch show “Anecdotes”, which is broadcast on the “Pepper” channel and shows a good popularity rating. According to the actor, he was lucky to participate in this project. Filming the show brings him real pleasure. Along with other equally popular actors, Semyon Mikhailovich plays a variety of comic characters. And, according to the actor himself, he gets inspiration for his work in the homeland of humor - in Odessa.

Personal life

In life, Semyon Strugachev is the same cheerful and charismatic person as on the screen; he often gives friends and family a positive mood.

Semyon Strugachev in 2020

The actor is not without a sense of humor; for example, he told a correspondent in an interview how he introduced himself to a woman who recognized him (who could not remember the artist’s name) as Alexander Abdulov. It is also known that the comedian can play eight musical instruments and even writes music for performances.

Semyon Strugachev and his family

In his free time from work, Semyon Mikhailovich loves active recreation and is not averse to playing football. As for amorous relationships, according to rumors, Strugachev was married three times. The artist’s last chosen one was a woman named Tatyana, who is also not far from creativity. It is known that the couple are raising their daughter Evgenia.

Filmography

1991 — “Austrian Field”
1992 - “We're going to America”
1994 — “The Secret of Winemaking”
1995 - “The time for sadness has not yet come”
1995 — “Features of the national hunt”
1996 - Operation “Happy New Year!”
1998 — “Features of national fishing”
2000 — “Features of national hunting in winter”
2002 — “Deadly Force-2”
2003 — “Features of national policy”
2003 - “Don’t make biscuits when you’re in a bad mood”
2004-2006 - “Careful, Zadov!”
2005 — “Death of an Empire”
2005 — “The Master and Margarita”
2005 - “Hello, we are your roof!”
2006 — “Professor in Law”
2007 — “Features of national ice fishing, or Breakaway to the fullest”
2010 — “Revenge is art”
2012 — “Odnoklassniki.ru: CLICK your luck”
2013 — “Sherlock Holmes”
2016 - “Can I ask Nina?”