The difficult fate of the great Vasily Lanovoy

Biography

People's Artist of the USSR Vasily Semenovich Lanovoy was born on January 16, 1934 in Moscow. His parents moved from the village of Strymba, Kodymsky district, Odessa region, in 1931, a lean year in Ukraine.

From the age of twelve, Lanovoy studied at the theater studio of the ZIL Palace of Culture. He graduated from school with a gold medal and entered the Faculty of Journalism at Moscow State University, but after studying for only one semester, he took his documents and entered the Boris Shchukin Theater School.

Since 1957, immediately after graduating from college, Lanovoy began working at the Yevgeny Vakhtangov Theater.

Social activity

In 1985, fans of Vasily Lanovoy’s talent learned about their favorite actor and as a writer. A book of memoirs entitled “Happy Encounters” was published. Later, a work appeared - the memoirs “Days Fly by Days...”.

In 1995, Lanovoy was elected chairman of the Army and Culture public fund. Under the leadership of the eminent “officer of Russia,” 800 charity concerts were held. Some of them are in hot spots such as Abkhazia, Chechnya, Tajikistan. For more than 10 years, Vasily Semenovich was the director of the Artek International Children's Film Festival. In addition to the title of People's Artist of the USSR, Lanovoy has the title of Academician of the Russian Academy "Nika".

Actor Vasily Lanovoy

The artist is known for his political position on Ukraine. In 2014, Lanovoy signed a call on Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych to “use all power to restore order in the country.” And in March of the same year he came out in support of the Russian President’s policy on Crimea.

And Vasily Semenovich Lanovoy is the chairman of the board of trustees of the “Immortal Regiment” campaign, held on May 9 and covering hundreds of cities across the country. For several years now, the artist and his wife have personally carried portraits of their parents who forged the great Victory on Victory Day.

Theater

On the stage of the Vakhtangov Theater Vasily Semenovich played more than 50 roles. His first job was as political instructor Baklanov (“Eternal Glory”, 1957). In 1964, he played the role of Prince Calaf in Princess Turandot, which became one of his most successful theatrical works.

Among Lanovoy’s famous works in the theater are Ognev (“Front”), the chairman of the collective farm Sagadeev (“The Thirteenth Chairman”), Alexey (“Alexey Berezhnoy”), Germin (“Rain”), Mansur (“The Woman Behind the Green Door”), Protasov (“Children of the Sun”) Don Guan (“The Stone Guest”), Koviel (“The Bourgeois in the Nobility”), Captain Roland (“The Hussar Girl”), Langlois (“Murder on the Rue Lursin”), Marquis of Pas-de-Trois (“Cinderella”) and many others.

Among his few negative roles are Caesar (Antony and Cleopatra), Silberbrandt (The Lords of Glembai). The last significant works in the theater were Trotsky (“The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk”), Bernard Shaw (“Dear Liar”) and King Henry II (“The Lion in Winter”).

In 2004, for the artist’s 70th birthday, the Vakhtangov Theater staged a benefit performance “Frederic, or the Boulevard of Crimes,” in which Lanovoi played the French actor Frederic Lemaitre.

Movie

Vasily Lanovoy made his film debut while still studying at theater school. He starred in the film "Certificate of Matriculation" (1954), and in 1956 he played the main role in the film "Pavel Korchagin". This film received prizes at the Moscow International Film Festival in 1957 and at the All-Union Film Festival in 1958, and the role of Pavka Korchagin secured the actor’s heroic-romantic role.

Then there were roles in the films “Scarlet Sails” (1961), “Colleagues” (1962), “I’m Going into a Thunderstorm” (1965), “War and Peace” (1965-67), “Anna Karenina” (1967).

In 1971, the film “Officers” was released on the screens of the country, in which Lanovoy played officer Ivan Varavva, loyal to duty and honor. For many years the film became one of the most beloved films of Russian cinema, especially revered among defenders of the Fatherland. According to polls by the magazine "Soviet Screen", "Officers" was named film of the year, and Vasily Lanovoy was named the best actor of 1971.

After “Officers,” Vasily Lanovoy took part in the filming of the legendary film “Seventeen Moments of Spring,” where he played the role of SS Obergruppenführer Karl Wolf. The actor says that director Tatyana Lioznova barely persuaded me to play a fascist: “Tatyana Mikhailovna came to my theater twice, inviting me to star in the film. But I was busy in the theater and in another film, so I stubbornly refused. Lioznova did not back down, because she saw only me in this role. I gave up after hearing her amazing phrase about my hero Wolf: “He is not an enemy, he is your opponent - powerful and smart.”

Lanovoy’s list of film roles includes five films in the detective genre. For the first time, the actor starred in the role of intelligence officer Chen in the film “No Password Required” (1967). The next was the image of Major Kostenko in the film dilogy “Petrovka, 38” (1980) and “Ogareva, 6” (1980). The last film in this genre was the film “Proceed with Liquidation” (1983), where the actor played the role of former military pilot Altunin. For these films, Vasily Lanovoy was awarded the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs Prize in 1984.

Since the early 80s, Lanovoy only occasionally agrees to appear in films. At this time, he participated with much greater desire in the productions of his native Vakhtangov Theater. However, fans of the actor were able to see Vasily Semenovich in the films: “The Young Lady-Peasant Woman”, “Dear Liar”, “Poor Relatives”, “The Shores of My Dreams”, etc.

Vasily Lanovoy now

Now Vasily Lanovoy has practically retired from filming films and TV series. The latest film with his participation at the moment (2018) is the poignant drama “Alien Grandfather” by Murad Aliyev about the unexpected friendship of a pensioner and a member of a black realtor’s gang. Spectators, delighted with the acting, compared the film with Stanislav Govorukhin’s “Voroshilovsky Shooter.” Vasily Lanovoi in the film “Alien Grandfather” (trailer) Now Lanovoi rarely appears in films, but the actor remains devoted to his favorite theater, where he continues to serve to this day.

Master of words

Vasily Lanovoy is a recognized master of artistic expression; he has many reading programs. Back in the early 1970s, he released the premiere of a literary program from Pushkin’s poems “When the wrath of fate befalls me.”

For the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg, Vasily Lanovoy recorded Pushkin’s “The Bronze Horseman” on the Orpheus radio station, as well as a cycle of poems “Gifts to Petersburg,” which included works by Blok, Akhmatova, Mayakovsky, Bertgolts and Pushkin.

In 1980, Vasily Lanovoy was awarded the Lenin Prize for dubbing the documentary film “The Great Patriotic War”; acted as an announcer in the documentary film “Strategy of Victory” (1985).

Since 1985, Vasily Lanovoy has been working in the department of stage speech at the Boris Shchukin Theater School: first he was a teacher, then he became a professor and head of this department.

Strengthening character

When the Great Patriotic War began, Vasily and Valentina were visiting their grandmother in the Odessa region, and their parents were in Moscow. For three years they did not see each other. While in the rear, the Lanovs worked hard at a chemical plant, where they prepared an anti-tank mixture and Molotov cocktails.

After the liberation of the village of Strimba, Galina Ivanovna went to pick up the children. Returning to Moscow, Vasily and a friend saw an announcement about the upcoming production of Tom Sawyer. The actors were children from the drama club of the House of Culture at the Likhachev plant. Lanovoy was so impressed by the performance that without hesitation he signed up for a theater club. In 1948, Vasily made his debut at the same theater only in the production of “My Dear Boys.”

Soon the young artist played the main role in the play “Certificate of Maturity,” for which he received an honorary award at the All-Union Amateur Competition.

After graduating from school, Lanovoi easily entered the Shchukin School, where out of 150 applicants, only two people passed the rigorous selection process.

Suddenly, Vasily changes his decision to stay to study at a theater university, and also successfully passes the exams at Moscow State University. As a result, the guy chooses the Faculty of Journalism. After completing one course, Lanovoy received an offer to star in the full-length film “Certificate of Maturity.” The actor gave his consent and did not regret his decision. The film received high marks from critics and Soviet viewers.

Vasily Lanovoy in the film “Certificate of Maturity”

After the successful premiere, Lanovoy realized that he was in a hurry with his choice of profession. The guy leaves Moscow State University and returns to the Shchukin School. Vasily was enrolled in the workshop of Cecilia Mansurova. In 1957, the actor received a diploma and an invitation to work at the E. Vakhtangov Theater. At first, the “Pike” graduate was given small roles, which did not bother the ambitious guy at all.

Personal life

Vasily Semenovich's first wife was the legendary Soviet actress Tatyana Samoilova. Lanovoy's second wife was actress Tamara Zyablova, but in 1971 she died in a car accident

In 1972, the actor married Irina Kupchenko. The couple are still together today. In this marriage two children were born - Alexander and Sergei. The sons are named after Pushkin and Yesenin. The eldest entered the history department of Moscow State University, the youngest graduated from the economics department of the same university.

In 2013, grief happened in the family of Kupchenko and Lanovoy: their youngest son, Sergei, died. The actors learned the tragic news before the performance. Vasily Semenovich took the stage, performing his role flawlessly.

Titles and awards

• Honored Artist of the RSFSR (1968)
• People's Artist of the RSFSR (1978)
• People's Artist of the USSR (1985)
• Honored Artist of the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania (2010)
• People's Artist of the Republic of North Ossetia - Alania (2015)
• Lenin Prize - for participation in the documentary film “The Great Patriotic War” (1980)
• Moscow Komsomol Prize (1972) - for creating heroic images
• USSR KGB Prize (1983) - for the film “Fight at the Crossroads”
• Prize of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR (1984) - for the film “Proceed with Liquidation”
• Order of Friendship of Peoples (1994) - for services to the development of theatrical art
• Order of Honor (2001) - for many years of fruitful activity in the field of culture and art, great contribution to strengthening friendship and cooperation between peoples
• Order of Merit for the Fatherland, IV degree (2004) - for great contribution to the development of theatrical art
• Order of Merit for the Fatherland, III degree (2008) - for great contribution to the development of domestic theatrical and cinematic art, many years of public activity
• Order of Alexander Nevsky (2013) - for great services in the development of domestic theatrical and cinematic art, active social and educational activities
• Medal “In Memory of the Heroes of the Fatherland” (2016, Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation) - for the implementation of projects in historical and patriotic areas.
• International Prize of St. Andrew the First-Called “Faith and Loyalty” “For great contribution to the development of cinema” (2003)
• "Great Literary Prize of Russia" SP of Russia, award "For the Benefit of Russia" for outstanding contribution to the development of Russian culture (2009)
• Tsarskoye Selo Art Prize (2010)
• Russian National Acting Award named after Andrei Mironov “Figaro” in the category “For service to the theatrical Fatherland” (2012)
• Crystal Turandot Award (2016) - for long-term and valiant service to the theater
• National Peter the Great Prize
• Order of Peter the Great, II degree
• Order of St. Stanislaus
• On January 15, 2004, a plaque with the autograph of Vasily Lanovoy was unveiled at the All-Russian Film Alley of Fame of the Mosfilm film concern.

Based on materials from the sites: KinoPoisk, Rossiya TV channel, StarAndStar.ru, Kino-teatr.ru, Wikipedia, RIA Novosti, Vakhtangov Theater website.

Filmography: Actor

• Three Musketeers (2013)
• Shores of My Dreams (2013), TV series
• Poor relatives (2012), TV series
• Old Men (2010)
• House on Ozernaya (2009), TV series
• The Mystery of St. Patrick (2006), TV series
• Officers (2006), TV series
• Saga of the ancient Bulgars. The Tale of Olga the Saint (2005)
• Saga of the ancient Bulgars. Vladimir's Ladder Red Sun (2005)
• Brezhnev (2005), TV series
• Golden Head on the Block (2004)
• Tyutcheva's Last Love (2003)
• Homage to Eve (2003)
• Night at the Cordon (2001)
• Pretty Liar (2001)
• A Knight's Romance (2000)
• One love of my soul (1999)
• The Invisible Traveler (1998)
• Stranger Weapons, or Crusader 2 (1998)
• Young Peasant Lady (1995)
• Fall (1993)
• Little things in life (1992-1997), TV series
• Black Square (1992)
• Tear of the Prince of Darkness (1992)
• Unexpected Visits (1991)
• Imp in the Rib (1990)
• Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (1989)
• Thirteenth Chairman (1987)
• Defeat (1987)
• Painting (1985)
• Proceed to Liquidation (1983)
• Fight at the Crossroads (1982)
• Petrovka, 38 (1980)
• Ogareva, 6 (1980)
• Antony and Cleopatra (1980)
• Lord Glembai (1979)
• Man with a Gun (1978)
• Meeting on a Distant Meridian (1977)
• Soldiers of Freedom (1977)
• Own Opinion (1977)
• Strange Woman (1977)
• Days of the Turbins (1976)
• Millionaire (1974)
• Anna and the Commander (1974)
• Jung of the Northern Fleet (1973)
• Seventeen Moments of Spring (1973), TV series
• Irkutsk Story (1973)
• Fifty Fifty (1972)
• Officers (1971)
• Lyubov Yarovaya (1970)
• Sixth of July (1968)
• No Password Needed (1967)
• Anna Karenina (1967)
• War and Peace (1965-1967)
• Walking into a Storm (1965)
• Colleagues (1962)
• Striped Flight (1961)
• Scarlet Sails (1961)
• Stronger Than a Hurricane (1960)
• Pavel Korchagin (1956)
• 300 years ago... (1955)
• Matriculation Certificate (1954)

Actor career

Vasily Lanovoy’s first star role in cinema was the role of Pavka Korchagin in the film adaptation of the famous Soviet novel by Nikolai Ostrovsky “Pavel Korchagin” (1956). Moreover, at first Georgy Yumatov, who suddenly fell ill, was approved for the role in this film. At this time, in the neighboring pavilion, the film “Three Hundred Years Ago...” was being filmed, where Schuka’s third-year student Vasily Lanovoi was filming. Directors Alov and Naumov immediately noticed this tall and stately actor and invited Vasily to try on the role of Pavel Korchagin. Lanovoy replied that this image seemed to be especially for him.

The image of the selfless Komsomol member Pavel Korchagin, created by the young actor, fell in love with many viewers throughout the USSR and, by the way, was in the spirit of the times. After this incident, actor Yumatov harbored a grudge against Vasily Lanovoy - only on the set of the film “Officers” did the artists become friends again

And after graduating from the Shchukin School in 1957, Vasily Semenovich got a job at the Vakhtangov Theater. The main director of the theater, Ruben Nikolaevich Simonov, did not give Lanovoy the opportunity to reveal himself in a worthy role for a long time - perhaps this was a kind of educational process. Meanwhile, Vasily suffered from uncertainty.

Somehow he was invited to work at the Mossovet Theater, at the same time an offer was received from the Sovremennik Theater. Lanovoy had to decide whether to stay in his theater or accept one of two offers. Then he turned to the chief director of the theater Simonov and told about the lucrative offers. Simonov did not let Vasily Lanovoy go, and after a couple of months the actor was already playing the main role in one performance.

Afterwards there was the role of Calaf in the play “Princess Turandot” based on the fairy tale by Carl Gozzi - the last production of Vakhtangov himself. Having played this role, Vasily Lanovoy seemed to be born again. Later there were roles in equally significant performances: “Cavalry”, “Antony and Cleopatra”, “Mary Tudor”, “Prince Andrey”.

Meanwhile, Lanovoy also captivated moviegoers by playing Gray in the romantic “Scarlet Sails” with Anastasia Vertinskaya in 1961. This was followed by “Striped Flight”, where Vasily Semenovich got only a cameo role - nevertheless, the viewer remembered the talented artist in this film.

Then Vasily “proceeded” to Russian classics: he played the seducer Anatoly Kuragin in Sergei Bondarchuk’s epic “War and Peace” (1965-66) and Vronsky in “Anna Karenina” (1967). With Georgy Yumatov Lanovoy starred in the film “Officers”, with which he forever imprinted himself in the memory of the domestic audience.

Very soon, the actor again played a general - this time in the saga “Seventeen Moments of Spring” with Vyacheslav Tikhonov, and then an adjutant in “Days of the Turbins” with Andrei Myagkov and Vladimir Basov

In the early 80s, Vasily Semenovich did not act much - he was not offered new roles. A little more - and the actor would have plunged into depression. What saved him was his dedication to his work - he taught at the Shchukin School, played in the theater, and staged his own reading programs.

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Currently, Vasily Lanovoy does not appear in many films. In 2006, the actor starred in the modern “Officers” - a film with Alexei Makarov and Sergei Gorobchenko about the relationship between two Afghans. Now more and more often Lanovoy refuses incoming offers. While working on the painting “Bogdan Khmelnitsky,” Vasily Semenovich felt that the rhetoric of this painting was alien to him, and left the project.

Vasily Lanovoy is devoted to the Vakhtangov Theater with all his heart, and still participates in local productions.