Aleksandr Demyanenko

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Aleksandr Demyanenko (Russian: Александр Демьяненко; 1937-1999) was a Soviet and Russian actor.

Aleksandr Demyanenko was born in Sverdlovsk, USSR in 1937. He went to a music school from 1946 to 1952. In 1954 he failed to enter the school of arts. In 1955, however, he entered a theatre school in Moscow, USSR. He studied at GITIS. In 1958 he was cast in the film The Wind. In 1959 he graduated from the GITIS theatre acting school. He then worked in the Mayakovsky Theater in Moscow. In 1959 he starred in Everything Begins with Hitting the Road.

In 1961 Aleksandr Demyanenko moved to Leningrad and starred in the film Grown-Up Children. He then went on to play in A Night Before Christmas, Peace to Him Who Enter and was cast for the title role in Dima Gorin's Career. In 1962 he starred in A Trip Without a Load and Bang the Drum. In 1963 he starred in Cheka Employee, The First Trolleybus and Kain XVIII. In 1964 he starred in The Returned Music and State Offender.

In 1965 he was cast for the role of Shurik in a classic Soviet comedy Operation Y and Other Shurik's Adventures. This role earned Demyanenko the image of nerdy student Shurik ("Shurik" being a diminutive form of the name Aleksandr). In 1966 he starred in the semi-sequel to the film The Prisoner of Caucasus, or Shurik's New Adventures. In 1967, he starred in the film War under the Roofs and in 1968 in The Dead Season. In 1969 he starred in Tomorrow, April 3rd and The Ugryum River. In 1971 he starred in Dauria. In 1972 he starred in Hello and Goodbye and The Singing Teacher. Demyanenko tried to avoid being typecast as "Shurik" and was not able to get major roles.

In 1973 he once again reunited with Leonid Gaidai to star in the film Ivan Vasilyevich: Back to the Future where he plays a scientist (also by the name of "Shurik") who invents a time machine. In 1974 he starred in Strange Adults and The Last Winter Day. In 1975 he starred in Unique and Eleven Hopes. In 1977 he starred in Crane in the Sky. In 1978 he starred in A Moment Decides Everything and Chest of Drawers Was Lead Through the Street.... In 1979 he starred in The Nightingale and The Bat. In 1980 he starred in The Useless Girl. In 1981 he starred in Comrade Innokenty and It Was Beyond the Narva Gate.

Demyanenko was unable to gain popularity for other roles as he was typecast as a scientist due to his tremendous popularity as the nerdy, crime-fighting student Shurik. He frequently started to voice foreign films to earn some extra money. In 1982 he starred in An Awful Day and My Love: A Revolution. In 1983 he starred in The Green Van and Echo of a Distant Blast. In 1984 he starred in Stories of an Old Magician and Dear, Dearest, Beloved, Unique. In 1985 he starred in Dream in the Hand, or Suitcase. In 1988 he starred in A Bright Person and Tamara Aleksandrovna's Husband and Daughter. In 1991 Demyanenko starred in A Play for Millions, And to Hell with Us and The White Clothes. In 1992 he starred in Seven-Forty.

Aleksandr Demyanenko suffered from alcoholism. He lived in poverty following the collapse of the social welfare system. He appeared in the TV Show / movie Old Songs of the Main Things 2 in 1997 playing the aged Shurik. He had a brief role in the TV series Strawberry played his other famous role of the nerdy professor in Old Songs of the Main Things 3 in 1998. In 1999 Aleksandr Demyanenko died from a heart attack. Some analysts say this played part in the success of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation in the December 1999 elections as the lack of a social welfare system was frequently blamed for his death.

Links

[1]- IMDB page about Aleksandr Demyanenko

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