Aleksandr Demyanenko

Aleksandr Demyanenko
Born (1937-05-30)May 30, 1937
Sverdlovsk, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Died August 22, 1999(1999-08-22) (aged 62)
Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation
Occupation Actor
Spouse(s) Marina Sklyarova
Liudmila Demyanenko
Children Angelica Nevolina (adopted)
Awards People's Artist of the RSFSR (1991)

Aleksandr Sergeievich Demyanenko (Russian: Алекса́ндр Серге́евич Демья́ненко; May 30, 1937 – August 22, 1999) was a Russian film and theater actor. He was given the honorary distinction of People's Artist of the RSFSR. He began his acting career with the film Veter in 1958, and is well known for playing the character Shurik in a number of films, beginning with the 1965 comedy Operation Y and Other Shurik's Adventures, and ending with the 1997 film Old Songs of the Main Things 2.

Life and career

Early life

Aleksandr Demyanenko was born in Sverdlovsk, Soviet Union in 1937. Aleksandr's mother, Galina Belkova was an accountant. His father, Sergei Petrovich, was an actor who graduated from the Lunacharsky State Institute for Theatre Arts. Sergei later worked as a director at the Sverdvlosk Opera Theatre, and as a child Aleksandr played bit parts at the theatre. Aleksandr attended a theater workshop at the Palace of Culture and parallel to that he studied piano at a music school. He also learned foreign languages with an emphasis on German in middle school and in high school started to sing in a baritone.[1][2] In 1954 he began to study jurisprudence at the Sverdlovsk University of Law, but was expelled from the first semester for skipping lessons.[3] In 1954 he failed to get into the Moscow Art Theatre, however in 1955 he was accepted both at the Lunacharsky State Institute for Theatre Arts and at the Boris Shchukin Theatre Institute in Moscow. He ended up choosing Lunacharsky.[4]

Acting career

In 1958 he was cast in the film Veter (Russian: Ветер). In 1959 he graduated from the Lunacharsky State Institute for Theatre Arts 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 became staff actor at Lenfilm studio. There he 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 Cain XVIII. In 1964 he starred in The Returned Music and State Offender.

In 1965 he was cast for the role of Shurik in the 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 Kidnapping, Caucasian Style.[5] 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 3 and The Ugryum River. In 1971 he starred in Dauria. In 1972 he starred in Hello and Goodbye and The Singing Teacher.

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 named Shurik who invents a time machine.[6] 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.[7][8][9] He frequently provided voice-overs for foreign and domestic films, and even Donatas Banionis admitted that his dubbing was an improvement over his original acting.[10][9]

Later years

He appeared in the television movie Old Songs of the Main Things 2 in 1997 playing an aged Shurik. He had a brief role in the TV series Strawberry and reprised his famous role of the nerdy professor in Old Songs of the Main Things 3 in 1998.

He was diagnosed with congestive heart failure but was afraid of getting bypass surgery. In 1999 Aleksandr Demyanenko died from a heart attack.[11][8][9]

Personal life

His first marriage was to Marina Sklyarova with whom he went to acting classes.[8] He divorced Sklyarova when he became involved with voice-over director from Lenfilm Liudmila Demyanenko who became his second wife, to whom they stayed married until his death.[12][11][13] He became the stepfather to her daughter Angelica Nevolina, who later became an actress.[14]

Filmography

References

  1. ↑ "Демьяненко Александр Сергеевич". Megabook.
  2. ↑ "Александр Демьяненко". peoples.ru.
  3. ↑ "Александр Демьяненко мог стать не «Шуриком», а юристом в родном Свердловске". Komsomolskaya Pravda.
  4. ↑ "Александр Демьяненко". VokrugTV.
  5. ↑ "Kidnapping Caucasian Style (1966)". AllMovie. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  6. ↑ Roger Greenspun (23 June 1973). "Ivan Vasilievich Back To The Future (1973)". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
  7. ↑ "«Влип, очкарик»! Пять ярких ролей Александра Демьяненко". Argumenty i Fakty.
  8. 1 2 3 "Всенародный любимец Александр Демьяненко". km.ru.
  9. 1 2 3 Анна ВЕЛИГЖАНИНА. "Нина Гребешкова: «Демьяненко страдал, что на всю жизнь остался Шуриком»". Komsomolskaya Pravda.
  10. ↑ "Александр Демьяненко: "Нет, я не Шурик, я другой"". Russia-K.
  11. 1 2 Людмила ГРАБЕНКО. "Актера Александра ДЕМЬЯНЕНКО могла бы спасти операция по шунтированию, но он побоялся ложиться под нож и умер от инфаркта". Bulvar Gordona.
  12. ↑ "Последний приют комедианта". mk.ru.
  13. ↑ "Александр Демьяненко: "С Вициным, Никулиным и Моргуновым у меня контакта не получалось"". fakty.ua.
  14. ↑ "Анжелика Неволина". VokrugTV.
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