How does the presenter of the iconic program of the 1980s "Before and After Midnight" live and what he does these days: Vladimir Molchanov

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

At one time, he made a revolution on Soviet television, becoming the author and host of one of the most popular programs of the perestroika period, "Before and After Midnight." But even before his career in television, Vladimir Molchanov helped uncover 30 Nazi criminals, and in 1991 he left the State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company. He personified the new era on television and was the most popular presenter in the late 1980s. Now Vladimir Molchanov is already 70 years old, but for him this is no reason for despondency.

Journalism as destiny

He was born into an intelligent Moscow family. He's actually incredibly lucky. Judge for yourself, the father is the famous composer Kirill Molchanov, who wrote, among other works, music for several performances of the Moscow Art Theater, for the operas "The Stone Flower", "The Dawns Here Are Quiet", and the songs "There are so many golden lights", "From the people in the village do not hide "," Wait for me "and others sang the whole country. The mother of the future journalist Marina Pastukhova-Dmitrieva was an actress of the Theater of the Soviet Army, and Olga Knipper-Chekhova herself was the godmother of little Volodya.

It seems that with such relatives, Vladimir Molchanov was waiting for the only possible way - to the stage. But the young man had his own plans. The champion of the Soviet Union in tennis among youths entered the philological faculty at Moscow State University, specialized in the study of the Dutch language and received a sports scholarship, which was more than the average salary of an engineer.

In his first year after a trip to potatoes, he married his classmate Consuelo Segura. He made an offer a week after they met, and a few years later the beautiful Spanish woman admitted: she noticed Vladimir at the university. The couple have been together for more than half a century, they raised a wonderful daughter, Anna, who chose the profession of a psychologist.

After receiving his diploma, Vladimir Molchanov was hired by AP Novosti, which specialized in creating a positive image of the country abroad. He was the correspondent of the agency in the Netherlands, accompanied the Soviet delegations as a translator.

Retribution Must Be Done

It all started when a colleague from Amsterdam called him in Moscow and asked him to find out if Peter Menten, a former Nazi, lived in Lviv. Vladimir Molchanov decided to go to Lvov himself, tracked down the criminal and wrote an article about him. After that, Menten was overtaken by just retribution, and he went to prison.

And the journalist got so carried away that he continued his investigation and as a result uncovered 30 of Menten's “colleagues” who had committed crimes during the Second World War. Based on the results of his research, Vladimir Molchanov published the book "Retribution Must Be Done", becoming a laureate of the Maxim Gorky Prize. And with the royalties from the sale of the book, which sold 100 thousand copies, he could buy his own Zhiguli.

Before and after

After joining television, the journalist initially hosted the "Time" program, and then came up with his own information and music program "Before and After Midnight." It was a completely new format for television. Guests came to the studio, whom the censorship simply did not let in other programs. It was here that Alexander Serov made his debut at one time, Pugacheva sang her "Ferryman" and "Pied Piper" for the first time. Of course, no one forbade the singer herself, but for some reason the officials considered the first song hinting at Solzhenitsyn, and the second at Mikhail Gorbachev.

At that time, Vladimir Molchanov became one of the most popular presenters in the country. Once a month on the night from Saturday to Sunday at 11:30 pm, the audience sat down at the blue screens to see what they had never seen. He invariably appeared as a presenter until 1991, talked on topical topics, talked about politics, talked with interesting people.

He also made documentaries. "Slaughter", which tells about the explosion that took place at the Luhansk mine, which killed more than seventy people, put an end to the TV presenter's career. On the air before the premiere, he said goodbye and on the morning of May 29, filed a letter of resignation.

But life for Vladimir Molchanov after leaving television did not end. He returned several times, gradually refusing to talk about politics, but began to conduct programs about culture. Over time, he left television altogether, but many programs hosted by Vladimir Molchanov can be watched today.

Already in 2006, the journalist began to broadcast a program on Radio Orpheus. At Rendezvous with an amateur, Vladimir Molchanov met with talented musicians. The last release of the program was released in June 2020, there is no information about the resumption of the project yet.

Vladimir Molchanov continues to work on documentary projects, and also runs a workshop at the journalism faculty of the Moscow Institute of Television and Radio Broadcasting "Ostankino". After the announcement of the self-isolation regime, Vladimir Molchanov, like his entire family, had to settle in Staraya Ruza. It was impossible to go to the radio or to teach because of the restrictions. Vladimir Kirillovich enjoyed the peace for some time, but then admitted that more than anything in the world he was waiting for the day when the restrictions would be lifted and he would be able to work again.

The host's father, Kirill Vladimirovich Molchanov, wrote the music for the song “There are so many golden lights”, which has become the hallmark of the film “It Was in Penkovo”. Few believed in the success of the film but the result amazed everyone. The melodrama became a recognized classic of Soviet cinema, and the song went to the people.