Sad comedian: What the brilliant actor Nikolai Trofimov was silent about

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

He always played with inspiration, in full force, be it a wolf in the fairy tale "About Little Red Riding Hood" or Captain Tushin in "War and Peace", and his Samuel Pickwick from the "Pickwick Club" directed by Georgy Tovstonogov was known and loved by the whole country. Nikolai Trofimov was incredibly talented and at the same time very modest. He rarely talked about himself, so few people knew about what was happening in his life. And even more so, Nikolai Trofimov did not spread about the tragedy that he had to endure.

Two seas

He was born back in 1920 in Sevastopol and loved the sea all his life. Nikolai Trofimov's father was a worker at a secret factory where ships were repaired, his mother was engaged in housekeeping. From childhood, the son showed his acting skills, and in the fourth grade, having performed Chekhov's joke "On the dangers of tobacco", he became a school celebrity.

Already at the age of 14, he first appeared on the stage, playing in the Sevastopol Youth Theater the tiny role of a slave in "Uncle Tom's Cabin". True, at that time the young actor was mercilessly criticized: leaving the stage, he kicked the hated exploiter. He did not tell anyone about his idea, but he was able to convince the director to let him go last. Such amateur performance was at odds with the director's idea and with the reviewer's ideas about the behavior of an oppressed teenager, but Nikolai Trofimov was very proud of himself.

It seems that the question of choosing a profession never stood before him: he knew for sure that he would become an actor. Of all the cities of the Soviet Union, where there were theater universities, Nikolai Trofimov chose Leningrad. It's just that there, too, like in his native Sevastopol, there was a sea. At the entrance exams to the Ostrovsky Theater Institute, the future actor showed a sketch about a bazaar thief, and then read an excerpt from Pushkin's Golden Cockerel, and was enrolled in Boris Zon's class.

He studied with enthusiasm and easily, Boris Zon could give him credit for an incredibly successful impromptu and predicted a great future for him, and Nikolai Trofimov already saw himself on the stage. But the war began and the young actor went to the military registration and enlistment office, to ask for the navy to fight the enemy. But he was sent to the ensemble "Five Seas", created by Isaac Dunaevsky. It was necessary not only to fight, but also to maintain the morale of soldiers, sailors and officers.

The biggest loss in life

Nikolai Trofimov had a chance to act in garrisons and directly on the front line. During the Great Patriotic War, he was awarded military orders and medals, and Victory Day has forever remained for him a holiday with tears in his eyes. After all, the blockade took the very dear person from him.

When the war began, Nikolai Trofimov was not only married to his colleague Tatyana Glukhova, but was also waiting for the birth of their first child with his wife. No one was allowed to take food out of the dining room, so that everyone ate their meager ration was strictly monitored. But the actor managed to bring out a small piece of bread for his wife, masterly covering it with an empty mug.

Their son Zhenechka was born in besieged Leningrad, but did not live long. The cold did not leave the baby any chance, and the young parents did not even have the opportunity to bury their child. They hardly persuaded to take the cold body of their son to the funeral machine, which was driving to the Piskarevskoye cemetery. Nikolai Trofimov and Tatyana Glukhova did not have more children, although they lived in love and harmony for many years.

The actor tried not to tell anyone about this tragedy. It was too painful for him to remember that difficult time, and the wound left after this loss, it seems, hurt him all his life.

Chance for happiness

After demobilization in 1946, Nikolai Nikolayevich was accepted into the troupe of the Comedy Theater under the leadership of Nikolai Akimov, where he served for 17 years. His wife also worked with him, who, in between rehearsals and performances, tried to feed her husband cottage cheese so that he would not eat in the buffet.

After Nikolai Trofimov left for the BDT, Tatyana Glukhova also had to leave the Comedy Theater. At first, she worked in the Youth Theater, and then devoted herself entirely to her husband. She took care of him touchingly, watched over his health, created all the conditions so that no household trifles could interfere with the artist's work.

And Tatyana Glukhova suddenly became interested in mosaics and soon her husband joined her hobby. Together they cut out colorful small squares from plastic toys and plates and then glued them to the prepared surface in accordance with the drawing. When Tatyana Glukhova passed away, Nikolai Trofimov continued to make mosaic paintings in memory of his beloved woman and his happiness.

It is unlikely that he thought that he could ever be happy again. However, fate gave him another chance. A few years after the departure of his wife, the actor met his longtime admirer Marianna Iosifovna. Thanks to her, he found warmth, love and care, as well as a cozy home and a daughter, who was not his own, but became the most dear person. The daughter of Marianna Iosifovna, Nikolai Trofimov, was very fond of and always considered his child.

World class comedian

Nikolai Trofimov knew and loved, without exaggeration, the whole country. He was inimitable as a dramatic actor, and the Polish director Erwin Akser called him "a world-class comedian."

Nikolai Trofimov served in the BDT for over 40 years and never allowed himself to be fake either on stage or on the set. And even Grigory Tovstonogov admitted that he was happy to work with Nikolai Trofimov. The great director loved his genius actor and appreciated his "sense of organic, sense of improvisation in the search."

The last time Nikolai Trofimov appeared on the stage of the BDT in the play "The Pickwick Club" on the day when he turned 85 years old. Only a few months passed and Nikolai Trofimov, anticipating his imminent departure, asked that during his funeral not a funeral march should sound, but his favorite song - "Cranes" performed by Mark Bernes.

On November 7, 2005, the brilliant actor died, who considered his theme to be small people who quietly did great things.

Nikolai Trofimov was one of those actors who are capable of playing even a tiny role in such a way as to remain a real star in the memory of the audience. They are called the real kings of the episode for a reason. Appearing on the screen for only a few seconds, they sometimes outshine even the main characters.