As a Soviet champion athlete, the world record holder became a movie star: Zigzags of fate by Yuri Dumchev

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

In the late 1970s - early 1980s. the name of this Soviet athlete became known not only at home, but also abroad: the six-time USSR champion in discus throw and shot put in 1983 became the world record holder. Due to his textured appearance - a height of under 2 meters and a heroic physique - Yuri Dumchev attracted the attention of filmmakers and in the same period made his film debut. His example was unique: without giving up his sports career, he became famous after filming the film "The Man from Boulevard des Capuchins" and continued to act in films with the best directors in the country.

Art and sport are rarely so closely intertwined in the life of one person - as a rule, professional athletes devote all their time to training and competition. But Yuri Dumchev from his youth was fond of both. He graduated from music school, accordion class, studied in the school drama club, wrote poetry. He became interested in sports after he saw the shot put championship on TV. Its first "core" was a ball sawn off from a dumbbell. At the age of 16, Yuri moved from the village of Podgorensky to the capital and began to go in for athletics at the Moscow boarding school No. 1.

Dumchev was engaged in discus throwing and shot put from the age of 16 and very quickly achieved noticeable success in this sport. At the age of 18, he entered the Moscow State Institute of Physical Culture and was invited to the USSR national team, and at the age of 20 he won victories at the USSR Championship and the European Junior Championship. In 1980, the athlete twice broke the USSR record in discus throwing, and after 3 years he became the world record holder with a score of 71, 86 meters, ahead of the silver medalist by 15 meters!

Back in 1979, Yuri Dumchev first appeared on the screens in a documentary film about athletics, where they talked about the records of Soviet athletes. Thanks to its texture, he got into the Mosfilm card index, and directors of feature films drew attention to the young man with extraordinary physical characteristics. In feature films, Dumchev made his debut at the age of 22 - in the sports drama by Pavel Lyubimov "Faster than his own shadow" he appeared in one of the episodes in the form of an athlete.

Yuri never thought about a professional acting career. He continued to play sports from 1977 to 1995. was a member of the national team of the country, became a six-time champion of the USSR in discus throw and shot put, as well as an honored master of sports in athletics. 5 years after his film debut, he again received an offer to star in a feature film by Sergei Bondarchuk himself, who, together with Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic and Poland, worked on the adaptation of Boris Godunov. One of the Polish actors, who was supposed to star in a cameo role, left for France, and he urgently needed to find a replacement. The difficulty was that there was no actor similar in texture, and Yuri Dumchev was offered to become an understudy for his Polish colleague. The episode was so small that the name of the athlete was not even mentioned in the credits. But on the set, he was lucky to observe the work of the stars of Soviet cinema Sergei Bondarchuk, Alexander Solovyov, Irina Skobtseva, Anatoly Romashin, Anatoly Vasiliev, Georgy Burkov, and this became a real acting school for him.

Of course, no one offered him major roles in the cinema. Dumchev lacked professional acting skills and specialized education. The directors were attracted not by his artistic talent, but above all by the texture - under 2 meters in height, weight about 150 kg. But his type was so colorful that even small episodes with his participation were remembered by the audience. His most famous early film work was the role of White Feather, the son of the Indian leader in Alla Surikova's film "The Man from the Boulevard des Capuchins."

A brilliant cast gathered on the set of this film, and the athlete was once again lucky to work with the best Soviet actors. His screen parents were Spartak Mishulin and Natalya Fateeva, and other partners on the set were Andrei Mironov, Nikolai Karchentsov, Oleg Tabakov and other movie stars. Yuri Dumchev was not lost against their background. He managed to create such a vivid comic image that millions of viewers fell in love with his secondary hero. Everyone probably remembers his remark: "As on the warpath - not so small, but as on the film …". After filming in this film, the athlete was assigned the II acting category. Alla Surikova called herself his "godmother in the cinema", because he not only played her brightest role in her youth, but later continued to act in her films "I Want to Jail" and "The Perfect Couple".

The age of athletes is fleeting, and even famous champions do not always have a happy fate. But Yuri Dumchev became an exception to the rule - he remained in sports until the last days, doing coaching, and continued to act in films. He not only achieved outstanding achievements in sports himself, but also raised new champions and at the same time mastered a new profession - acting. In 1991, a documentary film "Unsportsmanlike History" was shot about him, in 1998 Dumchev became a member of the Guild of Actors of Russia, and in 2002 he was admitted to the Union of Cinematographers of Russia. Yuri played two seasons at the theater. V. Mayakovsky in the play "The Place for Smoking".

With his heroic physique, he was a very good-natured and gentle person. In addition, Dumchev knew how to instantly win over people, being very sociable and charming. Although he did not get the main roles, he was invited to their films by the best directors of the country: Sergey Bondarchuk, Alla Surikova, Alexey Korenev, Eldar Ryazanov, Yuri Kara, Andrey Konchalovsky, Rodion Nakhapetov, etc.

Even if he was invited to films due to the texture, he knew how to surprise the directors when they met. Once at the audition, Yuri Kara asked to look at him so that he was frightened. A minute later Dumchev heard: "". It's a pity that most directors saw him only in the images of athletes, bandits, bodyguards - in fact, his creative range was much wider and more diverse. In addition to filming a movie, Yuri Dumchev appeared on television in the program “What? Where? When?”, He became a member of the club experts in 2007.

Despite a rather successful film career, until the end of his days, Yuri Dumchev worked as a senior coach of the Moscow throwing team. In early February 2016, he took the national team to Adler for the All-Russian throwing competition. At some point, the coach complained of poor health - he had a heart attack. An ambulance was immediately called, and before her arrival, first aid was provided by the doctors of the sports base. Despite attempts to revive the athlete, it was not possible to save him. On February 10, Yuri Dumchev's heart stopped. At that time he was only 57 years old.

A lot of interesting things happened on the set of this film. Secrets of the "Man from Boulevard des Capuchins": tricks on the bet, fights and seduction of the general.