Talented and multifaceted Roman Filippov: what really was a big man from Soviet films

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

Without this charismatic big man, it is impossible to imagine a single cult Soviet film. Supporting actor Roman Filippov is so colorful and natural that it is even difficult to call him a minor figure. And despite the appearance of a big kind simpleton, in life he was a very intelligent and multifaceted person, capable of courageous deeds, with an incredibly interesting fate.

Wasn't going to be an actor

Roman Filippov was born in 1936. His parents were Leningrad actors, and his mother, even being pregnant, did not interrupt the tour. The birth took place in Simferopol. Alas, immediately after the birth of her son, she died.

Roman was raised by his father and grandmother, and when his father got married, he had a stepmother - a kind and intelligent woman. The boy grew up in a cultured family, he was well-mannered, friendly, loved to read books and play chess. He did not intend to go to the actors at all and, perhaps, would have become a good grandmaster, if not for the case. Artists from the Maly Theater arrived in the city of Gorky, where the Filippov family lived at that time. One of them, actress Vera Pashennaya, came to a local school: the director asked her to look at the children and determine if any of them had acting talent.

The students took turns entering the audition class and showing who can do what. It was Roma's turn. He calmly entered, looked at the woman and loudly thumped "Hello". That was enough. Pashennaya cast a glance at the colorful big man and said: "You need to go to the theater."

The guy listened to her advice and after graduating from school entered the Schepkinsky school for the Pashennaya course. Roman's classmates were Viktor Bortsov and Yuri Solomin. Having received an acting education, the talented guy got a job at the Maly Theater.

For the sake of his beloved, he left Moscow and learned the Belarusian language

The actor met his future wife on the set of the film "A Man Does Not Give Up" - Catherine was the director's daughter. Young people confessed their feelings to each other right after they met. At the end of filming, everyone left for their own city (the girl lived in Minsk), but this did not cool the feelings: they constantly kept in touch, and a few years later Roman moved to his beloved in the Belarusian capital and got married.

Here he got a job as an actor in a local academic theater, however, they took him on one condition: you need to learn the Belarusian language. Filippov, without hesitation, agreed.

Great actor in every sense

In any film, according to the script, there is always a key secondary character - a colorful, memorable and funny figure, which gives the picture a zest. Very often, Roman Filippov became such a hero in Soviet films - a hero with a rare timbre of a bass-profundo voice, large and charismatic. He was entrusted with diverse roles - both large and small, but each of them was remembered by the audience forever.

Indeed, it is simply impossible to imagine the film "The Diamond Arm" without the catchphrases "Why did you shave off your mustache, fool?" and “If you are in Kolyma - you are welcome” or “Good luck gentlemen” without “Help, hooligans are depriving them of sight!”. But only such a characteristic actor as Filippov, with his bass, impressive external data and great acting talent, could have made these scenes incorruptible.

And even in those films where Filippov did not have such colorful phrases, his character still remained very noticeable and was always in place as an integral part of the film.

Multifaceted and talented in everything

Roman Filippov not only played in theater and cinema. He voiced cartoons - for example, the Ogre speaks in his voice in "The Wizard of the Emerald City", and also in several tales Filippov voiced bears. And in the original recording of the rock opera Juno and Avos (1980), he was the soloist in the prologue.

In addition, Filippov wrote poems and words to songs for films, and while working in Minsk he was fond of translations into Belarusian. By the way, he also spoke Polish and German fluently. And, of course, he never forgot his first hobby in life, chess, trying not to miss the opportunity to play a game.

Chief Santa Claus

In the early 70s, when the actor had already returned to Moscow and worked at the Maly Theater, he was appointed the main Grandfather Frost of the USSR, whose duties included congratulating the children at the Kremlin Christmas tree. They were appointed precisely because such a responsible and honorable "position" in the Soviet Union was in importance equivalent to a high party rank. It was simply impossible to refuse such an offer.

They say that the actor was paid 800 rubles for his work as Santa Claus, and not a Christmas tree was taken by a personal driver in an official car. Grandfather Frost was recorded in advance in the studio, and at the holiday he spoke to the soundtrack - this role was so responsible. Since Filippov did not leave his job in Maly, other actors replaced him during his performances in the Kremlin.

The actor worked as the Kremlin Santa Claus for almost 20 years. They say that during his last performance in front of the guys in January 1992, the host of the show involuntarily made a reservation and instead of "Santa Claus does not say goodbye to you" he said "goodbye to you." These words turned out to be prophetic. In the same year, the actor died.

Interesting, but more dramatic, the fate of another great actor - Mikhail Pugovkin.