Georgy Millyar: the honored Baba Yaga and the lonely gentleman of Soviet cinema

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

Probably everyone remembers Baba Yaga, Koschei, Miracle Yudo and other evil spirits from Soviet films for children. All these incredibly bright and expressive roles were performed by the magnificent Georgy Millyar … It is not surprising that he is rightfully called the deserved Baba Yaga of the Soviet Union, but is this not too dubious a compliment for a man? Indeed, in addition to roles in children's films, there were so many moments in his life that deserve attention!

Nothing foreshadowed his career as an actor in childhood. George was born in 1903 into a very wealthy family: his father was a French engineer who came to Russia to build bridges, and his mother was the daughter of a gold miner. After 1917, nothing remained of the family's impressive property, his father died suddenly, and a huge apartment in Gelendzhik was turned into a communal one, the boy and his mother were settled in the same room.

Georgy de Mille turned into Georgy Millyar, in the questionnaires it was necessary not only to enter "employees" in the "origin" column, but also to carefully hide the knowledge of three languages that the governesses taught him.

He began by working as a prop at the Gelendzhik theater. Once, when the actress who played Cinderella fell ill, he volunteered to replace her. The audience did not notice the substitution, and this role became the first female of many in Millyar's repertoire.

After the Civil War, from a communal apartment in Gelendzhik, she and her mother moved to a Moscow communal apartment. There Georgy graduated from acting school, played in the theater, and in 1934 he went to the cinema, after a landmark meeting for him with the director Alexander Rowe. In 16 of his tales, he played 30 roles - in one film he could appear in different characters.

In the role of Baba Yaga, he felt organic, as he argued that this role was not at all female - only a man could allow himself to be mutilated. The prototype for the image of the evil old woman served as a neighbor in a communal apartment, quarrelsome and quarrelsome. Regarding the fact that he had to play all kinds of evil spirits, Millyar wittily noted: "Humanized devils are better than shaded people."

Many important events in the life of the actor happened too late. He received the title of People's Artist only at the age of 85. He did not wait for serious main roles in the cinema (he dreamed of playing Caesar, Voltaire, Suvorov). Although he did have affairs, he remained lonely for most of his life. Until the age of 65, Millyar lived alone with his mother, and married only after her death - to a 60-year-old neighbor. At first, she refused - they say, she no longer needs men at her age. George was not at a loss: "I am not a man, I am Baba Yaga." So the famous cinematic image and natural sense of humor helped the actor win the heart of a woman.

Georgy Millyar did not lose his innate intelligence and gallantry, and even in a very modest suit he remained de Millier. And although the actor believed that he had not fully realized his creative potential, it can be argued that he brilliantly fulfilled his mission in cinema: it is difficult for viewers to imagine a children's fairy tale without his participation. And more than one generation of children will laugh at his roles in the films "Frost", "Koschey the Immortal", "Barbarian Beauty, Long Braid", "Vasilisa the Beautiful".

In the Soviet Union, they did not save on children's cinema, and in addition to fairy tales with the participation of Millyar, we have come down to 15 best Soviet films for the little ones