Why, after the departure of Vladimir Voroshilov, the name of the new presenter “What? Where? When?" kept secret for several years

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

On December 18, the famous TV presenter and director, the creator of the program “What? Where? When?" Vladimir Voroshilov, but for 19 years he has not been among the living. For 25 years, he remained the author, director and permanent host of the most popular and rated intellectual TV game. After his departure, the program did not cease to exist, however, for 6 years, the editorial office hid the identity of the new presenter. In fact, he was not a beginner, because he was at the origins of the creation of “What? Where? When?" and at the age of 9 he became the author of the first question for this game.

The real name of Vladimir Voroshilov is Kalmanovich. He was born in 1930 in Simferopol into a Jewish family. His father, Yakov Kalmanovich, was the head of the rationalization bureau, and then - the chief engineer of the USSR People's Commissariat of Light Industry and the director of the Bolshevichka factory. In 1952 he was arrested and under investigation for 11 months. His son was convinced that he only suffered because of his nationality. Therefore, when Vladimir got married, he took his wife's surname - Voroshilov.

After graduating from an art school and an art institute, Vladimir Voroshilov worked as a production designer at the Moscow Art Theater, the Maly Theater and the Operetta Theater, then became the director of Sovremennik and the Taganka Theater. True, Voroshilov did not stay for long anywhere. His wife Natalya said about it: "".

All-Union recognition came to him after he began working on television. In the late 1960s. The Central TV channel invited him to create a program to his liking. This is how the "Auction" appeared - the first advertising and game program on Soviet television. After 6 episodes, it was removed from the air and closed - they said that the reason was the forbidden bardic song that sounded in the program. After that, Voroshilov was transferred to a freelance and banned from appearing on the screen. And when in 1975 he created a new project - the intellectual game “What? Where? When?”, Which had no analogues in the world - he still had no right to be in the frame, so in the first episodes the audience only heard his voice. What many perceived as an original idea was actually a necessary measure.

The mysterious anonymous TV game host has intrigued the entire country for several years. Sacks of letters came to the editorial office of the program with a request to declassify the identity of the presenter. Only 5 years later, the name of Vladimir Voroshilov was first heard on the air. They say that he was pushed to this decision by an anecdotal incident: once he, together with Eldar Ryazanov, who at that time was broadcasting “Kinopanorama”, stood in line in the Ostankino canteen. Ryazanov was given soup with herbs, and Voroshilov - without. Then Ryazanov told him: "". Jokes as a joke, and the time has really come for Voroshilov to appear on the screens. The popular TV presenter in 1994 became one of the first 12 academicians of the Academy of Russian Television, in 1997 he received for the program “What? Where? When?" the TEFI Prize, in 2001 he was awarded another TEFI Prize in the nomination “For Personal Contribution to the Development of Russian Television” - unfortunately, already posthumously.

The favorite brainchild of Vladimir Voroshilov survived its creator - the TV game was so popular with viewers that they decided to leave the program on the air. True, the main problem was the search for a new presenter, because Voroshilov not only led the program - he personally thought through all the details, wrote scripts for each game, and chose questions for connoisseurs. He could only be replaced by someone who was just as well versed in the work process and knew everything about this TV game. And there was only one such - Voroshilov's stepson Boris Kryuk, to whom he himself planned to transfer the further management of the program.

Voroshilov met Boris's mother Natalya Stetsenko when she came to work for him in the program. They began an affair, for the sake of him Natalya left her husband. Her son Boris Voroshilov had a rather complicated relationship. Natalia said that Vladimir became for 4-year-old Boris not a father, not a stepfather, but a partner, that it was quite difficult for the child to understand and accept. Later Boris Kryuk said: "".

However, relations on an equal footing had their own advantages: from an early age, Boris often visited his stepfather's studio and not only watched the creation of the program, but from childhood he himself took part in the creative process. When he was only 9 years old, he came up with the first question in “What? Where? When?". It was a chess problem, experts could not give the correct answer, and Boris received a prize - the book "Eureka". Voroshilov, whom Boris called Vovka, often consulted with him - not because he considered him a child prodigy, but because he was always interested in people who think differently from him. With the same interest he listened to the advice of taxi drivers, random fellow travelers, attending doctors and everyone who watched “What? Where? When?" and made his comments.

It was Boris Kryuk who in his youth came up with the rule that Voroshilov brought to life: the losing team leaves the club forever. From the age of 12, the stepson actively helped the presenter in creating a TV game, for 10 years he worked in the announcer's office next to Voroshilov during each live broadcast. Boris was an assistant director, then a music editor, although in fact almost everything was part of his duties. Later he said: "". In 1990, his stepfather entrusted him with work on another of his projects - the intellectual game "Brain Ring", and a year later Boris Kryuk became the host of the romantic TV show "Love at First Sight".

Although Boris Kryuk knew the whole kitchen of the TV game “What? Where? When”, after Vladimir Voroshilov passed away in 2001, it never occurred to anyone that this program could be created by anyone other than himself. Then we decided to just try to shoot at least one more episode. The new presenter was chosen by his voice - they wanted him to be low, like Voroshilov's. A similar timbre was found, but it sounded monotonous. But the voice of Boris Kryuk reflected all the emotions, although it was much higher than that of Voroshilov. Then they decided to process it on a computer and, as a result, distorted it beyond recognition. In the new format, the program did not lose its popularity, and it was decided to keep it on the air.

After 25 years, the program returned to its origins: the mysterious anonymous presenter again appeared in it. His personality was so carefully hidden from the public that Voroshilov's cousin was even involved in the hoax - in order to further confuse the audience, before the start of the program, he came, dressed in a tuxedo, and went to the announcer's room. These were his tasks and were limited. Boris Kryuk at this time, as usual, communicated with experts and only 5 minutes before the start of the broadcast entered the announcer's room. Both for connoisseurs and for part of the film crew, the personality of the presenter remained a mystery for some time.

Boris Kryuk recalled: "". Nevertheless, in 2007, the personality of the presenter was revealed, and the program's ratings did not fall, because it was thanks to Boris Kryuk that the TV game “What? Where? When?" and still exists.

Some of the players didn't get along with the new host: How did the fate of the most famous experts of the club “What? Where? When?"