In the name of what actor Alexander Denisov sacrificed a successful career and left the USSR

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

On the screen, he embodied the images of strong-willed and principled people, including in the film "State Border", thanks to which Alexander Denisov became famous throughout the Soviet Union. The actor played on the stage of the Theater. Yanka Kupala in Minsk, was in demand in the cinema, but in 1990 he suddenly flew to America. The reasons for such a step were more than valid.

Trials of fate

Sasha Denisov was born a year before the end of World War II, on May 5, 1944. There is almost no information about his childhood and youth, it is only known that the future actor and his brother were orphaned very early. In his youth, Alexander Denisov began to play on the theater stage, where Alexander Butakov, a teacher of acting at the Belarusian Theater and Art Institute, drew attention to the talented young man.

The teacher invited Alexander Denisov to go with him to Minsk to get a professional education. There the young man was admitted to the second year of the acting department. Alexander Butakov never had to blush for his student, he was very talented and studied diligently. After the lectures, he hurried to the Model House, where he got a job as a clothing demonstrator.

In the last courses, the talented actor was already a full-fledged member of the troupe of the Theater. Yanka Kupala. After graduation, another three years had to pass before Alexander Denisov began acting in films. After filming in the film "Front without flanks", where the actor played the warrant officer Vakulenchuk, they started talking about the talented actor, and after the role of the sailor Gamayun in "State Border" he became truly famous.

It seemed that everything in his life was developing more than successfully: he was in demand in the theater, starred a lot, and his wife and little son were waiting for him at home. The wife of Alexander Denisov was the leading actress of the National Academic Drama Theater. M. Gorky in Minsk Olga Klebanovich. She always felt the love and care of her husband. Despite the incredible employment and a very busy work schedule, Alexander Petrovich managed to help his wife, worked with his son, and allowed his wife to go to work soon after the birth of little Denis. On his birthday, a real orchestra played under the windows of the hospital, which was specially invited by the happy father.

Denis was still quite small, but Alexander Denisov was fully aware of how important professional self-realization is for his wife. Sometimes the performances of the spouses coincided, and then the actor would come with a stroller to his theater, transfer the heir to the care of one of the free actors, and after the performance he would take his son and take him home. At the same time, he managed everything and everywhere, put his family in first place and was not burdened by household chores.

Later, a daughter, Dasha, was born to Alexander Denisov and Olga Klebanovich. But the appearance of the second and long-awaited child brought parents not only joy, but also fear for her life. The girl turned out to have a very rare and terrible hereditary disease, Gaucher disease, from which all internal organs, bones and nervous system suffer. At that time, there were only about 4 thousand people with such a diagnosis in the whole world, and in the USSR there were several people. Supportive therapy did not give results, the baby's condition worsened every day.

Needless to say, how desperate the girl's parents were? Dasha was fading away before our eyes, she had to remove her spleen, it seemed no one could save her anymore. But Alexander Denisov did not intend to give up. He stubbornly looked for a clinic and doctors who could help his daughter.

To save a life

The girl's father contacted the Academy of Sciences in Leningrad, called and wrote to doctors in Moscow, but everywhere he was told that such patients were being treated only abroad and that it might be worth trying to go for a consultation in Germany. And then Alexander Denisov learned that in the USA one laboratory is testing a drug for Gaucher's disease and is even looking for a person who could take part in testing the drug.

Friends of the actor in the States found a clinic, gymnast Olga Korbut helped transport documents, Belarusian playwright Alexei Dudarev gave him money. All travel documents were prepared within 15 days after Alexander Denisov returned from a theater festival in Poland, and Aeroflot employees assisted in buying tickets. The actor was recognized everywhere and helped as much as possible. As Alexander Denisov will say many years later, Gamayun became his pass. He himself made the decision to go with his daughter, because he understood that his wife might not be able to cope there.

And when in America they already arrived at the clinic, it turned out that Daria could not be taken for tests, although the tests showed that the medicine was right for her. It turned out that you cannot test the drug on foreigners. But Alexander Denisov did not intend to give up. In some absolutely incredible way, and with the assistance of the very woman who developed the formula, Dasha was nevertheless included in the experimental group.

The first month and a half after arriving in America, Alexander Denisov and his daughter lived with hockey player Vyacheslav Fetisov, after which he thanked him for his shelter and moved to upper Manhattan, where he then lived for many years.

In the Soviet Union, the actor was famous and loved, and in the USA he was ready to take any job in order to be able to treat his daughter. That drug was successfully tested and was put into production. For Alexander Denisov, this meant only one thing: he had to be bought. And the medicine was very expensive.

But he believed that everything would work out. He worked as a loader, and then organized, together with his partner Michael, a company that deals with pest control. At first, he alternated unloading and loading furniture with the fight against insects, later the business got better, things went pretty well.

Daughter Daria graduated from the university and received a programmer's degree, but then decided to try herself in creativity, became the author of several plays that were staged in a small experimental theater. But most importantly, her life was saved. The father did everything to ensure that his daughter lived.

Alexander Denisov never forgot that he was an actor. In 2000, he starred in a small role in the TV series "Permanent Residence", and together with Elena Solovey staged the play "Notes of a Madman". In 2008 he came to Belarus to shoot the film "On the back of a black cat". His wife Olga Klebanovich also worked in the same project.

To save their daughter's life, they agreed to live on opposite sides of the ocean. They believed in each other and always looked forward to meeting. However, the couple called up all the time, but they rarely saw each other. Then, in 1990, they thought they were only apart for a few months. It turned out - for many years. But his wife does not regret anything. He saved their daughter and gave her the love she could not even dream of. He was real, reliable and strong. It was never scary with him, even in the face of death.

On March 3, 2012, Alexander Denisov passed away. He died in a New York hospital from complications from severe pneumonia. The actor was only 68 years old. His wife decided to bury his ashes in Minsk, because Alexander Denisov considered this city to be his own.

In the film "State Border" the actor starred together with Marina Dyuzheva, who played more than 60 movie roles. True, the majority of viewers remembered her for only two works: in the image of Lida in the film "For family reasons" and in the role of "awkward and contradictory" Anna Adamovna from "Pokrovskie gates". On the screens, she looked like a sweet, gentle, defenseless, touching, romantic heroine - this is exactly what the directors saw her. And only friends knew how looks played a cruel joke with Marina Dyuzheva.