Jokes and pranks of Oleg Tabakov: how Kozakov was brought to hysterics, and Evstigneev - to insidious revenge

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

August 17 would have turned 83 years old great actor and director of theater and cinema, artistic director of the Moscow Art Theater. A. P. Chekhov and the creator of the Tabakerka Theater Oleg Tabakov … He was known not only for his amazing theatrical and film works, but also for his extraordinary sense of humor, from which many famous artists "suffered". How Oleg Tabakov brought Mikhail Kozakov to hysterics on stage, and how Evgeny Evstigneev avenged him for the rally - further in the review.

Actor Igor Kvasha recalls that in his youth, Oleg Tabakov loved to eat deliciously and plentifully. His friends knew that he always had a week's worth of food in his refrigerator. And they often organized "raids" on his home. Several people held the owner's hands, while the rest were rummaging through the bedside tables and cupboards at that time, devouring everything edible. One of them had to pay for it. When Oleg Efremov fell ill, his friends brought him honey, cookies, fruits and other food. Oleg Tabakov came to visit him and ate everything he found. Efremov was indignant and chased the raider away, and he calmly uttered: “Thank you! I'll come back tomorrow,”and left. Tabakov has always been a real gourmet and advised his friends which restaurants should be visited more often and which ones should be avoided.

M. Kozakov calls the most ridiculous incident in the theater during the production of the play by Albee "The Ballad of the Sad Zucchini." In this performance, Kozakov played the author-storyteller, and Tabakov played the hunchback boy. In one scene, he ran across the stage past the narrator. At this time, he was giving a serious dramatic monologue. When Tabakov was next to him, he said quietly: "Such a storyteller - hell on the cheek!". Kozakov could hardly restrain himself from laughing, and after the performance he asked Tabakov not to repeat such jokes anymore. He swore that he would not say another word in this scene. And he kept his word: the next time, running past Kozakov, he did not say a word, but stuck out his cheek with his tongue. Kozakov and the rest of the actors on the stage were hysterical.

Once the actors of the Sovremennik Theater arrived in Riga for a summer tour. Many came with their spouses and children. One evening they went to a night restaurant. The men were in tuxedos, the ladies were in evening dresses, the sons of Tabakov and Evstigneev were in suits and white shirts. The doorman blocked their way and told them that children were not allowed to enter the night show. Nobody wanted to take the kids to the hotel and miss the show. Tabakov was not at a loss: he went up to the doorman and said in his ear: “Aren't you ashamed! Why insult people! They have the same rights as the rest of us! After all, these are midgets! The doorman was embarrassed, blushed and let the Lilliputians pass.

Not always Tabakov's draws got away with him. Repeatedly he tried to play a prank on Evgeny Evstigneev, but he did not lose his vigilance and, as a rule, prevented all attempts to play a trick on himself. But once Tabakov managed to do it. On the set of the film "Continuation of the Legend", where Evstigneev played a wise Bolshevik, and Tabakov played a young, romantically inclined young man, in one of the scenes the heroes were supposed to shake hands when they met. Before the shooting, Tabakov got hold of some petroleum jelly somewhere and scooped it up with his palm. When he held out his hand to Evstigneev, he did not raise an eyebrow. The actor was not taken aback and began to improvise: he raised his soiled hand and, depicting a surge of tenderness, stroked Tabakov several times on the cheek and ran his hand through his hair. The actors watching the scene burst out laughing.

Oleg Tabakov not only played in cinema and theater, but also voiced cartoon characters. His most famous work is the cat Matroskin from Prostokvashin: 15 famous actors who look surprisingly like cartoon characters