Born in a shirt: how fate took care, but did not spoil Innokenty Smoktunovsky

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

On March 28, one of the most outstanding actors of theater and cinema of the twentieth century could have turned 92 years old. Innokenty Smoktunovsky … There were so many twists and turns, happy accidents and strength tests in his life that an action-packed film could have been made about it. As a child, he almost died of hunger, during the Second World War he was captured and was able to escape from there, went through the whole war and was never wounded. In Moscow, he was denied access to all theaters, the directors did not believe in his acting talent for a long time, and after that they vied with each other to offer him the main roles. Smoktunovsky said that fate took care of him, and he understood why.

The real name of the actor is Smoktunovich. He was born in 1925 in the village of Tatyanovka, Tomsk Region, from where the family moved to Krasnoyarsk. In 1932, a terrible famine began, and Kesha and his brother were sheltered by his aunt, since their parents could not feed them. At school, the boy did not study well, but attended the drama club - after he first visited the theater at the age of 14 and was fascinated by its magical atmosphere. In 1941, my father went to war and soon died. In 1943 Innokenty was taken to a military school, and from there he was sent to the front. He participated in the crossing of the Dnieper and the liberation of Kiev. Later, the artist admitted: “Do not believe that the war is not scary, it’s always scary. And courage consists in the fact that you are afraid, and you must overcome the animal horror and go forward."

On the approaches to Kiev, part of it was surrounded, and Smoktunovsky was captured. He spent one month and three days in captivity and was miraculously saved when their column was driven to Germany. He managed to escape, he wandered through the woods, until in one of the villages he was sheltered by the Ukrainian Shevchuk family. He hid with them for a month, and then joined the partisan detachment. In May 1944, this detachment joined the regular units of the Red Army, and with them Smoktunovsky reached Germany. He was awarded two medals for Courage.

Surprisingly, during the entire war, he was never wounded. Later, Smoktunovsky's daughter said: “Dad was always guarded by higher powers! … When he fought in Poland, out of a detachment of 120 people, only four survived, among them was Innokenty Smoktunovich. Later, dad was forced to change his surname because his family was similar to Jewish, so he became Smoktunovsky. In 1980, their whole family got into a car accident that almost cost them all their lives, but again, someone seemed to save them from trouble.

After the war, he got a job in a theater studio at the Krasnoyarsk Theater. The lack of special education made itself felt: on stage, he was shackled, lost in front of the audience, moreover, he was in conflict with the director, which is why he had to leave the theater. Smoktunovsky often heard stories about the arrests of former prisoners of war. Therefore, he sent himself into exile in Norilsk - from there they would not be exiled further. There he got a job in a theater and worked for 4 years.

In the 1950s. Smoktunovsky moved to Makhachkala, from there to Stalingrad, and then decided to conquer Moscow. However, none of the theaters accepted him. A case intervened: he met a girl who worked as a costume designer in Lenkom, she became his muse, support and support until the end of his days. Her name was Shulamith, but he affectionately called her Straw. She was his saving straw, giving him confidence in his abilities. He had a home, a family, and a motive to be successful.

In the 1960s. began his "golden age" in theater and cinema. He played Hamlet, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Bach, Prince Myshkin. In 1965 in England "Hamlet" was recognized as the best foreign film, and Smoktunovsky - the best foreign actor of the year, at home he was awarded the Lenin Prize. Filming in "Hamlet" brought him not only world fame, but also turned into a serious illness - eye tuberculosis. Doctors forbade him to act, but it was during this period that Eldar Ryazanov persuaded him to star in the lead role in his film "Beware of the Car". This role became his acting triumph and brought the love of millions of viewers.

Smoktunovsky believed that he was guarded by higher powers all his life. The actor collected icons, and shortly before his death presented his favorite icon of Nicholas the Pleasant to the temple of the Valaam monastery courtyard. He died at the age of 70 from a heart attack on August 3, 1994.

One article is not enough to list all his awards and prizes. One of the planets was even named in his honor - and what is surprising, because Smoktunovsky called himself a "space actor".

Smoktunovsky was not the only artist who had a chance to experience all the hardships of wartime: famous Soviet actors who went through the war