The curse of the "Master and Margarita": How the fate of the actors who starred in the series based on the mystical novel by Bulgakov

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

During theatrical performances and filming of films based on The Master and Margarita, certain events invariably occur, giving rise to rumors of mystical incidents with those who are trying to film it. Believe it or not, almost 13 years have passed since the release of the film, and the number of actors who took part in the filming and died during this time is approaching two dozen.

The first tragedies

The premiere of the series took place on December 19, 2005, and two months before that, an actor who played the role of investigator Sidorov was found dead in his own apartment. Alexander Chaban died at the age of 47 under unclear circumstances. A year later, 38-year-old Pavel Komarov (a thief from the pier) passed away.

A heart attack caused the death of Stanislav Landgraf in December 2006. It is worth noting that his hero, the critic of Latunsky, in the novel, passionately wanted to kill Margarita with a shot in the heart.

The brilliant Pontius Pilate performed by Kirill Lavrov turned out to be very bright. And the actor himself passed away on April 27, 2007 after exhausting attempts to defeat leukemia. It is noteworthy that it was on this day that Yevgeny Merkuryev (an accountant in the series) tragically died while fishing. By an absurd accident, he fell through the ice.

Was the curse of the novel?

Actor Alexander Abdulov, who so vividly embodied a member of Woland Korovin's retinue, died in January 2008 of lung cancer, which was discovered already in the fourth, inoperable stage.

Cancer of the pancreas became the reason for the death in April 2009 of Andrei Tolubeev, who himself did not participate in the filming, but was voiced by Aloysius Mogarych. At the beginning of 2009, at the age of 72, the performer of the role of the doorman Yuri Oskin died, and after another 3 years his son, actor Tikhon Oskin, died suddenly as a result of a sudden cardiac arrest. At the end of 2009, at the age of 73, Galina Barkova passed away, in the series - a saleswoman.

The creator of the brightest image of the poet Ivan Ponyrev (Homeless), 38-year-old Vladislav Galkin lay for several days in his apartment before his body was discovered in February 2010. According to the official version, death occurred from acute heart failure. The artist's father Boris Galkin is still confident that his son was killed.

Valentina Egorenkova (a nurse in a psychiatric hospital) was 65 years old when she passed away in April 2010. Five months after her, actor Stanislav Sokolov (secretary of Pontius Pilate) died.

A fatal accident caused the tragic death of actor Mikhail Surov (cameo) in August 2010. In the last years of his life, he was actively involved in politics in the Vologda region, and on that fateful day he made an unsuccessful maneuver trying to overtake the car in front. The actor's car turned over and again became wheels on the road, but Mikhail Surov was thrown through the window after the impact. As a result of his injuries, he died on the spot.

Leukemia became the cause of death in May 2012 of the young actor Stanislav Pryakhin, who played the tiny role of a pickpocket.

In November of the same year, lung cancer took the life of Ilya Oleinikov, who played Grigory Rimsky, the financial director of the Variety Theater.

Valery Zolotukhin passed away on March 30, 2013, the performer of the role of the chairman of the housing association Nikanor Bosogo. Zolotukhin fought a brain tumor for a long time, but could not defeat the disease. 5 years before the death of the actor himself, his 27-year-old son Sergei committed suicide.

In April 2013, under unknown circumstances, Dmitry Poddubny, the performer of the role of an NKVD agent, received a closed craniocerebral injury. He died in hospital, and how he was injured is still unknown.

Mystic or coincidence?

In total, the film crew of the series "The Master and Margarita" included more than 150 people. Many actors died as a result of at first glance objective reasons: serious illness, old age, a tragic accident.

However, it is worth remembering that the famous Oleg Yankovsky, who was offered the role of Woland, categorically refused to shoot, believing that under no circumstances can one play two roles: the Lord God and the devil.

And the director Vladimir Bortko noted just the positive mysticism during the filming. The group was never let down by the weather and it was always sunny on location, if clear weather was needed and, conversely, if it was necessary to shoot on a cloudy day, the sky was covered with heavy clouds in the morning.

It was also surprising that all the actors magically managed to recover before filming with their participation, so all the work went on schedule.

Probably, it is still not worth blaming a great work of damnation. Although creative people are very superstitious people and in captivity of prejudices they often forget the phrase that Mikhail Bulgakov put into Woland's mouth: “Yes, man is mortal, but that would be half the trouble. The bad news is that he is sometimes suddenly mortal, that's the trick!"

The novel "Master Margarita" has become not only one of the most famous works of Mikhail Bulgakov, but also one of the most mysterious books, over the interpretation of which researchers have been struggling for 75 years. But there is a revealing veil of mystery and illustrations for various editions of Bulgakov's novel.