Unfulfilled dreams of Alexei Buldakov: Why the main general of cinema did not become a pilot and did not play Beethoven

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

For 37 years of his film career, Alexey Buldakov managed to play more than 120 roles. However, for fans, he will forever remain the main general of our cinema. The artist, who was "popular" both by official status and, most importantly, by the real attitude of the audience towards him, passed away, having recently celebrated his 68th birthday. In this review, I would like to recall how the creative career began and how the personal life of the actor developed, who created the cinematic image of the beloved Mikhalych.

Alexey Ivanovich was a real actor "from the hinterland." He was born on March 26, 1951 in the village of Makarovka in Altai. The family was large. My father worked as a driver all his life and fed five children. When Alexei was not yet seven years old, the Buldakovs moved to northeastern Kazakhstan and settled in Pavlodar. It was here that the youth of the future actor passed.

Children's dreams and first successes

Alexey, like many children of that era, dreamed of becoming a pilot. Moreover, he dreamed not abstractly, but, having made this decision in early childhood, began to actively prepare for his future profession - he went in for sports, choosing the boxing section. However, at the same time, the parents brought the boy to the theater studio, thereby accidentally determining his fate. Gradually, Alexey realized that it was on the stage, and not in the sky, that he wanted to spend his life.

After school, the talented young actor was invited to the troupe of the Pavlodar Drama Theater. This is how his creative career began. True, at first his rough, straightforward character did not allow him to calmly gain a foothold in one place - Alexei changes in turn the theaters of Pavlodar, Tomsk, Ryazan, stays for 6 years in Karaganda - this is already a lot, because in the intervals of his creative career he still manages to serve in the army and end up briefly at the tractor plant (the conflict with the director in Tomsk turned out to be especially stormy). The longest in this period of his life he worked as an actor in the Studio Theater of the film studio "Belarusfilm".

Career in theater and cinema

Despite the fact that Alexei Buldakov's finest hour took place in the cinema, it was the theater that he always considered for the actor the main working workshop. Alexey Ivanovich talked about this in an interview:

Until the end of his life, Buldakov did not break off ties with the theater. In 2018, for example, he traveled all over the country with the play "Three desires of an antique dealer, or the Foolishness of a rich goat."

Alexey Buldakov came to Moscow with a vast experience of work in theater and cinema. And so, in 1994, Alexei Rogozhkin, who had already worked with Buldakov ten years ago, invites him to the very role that will bring the actor fame, but will determine his role for the rest of his life.

General Ivolgin is a phenomenal success or a shortcut forever

General Ivolgin, who, by the way, was largely "copied" from the famous General Lebed, so liked our people that Buldakov then experienced this love for "Mikhalych" for many years. Probably, the longing for the image of a normal strong Russian peasant, who always knows what to do, takes responsibility in any situation and always remains the winner, has affected. The film brought Alexei Buldakov "Nick" for Best Actor.

There was a lot of talk about the fact that after this film, Alexei Buldakov became "an actor of one role." He himself, it seems, took it calmly and did not think so at all. With a filmography of more than 120 films, it is likely that any actor can afford the luxury of having a favorite role. However, in an interview, Alexey Ivanovich admitted that for many years he dreamed of playing Beethoven. This personality was interesting to him: a person with great talent, faced with a professional tragedy and remained faithful to one unrequited love all his life.

Life behind the scenes

By the way, in the personal life of Alexei Buldakov for many years there was not one single woman who could bind him to herself. He married for the first time at the age of 34, to the daughter of the famous Belarusian actor Pavel Kormunin, but this marriage did not last long. And only in 1993, at a party with mutual friends, he met a woman who became his companion in life for many years.

The sea of family life immediately turned out to be stormy - just the difficult years began, when people of creative specialties survived as best they could. Alexey Buldakov, who had just begun to gain a foothold in the capital, took "hack" wherever he could - he acted in commercials, voiced cartoons, dubbed films. Once I was even going to go to unload the cars, but Lyudmila did not allow, saying:

During these years, it was she who fed the family - a teacher by education, the woman was one of the first to go into business, opened her own shoe store, which helped the Buldakovs to survive a difficult time. To distract her husband, the wise wife sent him to the dacha to build a terrace. Alexey Ivanovich then recalled this part of his marital duties with pleasure:

The actor never emphasized his personal life, did not make any drama or tragedy out of it. He carefully concealed a part of this life from journalists. For example, it is known that Alexei Buldakov already has an adult son Ivan, who lives with his mother in Malta. However, the details of this part of the fate of the famous actor did not become public knowledge.

Unfortunately, the acting profession is too rich in emotional overload and stress. All the acquaintances noted that Alexei Ivanovich's health had begun to fail in recent years. In 2015, he was able to cope with cancer, but since then, from time to time, one or the other of the disease overwhelmed the popularly beloved actor. On April 3, 2019, at the age of 69, Alexei Buldakov passed away. I would like to end this review with the words said in a recent interview:

In memory of the great actor, we have collected 7 best films by Alexey Buldakov and quotes remembered by the audience.