Why one of the most handsome and courageous actors of the 1970s became disillusioned with cinema: Nikolai Olyalin

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

On May 22, the famous film actor, screenwriter and director, People's Artist of the Ukrainian SSR Nikolai Olyalin could have turned 80, but he has not been among the living for 12 years. In the 1970s. his name was familiar to millions of viewers, because films with his participation - "Liberation", "Running", "No Way Back", "Gentlemen of Fortune", "The Lost Expedition" - thundered all over the country. He was glorified for his roles in the military, but he himself never served. He was called the standard of male beauty and one of the most talented artists, but soon the public's favorite, who was honored even in the Kremlin, for a long time lost interest in cinema and disappeared from the screens …

Films about the war, which were called the most honest films on this topic, brought all-Union glory to Nikolai Olyalin. It seemed that the actor is not just acting - he lives the life of his characters and really knows everything about the war. But when the Second World War began, he was only a month old. As a child, he only heard about the events of those years from front-line soldiers returning home through Vologda, and he remembered these stories for the rest of his life. Nikolai was born and raised in a village near Vologda, and years later he recalled: "".

The beginning of the film path

Nikolai's elder brother studied in the drama club of the House of Officers, once they went there together, and since then this hobby has captured them entirely. Father did not welcome these activities, because he saw Nicholas as a soldier. In a few years, the son will make his dream come true, but only on screens. And after school, he deliberately failed the exams at the military topographic school in Leningrad and applied to the theater university.

After graduating from LGITMiK, Olyalin was sent on assignment to Krasnoyarsk, where the Theater of the Young Spectator was created. There, he did not have a relationship with the main director due to the fact that the actor once wrote an offensive epigram on him, and he, in revenge, hid invitations to screen tests from him and trusted only cameo roles. But even in small roles, Olyalin managed to win the audience's sympathy, and soon he was already called the best comedian of the Krasnoyarsk Territory.

In those years, Nikolai met a girl named Nelly, who became his only wife and remained with him until his last days. When Olyalin went to the shooting of his first film at the age of 24, his wife saw him off at the airport and said: “” But on the first day of filming, the debutant was confused and was very squeezed. And then he remembered the words of his wife and realized that he could not let her down. The actor got together and played the next take in such a way that this episode entered the film directly from the samples.

A soldier who has never been to war

Many hits of the 1960s could have been in the actor's filmography, because he was invited to audition for the films "Shield and Sword" and "Major Whirlwind", which enjoyed great love among the audience. But the fact is that the theater management simply did not pass these invitations to the actor. This could have happened with Olyalin's iconic film "Liberation", but one girl from his theater secretly informed him of the invitation. He took a sick leave, said that he was going to a sanatorium, and he himself went to audition.

The main role in the 6-episode epic "Liberation" became the hallmark of Nikolai Olyalin. This picture was called "the first honest film about the Great Patriotic War."Of course, director Yuri Ozerov took a risk, entrusting the main role to a young inexperienced actor, but in him he saw not only a bright manly appearance, but also an extraordinary talent and ability to create an unconventional image of a soldier. Later, the son of the actor said: "".

The main character of "Osvobozhdeniye" - artillery captain Sergei Tsvetaev - performed by Nikolai Olyalin turned out to be so convincing that even real front-line soldiers believed in his reality - they said that they recognized themselves in him. One of them approached the actor after the premiere and said: "". These words for Olyalin were above all praise and moved him to tears. The film was shown in 115 countries of the world, its creators were awarded the Lenin Prize.

Stellar 1970s

After the first success, the actor was invited to work at the film studio. A. Dovzhenko, and he moved to Kiev. The image he created in "Liberation" was so vivid that many directors saw Nikolai Olyalin exclusively in the roles of the military, and in this role he appeared in the films "No Way Back" and "Insolence". None of the spectators had any idea that in fact the actor not only had not been to the war, but had not even served in the army - at first he was given a reprieve because of his studies at the institute, and then because of small children.

1970s became the peak of Nikolay Olyalin's popularity and the period of his creative rise and flourishing. He created memorable characters in the films "Running" and "Gentlemen of Fortune", played the main roles in the films "There is no turning back", "Stopwatch", "Insolence", "I am coming to you …", "A long road in a short day", " Ocean "," The Lost Expedition "," Golden River "and others. One episode, forever remembered by the actor, testifies to how wide and loud his popularity was in those years:" ".

Disappointment in the profession

This resounding fame also had a downside. Olyalin was often invited to banquets, there were too many people who wanted to drink with him, and the actor began to abuse alcohol. Because of this, he was even going to be fired from the film studio. A. Dovzhenko. Everything could have ended very sadly, but the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine, who was an admirer of the artist, intervened in time. By his order, Olyalin was sent for treatment to a narcologist, and thanks to his help, the actor forgot about drinking once and for all.

In the 1980s. he continued to act in films, and after the collapse of the Union, Olyalin, like many of his colleagues, was suddenly left without work. And even when, after a protracted crisis, films began to be filmed again, it was not at all the level of professionalism to which he was accustomed. In the new movie, the actor did not see a place for himself. He said: "".

Olyalin tried his hand as a director, but in the early 1990s. his films about love did not arouse anyone's interest, the audience simply did not notice them. The pause in his film career dragged on for several years. The actor was completely disappointed in his profession and no longer hoped to return to the screens. In addition, his health began to fail, he underwent serious heart surgery.

Fortunately, in the 2000s. the actor, who remained all the same courageous, was again in demand in the cinema. He starred in Night Watch, Day Watch, Yesenin, Manchurian Hunt. Olyalin continued to appear on screens until 2007, but due to increased pain in his heart he was forced to leave his job. In 2009, he passed away at the age of 68.

In this film, Nikolai Olyalin created a vivid image of a police colonel, but the audience probably remembered other actors more: How Gentlemen of Fortune was looking for camels behind the scenes.