Unknown Vitsin: why the audience did not suspect what the actor was like in real life

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

April 18 marks 102 years since the birth of the famous theater and film actor, People's Artist of the USSR George Vitsin … Most viewers remembered him in one role - as an outstanding comedian from the legendary trio of Coward, Goonies and Experienced, known for the comedies of Leonid Gaidai. But only a few knew what the actor was like in real life. Many facts will be a real revelation to the public.

On the screen, Georgy Vitsin looked relaxed and so organic in a comic role that no one knew about the natural modesty and isolation of the actor. He himself admitted: “I grew up as a very shy child. And in order to get rid of this complex, I decided to learn how to perform. I went to the theater club in the fourth grade. By the way, a very good remedy … So I am cured. In fact, the actor never got rid of these problems - until the end of his days he avoided communication with unfamiliar people, led a reclusive lifestyle and avoided fans.

The image of the reckless drunkard, in which Georgy Vitsin so often appeared in the cinema, was so convincing that many viewers associated the actor with his screen heroes. In fact, he did not drink at all - Vitsin took his health very seriously, did not smoke and did yoga. For the first time he picked up a cigarette at the age of 8 and was so disgusted that the anti-nicotine reflex was preserved for life. The same thing happened with drinking: after a stormy New Year, he felt so bad that he swore to drink alcohol.

Even when the scenes with drinking had to be played according to the script, Vitsin demanded to replace the drink with a non-alcoholic one. So, for example, during the filming of the episode "Prisoner of the Caucasus", where Coward, Goonies and Experienced drink beer, Vitsin flatly refused to do this. He was poured into a glass of rosehip broth, but it looked incredible - there was no foam. As a result, the actor still had to drain a glass of real beer. He did not like acting gatherings and never participated in feasts. His position was so principled that it irritated many people around him. So, Nonna Mordyukova after filming with Vitsin in "The Marriage of Balzaminov" could not resist: "Are you a man? You don’t drink, you don’t smoke, you don’t bother women. You're a corpse!"

For many years, the actor has been doing yoga, with daily workouts and meditation. He took it so seriously that he even interrupted the filming process because of his studies. “If I hadn't practiced yoga, then many of my film roles would not have been so successful,” explained Georgy Mikhailovich. - After all, the filming process is a very difficult and dreary thing. Waiting for you to be removed, you can sit all day, moreover, get tired so that all the humor from you will fizzle out by itself. How then to play? But during the filming, despite the noise and screaming, I often fell asleep for exactly 10-15 minutes, thereby giving the body a rest and relaxation."

The most popular Vitsin was brought by roles in the comedies of Gaidai, where, together with Yuri Nikulin and Yevgeny Morgunov, they portrayed the trinity of inseparable rakes so convincingly that the audience believed in their friendship in real life. In fact, it was difficult to imagine people more different and incompatible. Morgunov loved to have fun and often behaved like a boor with the director, Vitsin was always deep in his own thoughts and was silent, and the holiday man Nikulin tried to establish contacts with everyone. But they were never friends.

The actor himself said about himself: “I am generally very flexible, patient and non-aggressive. I will always turn the other cheek and I will not fight … Simply because this is a Christian wise rule. Sometimes my dogs bite me, and I forgive them - they are all so unhappy, mongrels … I'm not explosive. Nerves can fail, but I still try not to allow this. My temperature is not such that passions play. Yes, I'm afraid of them ….

Actress Natalya Varley wrote about Vitsin: “He lived a quiet life of his own … He fed cats and dogs. There was also a Smolensk grocery store, and they left him trimming bones and meat for stray cats and dogs. He walked around the courtyards and fed them … Here is such a person - with a very tender soul, very vulnerable, never, it seems to me, asking for anything for himself, never putting forward any demands on others in relation to himself, no material benefits in life he never did. The very memory of Georgy Mikhailovich is very bright. It is sad because he is not there and sad because he cannot now give a lesson in modesty, intelligence, politeness and reverent attitude towards the acting profession."

He passed away just as quietly, having died in 2001 after a serious illness. In one of his last interviews, the actor said goodbye: “Don't fuss, people. Life takes an awful lot of time!"

Many secrets remain and behind the scenes of "Prisoner of the Caucasus": why Gaidai stopped working with Morgunov