The dramatic fate of the black "Maxim": why the young actor disappeared from the screens after a starring role

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

Name now Tolya Bovykina hardly anyone knows, and the only film with his participation is "Maksimka" - modern viewers hardly remember. And in 1953, 33 million people saw it. Then thousands of women sobbed over the story of the charming black boy, unaware that the fate of the young actor was much more dramatic than that of his screen hero, and could well become a plot for a separate film.

Tolya Bovykin was a mulatto, the story of his birth is full of mysteries. It is known that his mother was Russian; she worked in Arkhangelsk either at a sawmill or in a port. When the war began, ships from America began to appear in the port, bringing military equipment. Young sailors often had romance with local girls. About her dark-skinned gentleman, Alexandra Bovykina did not spread - she only admitted that their romance was short-lived, and that his ship was hit by a fascist submarine. However, whether this was really so, no one knew.

In 1943, her son was born. The boy grew up without a father and from childhood was attacked and ridiculed. In early 1952, actor Nikolai Kryuchkov and screenwriter Grigory Koltunov arrived at the Arkhangelsk sailors' club. They drew attention to the lively dark-skinned boy who rushed into the hall with a noise. So director Vladimir Braun found an actor for the lead role in his film based on the story of Konstantin Stanyukovich "Maxim".

Suddenly, 9-year-old Tolya Bovykin fell into a real fairy tale. The shooting took place on the Black Sea, in Odessa. He was approved for the role without samples - he surprised everyone not only with his appearance, but also with his natural artistry and talent. The boy was not shy in the company of famous actors, with whom he went to the set. And the team was stellar: Nikolai Kryuchkov, Mark Bernes, Mikhail Pugovkin, Vyacheslav Tikhonov, Boris Andreev. And Sergei Parajanov became the best friend and protector for Tolya (at that time he was not yet a famous director, but worked as an assistant director for props). The boy became very attached to him and followed on his heels.

Since Tolya was a mulatto, his skin seemed to the director not dark enough, and before filming he was made up. And in the first weeks, they put on a wig - my mother cut it too short, and the natural curly hair did not appear immediately. The young actor fell in love with the whole film crew and he himself was very warm to everyone. He gave his first salary to everyone as gifts.

The shooting lasted for several months, and after it ended, Tolya and his mother had to return to Arkhangelsk. But the whole team was so attached to the charming child that no one wanted to part with him. The director of the painting, Leonid Koretsky, and his wife invited mother and son to their place in Kiev. Tolik even started going to school there. But soon his mother had to leave - in the north she still had an older son. And the boy followed his mother.

The film was released in 1953 and immediately gained popularity. Within one year, it was seen by 33 million viewers. The women could not help crying as they watched Russian sailors rescue a boy frightened by American slave traders after a shipwreck, how he received the name Maksimka and became a cabin boy. The hero of the film was so popular that in the 1960s. in Ukraine they even produced Maksimka chocolates with a dark-skinned boy on a wrapper. And in Tuapse, a monument was erected to a boy with a sailor.

What happened to the young actor next - no one can say for sure. It is only known for certain that after filming the film, he lived only 5 years. What they wrote about his mysterious death - and that he fell into depression, unable to withstand early fame, and that he died in a drunken fight, and that on the set he swallowed sea water, and after a while it gave complication of the lungs. But all these rumors were untrue.

Mom Tolik said that he was very nimble and desperate, constantly looking for adventure. Once he hitched to a truck driving at high speed, could not resist and fell, hitting his head hard. After that, dropsy of the brain appeared, which became the cause of death in 1958. This version is also confirmed by the Bovykin's neighbors.

Another young man passed away at an early age the actor who played the main role in the cult film of the 1980s "You Never Dreamed of …"