Actor Boris Livanov: About theater, bold jokes and quite a bit about Sherlock Holmes

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

Our generation associates the surname Livanov, of course, with the best Sherlock Holmes, superbly played by Vasily Livanov. However, people of a slightly older age may remember the roles of his father, Boris Nikolaevich Livanov. A brilliant actor and director of theater and cinema, laureate of five Stalin and State prizes, this man was also distinguished by an outstanding and very bold sense of humor.

Almost the entire creative life of Boris Nikolaevich took place on the stage of the Moscow Art Theater. Many funny stories are associated with the theater, gradually turned into anecdotes, and passed on as a legacy to a new generation of actors. It belongs to him, for example, a magnificent aphorism issued impromptu about the announcement of the internal radio. In response to the phrase squeaking from the speaker:, he instantly became indignant:.

Most often, Boris Livanov made fun of his colleagues, many of whom, for all their great talent, of course, were prone to "the main disease of the Russian intelligentsia" - that is, drinking. So, for example, the great old man of the Moscow Art Theater Vladimir Belokurov got a lot from him (we remember him from the roles of Vladimir Chkalov and the boatswain from "Striped Flight").

Once Belokurov brought from Finland a sweater of absolutely incredible beauty. The masterpiece of foreign designers was made in the colors of the Finnish flag - blue, with two white horizontal stripes on the chest and at the waist. The honored artist proudly demonstrated his acquisition to the whole theater, and Boris Livanov, behind his back, explained to his colleagues the meaning of the stripes in a whisper and gesture:. And when Belokurov hung on the door of his dressing room a beautiful new plate with a detailed inscription:, a humorous colleague supplemented it with a very tightly glued inscription:.

Like any talented person, Boris Livanov was talented in many forms of art. In 2014, an exhibition of author's cartoons and cartoons was held in Moscow, which captured the gallery of his colleagues - the Moscow Art Theater.

Vasily Livanov, by the way, treated his father as a teacher, believed that he learned much of his skill from him. In his memoirs, he also writes about Boris Nikolaevich's constant jokes. For example, here is one that later became an anecdote:

However, one of his jokes stands apart, as it brought the level of theatrical humor to a new, very high-level level. The fact is that the Moscow Art Theater luminaries, as we now understand, already having everything in life that one could wish for, sometimes loved to frolic. Within the walls of this well-deserved theater, one hooligan game called "Hopkins" flourished for a long time. By the way, according to one of the versions, the funny name comes from the surname of the famous American politician Harry Hopkins. The meaning of the fun was that when one of the actors uttered this magic word, everyone who heard it had to jump at that very second, regardless of what they were doing at that moment. By the way, a lot of memories have been preserved about this entertainment, and in general it is clear why. As creative and slightly cynical people, the actors got each other with "Hopkins" in the most unexpected and inconvenient places, not excluding, of course, the stage. Moreover, the rules were very strict. The losers paid a monetary fine.

The apotheosis of this story came in the office of the Minister of Culture of the Soviet Union Yekaterina Furtseva. According to one of the versions of this event, the speech of the high authorities just concerned the inappropriate behavior of honored actors. Among those gathered were the most famous Moscow Art Theaters: Yanshin, Gribov, Belokurov, Massalsky and Livanov. At the most dramatic moment none other than Boris Livanov uttered the magic word "Hopkins" in a whisper, followed by a friendly leap … A silent scene … A curtain.

Every actor in life has to experience both great ups and bitter disappointments. For Boris Livanov, such a difficult event was the appointment of the “dark horse” Oleg Efremov to the post of chief director of his native Moscow Art Theater. He never managed to forgive the management and his colleagues for this. However, the fate of the new head of the theater in the theater was also not easy. Read more about this in the article "Lonely star of Oleg Efremov: what relatives could not forgive the famous actor and director"