How the "exemplary pioneer" actor Sergei Shevkunenko became an authoritative bandit

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

In February 1995, Sergey Yuryevich Shevkunenko, an authoritative bandit named "Chief" and also "Artist", was killed. He received the last pseudonym for a reason, because he really was an artist at one time. What could have caused this person to break the law?

Earring with Malaya Bronnaya

Seryozha was lucky to be born into a respectable and friendly family. The boy's parents were creative people: his father was the director of Mosfilm, his mother worked there as an assistant director. Sergei was a “belated” child. He was born in 1959, when his mother and father were already over forty. They say that the play "Earring with Malaya Bronnaya" was written by his father Yuri Shevkunenko on the occasion of the birth of his son.

The song for the play, which had the same name, was written by Evgeny Vinokurov. True, there are some inaccuracies here. The fact is that the words of the song were published in 1953, while the song itself was performed by Mark Bernes a year before the birth of Sergei Shevkunenko. Therefore, it is unlikely that it was written in honor of little Seryozha.

Sergei's father died when the boy was 10 years old. He stayed with his mother and older sister. It cannot be said that the sister took an active part in the process of raising her younger brother. She was much older than Sergei and at the time of her father's death was finishing her studies at VGIK. There she met her future husband Semyon Galkin with whom she left Russia shortly after the wedding and went to Israel.

Failed artist

After the departure of his sister, a difficult teenage period began in the life of Sergei Shevkunenko. Some especially "conscientious" fellow citizens called the adolescent's behavior a protest against the foundations of Soviet power. Although in fact it was the usual rebelliousness characteristic of this age, provoked by an overabundance of strength and a lack of purpose in life.

The social status of Sergei was also of some importance. The young man belonged to the so-called "golden youth", whose representatives had certain privileges in society and, taking advantage of this, allowed themselves to ridicule the people around them and in general the entire social system. Sergey could not enter VGIK. Yes, I probably didn't really want to. The guy liked hard rock and wine much more. Young Shevkunenko did not refuse such unseemly occupations as speculation in fashionable things and hooliganism. Although the guy did not graduate from VGIK, he still starred in films, however, as a child. Real fame was brought to him by the artistic pictures "Bronze Bird", as well as "Dagger", based on the works of A. Rybakov. The hero of Sergei was Misha Polyakov, a poster pioneer, one hundred percent corresponding to the correct foundations and principles of a socialist society. True, it was not Shevkunenko who voiced his character. His voice was Yaroslava Turyleva.

It should be said that, filming "Kortika" (at that time he was 13 years old), Serezha was already registered in the children's room of the police. However, this did not stop him. Young Shevkunenko, as before, got involved in fights and hooligans. After "Dagger" there was another role in the film "The Lost Expedition". After these filming, Sergei's acting career came to an end. Whether he wanted to become an actor is unknown in history. Probably not very much. Because for this it was necessary to get a secondary education first, and Shevkunenko did not even finish ten grades, left school after the eighth. He did not want to continue his studies, to go to work either. In the end, the mother gave her son a job at Mosfilm. He did not work there for long, the negligent worker was fired for absenteeism and boorish behavior. And in the description, which was soon required to be submitted to the police, it was written: "I was absent without good reason, I was irresponsible in my work, I was rude to my mother and other employees."

On a slippery road

In 1976, Sergei entered a specialized educational institution for minors, but he did not stay there for long either. Once, having pumped up alcohol, he decided to communicate with a strange dog. The owner tried to reprimand him, for which he received a dozen blows. Apparently, Shevkunenko pretty much tormented the local law enforcement officers, so he was sentenced to a year in prison without much trial. Sergei was supposed to serve his sentence in a correctional labor institution for minors. While the guy was sitting, “The Lost Expedition” came out on the screens. In the continuation of the film, the guy was no longer filmed. He was not invited, in the film "Golden River" the authors of the script simply removed the storyline with the hero played by Sergei.

After serving the allotted year, the young man again, at the request of his mother, took a job at a film studio in the same profession. And again he did not work there for long. This time he was sentenced to four years for robbing a Mosfilm buffet. The motive for the crime was banal - there was a desire to drink, and outlets by that time were already closed. After serving one year, Sergei got out on parole and again, ironically, got a job at the same job. It turns out a vicious circle. The details of Shevkunenko's biography, except for his "criminal record", are unknown in history. Nevertheless, it can be assumed that it is unlikely that he (now an Artist) led a respectable lifestyle between his imprisonment. In 1981, the famous actress Zoya Fedorova, a friend of Sergei Shevkunenko's mother, was robbed and killed. There were rumors that this was the work of a gangster group called the Diamond Mafia. Then Shevkunenko fell under suspicion. But it was not possible to prove his guilt, and therefore the guy managed to avoid punishment. For many years the Artist got away with everything, until in January 1982 he was caught in a burglary. In addition, during a search, drugs were found in his apartment. The court considered it necessary to impose four and a half years in prison as a measure of punishment for another crime. Soon, another one and a half was added to this period for trying to escape. After serving the due date, the Artist decided to end the criminal world and live a normal life. He even started a family. But it seems that few people were happy with him when he was free, there were a lot of sins for him. He did not stay free for a long time.

The artist received the following article for possession of a firearm. According to his wife, this time he was framed. At the trial, the woman said that a man brought her a package for her husband when he was not at home. Immediately after the spouse returned to his home, the police raided and found a pistol in the transferred package. This time he was given one year. Shevkunenko received his next year for participating in a gangster showdown, which took place in the city of Togliatti. After this release, the Artist was not at large for a couple of months. He was taken with stolen icons, the cost of which he tried to find out. The acquaintance who brought him these icons was not imprisoned, and the thief who robbed the church could not be found. For this crime, the Artist had to serve three years.

He came out in the dashing nineties, when bandits ruled the country with might and main. Shevkunenko, who was already called Chief, immediately found himself in his element and joined the Ossetian group led by Nikolai Bazikashvili. The chief became his right hand. True, he did not enjoy life for long. The criminal group was neutralized by the police, and the bandit was again in danger. Feeling that the clouds were gathering over his head, the Chief decided to flee to his older sister in Israel. But failed. One evening, when the Chief was returning home, they were already waiting for him at the entrance. Caught by surprise, Shevkunenko received two bullets, but still tried to run to the apartment. He managed to jump into the elevator, while the killer had to climb the stairs. Shevkunenko managed to open his apartment, but in a hurry he forgot the key in the lock of the front door. Mother ran out to the noise … And she was the first to die. Then they killed the Chief himself. This is how the life of Sergei Shevkunenko, the screen image of a pioneer who chose the path of a criminal, ended so sadly.