Wikipedia

Aleksandr Demyanenko

Aleksandr Sergeyevich Demyanenko (Russian: Александр Сергеевич Демьяненко; May 30, 1937 – August 22, 1999) was a Soviet and Russian actor, People's Artist of the RSFSR (1991). He is best known for playing the character Shurik in Leonid Gaidai's movies.

Aleksandr Demyanenko
Александр Демьяненко
Demyanenko in the 1960s
Born(1937-05-30)May 30, 1937
Sverdlovsk, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
DiedAugust 22, 1999(1999-08-22) (aged 62)
Saint Petersburg, Russia
OccupationActor
Spouses
  • Marina Sklyarova
  • Liudmila Demyanenko
ChildrenAngelica Nevolina (adopted)
AwardsPeople's Artist of the RSFSR (1991)

Life and career

edit

Early life

edit

Demyanenko was born in Sverdlovsk, Soviet Union in 1937. Aleksandr's mother, Galina Belkova, was an accountant. His father, Sergei Petrovich Demyanenko, was an actor who graduated from the Lunacharsky State Institute for Theatre Arts. Sergei later worked as a director at the Sverdlovsk Opera Theatre, and as a child Aleksandr played bit parts at the theatre. Aleksandr attended a theater workshop at the Palace of Culture and parallel to that he studied piano at a music school. He also learned foreign languages with an emphasis on German in middle school and in high school started to sing in a baritone.[1][2] In 1954, he began to study jurisprudence at the Sverdlovsk University of Law, but was expelled from the first semester for skipping lessons.[3] In 1954, he failed to get into the Moscow Art Theatre, however in 1955, he was accepted both at the Lunacharsky State Institute for Theatre Arts and at the Boris Shchukin Theatre Institute in Moscow. He ended up choosing Lunacharsky.[4]

Acting career

edit

In 1959, he was cast in the film The Wind. The same year he graduated from the Lunacharsky State Institute for Theatre Arts theatre acting school. He then worked in the Mayakovsky Theatre in Moscow. In 1959, he starred in Everything Begins with Hitting the Road.

In 1961, Aleksandr Demyanenko moved to Leningrad and became staff actor at Lenfilm studio. There he starred in the film Grown-Up Children. He then went on to play in A Night Before Christmas, Peace to Him Who Enter and was cast for the title role in Dima Gorin's Career. In 1962, he starred in A Trip Without a Load and Bang the Drum. In 1963, he starred in Cheka Employee, The First Trolleybus and Cain XVIII. In 1964, he starred in The Returned Music and State Offender.

In 1965, he was cast for the role of Shurik in the classic Soviet comedy Operation Y and Shurik's Other Adventures. This role earned Demyanenko the image of nerdy student Shurik ("Shurik" being a diminutive form of the name Aleksandr). In 1967 he starred in the semi-sequel to the film Kidnapping, Caucasian Style.[5] In 1967, he starred in the film War Under the Roofs and in 1968, in The Dead Season. In 1969, he starred in Tomorrow, April 3 and The Ugryum River. In 1971, he starred in Dauria. In 1972, he starred in Hello and Goodbye and The Singing Teacher.

In 1973, he once again reunited with Leonid Gaidai to star in the film Ivan Vasilievich: Back to the Future where he played a scientist named Shurik who invents a time machine.[6] Demyanenko was unable to gain popularity for other roles as he was typecast as a scientist due to his tremendous popularity as the nerdy, crime-fighting student Shurik.[7][8][9] He frequently provided voice-overs for foreign and domestic films, and even Donatas Banionis admitted that his dubbing was an improvement over his original acting.[10][9]

Later years

edit

He appeared in the television movie Old Songs of the Main Things 2 in 1997 playing an aged Shurik. He had a brief role in the TV series Strawberry and reprised his famous role of the nerdy professor in Old Songs of the Main Things 3 in 1998.

He was diagnosed with congestive heart failure but was afraid of getting bypass surgery. In 1999, Aleksandr Demyanenko died from a heart attack.[11][8][9] Some analysts say this played a part in the success of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation in the December 1999 elections as the lack of a social welfare system was frequently blamed for his death.[citation needed]

Personal life

edit

His first marriage was to Marina Sklyarova with whom he went to acting classes.[8] He divorced Sklyarova when he became involved with voice-over director from Lenfilm Liudmila Demyanenko. She became his second wife and they remained married until his death.[12][11][13] He became the stepfather to her daughter Angelica Nevolina, who later became an actress.[14]

Filmography

edit
  • The Wind (1959) as Mitya
  • Five Days, Five Nights (1960) as soldier
  • Adult Children (1961) as Igor Nikolayevich Vinogradov
  • Dima Gorin's Career (1961) as Dima Gorin
  • Peace to Him Who Enters (1961) as Alexander Ivlev
  • A Trip Without a Load (1962) as Pavel Sirotkin
  • Cain XVIII (1963) as Ian
  • State Criminal (1964) as Andrei Nikolayevich Polikanov
  • Operation Y and Shurik's Other Adventures (1965) as Shurik
  • Kidnapping, Caucasian Style (1967) as Shurik
  • My good Dad (1970) as Dad
  • Find me, Lyonya! (1971)
  • Dauria (1971) as executioner
  • My God, Ilya! (1972) as Ilya
  • Failure of Engineer Garin (1973) as episode (uncredited)
  • Ivan Vasilievich: Back to the Future (1973) as Shurik
  • Strange Adults (1974) as Nalivaiko
  • The Last Winter Day (1974)
  • Unique (1975) as scientist
  • Eleven Hopes (1975) as Volodya
  • Crane in the Sky (1977) as Andrei Zabolotny
  • A Moment Decides Everything (1978) as Nikolai Ivanovich Martynov
  • Chest of Drawers Was Lead Through the Street... (1978) as Misha
  • The Nightingale (1979) as Mekhanikus
  • Die Fledermaus (1979) as lawyer Blindt
  • The Useless Girl (1980) as Viktor Tikhonov
  • Comrade Innokenty (1981)
  • It Was Beyond the Narva Gate (1981)
  • An Awful Day (1982)
  • My Love: A Revolution (1982)
  • The Green Van (1983) as Viktor Prokofievich Shestakov
  • Echo of a Distant Blast (1983) as Albert Valdaitsev
  • Stories of an Old Magician (1984) as cannibal
  • Dear, Dearest, Beloved, Unique... (1984) as police captain
  • A Prophetic Dream, or Suitcase (1985) as uncle of Pavel
  • Bright Personality (1988) as doctor Spravchenko
  • Tamara Aleksandrovna's Husband and Daughter (1988) as uncle Slava
  • A Game for Millions (1991) as Roman Zhukov
  • And to Hell with Us (1991) as Andrei Andreevich
  • The White Clothes (1991) as Parai
  • Seven-Forty (1992) as Viktor Pavlovich

Dubbing

edit

Live-action[15]

Animation[16]

References

edit
  1. ↑ "Демьяненко Александр Сергеевич". Megabook.
  2. ↑ "Александр Демьяненко". peoples.ru.
  3. ↑ "Александр Демьяненко мог стать не "Шуриком", а юристом в родном Свердловске". Komsomolskaya Pravda.
  4. ↑ "Александр Демьяненко". VokrugTV.
  5. ↑ "Kidnapping Caucasian Style (1967)". AllMovie. Retrieved January 16, 2017.
  6. ↑ Roger Greenspun (June 23, 1973). "Ivan Vasilievich Back To The Future (1973)". The New York Times. Retrieved January 27, 2013.
  7. ↑ ""Влип, очкарик"! Пять ярких ролей Александра Демьяненко". Argumenty i Fakty.
  8. 1 2 3 "Всенародный любимец Александр Демьяненко". km.ru.
  9. 1 2 3 Анна ВЕЛИГЖАНИНА. "Нина Гребешкова: "Демьяненко страдал, что на всю жизнь остался Шуриком"". Komsomolskaya Pravda.
  10. ↑ "Александр Демьяненко: "Нет, я не Шурик, я другой"". Russia-K.
  11. 1 2 Людмила ГРАБЕНКО. "Актера Александра ДЕМЬЯНЕНКО могла бы спасти операция по шунтированию, но он побоялся ложиться под нож и умер от инфаркта". Bulvar Gordona.
  12. ↑ "Последний приют комедианта". mk.ru.
  13. ↑ "Александр Демьяненко: "С Вициным, Никулиным и Моргуновым у меня контакта не получалось"". fakty.ua.
  14. ↑ "Анжелика Неволина". VokrugTV.
  15. ↑ "Александр Демьяненко". КиноПоиск. Retrieved August 2, 2023.
  16. ↑ "Александр Демьяненко". kinopoisk.ru. Retrieved August 2, 2023.
edit
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Aleksandr_Demyanenko&oldid=1351375367"