Arkady Arkanov: biography, photo, creativity of the satirist

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The satirist Arkady Arkanov is gone. His work was known and loved by people of several generations. The always intelligent humor of his stories, the kind "Orange Song", the performance of the Satire Theater based on the script written jointly with G. Gorin "Little Comedies of the Big House" are remembered by the older generation. As the leader of the White Parrot club, the whole country knew him. And although he did not like to be frank, a lot about him is known from the stories of friends. The biography of Arkady Arkanov is a story about the life of an extraordinary person.

Why Arcana

Parents of A. Arkanov (this is actually a creative pseudonym) bore the surname Steinbock. Arkady changed it already at the age of thirty-three so that the miniature written jointly with G. Gorin would be allowed to air the radio program “Good morning!”. The editor told them that such a combination of surnames (Steinbock and Ofshtein) would not have worked in Russia under the tsarist regime, and advised them to find pseudonyms.

Arkady Arkanov, whose stories about the change of surname were heard by all his friends, explained: indeed, since childhood, his friends called him Arkan, but because of the name Arkady. When the question of changing his surname arose with an edge, he chose the Hebrew word for "riddle", which is pronounced"arch". So he became Arkanov according to his passport. This is how he is known on stage and literature.

Although Arkady was born into a Jewish family, he considers himself Russian. It so happened: the whole environment, books, school, institute in one culture, and at home too. Parents spoke Yiddish, but Arkady did not know the language. Therefore, when it was necessary to discuss something secretly, mom and dad spoke in Jewish. Everyone lived then in the same way. His mother, Olga Semyonovna, sometimes cooked Jewish dishes. It was rare, Arkady did not have time to get used to them, and in general he was indifferent to food.

Childhood

The biography of Arkady Arkanov originates in Kyiv. Mikhail Iosifovich Steinbock, the writer's father, was the head of the camp in Kolyma. Olga Semyonovna, his mother, after marriage, worked in the Ministry of Internal Affairs-MGB, which was then led by Lavrenty Beria. In 1933, Mikhail Iosifovich served as a supplier. In the same year, on June 7, their son was born in Kyiv. The family idyll was short-lived, a year later the father was repressed and imprisoned in Vyazemlag for four years. Olga Semyonovna follows Vyazma and lives in a barracks. She leaves her little son to her mother-in-law. They live on Saksaganskogo Street, eat potato pancakes, hear locomotive whistles from the railway.

After his release, in 1938, his father was appointed head of supply at the Norillag, and the family moved to the Moscow region, to Khoroshevskoye Highway. Now the area has become a modern city, and before the war it was built up with wooden one-story houses and barracks. In one of them, the Steinbocks are given a room of nine square meters.meters. In 1939, they have another boy, Valery, Arkady's brother. The writer spoke of those conditions as follows: "Tightness, poverty, an iron trestle bed and a lot of bedbugs." He even joked later that he remembers all the insects by sight.

In 1941, the war began, Muscovites were evacuated. Olga Stepanovna leaves for Krasnoyarsk with her children, while Mikhail Iosifovich remains in Moscow. The Steinbocks' neighbors in Siberia were the family of Leonard Kruse, a polar pilot. He once gave Arkasha a ride on a plane. In 1943, Olga Stepanovna and her children returned to Moscow, to a communal apartment at 7-13 Volokolamsk Highway. The neighbors were the prosecutor and the head of the criminal investigation department. After many years, Arkanov bought his parents an apartment in Golyanovo, and the neighbors wept as they parted.

Arkady graduated from high school with a gold medal. Grandmother Arcadia was in the occupied territory. And although she died in 1946, according to the unspoken laws of the post-war period, the path to physics or geologists - the most prestigious professions then - was booked. And then he entered the First Medical Institute.

Student years

In 1951, the biography of Arkady Arkanov intertwined with the biographies of A. Axelrod, who invented KVN, A. Livshits and A. Levenbuk - the duet "Baby Monitor" - and G. Gorin, playwright and satirist. All of them studied together, almost all students were engaged in amateur performances. Arkady became a member of skits and KVN, the VTEK theater, the author of humoresques and songs. M. Shirvindt and M. Kozakov turned to him for help in writing a witty variety number. towards the middleIn the fifties, Arkady realized that life is not directed towards medicine, but towards creativity.

A. Levenbuk says that Arkanov always had a phlegmatic look. Once, when passing an exam, he pulled out a pulse ticket. Instead of speaking, he took the student by the pulse area on his arm and froze. The audience was silent. The pause lasted five minutes. "Well?" - not weathered professor. "Beats," came the reply. Laughter resounded throughout the institute, but Arkady remained imperturbable. Another time, when they handed over the “He alth Organization” (instructions for the construction of hospitals), Arkanov read a list he had rhymed from the section. They put "good", but he was offended that it was not "excellent".

Together with a medical degree, he received a silver medal for the script for VTEK. The performance captivated the participants of the 1957 Youth Festival.

G. Gorin

One day a tall guy rang at the door of the Steinbocks and introduced himself as Grigory Ofshtein. Not long before this, Axelrod had already told Arkady about this talented author. The guys became friends and became a duet of pop playwrights. They understood each other perfectly, did not find disagreements in the field of humor, unanimously rejected vulgarity and felt what was funny and what was not.

Grigory at first did not believe that this hobby could bring money. But Arkady convinced him, and the duet became in demand among pop artists and entertainers. Thirteen years of fraternal cooperation, the two surnames were perceived inseparably.

Many famous miniatures were painted by GregoryGorin and Arkady Arkanov. Monologues and sketches were performed by A. Shurov and N. Rykunin, B. Vladimirov and V. Tonkov, B. Brunov, M. Mironova and A. Menaker, A. Shirvindt, M. Derzhavin and A. Mironov … Since 1963, Arkanov has been working in magazine "Youth", in 1965 the "Orange Song" appeared.

The duo began writing scripts for theatrical skits, of which the most famous were "From Cannon to Sparrows" (the Central House of Arts is located on Cannon Street) and "The Thirteenth Month of the Year", a parody of television. The poignant satire resulted in some cuts, and the duo was kept away from television afterward.

The skill of the authors grew, they already rotated in the writer's environment, and they were accepted by the venerable "sixties". They wrote the play "Wedding for the whole of Europe", a battle was fought around it: they were afraid to miss such material. But Furtseva liked the play, and 82 theaters of the Union staged it. The second play "Banquet" was not missed for promoting drunkenness. And what is a feast without it?

Gorin independently wrote the play "Forget Herostratus!", It was a success. He went to the theater, and Arkady was drawn to literature. And in 1973, the last work of the duet was Little Comedies of the Big House. It became the hallmark of the Theater of Satire. And the literary biography of Arkady Arkanov continued without Gorin.

Literary creativity

In 1968, Arkanov was admitted to the Writers' Union. At that time, this meant freedom of creativity: official writers were not prosecuted for parasitism, and it was no longer necessary to keepwork book. He maintains a humor page in the Literary Gazette and sharpens his pen. Very many names from the last page of Literaturka later became beloved by the people for their subtle satire.

It was published in "Youth", where B. Polevoy's talents were selected. From the pages of this magazine, many authors have declared themselves as real writers. Films based on their short stories were staged, readers were looking forward to each new work. The very atmosphere of creativity among this layer of "writing brethren" ruled out opportunism, flattery and graphomania. The ideals of the "engineers of human souls" were and remain high.

Earlier, Arkady and Grigory agreed that any worthwhile idea should not go to the stage. Each had a piggy bank for independent creativity. They discussed plans, gave advice to each other. But at the same time, Arkanov hated plagiarism. He believed that the writer should compose a new one, using what he saw in life. Do not transfer to the pages, passing off as your own, but pass through yourself and create a new one.

The biography of Arkady Arkanov would be incomplete, if not to say about his diversity. Arkanov succeeded in everything he immersed himself in. And he dived headlong into a new, interesting business for him. Therefore, the versatility of his talent has led to a dozen scripts, six film roles, songs, books, television and theater.

White Parrot Club

When friends gather at the table, they tell jokes and funny stories from life, it's interesting. When artists gather, it is doubly interesting. And if it startedthe main clown of the country Yu. V. Nikulin - this must be seen. This is how the White Parrot program was conceived: guests who knew and loved each other came, sat down at a real table - without props. We drank and ate, talked and entertained each other and TV viewers.

The hosts were Nikulin and Gorin, and later two more presenters came - Arkanov and Boyarsky. The program appeared themes, famous people began to be invited: scientists, politicians, athletes. The recording was carried out without pauses, everything superfluous was cut off later. Therefore, the laughter sounded sincere, the communication was genuine. Jokes spread across the country instantly.

Family

It is interesting to learn about talented people what they were like in everyday life. So it was with Arkady Arkanov: biography, personal life, family and children - all this was of great interest to readers. The writer himself had a certain point of view on publicity. He believed that no one should be let in behind the doors of his personal life if you do not want to lose your "I". He wrote about it in Back to the Future.

Arkanov's first wife was Maya Kristalinskaya. Arkady had an excellent ear, an amazing sense of rhythm. He loved jazz, was friends with musicians and composers. And for him there was an ideal of a woman: musical, witty, and appearance - in the background. When in 1957 he met Maya in the company, who sang all evening, they quickly got married. Dispersed too quickly: different goals. He worked as a district doctor, she toured.

In the autumn of 1958, a friend asked him to meet a girl and take him to a restaurant,because he will be late. It was Zhenya Morozova, very attractive and, according to Arkanov, amazing. Arkady entertained her, waiting for a friend, and suddenly envied his friend: such a girl! He repulsed her, and they began to meet - walked the streets, no intimacy. Then they got married, wandered around rented apartments. In 1962, Arkady bought a one-room apartment, and in 1967 Vasily was born. Now he is a writer and journalist, translating novels by American authors into Russian. This marriage broke up in 1973.

Journalist Natalya Smirnova, who later took Zhenya's place, raved about Paris. In union with Arkanov, she gave birth to a son, Peter, but after a year and a half she got married and left for France.

The third marriage was a happy one. Natalya Vysotskaya was a real friend and wife for twenty years. She died suddenly, and Arkady found it hard to comprehend.

The last years Arkady Mikhailovich lived with his common-law wife Oksana. She helped him fight the disease.

Disease

Diseases overtake such strong people as Arkady Arkanov. The cause of death is oncology. In 2010, he underwent lung surgery. Didn't stop smoking. Moreover, I was sure that a drastic change in lifestyle would lead to a heart attack or stroke. Justified it from a medical point of view. At eighty, he felt good, said: "I know how to beat cancer." He believed that the problem was gone with the removed part of the lung.

At the evening in memory of G. Gorin, Arkady Mikhailovich became ill, the next day he was taken to the hospital by ambulance. A few days later he was gone. The cause is called acute heart failure, which was a consequence of a disease of the pulmonary system.

Reviews from friends

Few can be as friendly as the satirist Arkady Arkanov could be. The biography of all people ends with a line about death. But not everyone will cry. Simple and sincere words of Arkady Mikhailovich's friends:

• "A bright and good person. It is a pleasure to communicate with him" (V. Vinokur).
• "A real gentleman. Even in the hospital he went out to breakfast in a tie. He did not share with anyone how bad he was" (A. Bitov).
• "A man of true decency" (Yu. Gusman).
• "Intellectual, fighter, friend" (A. Dementiev).

Arkanov's appeal to the living

A year before his death, he published an appeal to the rulers of all countries, which can be attributed to all people in general. In it, he urged to look at the planet from a heavenly height, to understand how small it is. She looks like an ant. If someone among the ants is different in some way, then it is not visible from above. He urged people to come together, hug and share those who have something with those who have nothing. He considered the clash of nations to be the influence of Satan and urged people to come to their senses before it was too late. Signature: "Arkanov - one of the billions of ants."

Smart eyes look at us from the photo. Arkady Arkanov left a will for everyone. Thank you, Arkady Mikhailovich!