Yuri Zavadsky: biography, personal life, filmography. Zavadsky Yuri Alexandrovich - People's Artist of the USSR

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

Yuri Zavadsky was not born into a hereditary noble family, his father, serving in good faith, received the rank of collegiate assessor, which gave the right to nobility.

Alexander Frantsevich had a great bass - he was even invited to the stage of the Bolshoi Theater, but he preferred the reliable service of an official, and sang at family concerts at home. He was accompanied by the mother of the future famous director, a former student of the Moscow Conservatory.

Happy childhood and youth

The family was intelligent, friendly and very we althy - they lived in the center of Moscow in a large apartment of their grandfather. Yuri Zavadsky was born in 1894. There were three children in the family, they were adored and spoiled, and especially him - the boy grew up handsome and smart. Some contemporaries claimed that he remained a spoiled spontaneous and enthusiastic 10-year-old child. Perhaps this is a biased opinion. Yuri Alexandrovich studied at the best Moscow gymnasium - in the 9th. The boy was generously gifted - he drew well, had, in addition to his brilliant appearance, artistic data, he was good at languages - after graduating from high school, he was fluent in French and English. At the same time, he clearly defined his hobbies: they were drawing and a drama club.

Gossip and characteristics

All his life Yuri Zavadsky selflessly loved literature, some argue that he fell in love with books as passionately as with women, but remained more faithful to them. In general, it should be noted that there were a lot of legends and gossip about him, like about no one else - this only confirms that he was a bright and popular personality. Never gossip about those who are not envied.

But there were also well-aimed characteristics, mostly they belonged to Faina Ranevskaya, who, as an equal in talent and a person who sincerely respected him, an incredibly witty and wise woman, could even afford an angry review. She owns the phrase that Yuri Zavadsky was born in a raccoon coat. Indeed, he was a darling of fate. She also owns a review of his article “I am a communist”, published in one of the central newspapers. She put an equal sign between this statement of the brilliant director and herself, who went out onto the balcony, raised her hands to the sky and shouted "I am an astronaut." Knowing her sharp tongue and her attention to him, Yuri Alexandrovich was often interested in - “Well, what did Faina say about me?”

Hobbies of youth

Entering the faculty of Moscow Universityjurisprudence, he, in principle, was engaged in a lot, but not in it. During these years, he became friends with Pavel Antokolsky, who knew almost all the prominent and interesting representatives of Moscow art.

It was Pavel Grigorievich who introduced him to Marina Tsvetaeva and brought him to Vakhtangov's studio, however, as a graphic designer. Both there and there, the charming handsome man did not go unnoticed - M. Tsvetaeva fell in love with him, and in the Vakhtangov studio he got his first role after a while. Incapable of a long passion for Zavadsky, the poetess dedicated a cycle of poems called "Comedian". It is she who owns the sacramental phrase, which was repeated later by many abandoned women - “You are so forgetful, how unforgettable …”

Irresistible handsome man

Yuri Zavadsky and Marina Tsvetaeva met in 1918. She could not help but get carried away, and enthusiastically to the point of self-forgetfulness, and then this feeling expired in verse. And here such beauty - charming, tall, elegant, she saw in him antiquity, and a gray strand in golden curls at such a young age drove less enthusiastic women crazy.

Bald, he was also irresistible, and perfectly used his gift to seduce and charm, and he retained his elegance and ability to dress until the last days - at the age of 70 he looked great in a denim suit, of which there were only a few in Moscow.

14 beautiful love poemsthe world-famous poet dedicated it to Y. Zavadsky, attaching his name to the Silver Age. Actually, in the studio of Yevgeny Vakhtangov, her love for the theater was also born, and under the impression of what she experienced in these walls, she wrote a number of plays, which, according to some, were dedicated to Y. Zavadsky.

He's also talented

The first major role of the old man Anthony immediately made Y. Zavadsky the favorite of the theatrical Moscow. The play by M. Maeterlinck "The Miracle of St. Anthony" in the second edition, made by Yevgeny Vakhtangov together with Y. Zavadsky, in which the tragic overtones were clearly visible, became the beginning of not only an acting, but also a director's career. As an artist and director Zavadsky Yuri Alexandrovich tried himself in the play by P. Antokolsky "Betrothal in a dream". And then came glory, bordering on worship. In 1933 he played Calaf in Princess Turandot directed by Yevgeny Vakhtangov. With his game, he convinced skeptics of the undoubted presence of his acting talent. And the popularity among the audience was such that the image of him as Calaf appeared on matchboxes and candy wrappers.

Theatre, and only theater

They had already made a choice between theater and painting, although he showed promise, and the artists invited the student of the school P. I. Kelin to take part in their exhibitions. In 1922, his beloved teacher Yevgeny Vakhtangov died, and Zavadsky Yuri Alexandrovich was elected by the creative team of the 3rd Moscow Art Theater Studio (Vakhtangov Studio) as a member of the artistic council. But an already recognized artist has always been attracted by directing and teaching activities.

Start directing

And in 1924 he staged his first performance based on "The Marriage" by N. V. Gogol. He worked on it with such enthusiasm and dedication and was so pleased with the result that many years later, almost before his death, he called it his best production. But by that time he was awarded the highest awards of the Motherland for his performances. There were so many of them that he, obviously flirting, was afraid to put them on all at once because of the weight. Everyone who is at least somehow interested in theater knows his staged works. And his acting roles of those times - Chatsky and Count Almaviva - entered the golden fund of the Soviet theater school. His roles were always perfected to the smallest detail, they always had a subtle irony and a clear external drawing borrowed from Vakhtangov.

Brilliant teacher

In the year of his directorial debut, he opens his own studio, which became a studio theater from 1927, which he directed until 1936. Everyone knows the names of his students - these are theatrical idols V. P. Maretskaya and R. Ya. Plyatt, N. D. Mordvinov and P. V. Massalsky. Yu. A. (this is his invariable nickname) had his own theater, but there was no big stage that he dreamed of. In 1932, he was offered to head the Theater of the Soviet Army, where he worked until 1935 without leaving his studio. And in 1936, Yuri Alexandrovich, together with his theater, was sent to Rostov-on-Don to head the newly built, modern, outwardly similar to a tractor theater with such a huge stage and poor acoustics that it was very difficult to work in it. But Yuri Alexandrovich coped - here it was stagedseveral excellent and sensational performances. Maybe it was a creative exile, but it saved him from the repressions that raged in Moscow. He has always been a law-abiding citizen, but he has never committed acts that go against his conscience. In 1940 the theater returned to Moscow.

The theater that has become a second home

Yuri Zavadsky, whose biography has been inextricably linked with the Moscow City Council theater since this year, took over as chief director and remained in this temple of art until the end of his days. Beloved students also moved here with him. For performances on the stage of this theater, such as "Masquerade" and "Petersburg Dreams" by F. M. Dostoevsky, he was awarded government awards. In addition to the titles of Hero of Socialist Labor, People's Artist, Professor, he was a laureate of the Lenin and two Stalin Prizes. He was awarded four Orders of Lenin, two Red Banners and many medals.

The meaning of life is theater

Titled Zavadsky Yuri Alexandrovich, whose personal life was discussed continuously, was incredibly loved by women. But his family life did not work out. Firstly, he was a workaholic, he loved theater more than anything in the world, and secondly, he was not capable of long attachments, they weighed him down. His faithful legendary housekeeper Vasena, known throughout the theater in Moscow, characterized Zavadsky in this way - "he is cool with us." He himself left many girlfriends, the first wife Anisimova-Wulf could not stand the endless betrayals and left herself, although then she was his faithful assistant for 40 years. True, they were not officiallypainted, as with V. Maretskaya and G. Ulanova. His first official marriage was also short-lived - very soon the fickle Yuri Zavadsky left V. Maretskaya and his little son. The wives, as a rule, did not take offense at him, and then they were connected with him by friendly and creative relations. His son also became a director and also worked in the theater of the Moscow City Council, but he failed to get out of the shadow of his great parents. He died in 2006.

Sources of information

Yuri Zavadsky was a peculiar person and a great actor, director and teacher. A brief biography and filmography of him are available in any reference book about Soviet actors. Rather, there is a biography, but no filmography, because Yuri Alexandrovich did not have a relationship with cinema. Two documentaries were made about him - "At the House of Y. A. Zavadsky" and "Yuri Zavadsky".

It is difficult for the present generation to imagine the scale of this man's personality. Once, Yuri Alexandrovich wanted to take a taxi, but the car sped past. Literally the whole country was outraged by this taxi driver. There are many articles called "Yuri Zavadsky, biography". Soviet actors, directors - all theatrical figures and, most importantly, the audience knew the real value of the performances of this brilliant man. He was a living legend and was at an unattainable level. It should be noted that Yu. A. Zavadsky was never afraid to support disgraced actors and directors. The persecuted Anatoly Efros found shelter in the theater of Yuri Zavadsky and brilliantly staged a performance with R. Plyatt and F. Ranevskaya "Further - silence."

Guiding Star

But everywhere, in any article about this great director, the name of his second wife is mentioned. Galina Ulanova and Yuri Zavadsky - the union of this star couple overshadowed the rest of their hobbies.

They say that G. Ulanova's true love was I. N. Bersenev, but she did not terminate her marriage with Yu. Zavadsky until his death. And he really idolized her all his life, although they did not live together for very long - in evacuation in Kazakhstan. After the war, they already lived apart.