Sergey Gerasimov: biography, photo

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

Without exaggeration, we can say that Sergei Gerasimov was the most famous not only in the USSR, but also abroad, the most eminent and titled director. Not a single award, not a single distinction has quite deservedly bypassed him - a professor and a Hero of Socialist Labor, an academician and a People's Artist, a laureate of the Lenin, State and three Stalin Prizes.

His films, truly talented, were loved by the Soviet audience. It is simply impossible to overestimate his contribution to Soviet cinema.

Aristocrat of Spirit

Genius Sergey Gerasimov in the field of cinematography was comprehensively gifted. Having received worldwide recognition as a director, he was a great actor, an interesting screenwriter and playwright. S. A. Gerasimov also reached the pinnacle of mastery as a teacher. He was a strong and whole person, sincerely believed in the rightness of his cause and devoted himself entirely to his beloved work. During the years of the Sovietthe authorities did not talk about their noble origin, and they were reluctant to remember. A staunch member of the Communist Party since 1943, a man whose talent was duly appreciated by the people and the government, he did not need additional embellishments. Sergei Gerasimov was elegant, well-bred, educated and handsome. His charisma was not provided by noble origin. Moreover, his father and mother's brothers were serving sentences in royal exile for anti-government activities. But all modern biographies of the director emphasize both this fact and the fact that women loved him very much, and he reciprocated them.

Becoming an artist

But first things first. Sergei Apollinarievich Gerasimov was born in 1906 in the village of Decade, Chelyabinsk Region. Actually, the zaimka, which belonged to the father, received such a name already during the years of Soviet power. "Political" was the mother of the future director. Sergei was the last of five children.

He lost his father at the age of three - Apollinary Gerasimov, being a process engineer at the Miass plant, tragically died during geological exploration. The boy was brought up by the nanny Natalya Evgenievna, an educated and gifted woman who instilled in him a love of beauty. At the age of eight, Sergei Gerasimov enters the theater and falls in love with the art of acting forever.

The beginning of cinematic activities

The death of his father affected the economic situation of the family, and the future director combined his studies at a real school with work at a factory. In 1923, at the age of 17, he ended up in Petrograd.

Sergey drew well and, at the insistence of his mother and sisters, he entered an art school, although he raved about the theater. And then a friend invited him to the factory of an eccentric actor. Gerasimov entered the workshop at the very moment when it was being reborn from theater to cinema. He made his film debut in a small role as a spy in 1925, and made his directorial debut with 22 Misfortunes in 1929.

Wonderful pre-war paintings

The real success, which never left him, came to S. Gerasimov in 1936 with the release of his first sound tape "Seven Brave". The film is still interesting to watch. By this time, Sergei Gerasimov, whose personal life and career as a teacher had already developed quite successfully, was a fairly well-known actor, director and teacher.

The film starred his adorable wife - the beautiful Tamara Makarova, and a talented student, who became a discovery and favorite actor of the pre-war generation, Pyotr Aleinikov. Yes, there was just a bunch of favorite actors, including Leonid Utyosov. Each subsequent film became an event: "Komsomolsk", "Teacher" and the drama "Masquerade", standing a little aside, because Gerasimov was very fond of shooting modernity ("Journalist", "People and Beasts", "By the Lake"), which is not prevented him from creating such masterpieces as "Red and Black", "Quiet Flows the Don", "Leo Tolstoy". A film with Tamara Makarova as Nina and the great N. S. Mordvinov in the role of Arbenin S. Gerasimov finished on the night of June 22, 1941. He himself brilliantly played the Unknown in this picture. The photo of Sergei Gerasimov in this role was published in many biographical sources.

War Years

The strong character of this man is evidenced by the fact that, together with Tamara Makarova, who worked as a nurse in the hospital, 1941-1942. Sergei Gerasimov spent in besieged Leningrad, filming "Combat Film Collections". In the evacuation and then in Moscow, he becomes the author of wonderful films dedicated to the courage of soldiers and home front workers. Gerasimov never forgot about pedagogical work - since 1944 he led the joint workshop at VGIK.

Dubious details

The currently published biographies of famous people, including the biography of Sergei Gerasimov, necessarily contain some "spicy" details, and often they come to the fore. Under Soviet rule, there was no yellow press. But there was always gossip, and beautiful movie stars just poured slop on them. What they just did not say about T. Makarova, including her orientation. The personal life of Sergei Gerasimov was also discussed.

There were very persistent rumors that he was not indifferent to Lyudmila Khityaeva, who starred as Daria in The Quiet Don, and that thanks to his patronage she got the main role in A. Ivanov's Virgin Soil Upturned. But the fact that the entire VGIK was shaking from his passion for Nonna Mordyukova was somehow not heard at all. After the release of the "Young Guard" star No. 1 for a long time was consideredcharming Inna Makarova, who played Lyubka Shevtsova.

Rumors, details, speculation…

Somehow it is hard to believe that the largest domestic director, a brilliant erudite person, was rejected by a huge young lady from the provinces and, most importantly, her mother from Yeysk because of her baldness. Maybe he wanted a baby from a Cossack woman (he and Makarova didn’t have their own children, they had an adopted son Arthur, Tamara Fedorovna’s nephew), but not to such an extent that a stunning woman of a fabulous, extraordinary (she has unusually shaped eyes - as if the sun rises from the horizon) beauty would write letters to the Central Committee to return the bastard home. There is something in this from ignorance of that era. Rumors are circulating that he almost ruined Mordyukova's career - he would have ruined it. And the role of Aksinya in "The Quiet Don" seemed to be taken from her and given to E. Bystritskaya. And who gave to take away? And is it possible to imagine anyone other than the incomparable Bystritskaya in this role. The film collected conceivable and unimaginable domestic and foreign awards, and Aksinya-Bystritskaya is the role that remains in the cinematographic treasury for centuries.

An alliance made in heaven

Sergey Gerasimov, whose biography ended in 1985, immediately after the filming of his last masterpiece "Leo Tolstoy", where he and Tamara Makarova played the main roles, made 31 films, wrote scripts by 24, as an actor participated in 17. Tamara Makarova, a legendary actress, starred in most of the films.

He married his wife in 1928, they lived together for more than 55years, they had a common job. Together they led a workshop at VGIK, that's what it was called - the class of Gerasimov and Makarova, brought to life dozens of brilliant actors and directors. They were more than just a couple.

Beloved and only husband

Of course, Sergey Gerasimov (photo attached) was a handsome, passionate, addicted person, artistic personality. Of course, he was fond of students to some extent, because among them were beauties. But now times are such that when giving interviews, especially if they are not very frequent, it is tempting to add that this or that actress was very afraid of destroying the teacher's family. But they didn't destroy it. And Tamara Makarova, a sophisticated aristocrat, lived out her life in solitude. She survived her husband for 12 years, living in memories, the actress wrote letters to him and always said that if she had started life again, she would have married Sergei Apollinarievich again. A woman who is unhappy in her marriage is unlikely to write unsent letters to her husband.