Efim Kopelyan: biography, personal life, roles and films, photos

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

Efim Kopelyan became famous already in adulthood. He first attracted the attention of the audience thanks to the drama "The Elusive Avengers". In this film, the actor embodied the image of Ataman Burnash. During his life, Efim Zakharovich appeared in approximately 80 film and television projects. What is the history of the star?

Efim Kopelyan: biography, family

The hero of this article was born in Belarus, or rather, in Rechitsa. It happened in April 1912. It is known that Efim Kopelyan was a Jew by nationality. His father was engaged in logging, and his mother ran the household and raised children. The boy's grandfather owned a sawmill that supplied timber for War Department bridges.

It is known that Yefim had five brothers. One of them, Isaac, became a famous artist.

Childhood

Until 1929, Yefim Kopelyan lived with his family in Rechitsa. As a child, the boy imagined himself as an artist, then an architect. He liked to draw, he could do it for hours. The child also loved to read. At the age of 12, he became acquainted with the works of Shakespeare. His love for this author began with the work "King Lear", which he read avidly. The book made such a strong impression on Yefim that he re-read all of Shakespeare.

As a child, Kopelyan could not even imagine that he was destined to become a famous actor. The boy never participated in amateur performances. In 1928 he graduated from the Rechitsa labor school.

Education

In 1929 Yefim Kopelyan went to conquer Leningrad. For some time he worked at the Krasny Putilovets factory as a turner, then became a student at the Institute of Proletarian Fine Arts. The young man chose the Faculty of Architecture, which had previously graduated from his two older brothers.

Already in his student years, Yefim began to get involved in dramatic art. Kopelyan participated in extras in the productions of the Bolshoi Drama Theater. In the end, the guy realized that he likes to play on stage, listen to the applause of the audience. He dropped out of college and entered the studio at the theater. The young man comprehended the secrets of the profession under the guidance of K. K. Tversky, who at that time was the chief director of the BDT. This man was a very strict teacher. Few students he gave grades higher than three. Once Efim managed to get a five. Tverskoy made an exception, as he was impressed by the young man's talent.

Efim Kopelyan managed to play several bright roles back in his student years. For example, in the production of "The Life and Death of King Richard III" he embodied the image of Lord Gray.

Theatre

In 1935, before the actor Yefim Kopelyan, he opened hisBDT doors. He made his debut in the production of "We will not give up" in the role of cameraman Burkov. For a while, the actor played only minor and episodic roles. "The Stone Guest", "The Thought of a British Woman", "Kubans", "Summer Residents", "A Man with a Gun", "The Cherry Orchard", "Cornelius", "Tsar Potap", "King Lear", "At the Bottom," Officer Navy", "Creation of the World" - the first performances with his participation.

During the Second World War, Kopelyan served in the Theater of the People's Militia. Already in 1943, he again began to play on the BDT stage. In 1956, G. Tovstonogov came to the theater, who managed to discern in Efim Zakharovich what other directors refused to see. Since then, the actor no longer had passing roles. He began to create ambiguous and deep stage images.

“Five evenings”, “Signor Mario writes a comedy”, “Death of the squadron”, “Irkutsk history”, “Heads not bowed”, “Woe from Wit”, “Chamber”, “Happy days of an unhappy person”, "Third Guard" - famous performances with the participation of Kopelyan can be listed for a long time. His characters are people in conflict, constantly in a state of struggle with themselves and others. On the stage of the BDT, Efim Zakharovich played until the end of his life. In total, he served in this theater for 43 years.

Beginning of film career

From the biography of Efim Kopelyan it follows that he first came to the set in 1932. The aspiring actor made his debut in the film "Hero's Mistake". Efim Zakharovich's romance with cinema did not work out for a long time. Kopelyan was offered mostly small roles. His first filmslisted below.

• "Derbent tanker".
• Boxers.
• Breaking.
• Jambul.
• "Spring Love".
• "Gadfly".
• "Prologue".
• The Seekers.
• "Old Man Hottabych".
• "B altic Glory".
• "In the days of October".
• Kochubey.
• "Dostigaev and others".
• "The very first".
• "Only the statues are silent."
• "In a dead loop".
• "Everything remains for the people."
• "Two Sundays".
• "The winter of our anxiety."
• Rembrandt.
• "Dream".
• "Goodbye boys."
• "Conscience does not forgive."
• "Accident".
• "Time, forward!".
• "On the same planet".
• "Life of Galileo".
• "Fear and despair in the Third Empire."
• "The promise of happiness."
• "26 Baku Commissars".

Highest hour

The biography and personal life of Yefim Kopelyan interested the public thanks to the film "The Elusive Avengers". The adventure film tells the story of four desperate guys who are fighting against a dangerous gang.

Initially, director Edmond Keosayan planned to shoot Yefim Zakharovich as Sidor Lyuty. However, the tests showed that Kopelyan is able to convincingly play the chieftain Burnash, the leader of the gang. The audience literally fell in love with the image created by the actor. Nobody was put off by the fact that Burnash is a negative character.

The image of the ataman Yefim embodiedand in the sequel to The Elusive Avengers.

Bright roles

Thanks to The Elusive Avengers, not only the audience, but also the directors drew attention to Yefim Kopelyan. Films with his participation began to come out after another. The actor has finally begun to offer interesting roles.

In 1967, the drama "Nikolai Bauman" was presented to the audience. The historical-revolutionary tape tells the story of the famous revolutionary, the creator of the Iskra newspaper. In this picture, Kopelyan convincingly played the famous businessman and philanthropist Savva Morozov.

In the adventure films "Resident's Mistake" and "Resident's Fate" Efim Zakharovich convincingly played General Sergeev. In Crime and Punishment, his hero was the nobleman and widower Svidrigailov, who was in love with Raskolnikov's sister. In "Dauria" the actor embodied the image of the Cossack ataman Kargin. The hero did not accept the revolution, continued to fight for royal power, suffered for his beliefs.

Eternal Call

Efim Kopelyan played a bright role in the series "Eternal Call" by Valery Uskov and Vladimir Krasnopolsky. This TV project tells the difficult story of the Saveliev family, which unfolds against the backdrop of historical events taking place in the country in the 20th century. The main characters are constantly faced with difficult choices.

Mikhail Lukich Kaftanov is a negative character. Krasnopolsky and Uskov had to fight for it to be Efim Zakharovich who played this hero. Kopelyan was consideredtoo charming for the role of a fist and enemy of the Soviet regime.

Voiceover

For the first time, the voice of the actor Efim Kopelyan, whose biography and personal life are discussed in the article, sounded behind the scenes in the comedy film "Adam and Heva" by Alexei Korenev. Then he was invited to voice popular science, documentaries, feature films.

His brilliant talent as a reader was fully revealed in the famous series "Seventeen Moments of Spring". It was Efim Zakharovich who had the honor of voicing the inner voice of the legendary intelligence officer Stirlitz.

Love, family

Fans, of course, are interested not only in the creative achievements of a talented actor. How did the personal life of Yefim Kopelyan develop? In 1935 he married his colleague Tatyana Pevtsova. Marriage did not stand the test of living together. Five years later, the actors parted ways.

Efim Zakharovich found happiness in his marriage to Lyudmila Makarova. He met this woman at the BDT theater. The actress was ten years younger than him, but this did not become an obstacle. They dated for a while, then got married. In 1948, his wife gave Kopelyan a son, the boy was named Kirill.

Last days

In early 1975, the actor was forced to go to the hospital. Efim Zakharovich was there right before the premiere of the play "Three Bags of Weed Wheat". Kopelyan had a heart attack and needed two months of treatment. The actor felt better and better.

EfimaZakharovich was about to be discharged when he suddenly had a second heart attack. The talented actor died on March 6, 1975. His grave is located at the Volkovskoye cemetery. For Lyudmila Makarova, the death of her beloved husband was a serious blow. She did not marry a second time. The actress outlived her husband by 39 years. Lyudmila passed away in 2014.

Interesting facts

Once Efim Kopelyan almost parted with his famous mustache. He shaved them off, and in this form caught the eye of Tovstonogov. The director said that the actor had lost his individuality. This remark forced Yefim Zakharovich to grow his mustache again.

Kopelyan never hid that he did not like all the roles he played in the movies. The actor was proud of the images created in Dauria, Nikolay Bauman, Crime and Punishment.

Efim Zakharovich's outward restraint often deceived those around him. People who did not know him well considered the actor gloomy, uncommunicative. From the memoirs of his wife and friends Kopelyan follows that in reality he was funny like a child. In recent years, the actor has been weighed down by the mask of thoughtful skepticism that has stuck to him. He dreamed of acting in comedy. Efim Zakharovich got the opportunity to fully demonstrate his comedic gift in the play "Khanuma".

Photo by Efim Kopelyan can be seen in the article.