Viktor Stepanov: biography and filmography of the actor

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

The audience remembered this actor as the performer of the role of Mikhail Lomonosov in the 1986 serial film. His strong-willed and some kind of folk-pedigreed face was noticed in the bright and talented image of the village operative officer of the late Stalin years from the painting “Cold Summer of 1953 …”. The filmography of Viktor Stepanov is striking in its length, especially if you know that the actor made his film debut at the age of 36. And he lived only 58.

Distant Sakhalin

Great Russia. At one end of it, the sun is already rising, and at the other, it is still deep night. But not only the size is grandiose, talented people are born and live everywhere. On May 21, 1947, the future actor Viktor Stepanov was born on Sakhalin, in Severo-Kurilsk. His biography began in these places remote from the European part of Russia, he spent his childhood in Serdobsk. The family was large, with five children. The beauty of Sakhalin and the Kuriles, apparently, influenced the formation of the character and attitude of the future actor.

The Sakhalin region in those years was a very distant province. A lot of household goods, common for residents of Moscow,Leningrad, the capitals of the Union republics and simply large cities of the European part of the Soviet Union, seemed to the people who lived there a luxury. It remains to be guessed what efforts Stepanov's mother of many children made to create conditions for the harmonious development of her children. Judging by the result, she deserves the highest praise. Acting has always required knowledge, strength of character, and just human wisdom. Entering the Institute of Culture, and even the directing department, was very difficult, but that was precisely the goal that Victor set himself. He had enough knowledge and will.

Cities and theaters

Viktor Stepanov chose the profession of a director, to master it he entered the Tambov branch of the Moscow Institute of Culture and graduated from this educational institution in 1972. Then there were many years of work in theaters in different cities. Tambov, where he studied, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk in his native region, as well as Novgorod became geographical points in which the artist went through a professional school.

Many years later, during the Leningrad tour, the leadership of "Lenkom" drew attention to the textured appearance of the artist, and he was invited to the troupe. It already happened in 1991. The actor revealed his talent almost immediately, and during his theatrical career he managed to play many bright roles.

It is surprising not that Viktor Stepanov began to work in one of the best Soviet theaters, but that it happened at such a mature age. And yet it's wonderful. As they say in such cases, better late than never.

Peak of Cinematic Fame

A serious debut in the cinema was the role in the historical film about academician Ivan Pavlov, filmed in 1984. Before that, there was a small episode in Vanity of Vanities, but Viktor Stepanov himself did not attach much importance to it. A large figure and a strong-willed face gave the actor a certain role. His character could be a peasant, but certainly not a simple one, a military leader or a historical figure. In the cinema of the late eighties - early nineties, such an image was in demand. The truth-seeker Pyotr Lutsik from Outskirts, Bakhyt Kilibaev from Gongofer, the general from Lucifer, Vareny from The Last Case - these and other roles added popularity to the artist, already known to everyone by Mikhail Lomonosov. The demand was so high that one day I had to shoot in eleven films at the same time. It seemed that it was impossible to do everything, but the artist Viktor Stepanov did not let a single director down.

Lomonosov

Talent is ability backed by hard work. Appearance is also part of it, and the actor was generously gifted with it. A real Russian hero, such as he was portrayed by artists (Konstantin Vasiliev, for example), is the image to which a unique texture was applied. Giant and play giants, so the directors decided, and they were not mistaken. Historical films with the participation of Viktor Stepanov told about the difficult path of Russia, the eras in which its future was decided. In addition to M. V. Lomonosov, he happened to create images of Ermak Timofeevich andPeter the Great, as well as the collective characteristic roles of people who participated in fateful events.

Unfortunately, the work on "Ermak" had consequences for the actor that adversely affected his he alth.

From Malyuta to Chaliapin

Films with Viktor Stepanov also reflect other pages of the centuries-old Russian chronicle. In terms of the number of epic roles, there are few actors who were lucky enough to work in the historical film genre like that. In the film "War" he successfully created the image of a commander; Director Vitaly Melnikov (Tsarevich Alexei, 1996) literally had to restrain the actor who tried to convey the image of the great autocrat-reformer as he understood it, which was somewhat at odds with the general concept of the picture, in which Peter I still corresponded to the canonical historical understanding of him. roles.

The negative charm of Malyuta Skuratov is conveyed by the actor in such a way that the viewer no longer perceives this historical character as a banal villain. This image was especially successful for Stepanov, he put a certain tragedy into it, allowing everyone to judge this ambiguous figure in their own way.

Cold summer

Actually, "Cold Summer …" can also be attributed to historical films. The storyline of this film develops against the backdrop of very real events, the texture of the background is very carefully spelled out in the picture, householddetails, and policeman Mankov is a real Soviet officer, convinced of his rightness (although sometimes erroneously), very sincere, ready to do his duty in any circumstances. He knows for sure that “they don’t put anyone in prison in vain,” but human emotions are not alien to him either. Even the way he sings about migratory birds betrays in him a real patriot who loves all of Russia, from the Kuriles to Brest, just like Viktor Stepanov himself. The photos of all his characters, both those that appeared on the screen and those that did not take place, demonstrate the ability to get used to each of the proposed historical images, but in some cases it seems that the uniform seems to be a little tight for him, and the point here is not at all the size of the clothes. It's just that the actor himself is too big.

First wife

Viktor Stepanov is a very handsome actor. The viewer can admire both his game and the power, energy and masculinity that comes from his very appearance. There is no doubt that many women loved him, but there is no information about his scandalous novels. Apparently, the actor had very strong moral principles. For two decades, Stepanov lived with his first wife, Elya. To great regret, God did not give this pair of children. After the divorce, she lives in Tambov, it is known that she often goes to church.

Recent years

Remaining a bachelor, Viktor Stepanov plunged headlong into work, and one day, during filming in Kyiv, at the studio. Dovzhenko, met Natalya, who worked there as a dresser. With her, in a house built near the capital of Ukraine, he lived allthe remaining years, almost never parting (with the exception of trips to Kamchatka and Japan).

The couple raised their adopted son Nikita, whose late father was a friend of Viktor Stepanov. The life of this married couple was overshadowed by the severe illness of the actor, which became the result of an injury received on the set of the film "Ermak". A fall from a horse, spinal injury caused a malignancy that slowly killed the artist.

It is useless to describe the torment experienced by cancer patients. Physical suffering is exacerbated by a sense of doom. But this man was not such as to indulge in despondency. He continued to create, although there were cases when he was brought to the set in his arms.

Not thinking of life without art, Viktor Stepanov overcame pain and continued to act in films. This struggle went on for twelve years. The last role was performed by him a month before his death. The film was called “And Life Goes On”…

At the end of December 2005, a Russian actor was buried in the Kyiv Elias Church. Many people came to say goodbye to him, both related to art and ordinary citizens who loved Stepanov and those whose images he managed to create.