Leonid Kuravlev: filmography, biography, best roles

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

In 2016, Leonid Kuravlev, whose filmography includes more than two hundred films, will celebrate his 80th birthday. Kuravlev is one of the most prominent artists of the Soviet Union. The screen characters of Leonid Vyacheslavovich are always characteristic and are remembered by the audience for a long time. What films with the participation of the artist must be watched on the eve of his anniversary?

Leonid Kuravlev: biography, filmography. Early years

Kuravlev was born in 1936 in Moscow, in the family of a locksmith. The mother of the future actor worked in a hairdresser. The woman found ill-wishers who fabricated a false denunciation of her. Therefore, Valentina Dmitrievna, together with her son, was sent to the Murmansk region in 1941. After the war, little Lenya and his mother were able to return to Moscow.

It was difficult for Leonid to study at school: practically not a single subject was given to him. His sister jokingly advised Kuravlev to go to study as an artist, because then he would not have to take anymathematics or physics. Leonid followed her advice, only he failed to do it the first time. Kuravlev returned to the VGIK exams exactly a year later, and then no one could refuse him.

Viy

The first film in which the famous actor starred was Andrei Tarkovsky's drama "There will be no dismissal today." Then there were a number of low-profile films, until Leonid Kuravlev, whose filmography by 1967 included 17 films, did not get the main role in the first Soviet "horror film" "Viy".

This picture is still a classic of the genre. With the complete absence of any computer special effects in those years, director Konstantin Ershov managed to create a truly scary film that freezes the blood in the veins of even the modern viewer.

Leonid Kuravlev played Khoma Brutus in the film, a student who accidentally killed a witch. After this incident, the deceased pursues the young man, sending all sorts of evil spirits at him and wishing him death.

Golden Calf

Immediately after filming in "Vie", Leonid Kuravlev, a biography whose filmography became of interest to hundreds of fans throughout the Soviet Union, got into another cult Soviet film - "The Golden Calf".

The film is based on the book of the same name by Ilf and Petrov and tells about the next adventures of Ostap Bender. Leonid Kuravlev played in this picture the petty swindler Shura Balaganov, who joined the gang of the great strategist. Soon they were joined by the rogue Panikovsky inperformed by Zinovy Gredt, and the whole company went to the city of Chernomorsk to rob the underground millionaire Koreiko.

The film is filled with comedy. All the machinations of Bender and his friends are shown through the prism of humor and irony. The picture was disassembled into quotes: “Your gasoline - our ideas”, “Panikovsky will sell you all, buy and sell again, but more expensive!” etc.

Leonid Kuravlev: filmography. Soviet actors in the immortal film "Seventeen Moments of Spring"

"Seventeen Moments of Spring" by Tatyana Lioznova has an IMDb rating of 9.2 and often tops various tops of the best Russian and Soviet films. The story of Stirlitz has long become a legend, the name of the protagonist has become a household name, and the actors who starred in the film have immortalized themselves in the hearts of the audience. So Leonid Kuravlev, whose filmography is full of good films, can be proud of his participation in this political detective.

In the center of the plot - the activities of the Soviet intelligence officer in the highest echelons of power of the Third Reich. Kuravlev played a supporting role - a Nazi from the SS Kurt Eisman. The actor was accompanied on the set by such famous personalities as Vyacheslav Tikhonov, Leonid Bronevoi, Valentin Gaft and many others.

Ivan Vasilyevich is changing his profession

Actor Leonid Kuravlev, whose filmography includes many comedy films, in 1973 played one of his most striking roles - the adventurer Georges Miloslavsky in the film masterpiece by Leonid Gaidai Ivan Vasilyevich Changesprofession.”

The comedy became the leader of the box office in the Soviet Union in 1973. Leonid Kuravlev, in the form of a resourceful recidivist thief Miloslavsky, turned into a "decoration" of the film. The director's technique worked especially brightly, according to which the tireless rogue is constantly accompanied by the boring house manager Bunsha. In the course of the development of the plot, the viewer understands that the swindler Miloslavsky has many more principles and even patriotism than the manager of the house, thoroughly saturated with ideology. However, this storyline remains veiled, and the comedic component of the picture still comes to the fore.

"Impossible!" and other films featuring the artist

One of the most famous works of Leonid Kuravlev in the cinema is the role of Volodya Zavitushkin in Gaidai's comedy "It Can't Be". The actor also starred in such famous films as "Afonya", "The Most Charming and Attractive", "Mimino" and many others.

Leonid Kuravlev, whose filmography has ceased to be replenished with new films since 2009, unexpectedly returned to the screens in 2015, playing Father Leonty in the film All This Jam.