Biography of Oleg Strizhenov: by chance

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

The biography of Oleg Strizhenov begins in the city of Blagoveshchensk on the Amur River, in a military family. When Oleg was still small, the family moved to the capital.

At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, Oleg was still a schoolboy. As his friends recall, he was very gifted: he studied well, drew well and read prose masterfully, dreamed of becoming an artist.

The biography of Oleg Strizhenov could become a biography of the painter, but in 1949 his brother decided to become an actor and persuaded Oleg to follow his example. Strizhenov went to study at the Shchukin Theater School and graduated in 1953.

Further, Oleg is assigned to the Russian Drama Theater in Tallinn. There he becomes the star of the play "Guilty Without Guilt" by A. Ostrovsky, playing the main role of Neznamov. And yet, the biography of Oleg Strizhenov did not become only theatrical - chance intervened in his life.

In 1952, film director Alexander Feinzimmer decided to make a film based on the novel "The Gadfly" by E. L. Voynich. For the main role, a young handsome actor was required, whom the director began to look for. His assistants traveled to the country's theater universities in search of a suitable candidate, andin Moscow, at the "Shchukin" performance of "Romeo and Juliet", the assistant director saw Strizhenov, who plays one of the main roles in the play. However, Feinzimmer himself, having seen the photo of the young actor, remained indifferent to him.

But fate gave the actor a second chance, the shooting of the film was postponed for a year, and already at the Tallinn Theater in the role of Neznamov Strizhenov was noticed by the second director of "The Gadfly" - Akimov, who was passing through Tallinn. Interested in such a coincidence of opinions of his assistants, Feinzimmer immediately invited Strizhenov to audition for the main role of Arthur, where he was approved.

Actor Oleg Strizhenov, whose biography without the film "The Gadfly" would have been completely different, became famous throughout the Soviet Union. On the set of this film, he meets his first wife - the performer of the role of Gemma - Marianne. Soon their daughter Natasha was born.

Followed by the main role in the film adaptation of Jack London's story "Mexican" directed by Vladimir Kaplunovsky and the role of the Talker-Otrok in Grigory Chukhrai's film "In the 41st". The picture was a terrific success and received a prize at the Cannes Film Festival. So the biography of Oleg Strizhenov became the life story of the idol of millions of viewers. He was the most filmed actor of his time.

Further there were works in films:

• in 58 - Nikolai Rozantsev in the film "Life is in your hands" (sapper Dudin);
• in the 60s - "Duel", "Three Sisters", astronaut in "Roll Call", Tchaikovskyin the film "The Third Youth", a robot and a scientist in the film "His Name was Robert".

It is worth noting that Strizhenov could have had much more film roles if not for his character: he often clashed with directors, violated the regime and set high demands. So he turned down the proposed role of Bolkonsky in War and Peace.

In 1967, the actor returned to the theater, enrolling in the Moscow Art Theater troupe. Oleg Strizhenov, whose biography was soon replenished with new data about his personal life, played the role of Mortimer in Schiller's play "Mary Stuart", Treplev in the play "The Seagull" and other roles. Here he met Lyubov, who became his second wife and gave birth to his son Sasha.

In 1969, O. Strizhenov became People's Artist of the RSFSR, in 1988 - People's Artist of the USSR.

In the 70s, the actor starred in several films:

• "Land, on demand" by Dorman (the role of intelligence officer L. Manevich).
• Film by V. Motyl "The Star of Captivating Happiness" (as Volkonsky);
• Tape by P. Todorovsky "The Last Victim" (Dulchin). On the set, the actor meets his new love - actress Lionella Pyrieva.

The rise of Strizhenov's creative activity continued until the mid-80s. Today, the great actor does not act in films, but devotes all his free time to painting. The last picture he starred in was Instead of Me in 2000.