February 8, 2018 marks the 90th anniversary of the birth of the great and truly iconic Soviet theater and film actor Vyacheslav Vasilyevich Tikhonov. He was one of the brightest and most charismatic stars of Soviet cinema. In the minds of millions of citizens of our country, he will forever remain in the image of the famous scout Stirlitz from the television series "Seventeen Moments of Spring". At the same time, the actor himself was much closer to the role of Prince Andrei Bolkonsky, which he played in the film "War and Peace" by Sergei Bondarchuk.
Vyacheslav Vasilyevich Tikhonov was born on February 8, 1928 in the small town of Pavlovsky Posad near Moscow in a simple working-class family. His father worked as a mechanic in a weaving factory, and his mother worked as a kindergarten teacher. The Tikhonov family lived in a two-story wooden house with their grandparents. While studying at school, the future actor loved the following subjects most of all: mathematics, physics and history. Not the most obvious set of items for a future theater and film artist. True, Vyacheslav Tikhonov really loved cinema from childhood, like many Soviet boys of those years, he was especially inspired by heroic pictures. His favorite movie characters were Alexander Nevsky and Chapaev. Already in those years, in secret from his parents, he still dreamed of an acting career, but his parents saw him in the future as an engineer or agronomist.
By the time the Great Patriotic War began, Vyacheslav Tikhonov was 13 years old, at this age he goes to a vocational school, where he studies to be a turner. After completing his studies, he ended up at a military plant, where he worked in his specialty. So Tikhonov managed to make his feasible contribution to the victory in the Great Patriotic War. In 1944, he entered the zero course of the Automotive Institute, but a year after the end of the war, he decided to leave the institute, taking a step towards his dream, he tried to enter VGIK. It is worth noting that from the family, only his grandmother supported his desire to enter a theater university.
At the entrance exam at VGIK in acting, Vyacheslav Tikhonov failed. The short rehearsals of the young dreamer, the time for which he found between work shifts at the plant, was not enough to enter one of the most important theatrical universities in the country. But here fate smiled at Vyacheslav in all 32 teeth, one of the teachers, Boris Bibikov, was filled with sympathy for the applicant who was upset by his non-admission, after a lengthy conversation he decided to admit Tikhonov to his course. This decision of Bibikov can now be safely called fateful for the cinema and the development of the domestic acting school.
Later, having already become famous and beloved by the audience, the actor recalled that he was brought up in a working environment, including on the street. Therefore, even in his youth, he made a tattoo on his arm - he pricked his name - Slava. Later, he regarded her as a talisman and a kind of prophecy - fame actually came to Vyacheslav, staying with him until the very last days of his life. As well as the tattoo, which he could not get out. Therefore, on the set, he tried to hide her more carefully. Subsequently, Vyacheslav Tikhonov recalled with a laugh: "So he played two princes with a tattoo."
Already while studying at the university, Tikhonov made his debut on the movie screen. He played the role of Volodya Osmukhin in Sergei Gerasimov's film Young Guard, which premiered in the fall of 1948. On the set of this film, the actor met his first wife, actress Nona Mordyukova, whom he married while still studying. Their marriage lasted 13 years. In 1950, Tikhonov graduated with honors from VGIK, the workshop of Bibikov and Pyzhova, having got a job in the theater-studio of a film actor, in the same year, on February 28, his son Vladimir was born, also a future film actor.
Unlike most of the actors who played in the "Young Guard", Tikhonov almost 10 years did not get interesting roles in films, directors were attracted mainly only by his spectacular appearance. During these years, Vyacheslav Tikhonov honed his skills on the theater stage. In 1957 he went to work at the M. Gorky Central Children's Art School. In the same year, the film "It Was in Penkovo" was released on the country's television screens, where Tikhonov played the tractor driver Matvey Morozov, this role brought the actor his first audience recognition. In 1958, another film was released with his participation "Ch. P. - An Emergency ", in which the actor played Victor Raysky a sailor from Odessa, a reckless and cheerful guy who became a real hero in the battle with the Chiang Kai-shekists who seized the tanker.
After these two films, the directors finally believed in Vyacheslav Tikhonov, and a large number of roles literally fell on him in the most diverse films: May Stars (1959), Thirst (1959), Warrant Officer Panin (1960), Two Lives "," On the seven winds "(1962)," Optimistic tragedy "(1963). It is worth noting that in the film "Thirst" Tikhonov for the first time had to try on a German uniform, he played a scout who was abandoned in the German rear during the war.
At the same time, in the 1960s, Tikhonov starred in one of the most important films of his career. It was a brilliant work by Sergei Bondarchuk, one of the most expensive and large-scale films in the history of Soviet cinema - an adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's novel War and Peace. Vyacheslav Tikhonov played Prince Andrei Bolkonsky in him, this role demanded complete dedication from him, he, like many participants in the filming, worked on the set with an incredible effort. It took Bondarchuk about 6 years to make the film (1961-1967). His film went down in the history of cinema not only with excellent acting, but also with large-scale battle scenes, as well as innovative technique of panoramic shooting of battlefields. The film won the main prize of the Moscow International Film Festival (1965), as well as the American Oscar for the best film in a foreign language (1969).
It is worth noting that the role of intellectuals, aristocrats and the military was entrenched for a handsome and stately artist with a noble appearance already at the beginning of his career. In many ways, this was facilitated by the role of Andrei Bolkonsky in the film "War and Peace". At the same time, Tikhonov might not have starred in this film, it so happened that Sergei Bondarchuk did not see him in the role of Bolkonsky, while Vyacheslav himself dreamed of this role. He learned about this when he met with the director in the corridor of Mosfilm. The actor's dream was helped by the Minister of Culture of the USSR Yekaterina Furtseva, who favored him. She invited Bondarchuk to watch the film Optimistic Tragedy, in which Tikhonov played, and was able to convince the director, in the end he was approved for the role of Prince Bolkonsky, investing himself in the future success of the film and earning genuine popular recognition.
In 1967, the actor married a second time, his wife was Tamara Ivanova, whom he met while dubbing the lead role in the French film "Man and Woman". Tatiana, who graduated from the Faculty of Philology of Moscow State University with a degree in French language teacher, worked at VO "Sovexportfilm". He married her during the filming of the film "We'll Live Until Monday," in which he played the teacher Melnikov. An honest, decent and humble history teacher won over the audience. He also won the heart of Tatyana, with whom he lived in a happy marriage for 42 years, in this marriage in 1969 he had a daughter, Anna, who, after graduating from VGIK, became an actress and producer.
The real finest hour of Vyacheslav Tikhonov's film career was the role of the intelligence officer Isaev-Shtirlitsa in the 12-episode TV feature film by Tatyana Lioznova “Seventeen Moments of Spring”. This role became the most famous of his career. A scout working in the very center of Nazi Germany in the spring of 1945 gained unprecedented popularity among the people. 1973, in which the film premiered, was the most triumphant of his acting career. The image of Stirlitz was firmly attached to him for the rest of his life, although Tikhonov himself did not associate this image with himself. The film was far from the superheroism and pathos often characteristic of films about scouts, this was precisely its main success. The audience believed in what was happening on the movie screen, empathized with what was happening, for this very reason, during the show of the series on television, the streets of Soviet cities were literally empty. After Seventeen Moments of Spring, Vyacheslav Tikhonov was awarded several prestigious awards, including the title of People's Artist of the USSR.
The "Moments" was followed by a whole scattering of films, for example "Carousel", "They Fought for the Motherland", "White Bim, Black Ear". The work of Vyacheslav Tikhonov in the last film was awarded the Lenin Prize, and the film itself also became a classic of Russian cinema. Thanks to his talent, Vyacheslav Tikhonov played a wide range of roles: from KGB officers to princes, from intelligence officers to teachers and writers, but he did not act in comedies. The only comedy film with his participation was the picture "They drove a chest of drawers along the streets."
The late 1980s - early 1990s turned out to be a difficult period for Vyacheslav Tikhonov. He did not accept Perestroika, the ideals in which he believed were trampled underfoot. He did not have significant roles during this period. According to eyewitnesses, the actor did not want to accept the new time, and also refused to run an acting workshop at VGIK. He starred a little, for example, was noted in a minor, but memorable role in the film "Burnt by the Sun" by Nikita Mikhalkov, starred in the film "Berlin Express" and the television series "Waiting Room". At the same time, he no longer received real pleasure from filming, the cardinal change in spiritual values in society, which took place in our country, caused a very strong internal discomfort in the actor. In the last years of his life, he practically did not act in films. But two of his works were still very memorable - a role in the film "Composition for Victory Day" (1998) directed by Sergei Ursulyak and the role of God in the film "Andersen. Life without Love”(2006) by Eldar Ryazanov. Ryazanov's painting was his last appearance on the movie screen.
The great Soviet and Russian actor died on December 4, 2009 at the age of 82. On December 8, he was buried in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, and then a civil funeral was held at the House of Cinema, on the same day he was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery in Moscow. In 2013, a wonderful monument by Alexei Blagovestnov appeared on the actor's grave. In the monument, the sculptor managed to convey the versatility of the talent possessed by Vyacheslav Vasilyevich Tikhonov.
In the jubilee year for the artist, a number of events are planned in his hometown of Pavlovsky Posad, the central of them will be the opening of the house-museum of Vyacheslav Tikhonov, the MIR 24 TV channel reports. The museum dedicated to the People's Artist of the USSR will be housed in a wooden building on Volodarsky Street, where the actor previously lived. The museum exposition will include furniture, personal belongings of the artist, photographs in cinematographic images, stage costumes, posters. It is assumed that the museum will receive its first visitors by the Day of Russian Cinema, August 27, 2018. Near the house-museum, the city authorities are going to lay out a park, as well as equip a pedestrian zone. Over time, a monument to the famous actor may appear in the park.
Residents and guests of Moscow will be able to enjoy paintings with the participation of Vyacheslav Tikhonov. The cinemas of the capital have prepared the best films with his participation specially for the 90th anniversary of the actor's birthday. "Inborn charisma and aristocracy made Vyacheslav Tikhonov the idol of several generations of viewers in our country," Svetlana Maksimchenko, general director of the oldest film distribution organization Moscow Cinema, said in an interview with TASS. In a retrospective of films with the participation of the People's Artist of the USSR, viewers will see his most famous roles. And on February 11, the unofficial premiere of the Chinese feature film Red Swan (1995) with the participation of Vyacheslav Tikhonov will take place. This film has never been shown in Russia before.
