Fate is often unfair to great actors. Someone plays in the highest grossing and most successful films, but cannot get the coveted award, which goes to another artist every year. And it happens that the artist remains forever in the audience’s memory, playing one bright role. Such was the actor Pavel Luspekaev, better known to the viewer as a customs officer Vereshchagin.
Childhood and youth. War
Born in 1927. The childhood of the future actor passed in the village of Bolshoi Sali (now Rostov Region). Mother belonged to the Don Cossacks, father was an Armenian. Before the war, the actor entered the Lugansk school, and then was evacuated with him to Frunze.
Pavel Luspekaev, whose biography is largely tragic, was at the front at the age of 15. He went to war as a volunteer and fell into the partisan detachment, which participated in military operations. During one of them, Luspekaev was seriously wounded in the arm. The hospital began preparations for amputation, but the actor who came to himself did not allow this. He managed to save his hand, but the soldier was not allowed to fight because of his health - he was sent to serve in the headquarters of the partisan movement.
Theatrical school. A family
After the war, Luspekaev moved to Lugansk and entered the theater school. For acting, teachers have repeatedly praised him. Here he found his love - student Inna Kirillova. After the wedding, the young family first moved to Tbilisi, then to Kiev and in 1959 to Leningrad. By that time, they have a daughter, Larisa.
The beginning of the creative path. Theatre
Pavel Luspekaev, whose films were yet to come, entered the stage in 1944 as part of the troupe of the Lugansk Regional Theater. Then there were roles in the Tbilisi Russian Drama Theater. Even then, the actor’s repertoire was diverse. In 1959, Kirill Lavrov advised Luspekaev to move to Leningrad. There, the actor enters the Bolshoi Drama Theater. For several years he was in a creative upsurge and shone on the stage. But six years later, due to an aggravated illness and creative disagreements, he was forced to leave the BDT. Meanwhile, his talent was noted by Lawrence Olivier, who visited the Northern capital. He called Luspekaev a brilliant actor and noted that he had a completely unpronounceable surname.
First movie roles
The debut of the actor took place in 1954, in the little-known film "They came down from the mountains." The second film, in the filming of which Luspekaev took part, was a great success. It was a science-adventure film "The Secret of Two Oceans." Unfortunately, despite the popularity of the picture, the role of Luspekaev remained unnoticed. In 1956, he starred in the movie Blue Arrow, which was also a success with the viewer. But the role of the actor went back to the second plan, and again he remained unnoticed.
Disease
Even in the Tbilisi theater, the director noticed that something was wrong with the legs of the young actor. Affected by the military past and student hungry life. In one of the military operations, Luspekaev had to lie on the snow for a long time, and he got frostbite on his legs. As a result, at the age of 26, he discovered atherosclerosis of the vessels of the legs. The disease progressed. In 1962, she almost cost the actor to shoot in the film "Kapron Networks". I had to go to the hospital. Doctors decided to amputate several phalanges of the fingers.
In 1966, the actor began filming in the movie "Republic of ShKID." It was a great success, as the picture promised to be successful. But again the disease made itself felt. Doctors told Luspekaev that he urgently needed amputation of the legs to the knees. But the actor could not go for such an operation. This would put an end to his career. He offers a compromise - amputation of toes. The operation was successful, but Luspekaev began to suffer terrible phantom pains of such force that he had to increase the dose of pain medication. When the count went to tens of ampoules per day, the actor realized that now he was completely dependent on drugs. He decides to abandon the painkiller. For more than a week he was in a state of fainting, until the Minister of Culture Furtseva was told about his difficult situation. She, delighted with the courage of the actor, ordered to find medicines and prostheses for him abroad.
The crown of his acting career is “The White Sun of the Desert”
Luspekaev has played in his 20 short films for his short life. But deafening success came to him at a time when he was already having difficulty moving around. Despite a serious illness, the actor decided to participate in the filming, although at first he refused. Thinking, Luspekaev set one condition - he will be removed without understudies. As it was then accepted, he had to pass the tests, and was immediately approved for the role. Not only that, it was decided to leave the name of the hero of the picture Pavel - he couldn’t be called in another way, Luspekaev so accurately got into the image of Vereshchagin. Although, according to the scenario of the customs officer, their name was Alexander.
The actor was shot in 1968, after the amputation of the soles of the feet, and with difficulty moved. The director, seeing his torment, suggested a scenario change option in which Vereshchagin would walk, relying on crutches, but the actor immediately rejected this idea. Luspekaev made a drawing of special metal stops hidden in boots that would allow him to move without a stick or crutches. With the help of such shoes, he could be removed, although not for long. But since the shooting took place on the shore of the Caspian Sea, the car stuck in the sand, and the actor had to overcome part of the way on foot. His wife helped him go, and then Pavel Luspekaev rested on the shore, lowering his legs into the sea.
Initially, the role of Vereshchagin in the film was insignificant. But the director, observing the work of the actor, significantly expanded it, turning the customs officer into one of the main characters of the picture.
Luspekaev was proud of this role. The actor did not like to watch himself on the screen. According to the memoirs of his friend Mikhail Kozakov, with whom he went to the premiere of "The White Sun of the Desert" at the cinema as an ordinary spectator, Luspekaev was worried and worried that he would not like the film.
Leaving life
April played an important role in the life of the actor. He was born this month, in it he learned what all-Union glory is. In April 1970, he passed away. It happened on the 17th. The actor was alone in a hotel room in Moscow, and died from aortic rupture. Pavel Luspekaev was only 42 years old.
His last work was not at all “The White Sun of the Desert,” as many viewers believe, but the film “The entire Royal Army”. He managed to star in only a third of the picture, and after his death, Luspekaev was replaced by George Zhzhenov in the film.
Pavel Luspekaev: actor’s grave and monuments dedicated to him
Sadly, the Bolshoi Drama Theater refused to take the trouble on organizing the funeral of a wonderful actor. The administration referred to the fact that he no longer works for them. Then all expenses were borne by Lenfilm. Pavel Luspekaev was buried in the Northern cemetery of Leningrad. For some time, his grave was desolate until Leningrad customs officers took up its structure, for whom the image of Vereshchagin became the embodiment of the country's main customs officer. Every year on their professional day, they come here - this has become a tradition.
Luspekaev's talent was highly appreciated, as often happens, after death. In 1997, he was awarded the State Prize of Russia for his role in The White Sun of the Desert. The actor is dedicated to several monuments. One is in Lugansk, the other is near the walls of the Kurgan customs and another statue is installed on the border between the Rostov and Donetsk regions.
In honor of the hero of the film "The White Sun of the Desert" was named a customs ship, now serving on Sakhalin.
Conclusion
Pavel Luspekaev, your nobility Pavel Artemyevich Vereshchagin, head of the tsar’s customs - under this name, the actor was remembered by the viewer. Although his other roles are not so bright and noticeable, we will remember him simply as the most incorruptible customs officer of domestic cinema. It is not necessary to think that the actor was hostage to one famous role - he left on the threshold of all-Union glory. If it were not for premature death, who knows how many memorable images he could still realize on the screen.