Without exaggeration, we can say that Sergey Gerasimov was the most famous not only in the USSR, but also abroad, the most eminent and titled director. Not a single award, not a single insignia - professor and Hero of Socialist Labor, academician and People's Artist, laureate of the Lenin, State and three Stalin Prizes - was well deserved .
His films, truly talented, were loved by the Soviet audience. To overestimate his contribution to Soviet cinema is simply impossible.
Aristocrat of spirit
The ingenious man Sergey Gerasimov in the field of cinematography was comprehensively gifted. Having received worldwide recognition as a director, he was an excellent actor, an interesting screenwriter and playwright. The peak of skill S. A. Gerasimov reached as a teacher. He was a strong and whole person, sincerely believed in the correctness of his work and devoted himself to his beloved work as a whole. During the years of Soviet power, they did not talk about their noble origin, and they reluctantly recalled. A convinced member of the Communist Party since 1943, a man whose talent was appreciated by the people and the government, did not need additional decorations. Sergei Gerasimov was elegant, educated, educated and beautiful. His charisma was not provided by a noble origin. Moreover, his father and his mother’s brothers were serving time in imperial exile for anti-government activities. But in all modern biographies of the director, this fact is emphasized, as well as the fact that women loved him very much, and he reciprocated them.
Becoming an artist
But first things first. Sergey Apollinarievich Gerasimov was born in 1906 in the village "Decade" of the Chelyabinsk region. Actually, the penny owned by the father received such a name already in the years of Soviet power. “Political” was the mother of the future director. Sergey was the last of five children.
He lost his father at the age of three - Apollinarius Gerasimov, being a process engineer at the Miass factory, died tragically during geological exploration. The nanny Natalia Evgenievna, a well-educated and gifted woman who instilled in him a love for the beautiful, was engaged in raising the boy. At the age of eight, Sergei Gerasimov falls into the theater and forever falls in love with the art of acting.
The beginning of cinematic activity
The death of his father affected the economic situation of the family, and the future director combined his studies at a real school with work at the factory. In 1923, at the age of 17, he ended up in Petrograd.
Sergey drew well and, at the insistence of his mother and sisters, entered the art school, although he raved about the theater. And a friend invited him to the factory of an eccentric actor. Gerasimov entered the studio at the very moment when it was reborn from theatrical to cinematic. In the movie, he first starred in the small role of lard in 1925, as the director made his debut with the film "22 misfortunes" in 1929.
Wonderful pre-war paintings
Real success, which never left him, came to S. Gerasimov in 1936 with the release of his first soundtrack “Seven Brave”. The film is interesting to watch now. By this time, Sergei Gerasimov, whose personal life and career as a teacher had already developed very well, was a rather famous actor, director and teacher.
The film starred his beloved wife - the beautiful
Tamara Makarova, and a talented student, who became the discovery and favorite actor of the pre-war generation, Peter Aleinikov. Yes, there was just a bouquet of favorite actors, including Leonid Utesov. Each subsequent film became an event: “Komsomolsk”, “Teacher” and the drama “Masquerade”, which stood a little apart, because Gerasimov was very fond of filming modernity (“Journalist”, “People and Animals”, “At the Lake”), which prevented him from creating such masterpieces as Red and Black, Quiet Flows the Don, Leo Tolstoy. The film with Tamara Makarova as Nina and the great N. S. Mordvinov as Arbenin S. Gerasimov finished the night of June 22, 1941. He himself brilliantly played in this picture of the Unknown. A photo of Sergey Gerasimov in this role has been published in many biographical sources.
Years of war
The strong character of this man is evidenced by the fact that, together with Tamara Makarova, who worked in the hospital as a nurse, 1941-1942. Sergei Gerasimov spent in besieged Leningrad, shooting "Battle movie compilations." In evacuation and then in Moscow, he becomes the author of wonderful films dedicated to the courage of soldiers and home front workers. Gerasimov never forgot about pedagogical work - since 1944, he led the joint workshop at VGIK.
Doubtful Details
The biographies of famous people now published, including the biography of Sergei Gerasimov, necessarily contain some “piquant” details, and often they come to the fore. Under the Soviet regime there was no yellow press. But there was always gossip, and beautiful movie stars just poured slop. What just did not talk about T. Makarova, including her orientation. The personal life of Sergei Gerasimov was also discussed.
Very persistent rumors circulated that he was not indifferent to Lyudmila Khityaeva, who starred as Daria in “The Quiet Don”, and that thanks to his patronage, she got the main role in A. Ivanov's Raised Virgin Lands. But the fact that the whole VGIK was shaking from his passion for Nonna Mordyukova was somehow not heard at all. After the release of “Young Guard”, the charming Inna Makarova, who played Lyubka Shevtsova, was considered the star number 1 for a long time.
Rumors, details, speculation ...
Somehow, it is hardly believed that the largest Russian director, a brilliant erudite man, was rejected by a huge young lady from the province and, most importantly, her mother from Yeysk because of her bald head. Maybe he wanted a baby from a Cossack (they had no children with Makarova, there was an adopted son Arthur, nephew of Tamara Fedorovna), but not to the extent that a stunning woman was fabulous, extraordinary (her eyes have an unusual shape - as if the sun rises over the horizon) beauty would write letters to the Central Committee to return the bummer home. Something in this is from ignorance of that era. Rumors are circulating that he almost ruined Mordyukova’s career too - he would like it, he did. And the role of Aksinya in The Quiet Don is as if taken from her and given to E. Bystritskaya. And who gave to pick up? And is it possible to imagine anyone other than the incomparable Bystritskaya in this role. The film has collected imaginable and inconceivable domestic and foreign awards, and Aksinya-Bystritskaya is the role that remains in the cinema treasure for centuries.
Union made in heaven
Sergei Gerasimov, whose biography ended in 1985, immediately after the filming of his last masterpiece Leo Tolstoy, where she and Tamara Makarova played the main roles, made 31 films, wrote scripts for 24, as the actor participated in 17. Tamara starred in most films Makarova is a legendary actress.
He married his wife in 1928, they lived together for more than 55 years, they had a common job. Together, they led a workshop in VGIK, and it was called - the class of Gerasimov and Makarova, released dozens of brilliant actors and directors. They were more than just a couple.
Beloved and only husband
Of course, Sergei Gerasimov (photo attached) was a beautiful, passionate, addicted person, an artistic person. Of course, he was fond of students to some extent, because among them were beauties. But now the times are such that when giving an interview, especially if they are not very frequent, there is a temptation to add that this or that actress was very afraid to destroy the teacher’s family. But they didn’t destroy it. But Tamara Makarova, a refined aristocrat, lived out her life alone. She survived her husband for 12 years, living memories, the actress wrote letters to him and always said that if she were to start life again, she would again marry Sergei Apollinarievich. A woman, unhappy in marriage, would hardly begin to write unsent letters to her husband.