Yuri Zavadsky was not born into a hereditary noble family, his father, serving in good faith, received the rank of college assessor, who gave the right to the nobility.
Alexander Frantsevich had excellent bass - he was even invited to the stage of the Bolshoi Theater, but he preferred the reliable service of an official and sang at home at family concerts. The mother of the future famous director, a former student of the Moscow Conservatory, accompanied him.
Happy childhood and youth
The family was intelligent, friendly and very wealthy - they lived in the center of Moscow in the grandfather’s large apartment. Yuri Zavadsky was born in 1894. There were three children in the family, they adored and spoiled them, and especially him - the boy grew up handsome and smart. Some contemporaries claimed that he remained a spoiled immediate and enthusiastic 10-year-old child. This is probably a biased opinion. Studied Yuri Alexandrovich in the best Moscow gymnasium - in the 9th. The boy was generously gifted - he drew very well, besides having a brilliant appearance, artistic data, he was well given languages - after graduating from high school he was fluent in French and English. At the same time, he clearly defined his hobbies: they were drawing and a drama circle.
Gossip and Characteristics
Throughout his life, Yuri Zavadsky wholeheartedly loved literature, some claim that he fell in love with books as passionately as with women, but remained more faithful to them. In general, it should be noted that about him, like no other, there were a lot of legends and gossip - this only serves to confirm that he was bright and popular as a person. They never gossip about those who are not envied.
But there were well-defined characteristics, mainly they belonged to Faina Ranevskaya, who, as an equal talent and a man who sincerely respected him, a woman incredibly witty and wise, could afford even an evil response. She owns the phrase that Yuri Zavadsky was born in a raccoon coat. And indeed, he was a spoiled child of fate. She also owns a review of his article “I am a Communist,” published in one of the central newspapers. She put an equal sign between this statement of the brilliant director and herself, who went out onto the balcony, raised her hands to the sky and shouted "I am an astronaut." Knowing her sharp tongue and her attention to him, Yuri Alexandrovich often wondered - "Well, what did Faina say about me there?"
Hobbies of youth
Having entered the faculty of jurisprudence at Moscow University, he, in principle, was engaged in a great deal, but not in it. During these years, he became friends with Pavel Antokolsky , who was familiar with almost all the prominent and interesting representatives of the art of Moscow.
It was Pavel Grigorievich who introduced him to Marina Tsvetaeva and brought him to Vakhtangov’s studio, however, as an artist-designer. Both there and there, the charming handsome man did not go unnoticed - M. Tsvetaeva fell in love with him, and after a while in Vakhtangov’s studio he got his first role. The poetess, who was incapable of long passion for Zavadsky, was dedicated by a cycle of poems entitled "The Comedian". This belongs to her a sacramental phrase, which was then repeated by many of the abandoned women - “You are so forgetful,
how unforgettable ... "
Irresistible handsome
Yuri Zavadsky and Marina Tsvetaeva met in 1918. She could not help but get carried away, and enthusiastically to oblivion, and then this feeling expired in poetry. And here such beauty - charming, tall, elegant, she saw antiquity in it, and a gray lock in golden curls at such a young age drove less enthusiastic women crazy.
Bald, he was also irresistible, and perfectly used his gift to seduce and charm, and he retained his elegance and ability to dress until the last days - at the age of 70 he looked great in a denim suit, of which there were a few in Moscow.
14 world-famous poetess dedicated 14 wonderful love poems to Y. Zavadsky, attaching his name to the Silver Age. Actually, in the studio of Yevgeny Vakhtangov, her love for the theater was born and, under the impression of the experience experienced in these walls, she wrote a number of plays, which, according to some, were dedicated to Yu. Zavadsky.
He is also talented!
The first major role of old man Anthony immediately made Y. Zavadsky a favorite of theatrical Moscow. The play by M. Meterlink, “The Miracle of St. Anthony,” in the second edition, made by Yevgeny Vakhtangov together with Yu. Zavadsky, in which the tragic overtones were clearly visible, was the beginning of not only an acting, but also a director's career. As an artist and director, Zavadsky Yuri Alexandrovich tried himself in the play by P. Antokolsky “Betrothal in a Dream”. And then came the glory bordering on worship. In 1933, he plays Calaf in Princess Turandot directed by Evgeny Vakhtangov. With his game, he convinced skeptics of the undoubted presence of acting talent. And the popularity among the audience was such that the image of him in the role of Calaf appeared on matchboxes and candy wrappers.
Theater, and only theater
He had already made a choice between theater and painting, although he showed promise, and the artists invited the student of the school, P.I. Kelin, to take part in their exhibitions. In 1922, his beloved teacher Yevgeny Vakhtangov died, and Zavadsky Yuri Alexandrovich was elected by the creative team of the 3rd Moscow Art Theater Studio (Vakhtangov Studio) as a member of the Art Council. But the already recognized artist has always been attracted by directorial and pedagogical activities.
The beginning of directing
And in 1924 he staged his first performance on the “Marriage” of N. V. Gogol. He worked on it with such enthusiasm and dedication and was so pleased with the result that many years later, almost before his death, he called it his best production. But by the time he was awarded for his performances the highest awards of the motherland. There were so many of them that he, obviously flirting, was afraid to wear them all at once because of the severity. His staged works are known to everyone who is at least somehow interested in theater. And his acting roles of those times - Chatsky and Count Almaviva - were included in the gold fund of the Soviet theater school. His roles were always honed to the smallest detail, they always had a subtle irony and a clear external drawing borrowed from Vakhtangov.
Brilliant teacher
In the year of his directorial debut, he opens his own studio, which since 1927 became a theater studio, which he directed until 1936. Everyone knows the names of his students - these are the theatrical idols of V.P. Maretskaya and R. Ya. Plyatt, N.D. U.A. (this his constant nickname) had his own theater, but there was no big stage that he dreamed about. In 1932, he was offered to head the Theater of the Soviet Army, in which he worked until 1935, without leaving his studio. And in 1936, Yuri Alexandrovich, together with his theater, was sent to Rostov-on-Don to head the newly built, modern, tractor-like theater with such a huge stage and poor acoustics that it was very difficult to work in it. But Yuri Alexandrovich coped - several beautiful and sensational performances were staged here. Maybe it was a creative link, but it saved him from the repressions that raged in Moscow. He was always a law-abiding citizen, but he never committed acts contrary to his conscience. In 1940, the theater returned to Moscow.
Second home theater
Yuri Zavadsky, whose biography from this year was inextricably linked with the Mossovet Theater, took the post of chief director and remained in this temple of art until the end of his days. Together with him, his beloved disciples also came here. For productions on the stage of this theater, such as "Masquerade" and "Petersburg Dreams" according to F. M. Dostoevsky, he received government awards. In addition to the titles of Hero of Socialist Labor, People's Artist, Professor, he was a laureate of the Lenin and two Stalin Prizes. He was awarded four orders of Lenin, two Red Banners and many medals.
The meaning of life - theater
The titled Zavadsky Yuri Alexandrovich, whose personal life was discussed continuously, was incredibly loved by women. But his family life did not work out. Firstly, he was a workaholic, he loved the theater more than anything, and secondly, he was not capable of long affections, they weighed him down. His faithful legendary housekeeper Vasena, known throughout the theater in Moscow, described Zavadsky as “cool with us”. He himself left many girlfriends, the first wife of Anisimov-Wulf could not stand endless betrayals and left herself, although after 40 years she was his faithful assistant. True, they were not officially painted, as with V. Maretskaya and G. Ulanova. His first official marriage was also short-lived - very soon the unstable Yuri Zavadsky left V. Maretskaya and his young son. Wives, as a rule, were not offended by him, and then they were connected with him by friendly and creative relations. His son also became a director and also worked in the Mossovet Theater, but he could not get out of the shadow of his great parents. He died in 2006.
Sources of information
A kind of man and a great actor, director and teacher was Yuri Zavadsky. A brief biography and his filmography are available in any reference book about Soviet actors. Rather, there is a biography, but not a filmography, because Yuri Alexandrovich did not have a relationship with the movie. Two documentaries were shot about him - “At the House of Yu. A. Zavadsky” and “Yuri Zavadsky”.
It is difficult for the present generation to imagine the scale of this person’s personality. Once Yuri Alexandrovich wanted to use a taxi, and the car rushed past. Literally the whole country was outraged by this taxi driver. There are many articles entitled "Yuri Zavadsky, biography." Soviet actors, directors - all theatrical figures and, most importantly, the audience knew the real value for the performances of this ingenious man. He was a living legend and was at an unattainable level. It should be noted that Yu. A. Zavadsky was never afraid to support disgraced actors and directors. The persecuted Anatoly Efros found shelter in the theater of Yuri Zavadsky and brilliantly staged a performance with R. Plyatt and F. Ranevskaya “Silence Next”.
Guiding star
But everywhere, in any article about this great director, the name of his second wife is mentioned. Galina Ulanova and Yuri Zavadsky - the union of this stellar pair overshadowed the other passions of both of them.
It is said that I. N. Bersenev was the true love of G. Ulanova, but she did not terminate her marriage with Yu. Zavadsky until his death. And he really idolized her whole life, although they did not live together very long - in the evacuation in Kazakhstan. After the war, they already lived separately.