George Millar is a great and modest genius. Such a funny, positive, mysterious, fabulous on the screen and simple, very modest in everyday life. How was the life of this wonderful person? Biography of Millar Georgy Frantsevich will be told to the reader in the article.
Short childhood happiness
George Millar became the only child in the marriage of his loving parents. Arriving on a business trip from France, engineer Franz de Millier was captivated by the Russian beauty Elizabeth Zhuravleva. A beautiful love story could last a lifetime if it were not for the tragic death of the head of the family, as soon as their son was three years old. Throughout her life, the mother tried to give as much as possible to her beloved child.
The financial condition of the family made it possible to maintain a staff of servants who help in raising the boy. It was from European governesses that the growing boy learned the intricacies of knowing French and English. And the aunt serving in the Moscow theater instilled in her nephew a love of art, which had been a red thread through Millar's entire life.
Forced trip to Gelendzhik
Against the background of an increase in pre-revolutionary sentiments, a sensible parent sent George to their house in Gelendzhik. At that time, no one else knew that changes in the life of the country would not bypass their chic home. Several apartments and a summer house belonging to the family were expropriated in favor of the state. To return the child to the capital, covered by military uprisings and skirmishes, Elizabeth considered it wrong.
Therefore, for five years, her son lived away from the capital, studying at the Gelendzhik school. While his mother eked out a miserable existence in one room of their once chic apartment. The rest of the area was occupied by settlers, defined by the new Bolshevik government. Afraid to once again demonstrate her aristocratic roots, Zhuravleva did everything possible to transform the French surname of her husband into a simple and unpretentious - Millar.
The first labor feats
Immediately after graduation, George went to work as a fake in the local theater. He was in love with all productions and grew up on the performances of the great geniuses of the beginning of the last century, he knew all the monologues of the repertoire. Watching from behind the curtains the game of professional actors, he passionately dreamed of someday being in their place.
And only thanks to the accident, Millar managed to do this. Replacing the sick actress in the production of the fairy tale "Cinderella", the young man became so ill with the theater that he decided to go to study skill. Arriving in Moscow for the first time after a forced departure, the young man easily entered the Mayakovsky Theater.
But the study was not easy for a strange student, whom teachers could not fully understand. Real masters of their craft saw talent in an ambitious young man, but atypical appearance and strange diction put an end to his possible acting career.
The beginning of the creative path
The creative biography of the artist George Millar began in 1927. It was then that he became a permanent member of the troupe of the Moscow Theater of the Revolution. For eleven years, the directors trusted Millar with the performance of ambiguous supporting characters, which he masterfully made iconic. The collection of works of this time by an outstanding actor was replenished by participation in the productions of Romeo and Juliet, Dog in the Hay, Golgotha and many others. But for a multifaceted personality, service exclusively in the theater was not enough, because the dreams of cinema long attracted George Frantsevich.
A novel with a cinema
As evidenced by the biography of actor George Millar, the first time in the film he appeared in the debut work of Alexander Rowe "At the command of the pike." Nobody knew how successful the project would be in general, but it received good reviews and was the beginning of many years of cooperation between the actor and the director. The next film was “Vasilisa the Beautiful”, where Millar was given the atypical role of Baba Yaga at that time.
For a long time, Row carefully searched for a suitable performer of the image of the sorceress. He was not even satisfied with the candidacy of Faina Ranevskaya, and he initially considered the proposal of an atypical actor to become a woman in a stupa stupid. But once having seen the test of Millard, Alexander was forced to admit that he could not find a better actor anywhere.
The artist himself came up with the image of Baba Yaga, focusing on the memories of his old neighbor in a communal apartment and a shepherd of sheep she had met in Yalta. The prudent man perfectly understood that no actress would agree to voluntarily turn into a terrible old woman, while this did not frighten him.
Confident path along fairytale trails
In the next film, "Koschey the Immortal," Rowe himself invited his beloved actor. The work was started in 1941 and was to become a kind of support for the people. The image of the invincible Russian warrior, who manages to break the forces of evil, gave rise to hope in the happy ending of the real confrontation between Soviet citizens. The candidacy for the role of the main villain was immediately approved by the director and screenwriter of the film.
But Georgy Frantsevich himself for a long time refused to take part in the work. He motivated by the lack of the required talent, although everyone perfectly understood: to find the best Koshchei would not work with all his will. Therefore, the creators of the tale decided to act by cunning: they constantly invited Millard to the role of expert and consultant, falling in love with the production.
Then there were the cult works of the Master in “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka”, “Fire, Water and .... Copper Pipes”, “Finist - The Clear Falcon” and many others. In most films, the unsurpassed creator performed several roles at once, making each of them unique and piece. At the same time, George looked for scenic images and the path to fairy-tale characters himself, often surprising others with his own originality.
Not entirely fabulous heroes
For a long creative life, the actor managed to work with other directors, although only episodic roles were allocated to him in their films. But even their talented person managed to make memorable and beloved viewers for several decades. An old chess player from the "Caucasian Captive", the silent executioner in the "Ordinary Miracle", the good uncle Yasha in the "Silver Revue" - these are just some of the works of Millar.
But he was able to betray each of them with such color and charisma that they became a worthy demonstration of the uniqueness of the unsurpassed master of reincarnation. Permanent employment did not prevent the hardworking artist from working on voicing cartoons. His voice speaks the characters "Humpbacked Horse", "Princess Frogs", "Rejuvenating Apples" and "Dunno in the Solar City".
Personal story
The biography of George Millar, personal life, for a long time remained the subject of speculation and gossip. For many years he lived in a hostel with his elderly mother, not rushing to start his own family. The sickly look and mass of inner light did not make it attractive in the eyes of women. Millard himself did not like to spread about transient marriage in his youth.
The young family broke up after the actor’s wife informed about the imminent replenishment, while he could not have children after the illness. The artist has never reacted to whispering about a non-traditional orientation, going his own way.
The woman destined for fate, he managed to meet only at the age of 65 years. She became a neighbor in a communal apartment, Maria Vasilievna. Adult children and grandchildren of a 60-year-old woman lived separately, and she considered her personal story to be over. Therefore, she did not immediately accept courtship attempts from a feeble and lonely man with sad eyes.
But in the end, the actor managed to convince the chosen one to go with him down the aisle. George immediately accepted all the relatives of the wife, and they madly fell in love with the caring and neat mother's chosen one, who made her life happy. As the biography of George Millar tells, the family became a mystery to everyone, because at first no one was in a hurry to believe in the existence of love at such an advanced age. And when there was no doubt about it, it was not easy to recognize the fallacy of judgment.
Relations with power and care
Despite numerous works in cinema and theater, George Millar did not make a solid fortune (biography, photos are discussed in the article). For some reason, the Soviet government was in no hurry to shower the goods of a popular favorite. He received his first separate apartment only at the age of 80. Maria Vasilievna more than once persuaded her husband to seek help or support from government agencies, but her natural modesty prevented him from doing this.
The title of People's Artist of the Soviet Union, George was awarded only at the age of 85 years. At the same time, not a single creative evening or benefit performance of the actor was produced during his lifetime. He continued to play, work and enjoy art, without demanding anything in return. At the same time, whenever possible, he tried to make gifts or arrange surprises for the audience.
The master was especially warm to the children who came to performances and films. In preparation for one of the concerts, Millar bought personal albums for drawing, which he signed for each spectator in the hall. And after the concert was canceled for unknown reasons, the artist gave all the souvenirs to the boys and girls living in his area.
Even the passing away of the beloved performer of fairy-tale roles by all happened unnoticed by the general public. Having lived a bright and eventful life, he left a few months before his 90th birthday in June 1993. Beloved Maria survived her husband for six years and was buried next to him at the Troekurovsky cemetery.
Unknown genius
For the contemporaries of the actor and numerous admirers of the creative works of Millard, his ability to transform so organically into fairy-tale characters is still a mystery. When George entered the role, his colleagues were even afraid of him, and the children and animals preferred to flee from the fabulous villain. In each film, he managed to make his hero different from the previous ones, giving new colors and facets.
Carefully preparing for work, the master skillfully improvised, convinced the directors of the need to add new features and colors. And after the release of the film on the screen, it turned out that it was thanks to the confidence of the creator that his roles turned out to be so colorful. There were many rumors about Millard's addiction to alcohol. Moreover, no one ever saw him drunk or scandalous, because the work for him was in the first place.
George always diligently avoided talking about his personal life and military childhood, even hiding his belonging to an aristocratic family. He painted beautifully, was not afraid to seem ridiculous, wrote poetry without showing them to the general public. Some of the most piercing lines of the actor were found in his documents after the departure of Georgy Frantsevich from life.