Lev Naumovich Sverdlin is one of the best cinema actors in our country. Back in the days of the RSFSR in 1944, he was awarded the title of Honored Artist. His work did not go unnoticed further. In 1947 and 1954 he received the title of People's Artist of the RSFSR and the USSR, respectively.
Birth and childhood Sverdlin
Sverdlin Lev Naumovich was born in Astrakhan on the sixteenth of December 1901. His father worked as an assistant engineer. But Lev Naumovich did not succeed in enjoying a cloudless childhood. He remained an orphan at the age of ten. And from that time on, he had to earn his own money for a piece of bread. He did not shy away from any work. He was a student of a shoemaker and tailor, an apprentice of a carpenter, and even a projectionist. He earned money in shops and circus. In the nineteenth year he left to serve in the Red Army.
Leo Sverdlin. Biography: years of study
Despite the difficult childhood, Lev Naumovich Sverdlin from his youthful years knew for sure that he had a cherished dream - to become an actor. And that was the purpose of his life. For the realization of a dream, a special education was required. And the young man entered the theater college. Lunacharsky. Then Sverdlin graduated from GITIS. In it, he studied at the courses of Vsevolod Meyerhold.
The first roles of Sverdlin
The very first roles Lev Sverdlin received when he studied at GITIS. First, he played husband Florence in a play staged by Meyerhold “The Magnanimous Cuckold” in 1922. In subsequent theater productions of the same year, he played the roles of creditor and official. In the twenty-third year, Vsevolod Meyerhold staged the play "Earth on end". Sverdlin played the roles of commissar and soldier in it.
The path of creative perfection in the theater
Sverdlin’s life was initially closely connected with Vsevolod Meyerhold. It was not only his teacher. The course of Vsevolod Meyerhold became the foundation of state theater workshops in the Moscow Theater. And Sverdlin got a job in it, where he played in almost twenty theatrical productions. He worked there until its closure, which took place in 1938.
After Lev Sverdlin got a job in the theater. Vakhtangov. In it, he played in performances until the fateful forty-first year for our country. And after a couple of years he joined the troupe. Mayakovsky. Sverdlin played many roles in various theatrical productions. Any repertoire was easy for him - both modern and classic.
Lev Naumovich Sverdlin: teaching career
Since 1924, Lev Naumovich Sverdlin got a job as a teacher in the Uzbek Drama Studio, located in Moscow. From there, his teaching career began. In addition to the studio, in 1962 he taught an acting course at VGIK. And a year later he became artistic director at GITIS.
Sverdlin - film artist
In the movie, Lev Sverdlin made his debut in 1925. The first picture in which he starred was called "On the Right Track." In it, he played the role of Vasya. She was very good at him. In 1936 he played the fisherman Yusuf in the film "At the very blue sea". His fame increased after the film "In the Far East", which was released in the thirty-seventh year. Sverdlin became more recognizable after the release of the film "Volochaev Days" next year. But, despite the roles in the cinema, he did not give up work in the theater, he continued to work there.
Many viewers believe that the role of Nasreddin he succeeded best. Sverdlin made an energy clot from the character, made the viewer see his love of life, the desire for justice. Although the critics at first even reproached the actor for acting in a comedy (then it was the forty-third year - the very height of the war) it was unethical. Because the time for the country is already very difficult. But as soon as the film "Nasruddin in Bukhara" was released, the audience was simply subdued. And this picture has become one of the most popular of those years.
Talent of Sverdlin
Thanks to the great life experience that Sverdlin began to receive from the age of 10 (after he was left an orphan), he became a great actor in cinema and theater. Largely due to his type, he perfectly managed the roles of Japanese, Mongols, Uzbeks, Tatars, etc. Many other actors begin to be stamped due to one-sided character roles, but not Lev Sverdlin. Films with his participation were so interesting that they wanted to be reviewed more than once.
He showed the highest acting skills, endowing his characters, whom he played, with a bright personality. And as a result, they always stood out from the total number of those who are “on one face”. Sverdlin conveyed to the audience not only the character and the inner world of the character, but even his worldview, philosophy and era.
Even negative characters were played by Sverdlin in such a way that they were presented as smart and cunning, but worthy enemies. And, despite the fact that Lev Sverdlin played many roles of opponents of the Soviets and foreign spies, he was awarded Stalin prizes even three times.
Recent roles of Sverdlin
The last films in which Sverdlin starred were released in the sixty-eighth and ninth years. The first was called "As the heart commands." Sverdlin played the role of Karimov in it. And the second one by A. Miller’s play “Price”. The last work in the theater was the theatrical production of "The Soul of the Poet." There Sverdlin not only played, but also acted as a director. One of the last images that Sverdlin created in films, he succeeded brilliantly. This is the role of Budyonny in The Elusive Avengers.
Lev Sverdlin: the personal life of the actor
Sverdlin’s personal life was also closely associated with the theater. His wife, Alexandra Yakovlevna, graduated from the State ECTTeMas and subsequently worked at the Vsevolod Meyerhold Theater. She was also buried at the Novodevichy cemetery, like Sverdlin.
The last years of Sverdlin’s life
In the sixty-fifth year in the summer, Sverdlin became ill, and a complex operation was performed. After her, he could not recover for several more months. And he returned to the theater to them. Mayakovsky only in the middle of autumn. Over the next three years, the disease no longer bothered him. But in the sixty-eighth year, during a trip to Japan, Lev Naumovich again felt unwell.
In February of the following year, Sverdlin had to go to the hospital for examination. Doctors made a disappointing diagnosis. Sverdlin discovered a cancer of the pancreas. But the artist was not informed about this diagnosis. He was discharged from the hospital a week later and went to Yalta for another shoot. They ended only in early May.
And a week after returning, actor Lev Sverdlin went to hospital again, already guessing his diagnosis. The operation was again performed. But she could no longer help the actor. The disease was in its final stages. In June, Sverdlin was discharged home. But cancer began to progress, and on August 29th, 1969, Sverdlin Lev Naumovich died. He was buried in the Novodevichy cemetery.