On the account of Yevgeny Leonov-Gladyshev more than seventy roles in the cinema and three directorial works. But many, seeing this actor on the screen, recall Vasya Vekshin from the movie "The meeting place cannot be changed." However, he was remembered by someone from the paintings of Sibiriada, I Don't Want to Marry, The Master and Margarita, or the series Streets of Broken Lights. Interesting facts from the biography of actor Leonov-Gladyshev are presented in the article.
Lithuania
The future actor was born in Vilnius in 1952. Leonov-Gladyshev childhood passed in the very center of the Lithuanian capital. His father was a great boss in a factory. Mother worked in the draft board. Grandmother once served in SMERSH, for which, after the birth of her grandson, she received a spacious apartment in the center of Vilnius. The father of the future actor after her death presented numerous awards to this woman as a gift to the Perm Museum of Local Lore.
Evgeny Leonov-Gladyshev had a happy childhood. He bought an early bike, which every Soviet boy dreamed of. In the evenings, neighbors came to them to watch TV, because few people could afford such a luxury in those days. One day, Zhenya's father brought a children's excavator from a business trip. The boy was happy to share his toys with the neighboring guys, among whom were children from both Russian and Lithuanian families.
Leningrad
A happy childhood ended when the family left Lithuania. The city on the Neva did not like the future actor at all. The family settled in a dirty communal apartment in an old house on Fontanka. And soon the father met another woman and left. But not far. With his new wife, he lived in the same communal apartment.
Father financially helped, but mother, in spite of his money, had a very hard time. It is difficult to raise two boys, working from morning to late at the factory. Zhenya’s younger brother, Andrei, was identified in a 24-hour kindergarten. He himself was sent to a boarding school.
In those days, under the Leningrad television, a children's drama circle operated. A teacher of the Russian language discerned acting abilities in Zhenya and brought him to a theater studio. Already then, in the sixties, he began to flicker in various television programs.
Youth
After graduation, Eugene, of course, applied to LGITMiK. He was sure that they would accept him. And indeed, Leonov (the second part of the surname appeared later) easily managed to go through two rounds. And the third applicant reacted frivolously. He appeared for the exam right after the camping trip. When he came to find out about the results, he did not find his last name in the lists.
Eugene was very upset. He was about to go home when a woman stepped out into the corridor and assigned another item to the short list - Leonov. He nearly failed the exams because of the essay. And, as he later learned, he was accepted into the institute thanks to the efforts of the teacher Merkuryev, who was gaining a course that year.
In his student days, Leonov-Gladyshev made friends with Mikhail Boyarsky. He often visited their home. Father once said: "Do not be offended, but Misha Boyarsky is a good actor, and you are so-so."
Lyudmila Firsova
Eugene studied well. At the same time, he found time for festivities and romantic meetings with girls. The wife of Leonov-Gladyshev was Lyudmila Firsova, who was considered the first beauty at the institute. With her, the actor lived for more than twenty years.
Lyudmila was four years older than Eugene. And, of course, at first she did not pay attention to the freshman, who also looked younger than his age and looked more like a schoolboy. But after Eugene became a member of the student musical ensemble, the impregnable beauty still drew attention to him.
They got married in 1972. The wedding was celebrated not in a restaurant, but in a communal apartment.
First movie roles
Evgeny Leonov-Gladyshev began acting long before entering the institute. In 1966, he played the role of a homeless child in the film "The Republic of SKID." An assistant director once came to the boarding school where Zhenya studied, in order to select two boys.
His classmate was approved for the role of Mom. Eugene dreamed of playing the Japanese. However, it did not work out. The future actor had to participate in extras. But this did not upset him - he happened to be present at the shootings, to see such actors as Sergey Yursky, Pavel Luspekaev.
Apparently, in those days, the teenager had a dream about cinema. Although in his family there was not a single person related to art.
In 1972, Leonov-Gladyshev starred in the movie "Turn on the Northern Lights." The following year he was invited to a small role in the film "Docker." Then he was a fourth-year student. For filming a movie, he could easily be expelled from the institute. But Eugene still took a chance. The film "Docker" starred Rolan Bykov and Elena Sanaeva, but this picture never came out in great rental.
"Meeting place can not be Changed"
Films with Leonov-Gladyshev, released in the seventies: “Returned Year”, “Born of the Revolution”, “Eleven Hopes”, “Front without Flags”, “Sibiriada”, “Hate”, “Track”. In 1979, the actor played a major role in the film "Forget the word" death "." The shooting took place in Odessa, and it was then that the assistant Leonisov-Gladyshev was noticed by the assistant Stanislav Govorukhin.
He was invited to audition for the role of Sharapova. But the artistic council did not approve it, as it did not approve many famous actors. The cinematic authorities strongly recommended that Vladimir Konkin take the lead role, which did not suit either Govorukhin or the Viner brothers. But the director and scriptwriters had to listen to the opinion of the artistic council.
The actor Leonov Gladyshev in the film "The meeting place cannot be changed" has only two tiny episodes. But his hero is remembered forever. However, like almost all the scenes in the picture of Stanislav Govorukhin. Evgeny Leonov-Gladyshev believes that after years he will be recognized for his role in this film due to the tragedy of one of the episodes.
His hero is walking along the square with ice cream, and after three minutes, UGRO employees find his body on a bench. The death of a person on the screen always causes strong emotions in the audience. That is why Yevgeny Borisovich Leonov-Gladyshev, almost forty years after the release of Govorukhin's painting, is still associated with Vasya Vekshin.
By the way, the deceased operative is not a fictional character. Such a man really was, but they killed him not with a sharpener, but with a knitting needle, which was not suitable for the film.
Actor Leonov-Gladyshev always enthusiastically recalls filming the film "The meeting place cannot be changed." He had a chance to play with famous actors, and once Marina Vlady herself came to Vysotsky.
Even after playing his role, the actor came to the set. He was inspired by the game of two actors - Vladimir Vysotsky, Alexander Belyavsky. With the latter, he later starred in the movie “Second to the Feat”.
Namesake great artist
The actor took a double surname in the late seventies. The first part came from my father. The second is from the mother. It’s easy to guess why he changed his name.
Evgeny Leonov is a great Soviet actor. It was necessary to somehow differ from the famous namesake. By the way, Evgeny Leonov-Gladyshev always speaks with admiration and without a shadow of envy about talented artists, and in the nineties he became the author of a television project dedicated to the great Soviet actors.
"Siberiade"
The role in this epic is one of the most significant in the creative biography of actor Leonov-Gladyshev. He played Alexey Ustyuzhanin in his youth. For this role, he was recommended by Nikita Mikhalkov, who played the same hero, but at a more mature age.
For the sake of his role in Sibiriada, Leonov-Gladyshev made a sacrifice. His hair was dyed red and cut short.
The film by Andrei Konchalovsky was awarded prestigious film awards.
A family
In the personal life of Leonov-Gladyshev at the beginning of his career, everything went well, despite all sorts of difficulties. His wife, Lyudmila Firsova, was not accepted into any theater. But she, being an active person, did not despair. She settled in a public library, where she worked for several years.
An important event in the personal life of Leonov-Gladyshev occurred in 1979, when he was filming in Feodosia. The actor received a telegram about the birth of a son. The director of the painting “Santa Esperanza” did not let him go to Leningrad. This event was celebrated by the entire crew. Son Leonov-Gladyshev called Artem.
For a long time, the family lived in rented apartments. And only in the early eighties, the actor became the owner of his own home. It was a spacious, two-story apartment in a house located in the center of Leningrad. Among the guests of Leonov-Gladyshev, and they often visited him, were his colleagues in theater and cinema.
Son Artem did not follow in the footsteps of his parents. He graduated from the Institute of Culture. Now works in the tourism business. In 1995, Leonov-Gladyshev divorced Lyudmila. His second wife was a woman not related to the cinema. He lived with her for 18 years. Today, the actor is in a civil marriage with Elena Skripkina, who is a historian by profession.
Films
In the eighties, the actor starred in the films "Inspector Losev", "Lights", "Chelyuskintsy", "Beauty Salon", "Moorings". In 1991, he played a trucker in the film "Family Man". His partner on the set was Sergey Nikonenko.
In 1993, Yevgeny Leonov-Gladyshev played the main role in the lyrical comedy "I Don't Want to Marry!". In this film, he played a plastic surgeon in love with his patient.
For five years, the actor starred in the series "Deadly Force." In 2005, he played one of the roles in Bortko's film "The Master and Margarita." He also acted as a director during the creation of several episodes of the series “Streets of Broken Lights”.
Theatre
Leonov-Gladyshev is, first of all, a movie actor. In the theater, he played not so many roles. Among his works, participation in such performances as "The Idiot", "Dowry". Leonov-Gladyshev has no main roles in the theater.
Disease
In August 2018, criminals hit a blow to the head of Evgeny Borisovich Leonov-Gladyshev in the street. There was a hemorrhage in the brain. For some time, the actor was in a coma. Now, according to the wife, Yevgeny Borisovich came to his senses, but he has a long rehabilitation process ahead of him.