Nikolai Nikolaevich Volkov is a brilliant theater and film actor who had the honorary title of People's Artist of the RSFSR and was a laureate of prestigious festivals.
Studying in Odessa and Moscow
On October 3, 1934, the future actor was born in Odessa in the family of the acting actor Nikolai Volkov. Parents decided to name their child in honor of their father. The further fate of the child with a father - a famous actor, was predetermined: he was also to become a creative person.
At the age of twenty-two, Nikolai Nikolayevich graduated from the Odessa Art College and got a job as an assistant director. In fact, Volkov worked for a year at the Odessa television studio, and having quit there, he decided to enter the Shchukin Theater Department, located at the Vakhtangov Theater. The future actor achieved this goal without difficulty, having successfully passed the necessary exams and entered the educational institution.
Work at the Moscow Drama Theater
After studying at the Shchukin School until 1962 and successfully graduating from it, Nikolai Volkov, whose biography has become firmly connected with creativity, becomes an actor in the Moscow Drama Theater, located in the capital on Malaya Bronnaya Street. Here his main roles of life will take place.
It was in this theater that Volkov met the famous director Efros Anatoly, who liked Volkov's acting data so much that he began to invite him to all his productions. A few years later, in 1968, Nikolai Nikolaevich became the leading actor in the theater.
Friends and colleagues recalled that he was very loved not only by director Efros, but also by other actors and employees of the theater. For Efros, Volkov was a kind of muse in a masculine guise. Directorial work rarely did without the participation of Nicholas - he became an indispensable part of almost any Efrosovskoy creation. Volkov played excellent roles in the play "Summer and Smoke", staged according to Williams. In the production of “Marriage,” Volkov played the character Podkolesin. This role seriously affected the acting personality of Volkov.
Literally every year, Nikolai Volkov, whose photo became quite recognizable not only in Moscow but also in other cities of the country, played some major role that made a real sensation in the theater community of the capital.
Change of job
In 1987, the beloved director N.N. Volkova died, so the actor changed his job, moving to the Mayakovsky Theater, where he continued his work. In this theater, the actor had the opportunity to participate in such productions as “Klim Samghin” based on the work of Maxim Gorky, as well as “The Theater of the Times of Nero and Seneca”. In the first, Volkov played Samghin, in the second - Seneca. Nikolai Nikolaevich also had many other roles.
Later Volkov moved to the Stanislavsky Moscow Drama Theater. It was in this theater that the actor played his final role. He played in the production of Hamlet, playing the role of Claudius and the role of the shadow of the father of the protagonist.
Memories of friends about the actor
As a friend and colleague of Nikolai Nikolayevich Olga Yakovleva later said, he was some other person. Not that Volkov was just special - he was not like anyone. This difference was in some special intelligence. The people working with him never saw Nikolai Nikolaevich Volkov in a state of aggression, anger, or some sort of similar feeling. He was very reserved, but unpredictable. Nicholas was known as a natural person, not inclined to self-PR. He was a good friend.
Participation in the cinema
Back in 1960, before the end of the Schukin School, Volkov began acting in films. Passion for this type of art from Nikolai Nikolaevich remained until the last years of his life. One of the most prominent roles performed by a brilliant actor was the work in the films Night on the Fourth Circle, The Woman Who Sings, Mikhailo Lomonosov, Sicilian Defense, and many others.
However, many believe that the true acting talent of Nikolai Volkov was not revealed in the cinema. Perhaps this was due to the fact that there was no such director as, for example, Efros, who could help the actor fully express himself in the movies. So Olga Yakovleva argued that if Volkov starred under the leadership of Andrei Tarkovsky or Marlene Hutsiev, then Nikolai’s bright and extraordinary gift would be revealed.
In the movie, Nikolai Nikolaevich performed more than fifty roles. He became the laureate of several festivals at once for his role in the movie "The Garden Was Full of the Moon", which was released in 2000. However, in addition to this achievement, Nikolai Volkov, some kind of awards, whose filmography is replete with good films and roles, was not spoiled, despite the fact that he was really very famous.
Artist's family
Nikolai Volkov is an actor whose personal life was closely connected with both his family and work. He loved his family very much, but still his marriage broke up. The actor’s wife was the famous actress Olga Volkova. It is noteworthy that Olga received her surname not from a marriage with Nikolai Nikolaevich, but from a previous marriage. Prior to this, her husband was also Volkov, who was also engaged in acting. Volkov’s son - Ivan - also followed in the footsteps of his father and is an actor in the theater, actively acting in various productions.
In the seventieth year of his life, Nikolai Nikolaevich died of cancer. It happened in 2003.