“Ivan childhood”, “Field novel”, “Andrei Rublev”, “Check on the roads” - films, thanks to which the talented actor Nikolai Burlyaev became known to the audience. By the age of 70, this amazing person managed to play in more than 60 series and film projects, as well as declare himself as a director. What is known about his creative achievements, offscreen life?
Actor Nikolai Burlyaev: biography of a star
The famous lyceum is a native Muscovite. He was born in August 1946. Actor Nikolai Burlyaev was born in a creative family, his grandfather and grandmother were actors of a mobile theater. However, it was not their example that made the boy even in early childhood begin to dream of an acting profession. The neighbor of the family was the artist Boris Livanov, who became an idol for little Kolya. It was the dreams of the scene that made the child struggle with stuttering, which appeared as a result of severe stress experienced at the age of five.
It is known that for the first time the actor Nikolai Burlyaev was on trial when he was not yet 13. He was accompanied by his brother, who eventually got the opportunity to star in the film "History Lesson". For a while, Kolya became disappointed in his dream, decided to stay in the profession of an architect. However, fate decreed otherwise.
Movie debut
The life path of a talented young man was determined by a chance meeting. Actor Nikolai Burlyaev accidentally ran into Andrei Konchalovsky on the street. The director was then in his last year at VGIK. He needed a teenager who could play in his graduation film, called "The Boy and the Pigeons."
Nikolai got the role of a child who, for the sake of acquiring a bird, sells stamps belonging to his father. Of course, shooting in a sad short film did not give Burlyaev star status, but Konchalovsky introduced the newcomer to Tarkovsky.
"Ivan childhood"
Actor Nikolay Burlyaev, whose photo can be seen in this article, immediately liked Andrei Tarkovsky. The director was busy looking for a schoolboy who can be assigned a responsible role in the military drama Ivanovo Childhood. Burlyaev got the role of a 12-year-old orphan boy, whose family the Nazis killed before his eyes. Wanting to take revenge on the enemies, the hero joins the military unit and assumes the role of scout.
According to the artist’s recollections, stuttering absolutely did not prevent him from playing Ivan the Orphan. He just convinced himself that he was a different person. The fame that fell upon Nikolai after the release of Ivanov’s childhood in 1962 spread beyond the borders of the USSR.
For the sake of this role, Burlyaev was engaged in swimming a lot, since, according to the plot, his character had to swim across the Dnieper. He spent many hours in the pool. Interestingly, for the sake of new roles, the actor years later engaged in horse riding, fencing, figure skating. Nikolai does not consider this a victim, he is convinced that a good actor should be able to do everything.
Study, theater
The biography of the actor Nikolai Burlyaev indicates that the theater entered his life even when he was a teenager. During the filming of the short film “Boy and Pigeons”, the aspiring lyceum met with Vladimir Shurupov, while at that time he was a former employee of the Mossovet Theater. A new acquaintance introduced the teenager to the theater management, Burlyaev began to receive roles. For example, he embodied the image of a grandson in the production of Leningradsky Prospekt.
By the time he graduated from school, the star of Ivanovo Childhood no longer doubted that he wanted to become an actor. It is not surprising that he decided to become a student at the Shchukin school. They agreed to take the talented young man immediately to the second year, taking into account the experience he acquired at the Mossovet Theater and on the set. Burlyaev turned out to be a fellow student of Vertinskaya and Mikhalkov.
"Andrei Rublev"
Actor Nikolai Burlyaev impressed Tarkovsky while still working on Ivanov’s childhood. It is not surprising that the director decided to invite the gifted artist to his new film “Andrei Rublev”, inviting him to embody the image of Boriski. The fate of the film was not easy. For five years he was not allowed to show what happened with some other paintings in which the artist starred.
The tape saw the light of day only in 1971, and the audience was once again convinced of the talent of Burlyaev, who brilliantly played the son of a foundry master who had to cast a bell instead of his dead father.
Different roles
Nikolai is an actor who has never had a clearly defined role. During his long life in cinema, he managed to try on the most unexpected roles. In the cult film "Check on the roads", shot by Alexei German, the artist embodied the image of a cruel policeman. In Aleksey Batalov’s film “The Player”, he convincingly played the famous character of Dostoevsky, although many doubted that such a young actor could cope with this difficult role. In The Master and Margarita, he got the image of Yeshua.
The second stellar hour awaited Burlyaev with the release of the drama "Military Field Romance", directed by Pyotr Todorovsky. The actor embodied in this film the image of a former soldier who is trying to find his place in the post-war world. The picture won the love of the audience, even won a nomination for an Oscar. In the new century, Nikolai did not lose the status of a sought-after actor. For example, he can be seen in the 2009 Admiral series.
Directing
Actor and director Nikolai Burlyaev not only acts in films, but also creates his own movie. His first independent work was the tape "Vanka-Cain", which became his thesis when he graduated from the directing department of VGIK. The drama “Lermontov”, introducing the audience to the life of the great poet, is considered the most famous film by Burlyaev-director. The film received negative reviews from critics, and Burlyaev himself was accused of "nationalist extremism."
Life behind the scenes
Of course, fans are not only interested in the roles that actor Nikolai Burlyaev played by the age of 70. The personal life of the star of domestic cinema also occupies the public. The artist’s first wife was his colleague Natalia Varley. The marriage was short-lived. Having cooled to each other, the couple decided to part. The role of Burlyaev’s second wife went to Natalia Bondarchuk, from whom he has two children - a son and a daughter. Daughter Maria became an actress, son Ivan - a composer. This marriage also ended in divorce.
The topic that actor Nikolai Burlyaev does not like to discuss is personal life. A photo of a star with a new family can be seen above. For more than twenty years, the artist has been living with his third wife, Inga Shatova, from whom he also has two children - a daughter and a son. It is known that Inga refused the career of an actress for the sake of the family, now she is engaged in the affairs of her husband.