A great actor, screenwriter and talented director. All this is about one person - Leonid Nikolaevich Kulagin (06/07/1940). The actor’s hometown is Kirensk, a small Siberian city located on the banks of the Lena River. When the boy turned six, the family moved to his father’s homeland - to Gorky.
As it turns out, Leonid Nikolaevich throughout his childhood felt the presence of mighty rivers - the Lena and Volga - in his life. Since the names of the rivers are female, women have always accompanied him in life. Leonid Kulagin always found support and support in women, and throughout his life he loved and considered them his faithful friends.
The first steps in the theater
How did Leonid Kulagin begin his career? The biography of the actor says that his father brought him to the theater when he worked there as an electrician. After school, the boy went to his father, walked backstage and could watch all the performances. In the same theater, the future famous actor first appeared on the stage in the play "The Young Guard". But his father left the theater, and the boy was no longer allowed into the backstage so beloved by him.
Soon after, Leonid became friends with the drummer from the opera house, who lived with him in the same yard. So he got to the opera house, where he learned almost all arias and sang well.
At the end of school, the young talent was faced with a choice - opera or theater. But, soberly assessing his capabilities, he made a choice in favor of the studio at the Academic Drama Theater. M. Gorky. After training, Kulagin remained in the drama theater as an actor.
Leonid Kulagin: personal life
Leave the native land of the actor made the first love. Passionately in love, he went for a young beautiful actress to Chita, where he married. After working there for a season and a half, the newlyweds moved to Yaroslavl, his wife’s hometown. But life did not work out there. When they turned out to be completely different people, they parted, and Leonid left for Lipetsk, where he was invited by the director of the Chita Theater. This decision became fateful in the life of the actor. There he met his second wife, Eleanor, with whom he still remains inseparable. Now they have a son Alex and an adult grandson Cyril. By the way, unlike his father, Cyril thinks to follow in the footsteps of his grandfather and is already studying in the drama circle of the House of Actors.
The road to cinema
After completing his studies at the theater studio, Kulagin sent his photographs to all film studios, being absolutely convinced of his attractiveness, since he had enjoyed increased attention from young people since childhood. Suddenly, a call came from Mosfilm, from director Andrei Smirnov, and Leonid decided that Soviet cinema could not do without him. But this opinion changed as soon as the script was read. There was not a single name in it, only nicknames: commissar, engineer, man with a horse's face and others. Initially, the director prepared for him the role of a man with a horse's face. So there was a destruction of the illusions of the young actor about his unearthly attractiveness.
The history of the picture was sad, officials ordered it to be destroyed, seeing the political background, but thanks to the installer, some boxes with the film survived. Subsequently, the film was restored, but by then its plot had already lost relevance. Some episodes of the film fell to Mikhalkov-Konchalovsky, who was considered in the actor a nobleman. So Leonid Nikolaevich got the role of Lavretsky in the "Noble Nest."
After that, the actor became recognizable by starring in the first erotic film "Autumn" in 1974, where more than half of the scenes were shot in bed. The partner of Leonid on the set was the director’s wife - Natalia Rudnaya.
Eleanor’s wife surprisingly calmly reacted even to such candid shots, and the actor is sure that thanks to this attitude and understanding they managed to save the family.
There were quite curious cases during the filming. For example, in the film "Ballad of the Valiant Knight Aivengo" (1982), in the final scene, the actor accidentally nearly fried alive, forgetting it tied to a skewer over real fire.
The conquest of Moscow
Even on the set of Noble Nest, Kulagin received a call to one of the theaters in the capital, but he did not want to become a Muscovite at all. For this, the actor found thousands of excuses from urgent performances to important tours, although in the end he still moved there.
Acting on the capital's stage, according to actor Leonid Kulagin, is more difficult, as sophisticated viewers require constantly new emotions, colors, and impressions. In the province, everything is simpler and more measured. He could not love Moscow with all his heart, despite the fact that he spent many years in this city.
Director's career
After the first economic problems, the actor returns to the province to lead the theater in Bryansk, but not for long. Then again Moscow and again performances on the theater stage. Kulagin managed to finally leave the theater only after 35 years, he immediately began to develop a new field - directing. The first and rather successful steps in this field he took in the theater. For outstanding successes in cinema and theater, he repeatedly won prizes and even received a Silver Medal. At the moment, Leonid Nikolayevich is the head of the art line in one major production center.
Leonid Kulagin: films. The brightest works
The filmography of the actor is rather cumbersome and continues to replenish. In addition to the previously listed, Leonid Kulagin starred in the following famous films:
- "Reckoning" - one of the first paintings of 1970;
- touching film "My Home is a Theater", filmed in 1975;
- "Forgive me, Alyosha" (1983);
- "They lasted, lasted the charm ...", which was released in 1984;
- "Interception" (1986);
- "Afghan break", which appeared in the reckless 1991;
- "Eyes" (1992).
And this is not a complete list of films with his participation, there are more recent films, for example, the notorious “Kulagin and Partners”. A large number of military films, such as The Battle of Moscow and The Roaming Front, were also shot. Somewhere there were main roles, somewhere episodic, but always, even starring in the supporting roles, he completely surrenders to his hero, trying to convey the fullness of emotions.
And the most famous directorial works of Kulagin are such films as “Drilling” (2007) and “She-Wolfs” (1993). By the way, in the film "She-Wolfs" he also acted as a screenwriter.