In an artistic environment, one can rarely hear the words "nobility", "aristocracy", "gentleness", "intelligence, especially in relation to a particular director or actor. But when they say - George Kulikov, then instantly everyone who knew this wonderful Soviet and Russian actor agrees with such definitions in relation to him. In this material we will talk about childhood and youth, an artistic dream, about moments of first love, about the road to the theater and cinema Olympus, about the personal life of actor George Kulikov.
Childhood and youth of the future genius of the scene
Very soon, the Russian theater and cinema world will celebrate the centenary of the birth of the remarkable actor G.I. Kulikov. He lived a fairly long life, played many roles on stage and in films, but over the years, interest in his person has not lost. Viewers are still curious to know who George Kulikov is, the family helped him in choosing a profession or, conversely, set obstacles. And for this you need to return to his childhood.
The future famous actor was born into an ordinary Moscow family, far from the world of art. Pope George died when the baby was not even three years old, his mother remarried. This marriage was very successful, and the new stepfather almost immediately found an approach to the stepson. For a long time, the boy did not know that he was not raised by his own father.
Soon, George had a younger brother, his mother was mainly engaged in it, and his stepfather took care of the older one. They spent a lot of time together. Under the guidance of his stepfather, the boy learned to write and read. Soon he entered school, it was easy for him to study, since he had mastered many of the necessary skills and abilities before.
The first steps to a big dream
Georgy Kulikov's artistic inclinations appeared at an early age, the family loved his home concerts. According to the tradition well-known in those years, the boy climbed onto a chair, for beloved mothers, dads and younger brothers, he recited poems by heart, sang songs. The first experience and success that he gained from the audience, pushed the boy to the dream of an acting career.
As a schoolboy, he took an active part in amateur performances, performed at school evenings. Together with other boys he tried to perform in the circus, but Kulikov’s circus career did not work out. Parents forbade him to perform in the arena after an accident that occurred with one of his young "colleagues in the shop."
War and theater
Having successfully completed the 9th grade, the young man dreamed of getting a job in the theater on school holidays, but the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War postponed the realization of his dream indefinitely. Like many other children of the war, he wanted to benefit the country, he worked as a tractor driver at the machine-tractor station for the first war summer. In the fall, he got a job at factory No. 189, where he worked as a welder.
George understood that he could do a lot for victory, for raising morale, speaking to soldiers and civilians. To begin with, he became an extras in the Moscow Regional Drama Theater, then played in the supporting staff of the Theater of the Revolution. He did not really like the roles of extras, but the young man understood that without the appropriate experience and education, you would not achieve the goal.
Studying and starting an artistic career
Therefore, the young man returned to school, and soon a new student appeared in the local drama studio - George Kulikov. The roles are not extras, but the main characters were already much closer. But there was little dramatic education for him, the future actor was engaged in an art studio, at the same time he took mastery classes from Nikolai Rybnikov, a famous artist working in the Maly Theater. This school was not in vain for Georgy Ivanovich - it is symbolic that he connected his "adult" acting life with this theater.
To continue his education, a purposeful young man went to the Theater School. M. S. Shchepkina, where he comprehended the secrets of mastery under the leadership of Konstantin Zubov. Already in his student years, his theatrical career began: actor Kulikov George first entered the supporting staff of his beloved Maly Theater. The first roles were tiny, episodic, but they taught, allowed to watch how great artists work, gain experience and go to the goal.
Big life at the Maly Theater
Georgy Kulikov’s career began with secondary roles, but in his favorite theater, which he remained faithful to until the last days of his life. Here he played his biggest and main roles, grew up into a real artist, diverse, unlike others, striking in his personality and ability to instantly create the desired image.
The heroes of Kulikov were different - shy and courageous, soft and unyielding, smart, intelligent and ignorant. Theatricals with his participation - “Wolves and Sheeps” (A. Ostrovsky), “Port Arthur” (A. Stepanova, I. Popova), “Macbeth” (U. Shakespeare) and many, many others, will forever remain in the memory of theater-goers.
A magnificent tandem took shape when director Leonid Varpakhovsky came to the Maly Theater. Georgy Ivanovich shone in the role of Terekhin based on S. Aleshin’s play “The Chamber”, Savelyev (K. Simonov’s play “It Will Be That”), the Duke of Albansky (W. Shakespeare’s play “King Lear”).
The main films in the life of an actor
In 1955, a new stage began, a film actor appeared in front of the audience - Georgy Kulikov, whose filmography subsequently surprised both the number of films and the number of images created. The directors saw him in the roles of intelligent, shy people, who are characterized by nobility and endless kindness.
The gold list of Soviet cinema today contains paintings in which Georgy Ivanovich starred - "Clear Sky", "Ordinary Man", "Two Captains", "Summer Residents". The actor’s track record is impressive - about 60 films in which he played from 1955 to 1995. Among the films of George Kulikov and such masterpieces as “Cranes are Flying”, “Yurkin Dawn”, “Old Man-Robbers”.
Many times Kulikov had to play the roles of people from the world of art in cinema - he was a fashion designer (“A Girl Without an Address”), a screenwriter (“Quite Seriously”), an assistant to a theater director (“A Man from Nowhere”). But true recognition came to Georgy Kulikov after the brilliantly performed role of the artist Seryozha Usikov in the comedy “Carnival Night” by the young and talented director Eldar Ryazanov.
Glory found a hero
Georgy Kulikov recalled that he never received so much attention from strangers to the premiere of the film "Carnival Night". And this despite the fact that the main roles were in other stars - Lyudmila Gurchenko and Yuri Belov.
The film instantly soared to the top of the ranking in 1956 and walked for a long time among the leaders of the Soviet box office. The main characters of the tape came true fame. As the son of George Kulikov recalled, they approached the actor on the street, thanked, asked for autographs. He - a man shy in life - was embarrassed, blushed and sincerely did not understand why.
Moments of first love
Ordinary viewers were primarily interested in George Kulikov, an actor. His personal life for a long time remained literally and figuratively “behind the scenes”. The artist was married twice. The first wife is Ekaterina Svenovna Kulikova. In this marriage, the son Sergei, the only child of Kulikov, appeared.
For a long time, the fans of the artist did not know anything about his first family, that Georgy Ivanovich had a son and granddaughter. He himself was very modest, and did not like talking "about the personal." After the divorce, he never met his first wife, perhaps feeling great guilt in front of her. And even when she, a cancer patient, was in the hospital, did not come to visit. He found the strength only to come to conduct Ekaterina Svenovna on the last journey. Then he restored relations with his son.
George Kulikov: personal life
The first marriage lasted about twenty years, but only on paper - family life cracked much earlier. Many blame the second wife of Georgy Ivanovich - Galina Grigoryevna Mikshun. Together they worked in the Maly Theater, and here their official romance began. The actress, trying to absolve herself of blame for the divorce, said that Kulikov did not divorce immediately after the start of a new relationship, he wanted to raise his son to his feet.
George Kulikov really filed for divorce when his son grew up, matured and even served in the army. After the divorce, unfortunately, he met his son very rarely, only several times a year, but he did not see the only granddaughter of Natalia. In the second marriage, he found his Muse, the main love in life, together they looked harmonious, although there was a big age difference between the spouses.
The actor had a very eventful life in the profession, and his son, perhaps, was offended by the gap, worried about his mother, who never married. With his second wife, marriage lasted until the end of his life, together they were a quarter century. Well, the actor, whose personal life has always remained in the shadows, had his “skeletons in the closet,” and who knows how the family dramas responded to his health.
Man and actor
Georgy Kulikov - invisible in appearance and quiet in character, had one amazing quality - he instantly took attention to himself, and if he entered the life of a person, then for a long time, often forever. On the other hand, a break with him has always been very painful in public. For example, the son recalled that the mother did not want to see her father because she continued to love, but could not forgive.
Critics, appreciating the acting game of Georgy Ivanovich Kulikov, noted that in many roles the characters acquire his character traits. It was easier for him to play positive heroes - here he remained himself, emphasizing only character traits. Negative heroes were given to him worse, because it was difficult for him to understand how you can do nasty things without remorse, how meanness and baseness can live in a person.
As an artist, Georgy Ivanovich Kulikov knew how to pause, did a great “close-up”, he thought about the role and thought in the frame. Critics say that the heroes he played were ahead of their time, that Kulikov’s talent did not receive the recognition that he really deserved.
Last years
The actor fate measured out a great life, his creative path was just as long. Few can boast that he served in one theater for half a century, and he could. The young man who dreamed of the Maly Theater in his youth, the young man who came to work in the supporting staff and had been cast extras for a long time, the man in the prime of his life, who played many main roles on the stage of his native theater - this is all George Kulikov. The biography of life and work intertwined here in a single, unique wreath full of bright colors.