There are actors who are not attracted by their appearance or beautiful voice. The costume on them looks baggy, the movements are unsure and in general they are non-charismatic. They will never play the hero of a lover, and indeed a hero. But when such an artist appears on the stage, he captures the attention of the viewer and he is already waiting for his second, third exit - it is interesting to watch him, note his gestures and facial expressions.
That was Sergey Alexandrovich Martinson. If he had a role in the film, even a small one, it was remembered, and quotes went to the people. It immediately became clear - on stage a great artist.
Comedian king
Having naturally good taste and the ability to distinguish subtle nuances, endowed with an amazing ability to convey the character of a character with one or two movements, he was a real professional. And how he performed the cascade! This is impossible to repeat. And at the same time he was not at all embarrassed to play negative roles. Glory found him during his lifetime. He was recognized as the best Duremar of all time, the boys ran after him, shouting: “Look - Kerosin is coming!”, And in the WTO restaurant he enjoyed love and honor. He had a personal table there, and they always escorted him by the arm and to the door.
It turned out that the actor Sergei Martinson did not have to fully reveal his talent. At the beginning of his career, he fell into disgrace with his teacher Meyerhold. Then - the war, the role of Hitler. The directors loved to use his high voice and texture in the ostentatious roles, which he brilliantly performed. Eccentric school affected.
Born artist
From a young age, Sergei Martinson was brought up in love for the theater. Parents did not cherish the soul of their only son and everywhere they took little Seryozha with them - to opera, and to drama, and to ballet, and in a cabaret, they taught music. He especially fell in love with the cabaret for the holiday atmosphere and arranged funny pranks in the gymnasium, for which he was nicknamed the class clown teachers. And when he was little, he changed at home in his mother’s clothes and portrayed what he saw on stage. Even the role of the Snow Maiden at the age of five he performed grotesquely.
That time was the beginning of cinema, and as a teenager he disappeared into Nevsky in an illusion. At home, he showed sketches “like in a movie”, dressing up with different characters - either a janitor or a lady from society. What scared a lot of guests.
He was attracted to the theater so much that he entered an amateur amateur studio in the fifth grade and played a major role in the famous vaudeville at that time. And in the sixth grade, he opens his studio and puts on the “Examiner”, where he plays Dobchinsky.
Parents saw all this - rather average indicators in subjects, lack of interest in a “serious matter” and passionate interest in the scene. They tried to give their son an education: from the age of seven he was sent to Anneshula school, thanks to which he was fluent in French and German. He graduated from the private gymnasium of Stemberg. That was in 1918. And completely different times have come.
Petersburg life: the first steps in the profession
After graduating from high school, Sergei Martinson served in the army for two years, and then his parents insisted on his admission to the Institute of Technology. Peter of those years was inundated with small theaters, hearing the words of Lunacharsky about the need for a caricature and a fantastic hyperbole. Of course, he could not stand his studies at a technical university and went to take exams at the Institute of Performing Arts. For reading, he chose Boris Godunov's monologue about bloody boys in the eyes. And he read it, skinny and ridiculous, with mechanical clown gestures, a breaking voice, now breaking into bass, then giving a rooster: "It makes you sick and your head is spinning." The examiners fell out of laughter, which was what the entrant expected.
He graduated in 1923. Then he studied with the director Vivienne, with Radler. He began at the Free Comedy Theater with the role of a loser-ballerina who performed the dance of little swans and was always tangled in her legs, falling and causing a homeric laughter. It was Martinson in a pack. He participated in many satirical pop numbers. Then he received from the director L. Trauberg the title “The Most Virtuoso Legs”.
In Petersburg at that time there was FEKS - an eccentric factory of actors. L. Trauberg together with G. Kozintsev taught young talents. There Martinson first played in a silent movie. He climbed out of the bottle like a genie, and darted across the screen. The film, unfortunately, has not been preserved.
Moscow: the beginning of fame
Seeing Martinson in the "Carnival", Meyerhold invited him to Moscow. Having played in the "Mandate", he immediately became famous. He was a favorite of the great director. In Paris, during the tour, the audience standing ovation applauded Martinson, who played Khlestakov. After M. Chekhov and E. Garin, this was the third Khlestakov. Outside the USSR, he was called the second Charlie Chaplin. He was already an established eccentric. In 1934, the Puppet cinema pamphlet was released, where he played the hairdresser Sol. This was the first big movie role. After the release of the film, he was often invited to episodic roles.
Very flexible, he spoke the "body language", as they said then. A. Vertinsky also spoke this language, and gained worldwide fame. Martinson, on the other hand, depended on the director and was not always able to use his abilities as part of the role. But in the episode of the film “The Death of the Sensation” of 1935 by A. Andrievsky, he mannually sings a romance, depicting his characters. He was called the "last clown of the scene."
Played in 1939, Duremar strangely turned out to be more fabulous than the dolls in the film. He played the seller of leeches organically, picking up some trembling intonations, and he himself looked like a leech. This caused disgust and delight at the same time - so only a great artist could reincarnate.
In 1941, he played the composer who composed the “physiological symphony” - Kerosinov. It was a new success. But the war began, and he was invited to the role of Hitler. In films, Sergei Martinson played the Fuhrer twice. For this, Hitler promised to hang him, declaring him his personal enemy.
Roles of bastards
He often had to play negative characters. One of these is the stupid Willy Pommer, played by Sergei Martinson in Scout's Feat. The actor had enough colors to make all his works different. He created a whole collection of villains.
There was much talk about the role of Karandyshev, in which Martinson elevates narrow-mindedness to the rank of virtue. This became a combination of eccentricity and drama, but manifested not externally, but by subtle intonations and gestures. Such a satire acts much stronger, causing the viewer to be horrified: “If your light is darkness, then what darkness!”
The role of a person in society
It was 1944, people were tired of hunger and grief. And a good operetta appears on the screen, the first film adaptation of I. Kalman - the film "Silva". The author himself after highly appreciated the work of the Sverdlovsk studio. Among the actors are real vocal professionals. And among such serious artists is the eccentric Sergey Martinson.
He is elegant and well-groomed in this film, a real dandy. Those who remember him claim that in life he was like that - a gentleman, a ladies man, exquisite as a madrigal. He is plastic, graceful, dances and sings, lives easily and does not get into a situation. And if you hit, it slips out of them. Well, as a last resort, politely offer your opponent candy. He is the embodiment of frivolity. The culmination of a character’s manifestation is its declaration of love. This is very funny.
A family
Sergei Martinson married early, at the age of twenty, with classmate Yekaterina Ilyina. Of the four children, only daughter Anya survived, whom he dearly loved. The wife did not aspire to the stage, devoting herself to household chores. And Sergey met a bright woman, ballerina Elena (Lola) Dobrzhanskaya, and went to her. From this union, son Alexander was born.
Spouses were often invited to visiting concerts, including at embassies. And once in 1945, Dobrzhanskaya with two fellow dancers was arrested for espionage. He was sentenced to seven years and sent to the Gulag. Lola’s sister took care of her young son, raising Sasha in hate, in hatred of her father and mother. Lola, learning about the betrayal, refused to treat hepatitis and died. She remained another year of camps. Did the rejection of Alexander’s parents protect him? No. Having lost his roots, he chose the criminal path and became a criminal.
On the set, Martinson met his third wife, Louise. They had a daughter, Natasha. But there was no happiness: having bought his wife an apartment, he was abandoned.
Father and children
Son Alexander, returning from prison, took a room in his father’s apartment, pulled money from him, drank and rowdied. He blamed his father for all his losses. Daughter Natasha came for money, but there was no spiritual closeness between them. Only with Anya and grandson Walter did he have family ties. When the daughter decided to leave the country, taking Ekaterina Ilyina, he was very worried. Despite numerous invitations, he was never released by the OVIR. What is the matter here is unclear. The nationality of Sergei Martinson - Russian mixed with Swedish blood - was not an obstacle. Apparently, they were afraid that he would stay abroad. And he wrote letters to his daughter and first wife, as if he had not divorced her.
Biography
Sergey Martinson came from a decent family. His mother was a noblewoman who married a native of Sweden, a baron and an honorary citizen of St. Petersburg. He owned a plywood factory and, according to some sources, supplied diamonds to the imperial court. The family lived in a mansion on Millionnaya Street, where guests were often invited. A close friend of his father was the composer A. Scriabin.
After graduating from the Institute of Performing Arts, he moved to Moscow and gave his life to two theaters - Meyerholdovsky and Revolution. After a disagreement with Meyerhold, he served in the Music Hall for a short time, and after the war he moved to the Theater of Film Actor.
He starred in more than a hundred films, counting the episodes. In 1964, he was awarded the title of People's Artist. Having been born in 1899, he lived 85 years. He was buried at Kuntsevsky cemetery.
Conclusion
Few of the actors can gain such recognition from the audience as Sergei Martinson. Films with his participation are still interesting in unusual and rich roles. Students learn theatrical techniques from them. His colleagues kindly recall him. Friends miss him.
Why not revisit the old comedy where he plays?