Alexander Demyanenko is a famous and multifaceted Soviet actor. Shurik, a simple-minded and gullible student, however, became his main role. This image was remembered and loved by the audience of both the USSR and Russia. However, there are many other famous films, where Alexander Demyanenko starred. Films with his participation are included in the golden fund of Soviet cinema.
Briefly about the life of the artist
Alexander Demyanenko, whose biography and filmography are the subject of this review, was born in Sverdlovsk. From an early youth, he became addicted to the theater and even entered the amateur circle at the Palace of Culture, where he played his very first roles.
At first he tried to enter the Moscow Art Theater, whose admissions committee visited his hometown, but did not pass, because he was worried. Then he became a student at the Sverdlovsk Law Institute, but very soon left this institution, because he felt that this was not his calling. The future actor moved to Moscow and entered GITIS.
After graduating, he entered the Moscow Theater. V. Mayakovsky, however, he did not stay here, and in 1962 he moved to Leningrad, where he lived until the end of his life. Here he played in the theater. N.P. Akimov and in the "Shelter of Comedians", where he was fired at the end of his life. The famous actor died in 1999, is buried in St. Petersburg.
Movie roles of the late 1950s - early 1960s
Alexander Demyanenko, whose films are still popular with the viewer, began to appear early. In the late 1950s, he attracted the attention of famous directors A. Alov and V. Naumov, in whom he played a role in the film "Wind", which became the continuation of the life-affirming trilogy about Komsomol members.
This work of the young artist immediately attracted the attention of both film critics and viewers, since it created a new image for the Soviet cinema of an intelligent, but simple, modest guy who committed a courageous act. Three years later, he played in the next film shot by the same filmmakers, again embodying on the screen an ordinary person who went through the difficulties of war. This role cemented the success of a novice actor.
At Lenfilm, he also played a reporter who uncovered illegal fraud and an investigator who was involved in a war crime case. Thus, Alexander Demyanenko, whose biography was discussed above, even before the performance of the famous student role, Shurik gained popularity among Soviet viewers.
The first comedic roles
In the early 1960s, Demyanenko was noted for his participation in a number of humorous paintings. First of all, it should be noted the film "Adult Children" - a rather funny movie, which in a light humorous form tells about the difficult relationship between the older and younger generations. Demyanenko looked very organically in a new role, which cemented his fame as a talented actor. Incidentally, this film is now sometimes seen on TV.
But the greatest success came to the artist with the publication of a wonderful picture under the promising title "Dima Gorin's Career". This film, thanks to the witty plot, well-aimed remarks and dialogues, a great game of performers, is still popular with viewers today. In it, Demyanenko created an image that partially anticipated the famous Shurik - a calm, intelligent, somewhat baggy guy who, by chance, found himself in an unusual environment and after much effort, in the end, mastered the craft of a worker, which, it seemed, was completely not adapted to.
Securing Success
The actor’s work is also the role in the very life-affirming optimistic film “The First Trolleybus”. Many future stars of the Soviet screen starred in this movie, which is why the picture today is sometimes played on television. This time Demyanenko appeared in a different role, depicting the main character, who was practically and therefore completely devoid of any romance, who worked as a driver of a trolleybus transporting workers.
But the young man dreams of a career and a secure existence, and therefore inclines the girl to quit work and leave with him, but she was too right and as a result refused her gentleman. Despite such a finale, Demyanenko perfectly coped with the new role, demonstrating the undoubted skill to transform from a romantic to a business and promising young man.
The first role in L. Gaidai
By the beginning of the filming of the cult picture about Operation Y, Demyanenko had already fully taken place as a famous Soviet actor. Shurik, probably, should only replenish his track record in the roles of the comedy plan. Perhaps no one at that time could have expected the phenomenal popularity of this character. Alexander Demyanenko himself contributed a lot to creating the image. “Operation Y” is the result of the work of not only a talented film crew, but also the efforts of the actor himself.
At the time of the creation of the picture, he was about thirty years old, and the amazing reincarnation of a young student was largely due to Demyanenko himself. Now it’s hard to imagine that anyone else would play a simple and kind student better than an actor did. Shurik turned out to be a bright and memorable hero, just the kind that Soviet cinema lacked so much.
The following roles in the famous director
The name Shurik (the name of the actor who embodied this image on the screen) has become a household name largely due to the release of two more films with the same character as one of the main participants in the action. The “Caucasian Captive” consolidated the success of Gaidai’s previous film and immediately entered the golden fund of cinema. Despite the fact that the simple-minded and gullible student in the plot is still the same Shurik, Alexander Demyanenko brought so many new colors to this image that his hero found a second wind.
The same can be said about the film "Ivan Vasilyevich Changes the Profession", in which Demyanenko masterfully portrayed his hero as an adult, but retaining the charm of youthful romance and credulity. However, the actor himself, whose Shurik gained such popularity, was dissatisfied with the fact that the audience was remembered primarily for this role.
After Gaidai
Having finished acting in the role of a famous student, Demyanenko played several more serious and memorable roles, which, unfortunately, did not receive the same popularity with the viewer. Here, first of all, it is necessary to note his work in the famous film adaptation of Strauss's operetta, as well as the image of the cannibal in a fairy tale. But the most remarkable role of this period is his role in the film "The Green Van", where the actor once again demonstrated amazing skill in creating a deep dramatic image of a man trying to establish his life in the difficult conditions of the civil war.
Other work of the actor
Alexander Demyanenko played a number of notable roles on television in the theater, as well as dubbing both Soviet and foreign actors. His voice is spoken by D. Banionis, J.-P. Belmondo, R. Adomaitis and others, in addition, he dubbed foreign cartoons. The actor had a wonderful low baritone, which allowed him to take on any difficult work. Demyanenko was an excellent TV presenter: for example, he had a great program "Shurik-2: Old songs about the main thing." The actor’s contribution to Soviet cinema can hardly be overestimated: he became a symbol of his era, demonstrating excellent skill in creating both comedic and dramatic images.