He was loved by everyone. It was simply impossible not to love!
2 Sep 1926 born Yevgeny Leonov.
“The busybody”
When Leonov died in “Lenkom”, where he served, cancelled the performances with his participation – replace Leonova other actors was impossible. And one can only sympathize with those who didn’t get to see him on stage. First of all his legendary Tevye in “Memorial prayer.” He first played that role after 4 months after the experienced clinical death, a complicated operation, of a massive heart attack that happened on tour in Hamburg. God sent him to another 5 years of life. His colleague at the “Lenkom” and “Memorial prayer” actor Alexander Abdulov recalled that in the years Leonova completely changed opinion: sure he was sorry, just asked: “what do you bother?”
Leonov died in the second (blood clot), putting on a suit to “Memorial prayer.” When the hall announced the incident, many of the audience went to the nearby Church, bought candles and, without hiding tears, all night, stood at the “Lenkom”. Because the thought of him not as an actor but as a person.
There is a wonderful book – “Yevgeny Leonov. Letters to son”. Son Andrew (now a famous actor) for his entire childhood Leonov wrote letters and notes. Father he was tender – son in my life never punished, although sometimes they should: because of the eternal twos and bad behavior Andrew artist was forced regularly to go to school, where, blushing, listened to teachers ‘ reprimands. These letters, sometimes not a man reverent and thoughtful, laced with kindness: “kind eyes and good attitude to people is the main thing in acting”, “angry people cannot exist in art.”
Leonov called “the busybody”. All his life he was collecting for someone flats and packages, deficient products and machines. And his action Volokhova in “Mimino” – absolutely Leonov: to help people in trouble.
“Round? So a comedian!”
When Leonov was asked: “Why did you become a comedian?”, he joked: “Because I have a round face. I was fat, clumsy and round – means comedian (in the flow in the Studio read Mayakovsky, and everyone laughed!). Although the fact that I became a comedian, prevented me as a person, as an artist. Funny… all my life I was waiting for the funny.” But you remember the “Belarusian station” – the scene where the hero Leonov crying on the shoulder of a brother, listening to the song about the 10 th battalion, and his question to his wife: “I’m a spoiled life, huh?” And sundresses of the “Eldest son” – deceived, deluded loser. Leonov, like no other, knew how to play the hardest tragicomedy, the laughter through tears…
And it was a rare Samoyed. As recalled Director mark Zakharov “Leonov was forever unhappy without you, role play. But in the first place – still you.” Son, he wrote: “There is only one price in art – ruthlessness.” This plus the natural him, as he confessed, shyness, lack of confidence, the ability to like the opposite sex. His trainer in “Striped flight” fell in love with the whole country. And again he sneered: “I am the first of the actors showed a powerful ass of the Soviet people.” On the set of “Flight” Leonov learnt about the birth of a son and to celebrate, rushed to kiss the muzzle of the tigers (to their great surprise – they remembered how the actor was afraid of them. Tell that his fright in the scene in the bathtub was genuine – shot it without any insurance).
To spend heart
Evgeny Pavlovich, who grew up in a normal family (father – engineer, mother – a housewife) and first studied aviation in College (in the experimental theater Studio he will leave College without completing), the man was very curious: I read a lot, went to shows, watched movies. And everywhere I observed those who “spends heart: “Everything that is born without great emotional cost, is nonsense.” Admired Jean Gabin, Jack Nicholson, Giulietta Masina. I even invented a story for myself and Mazin: husband and wife, Russian and Italian, were together in the Resistance, two gentle creatures in the world unsuitable for them, not having in its universal Charter paragraph about love (as he described the concept).
When he was at the “Mayakovskaya”, together with the theatre went on tour in Yugoslavia. Play “Children Vanyushina”. Local actors were surprised: “You play beautifully. But why should every evening so spent?” And he couldn’t live otherwise. Don’t know how.
He was spending himself not only in roles but also in life. The train conductor was literally guarding his compartment. But if crazed with the happiness of the fan still managed to break through, could sit with him over a bottle all night talking heart-to-heart: “Well, I can’t say: go away! I want to sleep! For a man this is the only case, perhaps, a celebration of the soul”.
Director Georgiy Daneliya recalled, they had “Completely gone”. The crew lived on the boat. Leonov went on deck to smoke. And by slowly were the huge three-Decker “Taras Shevchenko”. And all passengers and crew, after seeing smoke Leonov, went to look at it. The ship gave a dangerous lurch. “Kapitan Shevchenko” yelled into a megaphone: “Leonov, tram-tararam, get out of the deck! I have now the ship will turn to hell!”
“It was in Leonov something,” says Danelia, – magnetism, currents, fluids… I don’t know what to call it – that had caused people positive emotions. Everyone knew that the comedian Leonov – master, professional (not one of the cancelled performance or shooting: went to play with the temperature, with pneumonia, after injections of camphor…), makes art something very important. What? Education of the senses? Healing hearts?..
