This year would mark the 75th anniversary of the artist’s birth. “Antenna” visited the Mironov family’s museum-apartment – Menaker, where heirlooms are still kept and there is a bouquet of dried roses that Andrei gave to his mother.
March 7 2016
In 7, the acting family moved to house number 1971 in Maly Vlasyevsky Lane in the very center of Moscow. Andrei Mironov by this time no longer lived with his parents, but he visited them almost every day. Neighbors still remember that if he saw a woman with string bags at the entrance, he always helped.
In a cozy three-room apartment, almost everything is as it was under the famous owners – even fresh flowers have been preserved, they are carefully looked after by the museum staff. Only in the hallway there were glass showcases in which the stage costumes of the artists are kept.
Here is a camisole, in which Mironov appeared on the stage for the last time in the play “Crazy Day, or The Marriage of Figaro.” On August 14, 1987, the Satire Theater was on tour in Riga, where Andrei Mironov, without finishing the last scene, lost consciousness.
In the hallway there are shelves with books full of autographs of famous people (Ranevskaya, Utesov) … On one of the shelves there is a sign with the inscription:
“Do not gaze greedily on the shelves –
No home books are given here.
Only a hopeless idiot
He distributes books to acquaintances! “
– Despite this formidable warning, the books were still given to the guests to read, – says a researcher at the State Central Theater Museum named after A.A. Bakhrushina Ekaterina Kazakova.
And the guests were eminent here. The walls of the apartment remember Leonid Utesov, Faina Ranevskaya, Rina Zelenaya, Arkady Raikin, Zinovy Gerdt … Since 1971, the New Year, Christmas, and the birthdays of family members have been celebrated in it. Mironov came to every holiday with his wife Larisa Golubkina and Masha.
Here’s a massive mahogany sideboard. He is from the house of Maria Vladimirovna. When she learned to walk, she took her first steps, holding on to its doors. Andrey also learned to walk with the help of this antique sideboard.
At the window is an elegant Mühlbach grand piano. It was brought from St. Petersburg by Alexander Menaker, and the instrument was presented by the composer Isaac Dunaevsky. Little Andryusha learned to play this piano.
… There are awards on the piano. The Golden Ostap prize was awarded to Mironov posthumously for the best performance of the role of Bender. The Golden Ticket is a recognition of the audience that Mironov is the best actor of the twentieth century. The mother also received the prize for her son, and the memorable “Oscar” – a sign of love of viewers abroad – was brought to Maria Vladimirovna by director Alla Surikova, who presented the film “The Man from Boulevard des Capucines” at the international film festival.
There is also an original watch. In 1986, Maria Vladimirovna turned 75 years old. Mironov always very carefully chose gifts for loved ones. He went to the plant in Gzhel, where he asked the artist Osetrov to make walkers according to the idea he had already invented. They are written in Roman numerals LXXV 75, the letters “MM” – the emblem of the theater of two actors Mironov and Menaker. Gothic castle and Alexander Semyonovich as a knight, and Maria Vladimirovna as a beautiful lady.
In the middle of the living room there is a large round table dating from the times of Peter the Great. Fyodor Chaliapin was still behind him with Maria Vladimirovna’s father. The table is covered with a handmade tablecloth, which is about 100 years old. He was followed by the readings of the first rehearsals of Mironov and Menaker. Ekaterina Kazakova says that while rehearsing the play “Man and Women”, Menaker entered into a discussion with the director Lvov-Anokhin. In the heat of the argument, the latter hit the table with his fist so that it split open. Of course, soon Maria Vladimirovna restored the table, but each time, introducing Lvov-Anokhin, she said that he was a very good director, only expensive. The restoration was not cheap.
An antique chandelier hangs over the table. It is from the Hermitage, it was presented to Menaker’s father. At first, it was designed for candlelight, but then it was converted to electric.
“The calendar for the Year of the Rabbit is one of the saddest exhibits along with the Figaro costume,” says Ekaterina Kazakova. – On August 16, the day of her son’s death, Maria Vladimirovna Mironova circled the calendar in black pencil. “This is my Hiroshima,” she said.
Mironova was very upset about Andrei’s death, often retired in her room, on the walls of which there are numerous icons, and today there is a bouquet of dry roses by the bed – the last flowers that her son gave to his mother. Later, Maria Vladimirovna made a memory room from Menaker’s office.
There is a make-up table brought from the Theater of Satire. On it – makeup and the text of the role of Figaro with Mironov’s notes, a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. As a rule, after the rehearsal, and then after the performance, Andrei came to his mother – he gave flowers that the audience presented to him. When Mironov was gone, Maria Vladimirovna bought flowers herself and put them at the table.
The screen, which is more than 100 years old, Mironova turned into an exhibition dedicated to the creative path of her son. Here are various photographs from the filming of films, meetings with spectators, performances ….
… The kitchen in this apartment is the brightest, one might say, festive place. Mironova created her interior in red, major colors. In those years it was difficult to buy something in the right style. A family friend brought the red oilcloth to the table. Andrei hardly got a red Finnish refrigerator (it was just necessary for the interior) for his mother, although he really did not like to use connections. He also brought an alarm clock from Germany.
– When I first came to the Mironovs, I was amazed at the economy of Maria Vladimirovna, – recalls Vera Vasilyeva, a colleague at the Theater of Satire. – The table was full of delicious food, famous pies. The atmosphere was cheerful and surprisingly friendly.
My husband and I (actor Vladimir Ushakov. – Approx. “Antennas”) loved Andrei very much. This is a man of brilliant talent and exceptional upbringing, such people are not often met. He was an eternal youth, always restless.
He often fell in love and told us about it, without naming the names of the women. Once I came to my husband and said: “I want to get married, the girl is amazing! Vladimir Petrovich, let’s go with us in a car, you sit in the back, and if you like it, show me your thumb. ” And so they were going, my Volodya saw a beautiful woman – Katya Gradova (Mironov’s first wife, mother of actress Maria Mironova. – Approx. “Antenna”) and began to show his thumb to Andryusha. Then Andrey stopped the car and said: “Vladimir Petrovich, it seems you wanted to get out here.” This is such a boyish mischief he carried through his whole life.