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😉 Greetings, dear readers! The article “Oleg Yankovsky: Biography and Personal Life of an Actor” contains an amazing story of an interesting person, a Russian actor and director.
Biography of Oleg Yankovsky
Oleg was born on February 23, 1944 in Dzhezkazgan (Kazakhstan), where his family was exiled: a mine, a specific contingent – families of exiled intellectuals and criminals.
Mother is a Russian noblewoman. Father (Jan Yankovetsky) – Pole, officer, holder of the St. George Cross, served in the Semenovsky regiment, was friends with Tukhachevsky. In Soviet times, he was repressed and died in the camp.
They lived very poorly, on the accountant’s salary, besides Oleg had two more brothers. Children were constantly wearing someone’s things. However, the Jankowski family kept a rich library and, in spite of everything, adhered to aristocratic traditions.
All family members studied foreign languages, read a lot. In the evenings they had guests – the same exiled intelligentsia.
The mother passed on her love for art to the children; she always dreamed of a theater and wanted to be a ballerina. When the Yankovskys moved to Saratov, Oleg’s older brother became a graduate of the theater school. And soon he was invited to work in Minsk. He took Oleg with him.
For the first time, our hero got on the stage by accident. The actor, who played in the troupe of his older brother, unexpectedly fell ill, and instead of him they took Oleg for the role in the production of “The Drummer”. But the young man was not inflamed with a passion for the theater, but loved football more.
Soon the young man returned to Saratov and, after graduating from school, planned to enter a medical institute, but entered the theater school. He did not have much success, he was cool with acting and did not harbor any particular hopes for a brilliant career.
Random meeting
It was in Lvov. During the tour of the Saratov Theater, Oleg dined at a hotel restaurant. There were also director Vladimir Basov with his wife Valentina Titova and members of the film crew of the film “Shield and Sword”.
Film “Shield and Sword” 1968
They discussed where to get an artist for the role of Heinrich Schwarzkopf. And then Titova nodded at Yankovsky with the words “Here is a guy with a typical Aryan appearance …”
Career in cinema
After the film “Shield and Sword” (1968), the actor gained popularity. In the same year, he starred in the film “Two Comrades Served.” He began to receive significant roles. The role of Myshkin in the play “The Idiot” became very important in his acting career.
Since 1972, the new acting star has been regularly invited to the cinema. During the filming of the film “Racers” Yankovsky risked his health, he had an accident, but, fortunately, was not injured.
The film “The Mirror” by Andrei Tarkovsky brought unprecedented fame to Yankovsky. In the future, Tarkovsky repeatedly invited him to the main roles. In the 70s, Yankovsky starred a lot. Everyone knows his roles in favorite films: “The Star of Captivating Happiness”, “Feedback”, “Sweet Woman”.
In 1973, Yankovsky moved to the Lenkom Theater of Mark Zakharov. Zakharov’s films “An Ordinary Miracle”, “The Same Munchausen”, “To Kill the Dragon” brought the actor additional popularity and the opportunity to hone his acting skills.
The heyday of the actor’s creativity fell on the 80s, he starred in many films and worked with many directors. The film “In love of my own accord” is still watched by many with pleasure.
The 90s also left their mark on cinema. At this time of market relations, films were filmed in large numbers. The quality was not particularly looked at, and Yankovsky did not want to participate in the cinematic farce. He refused almost all offers, bad films did not suit him.
One of the brightest pictures in which the actor starred in these “golden” years was Karen Shakhnazarov’s film “The Tsaricide”.
Unable to withstand the outrage that was going on, he leaves for Paris, where he was invited by Claude Régis. For some time, Yankovsky has been working in an international project and learns that at home he was awarded the title of People’s Artist of the USSR.
In 2000, the actor tries himself as a director, filming the picture “Come to see me”. He plays the main role himself. The last role was played by him in the film “Tsar” (2008). But he did not wait for the release of this picture: on May 20, 2009, Oleg Ivanovich was gone.
Personal life of Oleg Yankovsky
Yankovsky was from an intelligent family where family values were instilled in children from an early age. Therefore, he was married once and lived with his wife all his life. Oleg Yankovsky and Lyudmila Zorina met while still at the theater school in Saratov.
Oleg Yankovsky with his wife Lyudmila Zorina
Lyudmila (born 1941) was older than Oleg and showed great promise as a talented actress. Apparently, their meeting was fateful, they were awarded a trip to Moscow for their academic success. After college, Lyudmila worked at the Saratov Drama Theater. When Yankovsky came to the theater under her patronage, they got married.
Zorina was a success with the public, people went to look at her beauty, an amazing game, but Lyudmila still decided to leave her career and devote herself to her family. They had a son, Philip, and the family was always in the first place.
Illness and death
In 2008, Oleg Ivanovich began to have health problems and was mistakenly diagnosed with coronary heart disease. On the eve of 2009, the actor was hospitalized with a terrible diagnosis: late stage pancreatic cancer.
His family: wife, son and two grandchildren fought to save him to the last. The great actor tried his best to cope with the disease, but alas. He was 65 years old. Height – 1,82 m, zodiac sign – Pisces.
Oleg Yankovsky: biography (video)
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