Water, Mikhail Grigoryevich

Contrary to one of the popular Odessa legends, Vodyanoy was not a native Odessa. He was born in Kharkov on December 23, 1924 , was the second child in a Jewish family ^{[3] [4] [5]} . According to another Odessa legend, his real surname was Wasserman ^[6] , however, his parents and older brother already carried the surname Vodyany. Father is Grigory Mikhailovich Vodyanoy (? –1959), the head of supply, mother - Anna Lvovna Vodianaya, a housewife ^[7] .

In 1938, the family moved to Kislovodsk , where Mikhail studied at school and played amateur performances. In 1941, he immediately entered the 2nd year of acting at the Leningrad Theater Institute , where he studied until 1943. During the war, the institute was evacuated to Tomsk . An older brother Robert died of wounds in a hospital on November 25, 1943 ^[8] .

In 1943-1945, Mikhail - actor of the Pyatigorsk Theater of Musical Comedy (now the Stavropol Operetta Theater ). Since 1946 - in Lviv , first a pop actor of the Lviv Philharmonic , in 1947-1953 - an actor of the Lviv Theater of Musical Comedy. In 1953, he moved to Odessa with the theater, where the theater became the Odessa Theater of Musical Comedy .

From 1953 he was an actor, from 1979 to 1983 - at the same time artistic director and director of the Odessa Theater of Musical Comedy ^[9] . He acted as a director.

Since 1972 - Chairman of the Board of the Odessa Interregional Branch of the Ukrainian Theater Society . In 1976 he became the first operetta artist to receive the title of People's Artist of the USSR ^[10] . Member of the CPSU (b) since 1947.

Thanks to the energy and authority of Mikhail Vodyanoy, a modern theater building was built in Odessa, where the operetta moved (Panteleymonovskaya St., 3). On the initiative of the artist, a street named after Leonid Utesov appeared in the city ^[11] .

Family

• Wife (since 1952) - Margarita Ivanovna Dyomina (1922-1999), operetta artist, people's artist of the Ukrainian SSR (1974). They have been married for 35 years ^[5] . Leading parties performed in performances together, toured with concert programs.
• Brother - Robert G. Vodyanoy (1915-1943, died), graduate of the Pedagogical Institute ^[12] , participant in the Great Patriotic War , holder of the Order of the Red Star ^[13] .

Death

He died on September 11, 1987 as a result of a heart attack at the age of 62 ^[10] . He was buried in Odessa , at the 2nd Christian cemetery . With the participation of M. Demina, the widow of M. Vodyanoy, an unusual monument was erected to the artist ^[14] .

According to the memoirs of Lyudmila Satosova , prima of Odessa Musical Comedy, People’s Artist of the Ukrainian SSR (1963), “the death of this cheerful person became a real tragedy for the whole country. Everyone cried, from young to old ... The widowed Mara (Margarita Dyomina - approx. Ed.) Hard suffered this loss, and in general she had no one to lean on: they had no children with Misha ” ^[15] .

• Honored Artist of the Ukrainian SSR ( 1957 )
• People's Artist of the Ukrainian SSR ( 1964 )
• People's Artist of the USSR ( 1976 )
• Order of the Red Banner of Labor (11.24.1960)
• Order of the Badge of Honor ( 1969 )
• Anniversary medal named after George Dimitrov ( NRB ) ( 1972 ) ^{[ specify ]} .
• III-th All- Union Film Festival (Award “For the Best Comedy Ensemble” in the film “Wedding in the Robin” (together with actors Zoya Fedorova , Vladimir Samoilov and Mikhail Pugovkin ), Leningrad, 1968)

Pyatigorsk Theater of Musical Comedy

• Borgia Garter S. Krause - Count von Princeville
• "Marion's Wedding" by V. Bromme
• " Bayadere " by Imre Kalman

Lviv Theater of Musical Comedy

• The Free Wind by Isaac Dunaevsky - Mickey
• "Eleven Unknowns" by Nikita the Theological
• " Sorochinskaya Fair " by Nikolai Gogol - Popovich
• "The Merry Widow " by Franz Lehar - Negosh
• "Dreamers" by Konstantin Listov - bespectacled
• “Actress's Love” by K. Benz (based on Guy de Maupassant’s “Pyshka”) - lawyer
• "Daughter of Field Marshal" Oscar Feltsman - Pavel I

Odessa Musical Comedy Theater

• “My heart is here” G. G. Tsabadze - Agabo
• One Hundred Devils and One Girl by Tikhon Khrennikov - Agafon
• " My Fair Lady " by Frederick Law - Alfred Dolittle
• “Four from Jeanne Street” by Oscar Sandler - Andrei
• " Silva " by Imre Kalman - Bonnie
• “To whom the stars smile” (“In the steppes of Ukraine”) by Boris Alexandrov according to Alexander Korneychuk - Galushko
• "At the native pier" Vasily Solovyov-Sedogo - Garkush
• Mademoiselle Nitouche by Florimon Herve - Floridor
• “My Mad Brother” G. G. Tsabadze - Harold / George
• The Free Wind by Isaac Dunaevsky - Georg Stan
• “Give your beloved tulips” by Oscar Sandler - Zazhigalkin
• "The Late Serenade" by V. G. Ilyin - Kostya Gusyatnikov
• "At Dawn" Oscar Sandler - Bear Jap
• The Three-Penny Opera by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weil - Mackey Knife
• "White Night" by Tikhon Khrennikov - Nicholas II
• "Wedding in the Robin" by Boris Alexandrov - Popandopulo
• The Man of La Mancha by M. Lee - Sancho Panza
• “Kin” by Alexandre Dumas - Solomon
• Johann Strauss's “Bat” - Falk
• The Russian Secret by Vladimir Dmitriev - Tsar
• " White Acacia " by Isaac Dunaevsky - Yushka Tug
• “Violinist on the Roof” Jerry Bock - Tevye (last role)
• "Honeymoon" Nikita the Theological
• The Maritsa by Imre Kalman - Zupan
• " Circus Princess " Imre Kalman - Tony

• 1965 - The squadron goes west - Bear Jap
• 1967 - Wedding in Robin - Popandopulo
• 1969 - Pleasant surprise (short) - the main role
• 1971 - Criminal Investigation Inspector - Counterfeiter Sosin
• 1971 - Fakir for an hour - elevator Akim
• 1973 - Criminal Investigation Weekdays - Sosin
• 1975 - Eleven Hopes - San Sanych
• 1976 - 12 chairs - Persitsky, ( reporter of the newspaper "Machine")
• 1979 - Particularly Dangerous ... - Arnold
• 1981 - Dangerous age - Lily's father
• 1983 - Free Wind - Georg Stan

TV Shows

• 1957 - White Acacia (performance film) - Tug Box
• 1967 - My crazy brother (film production) - the main role

Vocals

• 1983 - Free wind
• 1967 - Wedding in Robin

Filmmaking

• 1983 - I return your portrait (documentary)

In 1979, M. Vodyanoy became the artistic director and director of the theater of musical comedy, replacing the director M. Osherovsky , who held this position from 1962 to 1977 ^{[16] [17]} . People’s Artist of the Ukrainian SSR L. Satosova in her interview says that M. Vodyanoy was the initiator of the removal of M. Osherovsky ^[18] . This fact was reflected in the story of G. Golubenko “Tragedy in the easy genre” ^[19] .

In 1986, criminal proceedings were instituted against M. Vodyanoy under Article 121 of the Criminal Code of the Ukrainian SSR for the corruption of minors (commission of dissolute acts against a person under the age of 16) ^{[20] [21]} .

Vodiany’s health was severely undermined: the artist survived three heart attacks ^[5] and died on September 11, 1987 . The criminal case was dismissed under paragraph 8 of the first part of Article 6 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Ukrainian SSR - in connection with the death of the accused. The case was dismissed due to non-rehabilitating circumstances: the decree of the investigator of the prosecutor’s office on the termination of the criminal case indicated exactly what criminal acts of M. Vodyany were established by the investigation .

This scandal with bitter irony is spoken of in the article “Little rascal” from the “Great Semi-Explanatory Dictionary of the Odessa Language” ^[22] :

“This is an affectionate name for a man of advanced age who firmly believed in the words of the song“ I will not part with the Komsomol, I will be forever young ”and preserving youthful enthusiasm towards the fair sex, who barely had time to enter the period of final maturation. It was on a false charge of such pranks that the only People's Artist of the USSR M. Vodyanoy was poisoned and brought to the grave plaque. After the death of the artist, it turned out that he regularly naughty only on stage. The mistake was corrected: a memorial plaque was attached to the house where he lived, the operetta was named after him and Vodyany immediately felt better in the next world. ”

Odessa Musical Comedy Theater is named after the actor.

At the Musical Comedy Theater, the play “Ball in Honor of the King” ^[23] , which also continues to be popular for many years, is regularly given in memory of the artist ^[24] . This production includes scenes from performances in which the King of Operetta once shone.

• On November 20, 2015, at a session of the Kharkiv City Council, during the renaming of many streets and other objects of the city, Shcherbakova Street was renamed in honor of Mikhail Vodyanoy ^[25] .

Legends

Leonid Utyosov called Vodyanyi the plenipotentiary of Odessa in Moscow ^[15] .

Preparing the role of Yushka Tug for the movie "White Acacia" (based on the operetta of Isaac Dunaevsky ), Vodianny could not choose a costume for his character, dandy. Once, on Deribasovskaya Street, he saw a not-so-young man dressed in an exotic shirt with palm trees, and asked him to sell it. Odessa refused to take money from the artist and gave the actor a bright "outfit" ^{[26] [27] [28]} .

Artist Books

To the 75th anniversary of the artist, a book by Professor Valentin Maksimenko “Name: Mikhail Vodyanoy” was published. The author-compiler included in the book his conversations with the actor, memories of him, quotes from articles by famous critics and journalists of the USSR ^[29] .

December 23, 2009 , on the birthday of M. Vodyanoy, was presented a book by Alexander Grabovsky “Mikhail Vodyanoy. Essay on Life and Creativity ”, released on the 85th anniversary of the Master. The idea of ​​the project belongs to Mikhail Poyzner and Alexander Grabovsky.

• Name: Mikhail Vodyanoy / [Odessa. muses comedy theater; Auth. and ed. prof. V.S. Maksimenko]. - Odessa: OKFA, 1999.
• Grabovsky A.L. Mikhail Vodyanoy. Essay on life and work. - Odessa: TPP, 2009. - 72 p. - ISBN 978-966-8145-93-3 .

Watermark destroyed the usual idea of ​​a traditional operetnoy hero. Being the prime minister of the theater, despite his high musicality, he is not a singer in the usual sense of the word, but primarily a dramatic actor with a wide range of stage means - from the grotesque and buffoonery to the tragicomedy. Together with director M. Osherovsky, he introduced elements of modern dramaturgy and modern language alien to the old operetta into the classical operetta style.

- Natalia Rostovtseva, Valery Tikhov ^[30]

And is it not because everyone remembers his “screen” Popandopulo so much that in the eyes of this gangster engraving and jester sometimes he suddenly sees something sad, defenseless, nailed down.

- E. Grosheva, music critic (Moscow)

Let the secret of Vodyanoy remain a secret, so interesting. But that this manner makes him not only the prettiest actor of the current operetta, but also the most necessary for her future - it doesn’t matter for a musical, musical comedy or musical drama - that’s for sure.

- A. Asarkan. The newspaper "Week", July 2, 1972

Watery began his journey in operetta with a cheerful buffoonery. He "buffalo" and parodied with brilliance, chic, bravura swiftness, stunning ease. He made fun of his character and made him admire himself - the actor.

- N. Arkina, L. Zhukova, theater critics (Moscow)

... The last hero of the artist was Tevye. Vodiany’s work as Tevye the Milkman is a phenomenon of highly artistic fusion: musical, dramatic, plastic, philosophical. This is where the dream soared above the familiar, this is where the artist’s soul was amused by torment and sadness, a bitter grin and persistent vitality of the fatal loser and the great good man Tevye.

- E. Mitnitsky, director, People's Artist of Ukraine

... Probably, over time, they will talk about the current Odessa Theater of Musical Comedy as a theater ... M. Vodyanogo. And this is not an exaggeration.

- A. Logvinenko, theater critic (Kiev) ^[31]

• Odessa Theater of Musical Comedy

Publications

• Левит А. Чтобы Михаил Водяной не опоздал на гастрольный спектакль, пилоты посадили рейсовый самолёт на военном аэродроме. Никто из пассажиров не возмутился — ведь они летели с самим Попандопуло // Факты. — 14.01.2010 года.
• Панкратьев С. Самый популярный одессит (недоступная ссылка) // Киевский вестник. — 26.01.2010.
• Эрлихман З. Михаил Вассерман, он же Народный артист СССР Михаил Водяной, он же Попандопуло, он же Мишка Япончик, он же Тевье-молочник, он же Яшка Буксир и т. д.
• Щурова Татьяна . Михаил Водяной (неопр.) . Odessa1.com (23 декабря 2015). Дата обращения 21 августа 2016.

Записи

•   Михаил Водяной в роли Яшки-Буксира и Евгения Дембская в роли Ларисы. Дуэт Яшки и Ларисы. Кинофильм «Белая акация» (1958).
•   Михаил Водяной в роли Яшки-Буксира. Куплеты Наконечникова. Кинофильм «Белая акация» (1958).
•   Михаил Водяной в роли Мишки-Япончика. Куплеты Мишки-Япончика из оперетты «На рассвете» (1960-е годы).
•   Mikhail Vodyanoy Leonid Utesov for the anniversary. Record of the telecast “Visiting Leonid Utesov” (1966).
•   Mikhail Vodyanoy in the role of Popandopulo. "On the sand of the sea." The film "The Wedding in the Robin" (1967).
•   Mikhail Vodyanoy and Margarita Dyomina. Spark "Fishing Roads" (1969).
•   Mikhail Vodyanoy. "Date with Odessa." Theatrical meetings (January 1977).