Safonov, Vsevolod Dmitrievich

Vsevolod Safonov was born on April 9, 1926 in Moscow, in an intelligent family. His twin brother died a day after birth. Father died very early, the boy never saw him. Raised by mom. Childhood was poor and hungry. The family lived in a tiny two-room apartment with a large private garden on the outskirts of the capital, on Surikova Street in the village of Sokol ^{[2] [3]} .

In childhood, Sevushka (as his mother called him with love) dreamed of becoming a pilot ^[2] .

When the Great Patriotic War began , Vsevolod was fifteen years old. He dreamed of getting to the front and entered the aviation technical school, which he graduated from at the end of the war, in 1945, but not in flight specialty, but in technical. He was eager to put into practice all the acquired knowledge and contribute to the rout of the Nazi invaders . But, to the great disappointment of the young specialist, the medical commission did not allow him to military service for health reasons ^{[2] [3] [4]} .

Suddenly all of Safonov's dreams collapsed and what to do next, the young man did not know. A friend suggested that he go with him to the entrance exams at the theater school. Vsevolod reacted to this idea without much enthusiasm, but still decided to try his hand and, without really learning a single work, brilliantly passed the difficult exam and was passed ^[4] .

In 1949 he graduated from the Higher Theater School named after B.V. Shchukin (the artistic director of the course is Anna Alekseevna Orochko ) ^[5] in Moscow, immediately after which he was noticed by the creator and art director of the Moscow State Chamber Theater Alexander Yakovlevich Tairov and invited to work in his the troupe ^[2] .

Since 1950, after the close of the Tairov Chamber Theater, he served in the Moscow Academic Theater of Satire .

In 1952, he received a very responsible job at the Drama Theater of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (in the GDR ), where the best young Soviet actors were sent on creative missions. I had to play in the theater for three or four performances a day, in addition, the troupe constantly moved from the garrison to the garrison. She gave numerous concerts throughout eastern Germany, played patriotic performances in order to maintain the military spirit of our soldiers. While working in the GDR, Vsevolod learned the German language and spoke it fluently ^{[2] [4]} .

After returning to the Soviet Union in 1955, he was accepted into the troupe of the Studio Theater of the film actor at the Lenfilm film studio in Leningrad and began to actively act in Soviet cinema .

Since 1958, he served in the Theater Studio of a film actor in Moscow.

The first main role of Vsevolod Safonov in the movie was the role of Lieutenant Yuri Kerzhentsev in the military feature film " Soldiers " (1956) directed by Alexander Ivanov , which brought the actor first fame.

The real fame was brought to Safonov by the detective film “ The Case of the Motley” (1958) directed by Nikolai Dostal , where the actor played the role of police lieutenant Sergei Korshunov, an investigator of MUR ^[4] .

The actor gained all-Union fame in 1970 after the release of the drama directed by Andrei Smirnov “ Belarusian Station ” on the country's screens, in which Safonov played the role of Soviet journalist Alexei Kiryushin, a former front-line soldier.

Vsevolod Safonov died on July 6, 1992 at the age of sixty-six years from lung cancer . He was buried at the Khovansky cemetery in Moscow ^[1] .

Personal life

• The first wife - Valeria Ivanovna Rubleva (1928-2012), a Soviet actress (graduated from the Leningrad Theater Institute), later worked as a director at Mosfilm . Vsevolod met Valeria in the GDR in 1952, while working at the Drama Theater of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany , where young Moscow actors were sent on a creative trip. At the end of the contract and returning to their homeland in 1955, they got married. Spouses were very different people and at some point they completely ceased to understand each other. In 1970, when the daughter was fourteen years old, they decided to leave. From anguish and strong guilt Vsevolod began to drink heavily ^{[2] [3] [4]} .
  • Daughter - Elena Vsevolodovna Safonova (born June 14, 1956), theater and film actress, Honored Artist of the Russian Federation (since 2011) ^[4] .
• The second wife (from 1971 to 1992) - Elsa Ivanovna Lezhdey (1933-2001), Soviet theater and film actress, Honored Artist of the RSFSR (from 1974). Elsa and Vsevolod met in 1957 on the set of the film " Storm ". Their next meeting took place fourteen years later, in 1971, on the set of the military drama “ Listen, on the Other Side ”. At that time, the actor abused alcohol and was in the process of divorce (his wife, Valeria Rubleva, tired of her husband's drunken spree, filed for divorce). After the second meeting with Elsa, Vsevolod invited her to marry him. She told her that she would be with him only if he stopped drinking. Safonov agreed and kept his word. The couple lived together for twenty-one years, until the death of her husband. Having lost his wife, Elsa Ivanovna closed herself in, did not act in films, did not communicate with reporters, and rarely left her Moscow apartment. June 12, 2001, the actress died of the same ailment as her husband ^{[2] [3] [4]} .

State Awards

• 1965 - the honorary title " Honored Artist of the RSFSR ".
• 1974 - Honorary title " People's Artist of the RSFSR ".

• Safonov Vsevolod Dmitrievich. Biography, filmography, photographs of the actor. // ruskino.ru
• Safonov Vsevolod Dmitrievich. Biography. Site "Actors of Soviet and Russian Cinema" // rusactors.ru
• Safonov Vsevolod Dmitrievich. Review of films and performances with the participation of the actor, photography. // afisha.ru