Alexander Sergeevich Lazarev was a Soviet and Russian theater and film actor. In 1977 Alexander Lazarev was awarded the Peoples’ Artist of the RSFSR title and the USSR State Prize, for his work in Moscow Mayakovsky theater (where for more than fifty years he's had more than 50 roles).[1] Alexander Lazarev appeared in more than 100 films, one of which, G. Natanson's One More Thing About Love (Ещё раз про любовь), Tatiana Doronina co-starring, made him famous in 1968, followed by another success, Late Flowers (1969). Lazarev, a man of impeccable manners and impressive stature (which brought him roles of statesmen and army generals), in real life was different too: according to the ORT obituary, "there was hardly anyone in the Russian actors' community for whom the words 'real gentleman' would have suited better".[2] Svetlana Nemolyaeva, Lazarev's widow, is a well-known Soviet and Russian actress. Aleksander Lazarev Jr., their son, is enjoying successful career in film too.(January 3, 1938 – May 2, 2011) |
Biography
Aleksander Lazarev was born in Leningrad, the son of a painter and designer Sergey Nikolayevich Lazarev (1899–1984) and Olympiada Kuzminichna Lazareva (née Tarasova, (1907–1996). The couple, described as the 'first generation Soviet intelligentsia', were spending most of their modest earnings on books, theater and art. Aleksandr's first three years were perfectly happy, then the hell broke loose. In winter 1941 during the blockade the whole of the family's library's got burnt in the furnace to keep rooms warm. Finally the three managed to make it out of the besieged city and settled in Orenburg. The Lazarevs returned home in 1944 and the next year Alexandr went to school.[3] By the time of his graduation he knew already he was going to become an actor, Robert Taylor's performance in Waterloo Bridge was cited later as the major influence.[4] In 1955 Lazarev joined the MKhAT young actors studio. Then, having failed to impress Nikolay Akimov of Leningrad's Theater of Comedy (his early childhood favourite), he settled at Mayakovsky Theater, led at the time by Nikolay Okhlopkov to be instantly loaded with barrage of roles (in just one Hamlet he had five). The role of Boytsov, an electrician in Aleksei Arbuzov's The Irkutsk Story was Aleksander Lazarev's first major success in theater. On March 27, 1960, he married young Mayakovsky Theater actress Svetlana Nemolyaeva to form a union that later for 51 yers, till his death.[3]Lazarev's another strong stage performance, in Aleksander Stein's The Ocean (1961), led to his debut on big screen as Yango in a melodrama/thriller called Free Wind (1961, based on Isaak Dunayevsky's operetta). Among the actor's other notable thetar roles were anarchist sailor Guscha in Between the Rainfalls (Okhlopkov's last work in theater), uber-lieutenant Schering in The Defector (1964) and Varavvin in Pyotr Fomenko-directed Death of Tarelkin (1966). And then in 1968 a leading role of pysicist Yevdokimov in G. Natanson's One More Thing About Love (co-starring Tatyana Doronina) made Lazarev famous overnight.[3]
Meanwhile Andrey Goncharov joined Mayakovsky Theater as a director which marked the second phase of Alexander Lazarev's successive work here. His performance as Don Quixote in A Man of La Mancha (hyped as the first Soviet musical theater production) was praised by critics, while a leading role in Venceremos! after Genrikh Borovik's play brought the actor the USSR State Prize. Among other important stage works of Lazarev of the time were General Khludov (in Flight, 1978, based on Mikhail Bulgakov's play), Rittmeister in The Life of Klim Samgin (1981, after an unfinished Maxim Gorky's novel) premiered as a TV play in 1986), Vladimir Mayakovsky in Mark Rozovsky's The Beginnings (1983). More and more of his comic gift started to come through in Crayfish Laughter (1986, a play about Sarah Bernhardt, the latter played by Svetlana Nemolyaeva),[5] Circle (1988, after W. Somerset Maugham's 1921 play), A Patron's Joke (1992, by Arkady Averchenko). Victim of Our Age (1994, after Alexandr Ostrovsky's play The Last Victim) brough him the Moscow Prize for Literature and Arts. Another prestigious award, Chrystal Turandot, he's got for Keen IV, Tatyana Akhramkova's production of Grigory Gorin's play. In another Gorin's play A Plague On Both Your Houses (1995, again produced by Akhramkina) Lazarev performed in duet with Svetlana Nemolyaeva. He continued to appear in films throughout the 2000s but none of them made headlines. "In theater he was continuously demonstrating his brilliance, his versatility, his comedy actor's potential. In cinema? Silence. Not one of our famous film directors has ever invited him to play anyone of a substance. 'What we have we neglect, once we lose it – mourn it'," writer Edward Radzinsky, speaking on the Russian TV (and quoting the Russian proverb) commented in the wake of the actor's death on May 2, 2011.[2][3]
Filmography (selected roles)
- 1961 — Free Wind (Вольный ветер) — Yango (leading role)
- 1964 — Taking Fire Upon Ourselves (Вызываем огонь на себя) — Fyodor, partisan unit commander
- 1966 — On a Wild Shore (На диком бреге) — Sakko
- 1967 — In the Beautiful Furious World (В прекрасном и яростном мире) (TV play)
- 1967 — Revenge (Возмездие) — German doctor
- 1968 — Portrait of Dorian Gray (Портрет Дориана Грея) — Basil
- 1968 — One Thing More About Love (Ещё раз про любовь) — Yevdokimov, physicist (leading role)
- 1968 — Knight of Dream (Рыцарь мечты) — clairvoyant musician
- 1969 — Late Flowers (Цветы запоздалые) — doctor Toporkov (leading role)
- 1971 — Deadly Enemy (Смертный враг) — Yaschurov
- 1971 — Talents and Followers (Таланты и поклонники, TV play) — Meluzov
- 1971 — Blackened Crumpets (Чёрные сухари, USSR-GDR)
- 1971 — What to Do? (Что делать?) (TV play, author)
- 1972 — In Answer for Everything (За всё в ответе) — Mashkov, physicist
- 1972 — 17th Transatlantic (Семнадцатый трансатлантический) — captain Lukhmanov
- 1973 — Dmitry Kantemir (Дмитрий Кантемир) — Peter the Great
- 1973 — An Hour Before Dawn (За час до рассвета) — Derzhavin
- 1974 — Movie Star (Звезда экрана) — Igor Grekov, film director
- 1974 — Time of Her Sons (Время её сыновей) — Gulyaev, a physicist
- 1975 — Led By a Bright Light (На ясный огонь) — actor
- 1975 — A Boy With an Épée (Мальчик со шпагой) — Artemyev, school director
- 1975 — Such a Short Life (Такая короткая долгая жизнь) — Kalugin
- 1975 — Black Sea Waves (Волны Чёрного моря) — general Zarya-Zaryanitsky
- 1976 — Your Own Opinion (Собственное мнение) — Konstantinov, partkom secretary
- 1977 — Risk is a Virtue (Риск — благородное дело) — Listov, actor
- 1977 — The Long Ordeal (Хождение по мукам) — Zhadov
- 1978 — Velvet Season (Бархатный сезон) — Lamer
- 1978 — Where Were You, Odyssey? (Где ты был, Одиссей?) — oberfuhrer Warburg
- 1978 — Gamblers (Игроки) (TV play) — Krugel
- 1979 — Licrative Contract (Выгодный контракт) — Tregubov, KGB general
- 1979 — Month of Long Days (Месяц длинных дней) — Aleksandr Nikolayevich
- 1980 — Evening Lbirynth (Вечерний лабиринт) — MainAttractions boss
- 1980 — Through Thorns to the Stars (Через тернии к звёздам) — professor Klimov
- 1981 — The Nightly Fairytale (Сказка, рассказанная ночью) — Peter Munk
- 1981 — Uncle's Dream (Дядюшкин сон, TV play) — governor general
- 1981 — The Hunter (Охотник, TV play) — Zubarin
- 1982 — Take Care of Men! Берегите мужчин!) — Grafov, a sculptor
- 1982 — Inspector Losev (Инспектор Лосев), — Zurikh
- 1983 — Demidovs (Демидовы) — Peter the Great
- 1985 — The Strange Story of Dr. Jakyll and Mr. Hyde (Странная история доктора Джекила и мистера Хайда) — Lanyon
- 1985 — Children of the Sun (Дети солнца) — Vagin, artist
- 1986 — Along the Main Street With Orchestra (По главной улице с оркестром) — Romanovsky
- 1986 — The Mysterious Prisoner (Таинственный узник) — Tzar Aleksander II
- 1986 — Secret Ambassador (Тайный посол) — Peter the Great
- 1986 — The Life of Klim Samgin (Жизнь Клима Самгина, TV play) — Roman Georgievich, Rittmeister
- 1987 — Its Not Always Summer in Crimea (В Крыму не всегда лето) — Nikolay Semashko
- 1988 — The Adventures of Quentin Durward (Приключения Квентина Дорварда, стрелка королевской гвардии) — Louis XI of France
- 1989 — Differed of Characters (Не сошлись характерами) — Gorohov (leading role)
- 1989 — The Stepanchikovo Village and Its Inhabitants (Село Степанчиково и его обитатели) — Colonel Egor Rostanev
- 1990 — The War Was Tomorrow (Завтра была война, TV play) — Lyberetsky
- 2002 — Kean the Fourth (Кин IV, TV play) — Edmund Kean (leading role)
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