Honored Artist of the three Soviet republics Gennady Korolkov was called "Russian Belmondo" - and not only because of the external resemblance, but also because of his mastery of acting.
Gennady Korolkov was born in 1941 in Roslavl near Smolensk, when the war with the Nazis began. Therefore, his childhood was not easy. In the first year of his life, his mother, a partisan fighter, died. He will never know what happened to the young partisan who went on reconnaissance to the village where the Germans were. At that time, my father was already at the front.
After the Victory, Gennady's father returned, and they moved to Lviv. There, the future artist studied at school, and from primary school he participated in an amateur theater. Gena easily memorized large texts, so he was assigned the main roles. He played the very first at the age of ten - it was the role of a funny negro.
Gena liked to play, rehearse, liked all this pre-concert turmoil, and he dreamed of doing acting all his life. However, it was necessary to earn a living, and immediately after school, Korolkov went to work at the plant. Everything went well there, too: he was appreciated, awarded with diplomas, he had the opportunity to make a career in production.
However, the youthful dream was stronger: Gennady became a student of the Lviv Theater studio and successfully completed the course. However, he had one so-called flaw: he did not speak Ukrainian perfectly, and therefore could not play in the Lviv theater. He realized that his road lay to Moscow.
First roles
Korolkov had to wait a long time for the first roles, because he entered the Moscow Art Theater School only the third time. He studied well, after graduation he entered the troupe of the Central Children's Theater, played fairy-tale characters. And of course, he dreamed of other roles - more significant.
The famous film director Mark Osepyan was the first to notice Korolkov's potential - he invited Gennady to the film Three Days of Viktor Chernyshev (1967). The plot of the film was not easy, the role of a working guy who lived at the junction of two eras was also difficult, but Korolkov coped brilliantly - his debut was a success. Moreover, the film became a landmark in Soviet cinema.
Korolkov began a new life: he received bags of letters from fans and signed autographs on the street.
At the same time, there were changes in his theatrical career: he was accepted into the troupe of the Theater. Mayakovsky. Five years in the theater were very successful, but then a scandal happened. Korolkov's friend Yevgeny Leonov left the theater, and out of solidarity he left with him, succumbing to emotions.
After that, Gennady Anatolyevich worked for two years at the Lenkom Theater, from which he also left, and also with a scandal. After that, a black streak began in his life. He entered the troupe of the Film Actor Theater, but he closed in the difficult 90s.
Then Korolkov went to work as a cloakroom attendant without telling his family about it. He was going through this period hard.
This story can be seen in the film by Galina Dolmatovskaya "Where did I see him?", Which she shot in the mid-90s. This film prompted the public to create funds to help film and theater actors.
Film career
Before the onset of a black streak in his life, Korolkov starred in almost sixty films of different genres: detective stories, adventure films, action films. One of the most impressive action films is the film Tavern on Pyatnitskaya. Basically, Korolkov was given the role of real men: investigators, criminal investigation officers, security officers. His last name in the credits guaranteed the success of the film in advance.
And he himself chose the roles, and one of the most successful can be considered his work in the series "State Border", the melodrama "Alyosha", the adventure tape "Because I Love".
Personal life
Gennady Korolkov was very popular with women - handsome, clever, tactful man. But he was captivated by the soft and feminine Fatima Klado, the daughter of a Moscow director. In 1964, Gennady and Fatima got married.
Soon their son Anton was born, and the spouses doted on him, especially Gennady - he often fiddled with the baby.
At that time he had to work a lot: play in the theater, act in films, go on tour. On these trips, there were novels, to which Korolkov was easy. The wife also did not take these connections to heart, kept peace in the family.
However, when difficulties began with work and Gennady began to drink, the family broke up: after living together for thirty years, the couple broke up.
The consequences of Korolkov's romantic relationship had an unexpected outcome: in 2004 he met his daughter Lenka. It turned out that this is the daughter of Zdenka Burdova, a Czech actress, with whom he starred in the same film. The girl herself found her father through the program "Wait for me".
Gennady Anatolyevich was very happy, he immediately introduced Lenka to his son Anton, they became friends. Lenka is a journalist working for Prague television.
Gennady Korolkov died in February 2007, on his grave at the Khovanskoye cemetery there is a monument with the inscription "Because I love" - this is the name of one of his best films.
