Sergey Vladimirovich Obraztsov is a real magician who easily turned soulless puppets into the most talented theatrical actors. His work is an object of worship for a million-strong army of admirers.
The work of the Sergei Obraztsov Theater was enjoyed not only by the Soviet audience. With his brainchild, he traveled almost the whole world. But little is known about his biography, career path, personal life. Who is he and where is he from? What is remarkable about his biography? How did he come to the world of dolls?
Biography of Sergei Vladimirovich Obraztsov
The future master of puppet theater and variety art was born on July 5 (June 22, old style), 1901, in Moscow, into a family of hereditary nobles. At the time of the boy's birth, his father served as an engineer on the railway, and later became a member of the USSR Academy of Sciences. Little Seryozha's mother was a teacher. In addition to him, there was another child in the family - the youngest son Boris.
What he wants to become, Sergei decided in his youth, when his mother brought into the house a doll that she dresses on her hand. Playing with her fascinated the boy so much that it was the subject of heated debate, and sometimes even became the reason for the punishment of his son.
Nevertheless, Sergei managed to defend his position, after the gymnasium he entered the Higher Art and Theater Workshop, on the course of painting. He knew that art would become his calling, and he was not mistaken in this. Moreover, it was the dolls that brought him his first income. While still in high school, the boy was fond of making them. His works were bought with pleasure by family friends, and then their acquaintances.
Creativity of Sergei Obraztsov
In 1922, Sergei Vladimirovich became a member of the troupe of the Moscow Art Theater. There he served for 8 years, then moved to the Moscow Art Theater-2, where he was entrusted with more complex, poignant roles. But dolls remained his main vocation and passion. With them, he began performing before he entered the theater stage as an actor - in 1920.
A few years later, all of Moscow was already talking about him as a parodist puppeteer. Sharp, satirical numbers, smashing to smithereens vulgarity, arrogance and other vices of society, were to the liking of many. The audience “flowed like a river” to Sergei Obraztsov's performances with dolls.
In 1931, Sergei Vladimirovich obtained permission from the authorities to open his own theater. This is how the Central Puppet Theater and a whole direction of art appeared. Obraztsov directed his brainchild until his death, until 1992.
Obraztsov and his theater have over 70 puppet shows for audiences of all ages. Since 1935, Sergei Vladimirovich began to share his talent and skills with young actors - he taught at GITIS. In 1976 he became the head of the International Puppeteers Union.
Filmography and directorial work of Sergei Vladimirovich Obraztsov
This unique person, talent "with a capital letter" was engaged not only in his theater and his puppets. As a director, he shot more than 20 documentary projects and films-performances, including 1 animation. For three of them, he himself wrote the scripts - "Heavenly Creation", "Unusual Concert", "Our Chukokkala". In the film "Heavenly Creation" Obraztsov himself read the author's offscreen text.
Sergei Vladimirovich had a huge collection of exotic dolls. We can safely say that they were the closest "people" to him. He wrote almost 10 books about them, which were published both in the USSR and abroad.
Obraztsov is the creator of the author's method of working with dolls. It was he who invented the system, thanks to which the puppeteer actor became not just a faceless participant in the process, but his full-fledged link. “According to Obraztsov”, new generations of his followers studied and are studying now. Many years after his death, the case of Sergei Vladimirovich not only lives on, but also develops.
Personal life of Sergei Obraztsov
The master of the puppet theater was married twice, he has two children and grandchildren. The first wife of Sergei Vladimirovich was a teacher from the orphanage "Uley" Sofya Semyonovna Smyslova. He lived with her for 9 years, from 1919 to 1928. In marriage, a son, Alexei, was born, then a daughter, Natalia. After the second birth, the woman died. What Obraztsov's son did or is doing is unknown, but his daughter and his granddaughter continued the work of Sergei Vladimirovich. Natalya Sergeevna was an actress of the Central Puppet Theater, and her granddaughter Ekaterina, daughter Natalya, headed it and became its director.
The second wife of Sergei Vladimirovich was the actress Olga Shaganova. The puppeteer director married her 3 years after the death of his first wife, in 1931. The couple did not have common children, but Olga Aleksandrovna replaced Obraztsov's mother from her first marriage. And the spouses were united by their love for animals. For many years a dog named Musa lived in the family.
At the time of his death, Sergei Vladimirovich was 91 years old. Until the last day, he remained active, worked, and enjoyed communicating with young actors. He himself joked that he could overcome everything - illness, adversity, difficulties, but he was not able to cope with old age.
The case of Sergei Obraztsov, his theater, lives on and develops. In memory of the founder, in 2008 a monument was erected next to the theater. In addition, on the house where Obraztsov spent most of his life, there is a memorial plaque, his museum-apartment is open, where you can see his famous and unique collection of dolls, including handmade ones.
