Nikolai Nikolaevich Trofimov is a theater and film actor who devoted most of his life to creativity. His roles, played at the Leningrad Comedy Theater and the BDT, entered the Golden Fund for theatrical art. Trofimov was awarded many honorary titles, orders and medals.
The older generation remembers the great actor well. He played not only in theatrical performances. On account of Trofimov, a huge number of roles played on television and in films. He began his creative biography even before the war, and played his last role in 2005, shortly before his death.
Childhood and adolescence
The future actor was born in beautiful Sevastopol, on January 21, 1920, where his creative biography began. His mother was a housekeeper, and his father worked in a factory. From an early age, Nikolai was fond of reading and loved to demonstrate his art surrounded by friends and acquaintances. During his school years, he amused his classmates during recess, showing funny images of his favorite literary heroes, for which his teachers constantly scolded him, believing that the boy was not serious about his studies. However, at one of the literary evenings, while still in the 4th grade, Nikolai brilliantly read Chekhov's humorous story, causing a thunderous ovation in the hall. It seemed that the boy could make the saddest person laugh, and it was for this natural talent that Trofimov was appreciated and loved by all his friends and acquaintances.
The boy got to the theatrical stage very early, having played the role of a teenager in the production of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" in the local Youth Theater, when he was just 14 years old. It cannot be said that the audience and the director were delighted with his play, but for Nikolai his performance became fateful - the boy decided to become an actor. His family supported him, and as soon as Trofimov graduated from school, he went to Leningrad to get an acting education at the theater institute. He was accepted, and in 1941 Nikolai received the coveted diploma.
Back in his student years, Trofimov began to play in the Leningrad Youth Theater, playing small roles. The future actor surprised his friends and teachers with his experiments and the courage to implement them. Even after some setbacks, optimism never left him. Thanks to his boundless imagination, he again came up with something new and unusual.
The first time the actor got to the cinema was in 1939. Trofimov was invited to take part in the shooting of the film "There was a soldier from the front" The role of Trofimov went to an episodic one, but the debut took place safely.
War time
After graduating from the institute, Trofimov made grandiose plans, which were disrupted by the war. He wanted to go to the front and take part in the battles for the liberation of the Motherland, but fate decided otherwise.
First, Nikolai enters the service in the Navy, where he performs in the naval ensemble, and soon the famous composer I. Dunaevsky began to recruit a team called "Five Seas" for entry at the front, where Trofimov was invited. Together with the ensemble, the actor visited many cities, giving concerts in army units and on warships, raising the spirit of the fighters before battle and during rest hours.
For his activities during the war, Nikolai Nikolaevich was awarded many orders and medals.
Creative way
Trofimov was demobilized in 1944 and immediately decided to return to acting.
He entered the service at the Comedy Theater in Leningrad, where he worked for over 15 years, having played dozens of roles on the stage of the famous theater, in various performances, including: The Inspector General, The Journey of Monsieur Perrichon, Dead Souls, Colorful Stories ", "The Cherry Orchard". Creativity absorbed him entirely and soon from an unknown artist Trofimov turns into a star of the Comedy Theater.
At the beginning of 1964, Trofimov met the director of the Leningrad BDT im. M. Gorky - G. Tovstonogov, who invites the actor to join his troupe. On the stage of this theater, Trofimov played almost until the end of his life. One of his central roles was the image of Mr. Pickwick in the play by Charles Dickens "The Pickwick Club". The last time he performed this role was in 2005, when the actor was already 85 years old.
It was in this theater that the artist was able to prove to everyone that he can perform not only comedic, but also serious dramatic and tragic roles. The performances with his participation were sold out, his talent was admired not only by the audience, but also by colleagues on the stage.
Film career
At the beginning of his creative activity, Trofimov starred in many films, but he was not offered large roles for a long time.
At one of the performances he was seen by director S. F. Bondarchuk, who was recruiting actors for the film "War and Peace". Bondarchuk was shocked by Nikolai's play and immediately offered him the role of Tushin in his new film. Although the image of the hero is not central to the novel and the film itself, thanks to the excellent performance of Nikolai Trofimov, he was remembered by the public for a long time along with the main characters. After the premiere, the actor was talked about as a new star of cinema and his career quickly went up.
Nikolai Nikolaevich played a huge number of roles in the cinema. These were comedies, war films, dramas, tragedies, biographical films and children's stories. Even in small episodes, Trofimov created his own unique image of the hero, which will be remembered by the audience for many years. So it was with the films: "Trembita", "The Diamond Arm", "Striped Flight", "Tobacco Captain", "Lev Gurych Sinichkin", "About Little Red Riding Hood" and many others. As Nikolai Nikolayevich himself said, he embodies on the screen the image of a "little man" with a big soul.
After the beginning of perestroika, Trofimov was less and less invited to the cinema. Times have changed, some actors have been replaced by completely different ones, and the Russian cinema itself at that time was in decline. But the actor does not stop his creative activity and appears in dozens of films and the series “Streets of Broken Lanterns”.
Nikolai Nikolayevich played his last role in the cinema in the film "City without the Sun", shortly before his death.
Personal life and family
As the actor himself recalled in his interviews, in his life there were only two women whom he loved.
The first wife, Tatyana Grigorievna, also worked in the theater as an actress. After the couple started a family, Tatiana left the theater and devoted her life to Nikolai. They lived with her husband many happy days and only her death separated them. Trofimov was worried for a very long time about the departure of his wife, who gave him the best years of his life and taught him the wonderful mastery of mosaic art. Until the last day he continued to take a great interest in mosaics and did his own wonderful work.
The second wife was not a man of art. Marianna Iosifovna worked as an engineer, and the future spouses met at one of the performances with the participation of Nikolai Trofimov. Since then, they began to meet often and after a while formalized their relationship. The couple had a daughter, Natalya. Nikolai Nikolaevich loved his family very much and spent a lot of time with the girl. When her daughter grew up, she met her love in Italy and soon left Russia.
Nikolai Nikolaevich Trofimov passed away at the age of 85, 2005-07-09, after the consequences of a stroke. The actor was buried in St. Petersburg at the Volkovskoye cemetery.
