The talented Soviet actor Vasily Ivanovich Korzun stood out among his colleagues for his stately and "textured" appearance. Even the most difficult character roles were easy for him. Each image he created turned out to be lively and convincing.
Vasily Korzun hails from the Yenisei province, today it is the territory of the Republic of Khakassia. His biography began in 1924 in the village of Bolshaya Erba. Despite the fact that the boy's parents were simple peasants, from an early age he was attracted by the mysterious world of the theater. Vasya graduated from school in Abakan, where his family eventually moved. From here the young man decided to volunteer for the front. His front-line youth began in 1942, and a year later the command sent the young man to the Kiev Artillery School, evacuated to Krasnoyarsk. Having received the rank of junior lieutenant, Vasily returned to the front, first to the Baltic, then to the Leningrad. He fought, was wounded twice in 1944, finished the war in Estonia. For military valor, the officer was awarded the Order of the Red Banner and the Medal of Courage.
Theatre
Korzun returned to his dream after demobilization. To get an acting education, in 1946 Vasily entered the theater studio at the Irkutsk Youth Theater. The career of the renowned artist began on the stage of the Theater for the Young Spectator. After 1954, the actor performed for almost 20 years in theaters in Voronezh, Krasnoyarsk and Kuibyshev. During this period, the artist played many vivid roles that were remembered by the audience: Peter in Ostrovsky's play "The Forest", Skalozub in "Woe from Wit" by Griboyedov, Milon in Fonvizin's "The Minor". In popular performances, he created the images of Sergei in the "Irkutsk history" of Arbuzov and Arbenin in "Masquerade" by Lermontov. The audience enthusiastically applauded the performer of the role of Hamlet in the play of the same name by Shakespeare.
In 1973 he was invited to the Leningrad Drama Theater named after Pushkin. The roles were given to him brilliantly and without much difficulty. The performances with his participation and the images he embodied on the stage enjoyed success with the audience: Vaska Ashes in "At the Bottom" by Gorky, Selifan in "The Adventures of Chichikov", Cheredilov in "Invitation to Life". But the theater had to leave due to a conflict with the artistic director. After that, Vasily firmly decided to devote himself entirely to cinema. By that time, he had sufficient filming experience and became a full-time actor of Lenfilm and the Theater-Studio of the Film Actor.
Movie
Korzun first appeared on the set in 1957. He got an episode in the historical drama "Walking Through the Torments" (1957). This was followed by several more works, including the role of the convict in the film "Warrant Officer Papanin" about the revolutionary activities of the Baltic sailors and a small role in the tape "Sea on Fire" about the heroic defenders of Sevastopol during the war. Popularity came to Vasily in 1972, after playing the main role of Karpukhin in the film of the same name. His hero is a chauffeur with a difficult fate. The lively and understandable character turned out to be close to millions of Soviet viewers.
The artist's filmography includes 54 works. The role of the actor was largely determined by his "aristocratic" appearance. He was often offered the roles of officials, military and foreigners. The main thing that the actor succeeded in implementing them was incredible authenticity and dramatic intensity. Korzun demonstrated his acting talent and skill in the heroic film story "Izhora Battalion" (1972), where he played the chief of staff, in the military epic "Blockade" (1974) about the strength and courage of the Soviet people shown during the defense of Leningrad and the film "Scream of the Loon" (1980) - stories about uncoordinated actions of the military leadership during exercises. In the feature film "Chelyuskintsy" (1984), which tells about the fate of sailors drifting on an ice floe, the actor embodied the image of the 2nd mate Markov,and in the modern multi-part film "The Coming Century" (1985) about the life of the Sinegorsk Territory during perestroika, he got the role of Pyotr Panteleev.
Directing
Korzun's work was multifaceted. He tried himself in the directing field. For the first time this happened at the Voronezh Pedagogical Institute, where the actor headed the student drama school. Thanks to his leadership, the productions of "The Bourgeoisie" based on the play by Gorky, "Irkutsk Story" and "Tanya" based on the works of Arbuzov were released. Vasily also directed a rural amateur theater in the village of Russkaya Zhuravka, Voronezh region.
The actor was enthusiastically engaged in literary activities. Many of his poems were based on songs that the actor's widow combined into the collection "White Horses", which was released after the artist's death in 1990.
Personal life
The actor met his great love in his youth. Vasily and Victoria met in Irkutsk as a student. The meeting took place in 1950 during the intermission of a concert hosted by Victoria. Their mutual sympathy, which arose at first sight, grew into a romance, which soon ended in a wedding. Victoria taught Russian language and literature and left an undeserved rest at the age of 80. The wife gave her husband her love and supported him in all his endeavors. Their family union lasted for 39 years.
Last years
Vasily Korzun was lucky to return from the war alive. But two serious injuries undermined the health of the famous actor. Illness accompanied him all his life, but he did not heal the war wounds and plunged headlong into work. Every year the artist felt worse, and in August 1989 he passed away. He was 65 years old. The last works of the actor were episodes in the films "Mother" based on the play by Gorky and the two-part film "It" based on the work of Saltykov-Shchedrin "The History of a City".
Friends and colleagues remembered Vasily Ivanovich as a strong and courageous person with a very kind soul. He had a special ability to charge those around him with incredible energy and inspiration. The audience was left with dozens with great talent of the images he created - strong and lively, such as the actor Vasily Korzun himself was.
