Igor Livanov is a Russian actor, whose filmography includes over fifty roles in films and TV shows. Most viewers know him from the film "Destroy the Thirtieth!", In which Livanov played the Afghan war veteran Sergei Cherkasov, who entered into an unequal battle with the mafia. Difficult tests fell to the lot of the actor in his personal life. And only he knows how hard it was to rise after another blow of fate.
Biography: family, childhood, study
Igor Evgenievich Livanov was born in Kiev on November 15, 1953. His parents met during the war, and in peacetime they found their calling in the puppet theater and acting profession. The actor's paternal grandfather was a clergyman, he was shot on false charges of espionage. Even in the difficult Soviet times for religion, the actor's family remained a believer, little Igor was baptized and regularly brought to church.
The artist has an older brother - no less famous actor Aristarkh Livanov (1947). Igor Evgenievich believes that their future was predetermined by the profession of parents. Aristarchus graciously accepted his fate and soon left to study at LGITMiK. But the younger brother tried to protest. From the fifth grade, he attended the boxing section and showed very decent results, losing only one fight.
The athlete from Livanov still did not work, because after school, his mother persuaded him to follow his brother to enter LGITMiK. The future actor studied at the course of Igor Olegovich Gorbachev, received his diploma in 1975. He liked to study, but at first it did not work out with his acting career. In the Ulyanovsk Drama Theater, where Livanov was accepted after graduation, he could not find a common language with the chief director. In order not to work out the mandatory two years for distribution, Igor decided to go into the army. He served in the Far East in the Marine Corps.
Creativity: roles in cinema and theater
After the army, the actor and his wife moved to Rostov-on-Don and got a job at the Rostov Youth Theater. Already in the first season, Livanov played eleven roles. In 1978 he moved to the Rostov Academic Drama Theater named after Gorky, where he stayed for 10 years. Soon the artist made his film debut: in 1979 he got a role in the film "Unrequited Love". This film did not add to Livanov's popularity, but on the set he met the stars of Soviet cinema Inna Makarova and Leonid Markov.
The next screen character of Igor Evgenievich was the translator Sasha Ermolenko from the military action movie Mercedes Leaving the Chase (1980). After this film, the actor was assigned the role of a noble hero and fighter for justice. Most often, he was entrusted with the role of the military, representatives of the law, fearless and strong men.
In the 80s, the actor starred in six films, but none of them made a star out of him. Most of all Livanov was lucky with partners, he starred with Mikhail Ulyanov, Innokentiy Smoktunovsky. Things were not going well in the theater either. The main director changed, and his wife began to interfere too zealously in the creative process, which did not suit Livanov at all. There was a quarrel, the artist fell out of favor. Under the patronage of his older brother, he managed to go to the capital's theater "Detective" under the leadership of his namesake Vasily Livanov.
Soon the long-awaited fame came to the actor. Together with his brother, they played the main roles in the action movie "Destroy the Thirtieth!", Which was released in 1992. The 90s were more fruitful for Livanov's career. The audience warmly accepted many of his works:
- "Code of dishonor" (1993);
- "At the corner, at the Patriarch's" (1995);
- A Play for a Passenger (1995);
- The Countess de Monsoreau (1997).
Good physical preparation came in handy for the actor during the performance of stunts. He jumped from a great height, threw himself under a moving train, fell from a helicopter, hung on a cable one and a half kilometers from the ground. Livanov later complained that the experience of attracting stuntmen was then poorly developed in Russian cinema. As a result of one of the tricks, he suffered a serious spinal injury and narrowly escaped disability.
In the zero years, the actor switched to roles in TV series, which overnight filled Russian television. Among the most famous serial works of Igor Evgenievich are:
- Empire under attack (2000);
- “On the corner, at the Patriarch's” 2nd, 3rd, 4th parts (2001, 2003, 2004);
- "Lord Officers" (2004);
- Saboteur (2004);
- Hunting on the Asphalt (2005);
- One Family (2009);
- "Tango with an Angel" (2009).
Livanov's theatrical career continued at the Moscow Moon Theater under the direction of Sergei Prokhanov, where the actor serves to this day. Igor Evgenievich tried his hand at popular television shows. For example, in 2003 he took part in the program "The Last Hero", and in 2007 - in the show of boxing fights "King of the Ring".
The film "72 meters" (2004), dedicated to submariners, is especially close to Livanov, since he himself served in the navy, and his third wife is from the family of a naval officer.
The actor played one of the atypical roles for himself in the TV series "Vangelia" (2013). Before the audience, he appeared in the form of the German dictator Adolf Hitler. In 2018, the crime series "The Embassy" was released with Livanov's participation.
Personal life
The life of an actor is rich in dramatic events and heavy losses. His first wife was a fellow student at LGITMiK Tatyana Piskunova. They got married in their student years, Mikhail Boyarsky and Larisa Luppian became witnesses at the wedding. In 1979, the young couple had a daughter, Olga. This marriage lasted 12 years. In August 1987, Tatyana and Olga died in a train accident in the city of Kamensk-Shakhtinsky.
Livanov's return to life was helped by his acquaintance with a theater school student Irina Bakhtura. She became his second wife, in 1989 gave birth to a son, Andrei. In 2000, the family broke up at the initiative of Irina, who left her husband for the actor Sergei Bezrukov. Livanov made a lot of efforts so that his son Andrei did not feel abandoned.
Soon after the divorce, the actor met the girl Olga and, despite the 25-year age difference, created a family with her. In 2007, they had a son, Timofey, and in 2015, a son, Ilya. The birth of Ilya gave Livanov the strength to recover from a new blow of fate. In March 2015, his adult son Andrei died unexpectedly. Among the causes of death of the young man, journalists named a heart attack, the consequences of diabetes, and domestic trauma. The ex-wife of the actor preferred not to give explanations on this topic.
After the tragedies he has experienced, Livanov especially values his new family. He believes that the bad has been left behind, and he gives all the unspent love of his father to his younger sons. Like his on-screen characters, Igor Evgenievich is an amazing example of resilience and courage.
