And in the theater, and in the cinema, and in the transfer of experience to young actors, Konstantin Stepankov had a kind of frantic desire to do everything as best as possible, purer and sincere. Probably, this happens when a person has gone through a lot in his life and no longer accepts falsehood in anything.
It was much later that Konstantin Petrovich became People's Artist of the USSR and a teacher, and at the very beginning of his life he had to endure many hardships.
Biography
Probably, the complex history of Kostya's life was predetermined even before his birth. His father was a priest, after the revolution he was repressed and shot, and the family was forced to change the name Voloshchuk to the Stepankovs.
When Constantine was born in 1926, he grew up with this surname. The Stepankovs lived in Ukraine, and fully drank the hardships of the German occupation during the war. After the liberation of their village from the Germans, my mother decided to move to Central Asia. Konstantin was then 18 years old, and he decided that he would live on his own - he was left alone in his homeland.
He served on a fishing boat until he decided he needed to get an education. There was an agricultural institute in his plans, he entered there and studied for two years, and then decided to go to a theater university. The reason was the performance staged by Kiev actors on tour in his city.
Konstantin went to the capital and entered the Kiev Institute of Theater Arts. In the entrance exam, he read great poetry. Perhaps this helped the boy get into the ranks of the student body without any preparation.
It is very significant that immediately after graduating from the institute, Konstantin was left to teach in it at the directing department. However, an affair with a student was the reason for her dismissal. Later he will come back here again, and again as a teacher.
Since 1955, Stepankov entered the service at the Kiev Drama Theater, where he spent nearly fourteen years. As a theater actor, he had a dream - to play Iago in Othello, but it didn't work out. In Shakespeare's plays, he was able to play the role of Edgar in King Lear.
Film career
At the end of the sixties, Stepankov was invited to the Kiev film studio - a characteristic actor was needed for the role of the secretary of the provincial committee in the film "Pavel Korchagin". And although the role was small, the actor was noticed and began to be invited to other films.
Another significant role of his was Pan Kmet in the film "Anichka" (1968). The theme of the picture is the German occupation of Ukraine.
The actor's portfolio includes more than a hundred theatrical and film works, and each of his characters is a very characteristic and strong-willed person.
The role of Zhukhrai in the film How the Steel Was Tempered (1974) brought Stepankov great fame. This work was highly appreciated not only by the audience - Konstantin received the Lenin Komsomol Prize for her.
The final celebrity status was fixed for Stepankov after the film "Duma about Kovpak". For this role, he received the Gold Medal.
Among the actor's other awards there are very high ones: the State Prize and the Order of Merit for the Fatherland.
Personal life
The family life of Konstantin Stepankov also began from an unpleasant moment: he fell in love with Ada Rogovtseva, a student. Later they got married, but he lost his teaching position precisely because of his love for the girl.
This incident did not prevent Konstantin and Ada from living together a long and happy life and giving birth to two children who followed in the footsteps of their parents.
After sixty years, Konstantin Petrovich gradually retired from work and moved to the village of Zherebyatin. I walked in nature with my grandchildren, cooked dinner, because my wife still continued to work.
Despite the fact that Stepankov underwent serious operations, had been ill with tuberculosis and lived with a diagnosis of ischemia, he remained strong-willed and calm to the end. The actor died in July 2004 and was buried in Zherebyatino.
