Stanislav Khitrov is a talented Soviet actor who has played in dozens of feature films. One of his most popular film roles is the role of Fili Egorov in the black-and-white comedy Girls. Unfortunately, in the last years of his life, the actor suffered from alcoholism and almost stopped acting.
Studying at VGIK and the first acting work
Stanislav Nikolaevich Khitrov was born in July 1936 in Moscow. He received his higher education at VGIK (in the workshop of the renowned Moscow Art Theater actor Vladimir Belokurov). Actress Ariadna Shengelaya, who studied with Stanislav Khitrov in the same year, said in an interview with the TV program "To Remember" that he was considered a very gifted student, and he succeeded in both comedy and dramatic roles.
As part of the final exams, Khitrov played the military doctor Chebutykin in a production based on Chekhov's play "Three Sisters". As a result, he, the only one on the course, was awarded a diploma marked "artist with outstanding abilities."
After graduating from VGIK in 1959, Khitrov became part of the troupe of the Film Actor's Studio Theater. However, he made his film debut even earlier - in 1957 he starred in the episodic role of a simple worker in the film "Tales of Lenin". And in 1958 he took part in the films Overtaking the Wind and Youth Street.
In 1960, the actor played a young communist and production leader in the film Yasha Toporkov. And this, in fact, was the first main role of Khitrov in the cinema.
The best film roles of Khitrov
What is the real fame and love of millions of viewers, the actor learned in 1961. Just this year, the famous comedy by Yuri Chulyukin "Girls" was released in the USSR (it is sometimes shown on Russian television even today). In this film, Stanislav Khitrov appeared as a lumberjack Fili Yegorov.
In the same 1961, the actor played a rather memorable role of the chauffeur Rukavitsyn in the film "Peace to the incoming" (directors - Alov and Naumov). Then there were the main roles in the tapes "After the Wedding", "The Return of Veronica" and "Come to Baikal". In general, the sixties became very fruitful for Khitrov - he received a lot of proposals from filmmakers. And everything went great with his personal life - he met the girl Galina, married her, and soon she gave birth to a child from Khitrov - the son of Sergei.
During his career, the actor brilliantly played not only positive, but also negative characters. As an example, we can cite the role of the rogue sausage master Evlampy in the comedy film "Monday is a Hard Day".
It is worth noting several more outstanding, albeit not too big, film roles by Khitrov - the wandering musician Jean in the film-parable "Cain XVIII" (1963), the role of Pechorin's servant in the film adaptation of Lermontov's novel "A Hero of Our Time" (1966), the role of a batman in the film "Running" (1970).
last years of life
At the height of his fame, the actor began to abuse alcohol, which negatively affected his employment in the cinema. After 1976, Khitrov rarely appeared on the screen - filmmakers stopped inviting him to auditions. He also divorced his wife at some point and moved to live with his bedridden mother.
The last notable work of Stanislav Khitrov in cinema was the modest role of a tavern worker in Mikhail Schweitzer's film based on Gogol's immortal work Dead Souls (1984). In addition, sometimes he took part in extras (for example, in the two-part film "The Crew"), but was not indicated in the credits. Alas, the artist did not succeed in defeating alcohol addiction.
In May 1985, Stanislav Khitrov broke his leg and ended up in the hospital. For some reason, there were no places in the wards, and Stanislav had to lie in the corridor. Here he fell ill with pneumonia, which the weakened body could not cope with. The talented artist died on May 24, 1985.
