Viktor Antonovich Avdyushko is a talented Soviet artist, an idol of the whole country. On the screen, he played heroes of the courageous and strong. There was no monumentality in them, but intelligence was always combined with physical strength.
The press responded with a modest obituary about the death of the famous actor throughout the country. Shocked fans wondered for a long time about the reason for the unexpected departure of the idol. But the artist simply "burned out" at work.
Childhood and youth
Victor Avdyushko was born in Moscow in 1925, on January 11. The father of the future celebrity worked as a weigher at the Kievsky railway station in the capital, and his mother was busy with the house, raising Victor and his older sister. We lived near the train station, very modestly.
As a child, the boy did not even think about his creative destiny. He dreamed of becoming a pilot, repeating the exploits of Chkalov and Serov.
The sixteen-year-old boy, after the outbreak of the war, even tried to escape to the front. Only the parents managed to return their son home in time. So the idea failed.
After the war, Avdyushko entered the Aviation Institute. He decided to create airplanes. During his studies, Victor took part in student performances. The MAI theater was famous as one of the strongest in the capital.
The textured appearance provided the student with the role of builders of a new life, heroes of the strong and selfless. The friends were delighted with Victor's game. They advised a fellow student to go to the artists.
In 1945, the young man submitted documents to VGIK. They accepted it immediately. The selection committee appreciated both the texture of the applicant and his ability to read poetry. He ended up in Reisman's workshop.
Viktor Antonovich finished his studies in 1949. Filming began in 1948. Getting the first, albeit episodic role, Avdyushko owes his appearance.
Gerasimov's assistant approached the third-year student and offered to star in "Young Guard".
Difficult path to the top
A year later, Pyriev's "Kuban Cossacks" followed. And in the fifties came the first significant role in the film "In Peaceful Days".
The tape turned into a hit movie. It told about the struggle of the Soviet state security agencies with Western intelligence services. Kinorabota became the leader of the box office.
The artist starred with a star team. His partners were Sergei Gurzo, Georgy Yumatov, Elina Bystritskaya and Vera Vasilyeva.
By the mid-fifties, the performer had a dozen roles on his account. Characters gave him extremely positive ones.
At Mosfilm Avdyushko was considered one of the most filmed artists. Only the actor himself did not like such a creative career.
He never played a major role. Yes, and the audience with colleagues came to the conclusion that he is simply perfect: there is not a single flaw.
Viktor Antonovich dreamed of overcoming the type. The role will not be negative, but it will turn out to be modern and more truthful. After the Khrushchev thaw, directors began to release such films.
In 1956 Avdyushko was offered the lead role in Schweitzer's film Tight Knot. The work was dedicated to the struggle between the new and the old. The innovation so frightened the management of the cinema that the film was banned even at the shooting stage. As a result, the director removed Pereverzev instead of Emelyanov, who played the bureaucrat. The negative character has become an innovator.
Thunder and lightning
The change of emphasis was also reflected in the name of the project: "Sasha enters life." But even with such alterations, the film was released in a limited edition.
We saw the picture in its original version only two decades later. By that time, the performer was no longer alive.
Participation in the disgraced project did not affect the creative career of the actor. He continued the gallery of goodies with nine more paintings. They trusted Viktor not only communists.
He starred in the film adaptation of classics. The performer became Bazarov from Fathers and Children.
In the late sixties, his best role came to Avdyushko. True, the audience also had to wait. In the painting by Naumov and Alov, "Peace to the Departing", Viktor Antonovich reincarnated as Ivan Yamshchikov, a soldier who was numb after a shell shock.
The artist's talent was revealed with all its might. With the help of the most stingy means, he managed to convincingly play with his eyes, expressing the state of mind of a person doomed to silence. The directors themselves did not expect such a surge of drama.
Many charges were brought against the painting. The creators were reproached for naturalism, artistic fiction, and slander against the Soviet soldier. The reason was the innovative manner of shooting, the authenticity of the display of the war.
The persecution began with Furtsev. The discussion was held at the House of Cinema. Victor himself became the culprit of the beginning of the scandal. The actor spent the whole night in the company and came drunk.
He slept peacefully during the first half of the dispute. The artist was awakened by a cry about the need to punish the creators of the picture with a belt, just as he beat the German Avdyushko in the film. Hearing his own name, Viktor Antonovich woke up and went to the podium.
On the way, he took out his belt and, unexpectedly for everyone, said that he would whip the speaker himself. Only Naumov managed to calm down the angry artist.
Life in reality
For showing in the army, the picture was banned, it did not get on television. The film was shown in a limited run in small cinemas. But abroad at the Venice Festival, the tape was awarded the "Gold Medal" and "Gold Cup".
In the sixties and seventies Avdyushko continued to act. The artist managed to get out of his usual role by playing very small roles in The Ordinary Miracle and the comedy Thirty-three.
In the theater, Avdyushko played only in the puppet show. It existed in the house of Boris Birger, an artist. With his son, Viktor Antonovich often visited theaters, brought gifts to the boy from abroad.
In Birger's theater, Avdyushko chose characters opposite to his usual ones. The rogue Truffaldino became a favorite. Although the actor was not considered a super-class size, he was not inferior in popularity to either Ulyanov or Tikhonov. They constantly took autographs from him.
Family matters
In the artist's personal life, everything turned out fine. The first wife of Evgenia Ten gave her husband a daughter, Tatiana. She currently lives in Africa.
In the sixties, he married the Estonian actress Liina Orlova. The family had a daughter, Masha. She became an actress and lives in Tallinn.
In 1974 Avdyushko received the honorary title of People's Artist of the RSFSR. The next year was jubilee. The actor celebrated his fiftieth birthday.
In ordinary life, Avdyushko was not much different from his on-screen characters. He was always fit and kept physically healthy. Therefore, the news of his departure came as a surprise to everyone.
In 1970 Viktor Antonovich took part in the work on the painting "When the fog dissolves." There he met his third wife, make-up artist Larisa.
The girl was younger than the artist for a little over twenty years. They later had a child. The daughter was named Varvara.
Subsequently, Varvara Viktorovna married Timur Bekmambetov and became a film producer.
The last work of the remarkable performer is Marshal Konev in Ozerov's epic "Soldiers of Freedom". Shortly before filming, the actor was filming in Vladivostok.
The actor worked in the icy water for several dozen takes. The result was chilled kidneys. Avdyushko arrived in the capital in a critical condition and immediately ended up in the hospital.
The artist died in Moscow in 1975, on November 19. It was only a few days after the work that caused the quit. He was buried at the Vagankovskoye cemetery.
