In the biography of Sergei Shevkunenko, white stripes were invariably replaced by black ones. The name of the criminal authority "Artist" has long been forgotten by compatriots, and the young actor is remembered by viewers of several generations, films with his participation continue to be shown on television.
Childhood
Sergey Shevkunenko was born into a family of Mosfilm workers. The father headed the 2nd creative association, the mother held the position of assistant director. The boy was a late child. The fourteen-year-old daughter Olga was already growing up, when Seryozha was born on November 20, 1959. The father was immensely happy about the appearance of the heir. He dedicated the play "Earring with Malaya Bronnaya" to his birth.
Very early on, the boy learned the bitterness of loss. At the age of four, he lost his father, soon his sister, who also linked her life with cinema, emigrated from the country. Sergei stayed with his mother, who had to spend all her time at work. Caring for the grandson fell on the shoulders of the grandmother. Together with his sister, the teenager lost a faithful friend with whom it was possible to share the most intimate and find support. Perhaps this influenced his entire future destiny.
Actor Shevkunenko
The cinematic occupation of the parents could not pass by her son. The boy knew from an early age that he would become an actor. His film debut took place in 1971 in the musical comedy "The Musician's Sister" based on the story by Anatoly Aleksin, the boy played the small role of Petit. The next work was an episode in the film "Fifty-fifty". Sergei played a messenger boy. A very small role gave the young artist the opportunity to be close to the stars of the first magnitude.
In 1973, director Nikolai Kalinin began filming the first two parts of Anatoly Rybakov's trilogy "Dagger" and "Bronze Bird". The pictures received recognition from the audience, they especially remember the main character performed by Sergei Shevkunenko. The action takes place immediately after the Civil War. Moscow schoolboy Misha Polyakov, together with his friends, reveals the secret of the officer's dagger, which fell into their hands. In the second part, the guys go to the pioneer camp and find a treasure. Both films were full of adventure and mystery, once inquisitive heroes were even able to solve a murder. Soviet boys and girls admired the brave trinity, in which the young actor stood out as a leader.
This role brought Shevkunenko success and opened the way to the world of cinema. There were many proposals. He singled out Benjamin Dorman's The Lost Expedition from all of them. The shooting took place in the Siberian taiga, Sergey tried on the image of a forest guide. He spoke little, but did a lot: he rode a horse, conquered mountain peaks. The author planned the continuation of the film, only the actor did not have to participate in it.
A turning point in fate
He was a leader not only in cinema, but also in life. This good quality could have helped him make a good acting career, but everything turned out differently. Once Sergei, having drunk wine with a friend, was returning home. On the way, he got involved in a fight, as a result of which the court sentenced a seventeen-year-old boy to imprisonment for one year. This was not the first acquaintance of Shevkunenko with law enforcement agencies. As a thirteen-year-old boy, he was registered in the children's room of the police, after school eight years he was sent to receive education in a special school.
After his release, the mother tried to get her son to be taken to the film studio as an illuminator. But a year later he was arrested again, now for theft. The next 4, 5 years, Sergei received in 1982 for drug possession, the escape added another 1, 5 years. The youth's life was broken. He left the places of detention as a sick man with a second group of disabilities. In Smolensk, where he went to stay with relatives, there were changes in his personal life - his wife Elena appeared. But the family did not stop the player and the repeat offender. He received a new term for keeping weapons. He was released for a short time, two months later another sentence appointed 3 years in prison for stealing icons.
Leader of the crime
The dashing 90s were marked by rampant crime in the country. By this time, Shevkunenko had five convictions, he spent a total of more than 14 years behind bars. In the criminal environment, his authority grew significantly, his natural intelligence and audacity helped. The criminal hierarchy gave him the status of a "lord", and this is almost a "thief in law." In 1994, after his release, he organized a criminal gang. The leader of the Mosfilm organized criminal group received the nicknames "Chief" and "Artist". The brigade was responsible for racketeering, kidnapping, fraud with the privatization of housing, and drugs. The organization and bloody showdown did not pass. Sergei did not have to be a criminal leader for long. On February 11, 1995, he was shot dead on the doorstep of his own apartment. The mother ran out to the noise, the killer did not spare her either.
So Shevkunenko's star went out. She rose when a talented boy first crossed the threshold of the set, and went out like a criminal, without the slightest hope for another life.
