Nikolai Leonov, Evgeniy’s brother, fought. Evgeniy Leonov's brother died
Cause of death of an elderly man at the moment remains unknown.
Relatives of Yevgeny Leonov’s brother say that he never complained about his health. According to sources, Nikolai Leonov died on Tuesday morning in own home. His relatives accept condolences; the date and place of the funeral will be announced later. Unlike famous brother, Nikolai Leonov led a non-public lifestyle. For a long time he worked as an aircraft designer. Since childhood, the man wanted to continue the work of his father Pavel Leonov, who also worked in the aviation industry. A similar fate was predicted for Evgeny Leonov, but he decided to take a different path.
The artist’s relatives did not interfere with his choice or condemn him for his chosen profession. In one of his interviews, Nikolai Leonov admitted that for a long time I didn’t watch films with my brother’s participation, since his on-screen characters seemed implausible to the man. According to a relative of the legendary artist, Leonov Jr. was much kinder and more humane than his characters.
Nikolay Leonov/Photo: Still from the film “Evgeny Leonov. And the tears fell..."The last meeting of the brothers took place in 1994. Relatives were walking around Moscow, and it was then that Evgeniy Leonov complained that he was suffocating. Two days after this event, the actor died due to a detached blood clot. He was buried on Novodevichy Cemetery.
Nikolai Pavlovich Leonov, brother of the famous artist, died at the age of 92. The death of an elderly man occurred on Tuesday, January 10. Nikolai Pavlovich, as it became popular on StarHit, quietly passed away in his own home. Those close to him say that he did not complain about health problems before last day maintained a smooth reprimand. Leonov's relatives accept their condolences.
Brother people's artist USSR Nikolai Leonov worked as an aircraft designer and worked for many years at the Tupolev bureau. Nikolai Pavlovich was older famous actor for two years. In one of the interviews, the man reported that he and his brother were never alike: the future movie star grew up just like his mother, and he was considered a copy of his father.
The Leonovs spent their childhood in a house on Bolshaya Vasilievskaya Street, not far from the House of Cinema. Nikolai always stood up for his brother. Even then, Evgeniy began to show artistic abilities, but at first the significance of this was not communicated.
When the war began, the whole family future star Kino worked at an aircraft factory. The sons of Pavel Leonov wanted to follow in his footsteps and become aircraft designers.
// Photo: Still from the film “Evgeny Leonov. And the tears fell..."
Everything changed when Evgeniy went to the drama studio at the Bolshoi Theater, which was directed by Andrei Goncharov, who would later head the Mayakovsky Arena. Relatives reacted normally to the choice of the young artist and did not interfere with his pursuit of art.
In his interview, Nikolai Pavlovich admitted that he has a difficult relationship with comedies with the participation of his brother. When Evgeniy was alive, he tried not to watch these films. According to the aircraft designer, the screen characters of the People's Artist of the USSR did not resemble him at all. Nikolai Pavlovich considered his relative a kind-hearted person who was always ready to shelter homeless animals. Taking advantage of this, many people threw pets at him. In addition, Evgeny Leonov was crazy about his family and did everything for his loved ones.
Nikolai Pavlovich's last meeting with famous actor took place two days before his death. At the end of January 1994, the brothers were walking around Moscow. Then Evgeniy complained several times to Nikolai that he was suffocating. Soon famous artist died due to a blood clot. The movie star was buried at the Novodevichy churchyard.
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Nikolai Pavlovich Leonov is 87. He is a design engineer by profession, and worked for many years at the Tupolev Bureau. Now retired, he sits at his dacha in Mikhnevo.
- No, Zhenya and I are not alike at all. I’m thin, like my father, and my brother looks a lot like our mother - she was plump, with a sense of humor, and Zhenya passed this on.
— Nikolai Pavlovich, how do you remember your brother as a child?
— We grew up in a house on Bolshaya Vasilievskaya Street, just opposite the current House of Cinema. The yard was a box, and there we played football and fought. Brother, if he got into a fight with someone, I stood up for him. He always fought until first blood, especially with one redhead. But he was older and stronger than Zhenya, so I had to finish the fight. In general, they fought street to street, but Zhenya was clumsy and one day he didn’t run away on time and ended up in the police.
— When did his artistic abilities appear?
- Back at school: we studied in the 26th - then Soviet district. He studied normally, one might say well, and took part in amateur performances. Someone noticed that he had a talent for all sorts of funny things, but then neither his parents nor Zhenya himself attached any importance to this. And then the war broke out. Our father worked as a design engineer at military plant No. 32. And on that day, when it was announced that there was war, he came home from work and said: “We are recruiting workers for our plant. Get ready there." And we all took shape: I became an apprentice designer, my mother became a tool maker (before the war she was a housewife and devoted her life to our upbringing), and Zhenya went to study to become a turner.
Zhenya Leonov in his youth.
When the Germans approached Moscow, they decided to evacuate the plant to Kirov. My parents and I arrived at the Belorussky station at the appointed hour and looked to see that we had to travel in a freight train that our mother, and our father too, could not get into. Zhenya and I began to think about what to do. Zhenya says: “Do we need to go to Kirov?” And we approached our parents and said that we didn’t want to go. And without thinking twice, they agreed with us, and we all returned home together. We were sure that Moscow would not be surrendered. A week later, an announcement appeared at the plant: “Whoever hasn’t left for Kirov, come to the plant, work is resuming.” But less than two years had passed before my brother entered an aviation technical school and was preparing to become a designer.
- So you knew something about technology? Did you understand?
“I understood technology, but I couldn’t do anything with my hands.” He had cars, so I sent my guys to him to fix them.
— At what point did the transition from technology to beauty take place? Although aviation is wonderful.
— Aviation is wonderful. Exactly. It was like this: our mother had brother Nikolai Ilyich Rodionov, he was involved in art. One day he came to us and suddenly said: “Zhen, it’s not your business to stand at the drawing board. Recruitment is underway for the studio Bolshoi Theater. This is definitely the place for you."
-Aren't you confusing anything? Precisely under the Bolshoi? Did Evgeny Pavlovich sing? I'm not asking about dancing.
— It was under the Bolshoi at that time that there were three studios - vocal, choreographic and dramatic. He went, naturally, to the drama theater, and it was directed by none other than Andrei Goncharov (he would later head the Mayakovsky Theater, where Zhenya would play his best roles). He listened to it and took it with pleasure. There Zhenya studied for two or three years and upon graduation ended up in a theater - I don’t remember what it was called, but it was located on Sretenka. And as soon as Zhenya began to play and rehearse, a year later he was closed and everyone was told: “Look for a job yourself.”
— Your family, connected with technology and aviation, did not mind that youngest son engaged in such a frivolous matter?
- Not at all. My father never meddled in our affairs at all, and my mother reacted very normally to Zhenya’s choice. At first Zhenya was upset that he was left without work, and then he and one artist went to show at the Stanislavsky Theater on Tverskaya Street, and they were accepted. And since the theater was not far from our house, artists and Zhenya’s friends immediately began to gather in our communal apartment, where we had two rooms.
-Who was he friends with? And in general, did you know how to make friends?
— He was very friendly with Satanovsky and his wife Maya Menglet, they now live in Australia. Zhenya Shutov came to see us - don’t you remember such an artist?
- Sorry, I don’t remember. What did your brother tell you about the Stanislavsky Theater of that time?
“He wasn’t a fan of telling stories, but I realized that this was an institution where there was a lot of intrigue, where the artists were jealous of each other because they weren’t the ones playing in the plays. For example, in the same Stanislavsky Theater Zhenya played Lariosik in Bulgakov’s play “Days of the Turbins,” and the actor Kozlov very persistently applied for this role (I don’t know if he is alive). So, he told Michal Mikhalych Yanshin, the director of the theater, to his face: “This is my role, not Leonov’s.” But we must give Yanshin justice - he said: “No, Zhenya Lariosika will play.” He himself Lariosika played at the Moscow Art Theater once and told Zhenya a lot about this. In general, the intrigue slipped through, and since then Kozlov has not spoken to Zhenya. And Zhenya was very upset.
At one performance, his heart somehow began to hurt. The doctors said that I needed to go to the hospital. He lay down, and when I came to him, I asked: “Zhen, your heart hasn’t bothered you before. What's happened?" - “Yes, I’m worried.” But he didn’t say what he was worried about. I didn't like to complain. Only after this incident, this is what happened: while he was in the hospital, no one from the theater ever came to see him. And Zhenya then made a decision - he submitted his resignation.
- Are you offended? Was he touchy?
- Touchy, but easy-going. And when they got wind in Moscow that he was leaving, the director of the Mayakovsky Theater immediately ran to him and began calling him to his place.
— Evgeniy Pavlovich quickly began acting in films and became popular as a comic artist. Has fame changed his character? How did he move the “copper pipes”?
- Believe it or not...
— You speak directly with a quote from my favorite painting “Striped Flight.”
- Let me agree - I haven’t changed a bit. And about “Striped Flight”, I’ll tell you this: he filmed all the scenes himself.
“I’m sorry, Nikolai Pavlovich, I don’t understand this.” Why did the artist take such a risk - after all, there were predators nearby?
“He didn’t refuse to act himself. And when he was lying in the bathroom, and when he was sitting in the cage. By the way, when he was in the cage and the tigers were walking outside, they did not pay any attention to him. And then the director, or maybe someone from the group, threw a pig into the cage. The piglet squealed, and the predators rushed to the cage.
Mom - Anna.
- What a horror! What is your favorite picture with your brother?
- You know, I’m into comedies complicated attitude. I watched Zhenya play once, and that was it. Only later, when he died, did I begin to reconsider. You see, he usually played people who he himself had never been.
-What was he like?
- Which one? I won’t say that right away. Probably kind. They always had dogs with Wanda. And many people took advantage of this - they dropped puppies right at their apartment or dacha. And he never threw them away, he took them for himself or used them. Do you know how he met Wanda? The Stanislavsky Theater was on tour in Sverdlovsk. And then three men were walking down the street and saw beautiful girl. Zhenya invited her to the theater. And when he returned to Moscow, he called and simply said: “Wanda, come to Moscow.” And she arrived.
— Did everything happen so quickly?
- Yes, so quickly. Wanda began to live with us: I was with my parents in one room, she and Zhenya were in another. And then Andryushka was born. So you asked what he was like, but I couldn’t answer directly. Now I will say: very caring husband and father. He loved his Andryushka so much - he even wrote a book for him.
He helped everyone - if anyone in the theater needed an apartment, they sent him to Luzhkov. For those who need doctors, he too.
- Of course, popularity.
- Do you know how he got this popularity? I witnessed such a case. We are walking down the street with Zhenya, and a drunken-looking man approaches us at the store and unceremoniously says this to his brother: “Zhenya, give me a ruble.” “Screw you,” says Zhenya. And the man got angry: “I know where your car is.” And indeed, after some time we discovered a hole in his Volga.
People who watch movies think that he only played funny roles. And what wonderful roles he had in the theater! At the Theater. He played Mayakovsky Vanyushin in the play “Vanyushin’s Children” so that people in the audience cried, not embarrassed by tears.
- Do you remember your last meeting with him?
- Certainly. This was two days before Zhenya’s death. I came to him and we went for a walk with the dog. We went along the same route - the yard, the school, Frunzenskaya Street. Zhenya says: “Wait, I’m suffocating.” We stood there for five minutes. Let's go again. And again he: “I’m suffocating.” So we went. You see, he was very suspicious. This especially intensified after his clinical death in Germany, after heart surgery. They met a doctor in the Baltics, and she, apparently without thinking, told him: “After such an operation, Evgeniy Pavlovich, people don’t live more than five years.” He remembered it so well that, it seems to me, he lived as if under the sword of Damocles. The most interesting thing is that this is what happened: it was five years later that he died.
I remember how Andryusha called me that day: “Uncle Kolya, come, dad has died.” I was still driving a car then, and I immediately drove off. I entered the apartment. I see: two stools, a board, and my Zhenya is lying on the board. Still warm. So I never found him.
— Today Evgeniy Pavlovich is 85, which he did not live to see. Did he like to celebrate birthdays?
- He was calm. I remember once he called me to one birthday and said: “There will be a football player Dobrovolsky.” And we are both passionate Dynamo fans. I came, I see him sitting like this modest guy. Well, we drank. Noted - that's all. Maybe he celebrated in the theater, but always without noise.
You ask: what is the most valuable thing about my brother? Love for family. He loved her so much, did more for her than he could, he laid down his life for her.
Alexander Sternin: “LEONOV HIMSELF IS CHEKHOV’S HERO”
Today is Evgeny Leonov's birthday. 85 years old. What was this great artist? Photos answer this question best. “MK” leafed through the album of theater photographer Alexander STERNIN.
I took this portrait for the audience foyer. Even before Evgeniy Pavlovich’s illness, he was, of course, different. “You look a lot like my father,” I told him. “And I’m a dad to many people,” he joked. He generally had a very sly mood, a cunning eye, and that’s how he turned out. At first I was embarrassed that he was wearing a denim jacket. It must be said that he was very fond of denim clothes and was, if not a dandy, then a man who knew a lot about clothes. In general, he attached importance to clothing.
“Pominalka” (“Funeral prayer.” - Note auto), a rehearsal, but a special one - the first rehearsal of Evgeny Pavlovich after his return from Germany. And to be honest, from the other world. In Germany, as you know, he ended up in the hospital, was in a coma, but still returned. On stage, when he appeared, I noticed that he was different, he had changed. He behaved as if he had not yet gotten used to his return to life. His movements became more economical, or perhaps he no longer danced, but let everything pass through the text. When his wife Wanda told him: “Zhenya, you should take care of yourself,” he replied: “Wanda, don’t interfere, I feel how I should behave.”
“Optimistic Tragedy” with an amazing cast: Nikolai Karachentsov, Alexander Abdulov and Evgeniy Leonov as Siply. I (and not only me) was struck by the contrast then, and it was especially noticeable in the photographs - Siply seems so kind, wearing glasses, but in reality scary man. It was not without reason that Mark Zakharov took Evgeny Pavlovich for this role. After all, from a young age he played such slippery, nasty characters in films. Then he became a positive comedian. And here is his Siply next to ball lightning - Kolya Karachentsov. Very much! In the photograph, the scene where Siply and Alexei decide the fate of the White Guard officers was played by Yankovsky and Zbruev.
Performance "Dictatorship of Conscience". In the foreground is Leonov Jr., slightly away from his father. Interesting thing: the more I watch Andrey, the more I understand how internally (not even externally) he is like his father. He is kind good man. And the comic gift was passed on to him.
They had two joint performances - “The Thief” and “Dictatorship of Conscience”. As Wanda, Evgeniy Pavlovich’s wife, said, he didn’t seem to mind that his son would be an artist, but he didn’t help either. When Andrei entered the theater school, he left Moscow altogether: he decided if he would enroll, he would enroll, if he did not enroll, he would not enroll. And all the help was that he asked a teacher from the theater school to draw up a program for Andrey.
I will never forget his role in “Two Women” (Vladimir Mirzoev’s play is no longer staged at Lenkom). Andrey played the neighbor and perfectly conveyed the inner infantilism of his hero. So touching, with a ridiculous, childish gait...
And this is “Ivanov” - an amazing performance that surprised Moscow, first of all by Ivanov himself - Mark Zakharov appointed Leonov. Critics, I remember, were still arguing: some liked him, others categorically did not accept him and believed that this was speculation on the actor’s texture. But time and life have shown that Evgeny Pavlovich himself is a Chekhov hero. He loved this performance very much, but at first he had great doubts and said that Mark Anatolyevich was taking a risk by appointing him to this role.
He walked to the theater with his peculiar gait. All in himself, did not smile, about such a person they would say: “Buka.” He didn’t like it when people came up to him and started talking to him. He was not noisy, did not joke in public. Laconic, just silent. Here is Sasha Abdulov, he did not shut up for a minute, and Leonov, if he speaks, it cannot be shorter.
The kneeling scene is the finale of “Funeral Prayer.” An amazing photo - almost no one was left alive. First Peltzer died: Tatyana Ivanovna was incomparable in the role of Bertha. Behind her, Sasha Abdulov kept snapping his fingers in front of her face: “Concentrate, Mom.” Seva Larionov, who played Leizer Wolf, didn’t either. What else is remarkable about this photo? I remember I filmed the scene and went backstage, and there stood Oleg Yankovsky, who came to watch the performance after the break. And at that moment, an excited Sasha Abdulov jumped off the stage. I saw Yankovsky: “Well, this is not Lukich for you to play,” he said and ran off to bow. He was referring to the play “Revolutionary Etude”, where Yankovsky played Lenin.
On the last day of his life, he got ready earlier than usual.
- Zhenya, why are you so early? - Wanda asked.
- Yes, Andryusha will come.
But Andryusha, the son, did not have time to arrive. Evgeny Pavlovich began to get dressed: “We have to go now,” he said. He managed to put on his jacket, and it seemed to his wife that his leg got tangled in his trouser leg. And he was already losing consciousness. Fell. Wanda screamed. But I didn’t hurt myself too much, because before that she had rolled up the carpet and prepared it for dry cleaning. This carpet was cushioned.
That evening, none of the spectators returned their tickets. Everyone, without saying a word, quietly went to the church next to Lenkom, bought candles and stood for a long time near the theater.
Fast news today
Nikolai Pavlovich felt bad when he went to the store
For many years Leonov worked at the Tupolev Design Bureau
Nikolai Leonov was only a couple of years older than his famous brother - he would have turned 93 in March. He did not become a great actor, like Zhenya or his nephew Andryushka (Andrei Leonov is an Honored Artist of the Russian Federation, plays in theater and cinema - but just “dad” from “ Daddy's girls», — Auto.). Nikolai Pavlovich - engineer. But perhaps now you and I are flying on planes that he once designed - for many years Leonov worked at the Tupolev Design Bureau.
On January 10, his beloved wife Nina went to the store. He got dressed and followed her out to meet her; Nina’s bags are always heavy. He took a couple of steps and fell. In the entrance, between the doors.
Anastasia Leonova, the wife of “Andryushka’s nephew,” recalls:
“A neighbor saw Nikolai Pavlovich - he was still breathing. She ran for ammonia. He inhaled it a couple of times and that’s it... The doctors said it was the heart. Although Nikolai Pavlovich was strong and cheerful, he never complained about his health. True, in lately I definitely felt something. They say that you somehow feel the approach of death... Here he is. Especially in the coming year. He didn’t leave his wife’s side, as if he wanted to stay together as long as possible.
Nikolai Pavlovich Leonov will be buried on January 13 at the Novodevichy cemetery next to younger brother, whom he outlived by 23 years. " Komsomolskaya Pravda» expresses sincere condolences to all his loved ones.