He was called the Soviet Alain Delon. The tall blonde guy became the idol of many girls in the 60s-70s. But what was his path to the cinema, and how did the personal life of such a handsome actor, Evgeny Zharikov, turn out?
Family and childhood
He was born in 1941 in the city of Moscow in the family of a writer and a school teacher. Since his childhood fell into heavy wartime, he had to live in Zagorsk with his grandfather and grandmother in his early years, because apart from him, there were five more children in the Zharikov family. But this did not stop him from becoming a strong and independent kid. He was a very athletic boy, and still knew how to do everything about the housework.
Educated and intelligent parents instilled in his son a love of beauty, and partly due to their influence he was drawn to the cinema. Although there is another version: a girl studied at VGIK who was liked by the young wife. Anyway, it was at this university that Evgeny Zharikov decided to submit documents. His biography could have developed in a completely different way, but a vocation is a vocation.
First steps to the cinema
The young student got into the workshop of Tamara Makarova and Sergey Gerasimov. Immediately, in his first year, he showed that he had chosen the right path of life, making his debut in the tape of Yulia Raizman "And if it's love" in the role of Sergei. The success did not go unnoticed, and the next year he also safely played in the film by Andrei Tarkovsky, "Ivan's childhood." This time it was the role of Lieutenant Galtsev.
In the wake of success, director Henrikh Hovhannisyan invites Eugene to his romantic comedy “Three Plus Two, ” where he got the role of a charming diplomat Vadim. This film is still the hallmark of the actor. By the way, Zharikov had the idea to remove the continuation of the picture, as if the heroes met again many years later, however, unfortunately, he failed to realize his plans.
After graduation, Yevgeny Zharikov was prophesied a good career in Soviet cinema, however, at that time, to everyone’s surprise, he was leaving for the GDR by signing a contract for shooting in the series. It was called "Russian for you." Filming continued for 2 years, then Evgeny Zharikov returned to Russia, where he began working at the Moscow Theater Studio of the film actor. During the time spent outside the homeland, they did not manage to forget him, however, at first they offered secondary and episodic roles.
Popularity
On average, from 1966 to 2011, one or two films were released each year, where Evgeny Zharikov played. His biography has about 60 roles. He had no creative downtime, he was always invited to appear.
In the filmography of Zharikov there are many diverse roles, and he himself called himself a universal actor. This can be confirmed by the image of the mysterious and fabulous Lel from "The Snow Maiden", and the participation in the eponymous fantasy film adaptation of Belyaev’s book "The Seller of the Air", and the role of the surgeon Shulgin in the film "Seven Hours before the Death", and even the image of the bishop in the film "Richard the Lion Heart". True, after the film “Born of the Revolution”, where the hero of Zharikov Nikolai Kondratyev becomes a general, Evgeny was assigned the roles of the same generals, captains, commanders-in-chief, etc. He also played historical figures such as Klim Voroshilov and even Stalin.
Since 1988, Evgeny Zharikov headed the Guild of Actors of the USSR, and then the Russian Federation. This organization, as a kind of union, helped those actors who remained unemployed in the 90s.
Evgeny Zharikov (biography): personal life
Actors are not always able to create a strong family, but you can’t say the same about him. The actor Evgeny Zharikov was quite happy in his personal life. True, his biography is replete with all sorts of short novels. He was charming, and therefore hundreds of women were his desperate fans. Often he was credited with novels with his companions on the set, for example, with Natalya Kustinskaya, with whom he played in the film "Three Plus Two."
The actor was officially married twice. In his first marriage with figure skating instructor Valentina, he lived for 12 years, but divorced due to lack of children. The love of his whole life - actress Natalya Gvozdikova - he met on the set of the film "Near These Windows". He very quickly fell in love with a charming blue-eyed blonde.
Therefore, when he was offered to star in the film “Born of the Revolution, ” which later became fateful for the actor, he convinced the director to take on the role of the wife of his hero namely Natalia. Very soon, their union on the screen grew into a happy family. In 1976, the couple had their only son, Fedor.
Although in the early 2000s, a scandal erupted in the press related to the fact that Eugene had two illegitimate children. Natalia forgave her husband, and the family with dignity came out of this situation. Until now, their stellar union is considered a role model.
