Actors are representatives of a brutal profession. Not all of them manage to play the main roles. Astafyev Yuri Grigoryevich - one of those who went their own way in the cinema quietly, imperceptibly. Hardly a modern viewer can name the paintings in which he was involved. Meanwhile, Yuri Astafiev is an actor of rare talent and a wide range.
short biography
Astafyev Yuri Grigoryevich was born in 1949 in Dushanbe. He received a theater education in Yaroslavl. For several years he worked in the Smolensk Theater. Then he moved to Moscow, where in the production of a Shakespearean play, director Mark Zakharov drew attention to him. Yuri Astafyev worked until the end of his days, or rather lived, on the Lenkom stage. In the movie, he played only nine roles. Among them - not a single star. Astafyev Yuri Grigoryevich passed away in 1990. Buried in Moscow.
Is this all that can be said about such a wonderful actor as Yuri Astafyev?
A family
The wife of the hero of this article is an actress of the theater named after Vakhtangov Lidia Konstantinova. Known for the films "Reference Point" and "In Moscow, passing …". In addition to these pictures in the filmography of the actress 15 works.
Astafyev did not belong to those bright and shocking figures about whom legends were composed. He was a man not modestly modest. Once, when he was seeing off his wife and son at the station, one of the fellow travelers Konstantinova mistook him for a taxi driver. The actor not only did not get indignant, but even played along with the erring passenger, naturally playing the role of driver.
And what did Yuri Astafyev remember to his colleagues and fans?
In the role of Gagarin
Astafyev Yuri Grigoryevich was a diverse actor. But when the young artist after graduating from the Yaroslavl school fell into the troupe of the Smolensk theater, the main director saw in him the performer of the role of the first cosmonaut, the pride of the entire Soviet people. Astafyev had a Gagarin smile. In the image of his great namesake, he went on stage for two years.
Cruel Intentions
For more than a quarter century, this performance was on the stage of the Lenkom Theater. A simple story about Nikita, Kai, Terenty, as well as a charming and sweet girl named Nelya in an amazing way aroused the undying interest of the audience. Critics wondered: what is the success of the play? And the popularity of the production was not in the plot, but in the talent of the actors and the director. Astafyev played Kaya in this performance. For several years, this role was the most striking in his repertoire.
Other theater roles
Astafyev was also involved in the performances of "Thief", "Romulus the Great", "Star and Death of Joaquin Murieta." But the main theatrical role was the one he played just a year before his death.
For the production of the play “Cemetery Angel”, Yuri Astafyev did what the actors never did. He was engaged in the search for actors, getting equipment. Astafyev added to his role poetic compositions from the works of Mayakovsky, Blok, Pasternak. It was his performance. But censorship has not missed the play for too long. Astafyev, a man who was distinguished by an extremely serious approach to his business, had exactly the first heart attack in this period.
Filmography
In 1972, Astafyev played a major role in the film based on the novel of the same name by Mark Twain “The Prince and the Pauper”.
Then there were several minor films. In 1987, the actor was invited to a major role in the film "Looking for a Friend of Life." Astafyev played in the film "In the surf", voiced one of the characters in the animated film "The Beast." The role in the film "Thunderstorm over Russia" was the last for him. During filming, the actor had a heart attack. This happened in November 1990. The film was released a year later. The hero Astafyeva spoke in this film in the voice of Mikhail Selyutin.
This article sets out the creative path of an actor who has gone unnoticed. Fans of domestic cinema sometimes even now, more than a quarter of a century after his death, are surprised to notice a modest gravestone in the Nikolo-Arkhangelskoye cemetery. Is this the same actor who played in "Surf Strip", "Thunderstorm over Russia"?
The tragedy is that he left early, not having time to realize himself in the cinema. And also in the fact that even talented roles in soulful films have remained almost unnoticed. It is worth saying a few words about one of them.
