Biography of Oleg Strizhenov: by chance ...

Biography of Oleg Strizhenov begins in the city of Blagoveshchensk on the Amur River, in a military family. When Oleg was still small, the family moved to the capital. At the time of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, Oleg was still a schoolboy. As his friends recall, he was very gifted: he studied well, beautifully drew and skillfully read prose, dreamed of becoming an artist.

Biography of Oleg Strizhenov could become a biography of the painter, but in 1949 his brother decided to become an actor and persuaded Oleg to follow his example. Strizhenov went to study at the Shchukin Theater School and completed his studies in 1953.

Then Oleg in distribution falls into the theater of Russian drama in Tallinn. There he becomes the star of the play "Without Guilt, Guilty" by A. Ostrovsky, playing the main role of Neznamov. And yet the biography of Oleg Strizhenov did not become only theatrical - a chance interfered in his life.

In 1952, filmmaker Alexander Fajtsimmer decided to film a painting based on the novel by E. Voynich "The Gadfly". The main role required a young cute actor, whom the director began to look for. His assistants went to theatrical universities in the country in search of a suitable candidate, and in Moscow on the "Shchukinsky" play "Romeo and Juliet" the assistant director saw Strizhenov performing one of the main roles in the play. However, Faincimmer himself, seeing the photo of a young actor, remained indifferent to him.

But fate granted the actor a second chance, the film was postponed for a year, and already in the Tallinn Theater as Neznamov Strizhenova, the second director of the Gadfly, Akimov, who was in Tallinn passing through, remarks. Interested in this coincidence of opinions of his assistants, Faintsimmer immediately invited Strizhenov to test the main role of Arthur, where he was confirmed.

Actor Oleg Strizhenov, whose biography without the film "Gadfly" would have been quite different, became famous throughout the Soviet Union. On the set of this film, he meets his first wife - the performer of the role of Gemma - Marianne. Soon they had a daughter, Natasha.

Then came the main role in the adaptation of Jack London's story "The Mexican" directed by Vladimir Kaplunovsky and the role of Govoruhi-Otroka in the painting "In the 41st" by Grigory Chukhrai . The painting was a tremendous success and won a prize at the Cannes Film Festival. So the biography of Oleg Strizhenov became the story of the life of an idol of millions of spectators. He was the most filmed actor of his time.

Then there were the works in the films:

• In 58 - in Nicholas Rosantsev in the tape "In your hands, life" (sapper Dudin);
• In the 60s - "Duel", "Three Sisters", cosmonaut in "Roll-call", Tchaikovsky in the film "The Third Youth", robot and scientist in the film "His name was Robert."

It is worth noting that Strizhenov could have had much more roles in the movie, if not for his character: he often clashed with the directors, violated the regime and set high demands. So he refused Bolkonsky's proposed role in War and Peace.

In 1967, the actor returned to the theater, enrolled in the Moscow Art Theater Company. Oleg Strizhenov, whose biography was soon supplemented with new data on his personal life, played here the role of Mortimer in Schiller's play "Maria Stewart", Trepleva in the play "Seagull" and other roles. Here he met Love, who became his second wife and gave birth to his son Sasha.

In 1969 O. Strizhenov became a People's Artist of the RSFSR, in 88 - People's Artist of the USSR.

In the 70s, the actor appeared in several films:

• "Land, on demand" Dorman (the role of scout L. Manevich).
• The film by V. Motyl "The Star of Captivating Happiness" (in the role of Volkonsky);
• Tape P. Todorovsky "The Last Sacrifice" (Dulchin). On set, the actor meets his new love - actress Lionel Pyriev.

The rise of Strizhenov's creative activity continued until the mid-1980s. Today, the great actor does not act in films, but devotes all his spare time to painting. The last picture in which he starred was "In my place" in 2000.