Georgiy Tovstonogov (1915-1989), theatrical director: biography, creativity

Georgy Tovstonogov is a Soviet theater director, People's Artist of the USSR, Dagestan and Georgia, as well as a laureate of many awards, including Lenin and Stalin.

A family

George Tovstonogov was born in 1915 in Georgia, in the city of Tiflis. It is this city that will be the real first impetus for the future director. His father had nothing to do with the theater or acting, but the work was profitable at that time and held a rather high position. Alexander Tovstonogov worked as a railway engineer and was a respected worker of the Georgian Ministry of Railways.

But his mother, unlike his father, was a creative person all his life. Tamara Papitashvili was a real singer, officially confirmed by her diploma from the St. Petersburg Conservatory. George had a younger sister Natela, who, both in her childhood and in her adult life, being the wife of the actor Eugene Lebedeva, loved and respected her brother and always cared about him first, and then as an aunt about his sons.

Marriage unions

Becoming an adult, George Tovstonogov, whose personal life was not very special, dreamed of creating the same family as he was, but for this it was necessary to find a worthy companion of life. And from the very beginning the man decided that his wife, like himself, had to be a creative person. As a result, his first wife was a pupil of his own theater, Salom Kancheli. The marriage took place in 1943, but the family's happiness did not last long, in 1945 the couple was filed for divorce. Still, the alliance with Kancheli played a huge role in the life of the director: marriage gave him two sons - Nikolai and Alexander.

In 1958, Tovstonogov Georgy Alexandrovich decided to marry again. And again his choice fell on the actress. Together with Inna Kondratieva, the man lived 4 years and again failed to keep the family - the marriage was terminated in 1962.

Like any theatrical figure, Tovstonogov's biography is full of bright stories and moments from his life: both personal and creative. And it would be strange if the biography of the great director ended without having a continuation in his children and grandchildren.

In the footsteps of his father and grandfather, Alexander Georgievich Tovstonogov and his son Tovstonogov Georgy Aleksandrovich Jr. went. Both connected their life with the stage and became famous theater directors.

Childhood and the youth of the director

As already mentioned, George Tovstonogov was born in Tiflis. He used to go to school before his age, and at the age of 15 he finishes it. Already then the young guy of the future director unrestrainedly drags to the theater, in which his uncle worked then. But the family, and in particular the father, pushes his son quite another way of life. Not wanting to contradict relatives, Tovstonogov goes to the Tbilisi Railway Institute, where he is happily accommodated by his father - the head of one of the faculties.

But how can you do what takes away all the strength and does not bring any pleasure? Not lasting a year, Tovstonogov leaves the institute, and already in 1931 he is an actor and assistant director in the Theater of Young People's Theater of Tbilisi. The head in the person of N.Ya. Marshak immediately noted the laudable abilities of the young actor, and therefore in 1933 Georgy Tovstonogov was entrusted with staging his very first play called "Proposal" (based on the work of Anton Pavlovich Chekhov).

Study in GITIS

After the success of his performance, the director's hope is brightened for further success. In 1933, he entered GITIS, but the age for entering the institute is limited, this makes the future great actor to forge his own documents, attributing to himself 2 years. Taught in GITIS famous at the time directors and teachers of the theater AM. Lobanov and A.D. Popov. Entering the educational institution of your dreams, Tovstonogov does not leave his first theater, which put him on his feet - Theater for Theater, thanks to this, the theater again and again show new performances.

In 1937, something happened that Tovstonogov could only have dreamed about in the most horrible nightmares - because of the repression of his father, George Tovstonogov was declared the son of the enemy of the people, and therefore, from the 4th year of GITIS, the guy was expelled. After a number of senseless attempts to return to the actor's system, a real miracle happened. And they were accidentally abandoned by the words of I. Stalin, the leader of the people of that era: "The son does not answer for his father." As a result, the director is restored, and he finishes GITIS with brilliance.

Start of the director's activity

In the years 1938-1946. Tovstonogov works in the Tbilisi Drama Theater named after A.S. Griboyedov. In the same years, he noticed the People's Artist of the USSR A. Horava, which allows Georgy to take over the teaching of one of the acting groups. It is from this moment in Tovstonogov begin to recognize a professional director.

Moscow Theaters

In 1946, the director leaves his native Georgia and strives to conquer the scenes of Russian theaters. Tovstonogov comes to Moscow, where he takes over the leadership of several theaters. The zeal and constant improvement of their methods and programs for working with actors led to the fact that from 1946 to 1949 Tovstonogov George Alexandrovich, whose personal life now personified various scenes, equally successfully managed two theaters - the Central Children's and the Tourist Realist.

Leningrad Theaters

Since 1949, the director has settled in the cultural capital of Russia - Leningrad, now St. Petersburg. This year he becomes one of the directors, in 1950 - the main director of the Leningrad Lenin Komsomol Theater. In this theater, Tovstonogov finally finds a home: he works on plays and plays, helps actors in reincarnation, improves their skills - all this gave Georgy Alexandrovitch an incredible pleasure.

For his best work, Tovstonogov is awarded the Stalin and Lenin Prizes, now each of his plays is in demand not only in one city, but throughout the country.

In early 1956, George Tovstonogov - a director with a capital letter - is invited to lead the Bolshoi Drama Theater (hereinafter referred to as BDT) named after M. Gorky. From 1949 to 1956 in this theater was replaced by at least four directors. This meant one thing: the theater ceased to function without a leading person.

Bolshoy Drama Theater (BDT) them. Tovstonogov

For 6 years of work as director of the Leningrad Lenin Komsomol Theater Georgy Tovstonogov, whose personal life now consisted in constant rehearsals, won recognition not only of the public, but also of the staff of other theaters in Russia, so his leadership in one of the country's most famous theaters only strengthened Respect for people.

Not immediately agreeing, the director still headed the theater on February 13, 1956. It was clear that for the return of the status of the BDT, radical means were needed, and Tovstonogov used them. According to his instructions, more than half of the whole cast of actors were dismissed and several new actors were invited. The life of the theater was boiling again, as it was in the old days.

In the first theatrical season, four new performances were staged, each of which was warmly received by the public. Gradually, the director was able to re-inject into the actors, the theater and his audience that part of the enthusiasm that was inherent in the theater always. But the director did not stop there.

The post of director of the theater Tovstonogov occupied almost 33 years - and every year he increasingly raised his status in the eyes of not only Russia, but the whole world. As a result, the theater, which became for him a native, appropriated his name: BDT them. Tovstonogov.

A worthy successor

To continue the directing business of the Tovstonogov family, only two took up: the director's son and his grandson. And, of course, any spectator came up with the idea of comparing their handwriting. If the son chose a slightly dissimilar style, then the grandson, the full namesake of Georgy Alexandrovich, not knowing that, was extremely similar to directing the production. Unfortunately, the director's potential of the grandson of the great Tovstonogov has not been revealed. In 2012, as a young man, Georgi Tovstonogov, the youngest, was killed.

last years of life

Until his death, George Tovstonogov headed the theater, lived and breathed performances and productions.

May 23, 1989 in BDT was to pass the premiere of a new play. The chief director appointed a date and, sitting in his own car, went home ... However, he never reached his relatives. On one of the streets the car stopped. Georgiy Tovstonogov, a man who spent his whole life on stage and behind the scenes in excitement for others, a man whose creative yet untapped potential was pulled from the abyss of oblivion by the now great theater, died on the spot. And only a long memory of him as a wonderful man lives now and will always live.