Leonid Baratz: biography, filmography and personal life of the actor (photo)

Many TV viewers like Russian comedies for their subtle humor, the ability to unintentionally, but quite accurately ridicule the shortcomings of modern man, identify problem areas and, through laughter, make a person think about pressing problems. This genre of cinematography is not only able to relax the tired person, but also to prompt the way out of some difficult situations.

Many viewers probably remember Russian comedies called "Radio Day", "Election Day", "What Men Talk About" and "What Other Men Talk About". All these films were filmed under the guidance of a humorous collective, called "Quartet I". One of the participants of this project is the actor Leonid Baratz. About his childhood years and the formation of a career and will be discussed in this article.

Childhood: jazz as a passion

On the eighteenth of July 1971 Leonid Baratz was born in the Ukrainian city called Odessa. The biography of the boy begins his narration in the Jewish family. Father - Grigory Isaakovich - worked as a journalist. Mom - Zoya Izrailevna - devoted her life to teaching children in kindergarten. Leonid received his name in honor of his great-grandfather. Originally, my parents wanted to name my son Alexei. It so happened that neither the boy's surroundings nor his relatives used the real name. Everyone just called the younger Baratz Leshka.

The grandmother of the hero worked as an accompanist in the opera house. From the very childhood she tried to instill in her grandson the love of art. Grandmother led Leonid to the ballet, to various theatrical performances and to the opera. After a while, Leonid Baratz entered the music school in the piano class. Initially, all lessons caused a restless boy only terrible dullness. Until one day the teacher did not reveal the world of jazz before him. Since then, music has become an integral part of the life of the future actor.

School. Friendship. Forever

At the age of seven the boy goes to school. Rostislav Hait (also a member of the Quartet I) was put on one of the parties with him. It was from that moment that a strong male friendship began. Regardless of strict parents and constant control, Leonid Baratz was famous in school as an inveterate hooligan and mischief-maker. Slava Hayit was his first and constant helper in all his wicked affairs. In addition to antics, this duo also engaged in organizational activities. No "cabbage", not a party, not a single event could not do without intelligent and talented students. Both Leonid Baratz and Rostislav Hayit entertained the audience as best they could: there were skits and musical numbers and jokes.

Continuing the journey started together

Ten years later, friends left the scenes of a friendly educational institution. Before them there was a question of a choice: where to act. It was not even a question of separating and studying in different institutions. In the end, the choice fell on GITIS (now known as RATI). Gathering bags and saying goodbye to relatives, the young men set out to conquer the capital. And, surprisingly, everyone did it. It was 1991 year.

Within the walls of the educational institution, the friendship of the two schoolchildren of yesterday was further strengthened. It was here that the foundation was laid for the creation of the now popular creative association called "Quartet I". At the last training course, Leonid Baratz and Rostislav Hayit got acquainted with Sergey Petreykov, Alexander Demidov and Kamil Larin. Later they became irreplaceable links of the humorous project.

The first scenario. First success

Working on the idea of creating their own theater, five friends decided to invite all their students to participate in the project. Many of them zealously supported the beginnings of Baratz, Hait, Larinov and Demidov. The first performance of the Comic Theater "Quartet I" was held in 1993. In the project entitled "This is just stamps", some of the students' billets were shown. However the greatest popularity to this theater was brought by statement under the name "Day of Radio". In 2001 Leonid wrote the script of this performance. After a while, the premiere of the production took place. The recreation center named after Zuev, where the first show of the performance was held, was packed to capacity. The production lasted more than two hours. However, even a long performance did not stop spectators from fully enjoying the bright show and the talented play of the cast. As an arrangement some compositions of the musical collective "Accident" were used. It is noteworthy that the guys performed on stage under their own names: Slava - Rostislav Hayit, Sasha - Alexander Demidov, Kamil - Kamil Larinov, Lesha - Leonid Baratz. The growing popularity of the production prompted the quartet to write a script for the new project.

Continuing successfully taken start

In 2002, the continuation of the first part of the play, entitled "Election Day", was published. This time the script was worked by Sergei Petraikov, Rostislav Hayit and Leonid Baratz. The filmography of the artists was soon supplemented with the first recordings. In 2007 and 2008, screened comedies are screened for already written for the theater scenarios "Radio Day" and "Election Day". Talented actors performed in these films already known roles. They were joined by Nonna Grishaeva, Maxim Vitorgan, the group "Beavers" and some other famous artists.

After a while, Leonid Baratz creates a script for a play called "Conversations of middle-aged men." The performance in the performance of the most talented guys from the theater "Quartet I" enjoys a tremendous success. In 2010, the movie "What Men Talk About" is screened for, the script for which was the previous production. In addition to the already well-known actors in the film, Nina Ruslanova, Oleg Menshikov, Andrei Makarevich, Zhanna Friske and others took part.

Last works

In 2011, another amazing comedy entitled "What Other Men Talk About" is released, in which Leonid Baratz is still being removed. Filmography of the actors of the theater "Quartet I" is replenished with one more recording. This film has become even more popular than the previous part. Currently, the team is working on the continuation of the saga of four friends.

In 2010, the premiere of the play "Faster than rabbits" was held on the stage of the theater. Like past work, this production pleased its participants with deafening success. On January 1, 2014, a film was produced on big screens, based on this performance.

Other facts from biography

In addition to working in the theater, Leonid Baratz participates in the work on music videos of various groups. He starred with the band "Combination", Svetlana Roerich, "Bravo", etc. His acting career began with the television series "Money", which was shown on television in 2002.

Personal life of the actor

In the first film "Quartet I" under the title "Radio Day" is played by the graceful Anna Kasatkina. She is the wife of Leonid Baratz. They met at the institute in their first year and already three years later they bound themselves by marriage. Anna Kasatkina took an active part in the creation and formation of the theater "Quartet I". It is noteworthy that a woman is several years older than her husband. However, this does not in any way affect the happy family life of the couple. The first daughter Elizabeth was born in 1994 - a year after the wedding of Anna and Leonid. She tried herself in journalism, but she did not like this field. Currently, Lisa is studying abroad in a private institution. In 2003, a second daughter, Eva, was born. Despite her young age, she had already made her debut in the film "Faster than rabbits". Leonid's wife is engaged in the upbringing of children and sometimes she starred in films with her husband.