Sergei Bondarchuk

Sergei Fyodorovich BondarchukTemplate:Efn (25 September 1920Template:Spaced ndash20 October 1994) was a Soviet and Russian actor and filmmaker of Ukrainian origin who was one of the leading figures of Soviet cinema in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.<ref name="rollberg">Template:Cite book</ref> He is known for his sweeping period dramas, including War and Peace (1966-67), his internationally acclaimed four-part film adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's novel, and for Waterloo (1970), a Napoleonic War epic.

Bondarchuk's work won him numerous international accolades. War and Peace won Bondarchuk, who both directed and acted in the leading role of Pierre Bezukhov, the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film (1968), and the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1968.<ref name="Oscars1969">Template:Cite web</ref> He was made both a Hero of Socialist Labour and a People's Artist of the USSR.

Early life and education

Sergei Fyodorovich Bondarchuk was born in the village of Bilozerka (now in Kherson Raion, Kherson Oblast, Ukraine) on September 25, 1920, in the family of Orthodox Christian peasants Fyodor Petrovich and Tatyana Vasilievna (nee Tokarenko). His paternal grandfather, Pyotr Konstantinovich Bondarchuk, was ethnically Bulgarian, the grandmother, Matryona Fyodorovna Sirvulya, was Serbian. At the time of his birth, his father was serving in the Red Army. His mother, being a deeply religious person, named her son in honor of Sergius of Radonezh and baptized him in the Annunciation Monastery near Kherson.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Bondarchuk spent his childhood in the cities of Yeysk and Taganrog, graduating from the Taganrog School Number 4 in 1938. His first performance as an actor was onstage of the Taganrog Theatre in 1937. He continued studies at the Rostov College of Arts (1938–1942).

After his studies, he was conscripted into the Red Army during World War II against Nazi Germany. Bondarchuk took part in the initial stage of the Battle of the Caucasus, then was reorganized into the Don Front. From October 19 to December 8, 1942, he fought at Stalingrad, took part in Operation Uranus. He was decorated for his courage in battle and was discharged with honors in 1946.

Film career

In 1948, Bondarchuk made his film debut in The Young Guard directed by Sergei Gerasimov. In 1952, he was awarded the Stalin Prize for the leading role in the film Taras Shevchenko; that same year, at the age of 32, he became the youngest Soviet actor ever to receive the top dignity of People's Artist of the USSR. In 1955, he starred with his future wife Irina Skobtseva in Othello. In 1959, he made his directorial debut with Fate of a Man, based on Mikhail Sholokhov's short story of the same name. The film was internationally acclaimed upon its release.<ref name="rollberg"/>

Bondarchuk earned international fame with his epic production of Tolstoy's War and Peace, which on original release totaled more than seven hours of cinema, took six years to complete and won Bondarchuk, who both directed and acted the role of Pierre Bezukhov, the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1968.<ref name="Oscars1969"/> The year after his victory, in 1969, he starred as Martin with Yul Brynner and Orson Welles in the Yugoslav epic Battle of Neretva, directed by Veljko Bulajic.

His first English-language film was 1970's Waterloo, produced by Dino De Laurentiis. In Europe, the critics called it remarkable for the epic battle scenes and details in capturing the Napoleonic era. However, it failed at the box office. To prevent running into hurdles with the Soviet governmentTemplate:Citationneeded, he joined the Communist Party in 1970. A year later, he was appointed president of the Union of Cinematographers, while he continued his directing career, steering toward political films, directing Boris Godunov before being dismissed from the semi-governmental post in 1986.

In 1973, he was the president of the Jury at the 8th Moscow International Film Festival.<ref name="Moscow1973">Template:Cite web</ref>

In 1975, he directed They Fought for Their Country, which was entered into the 1975 Cannes Film Festival.<ref name="1975-cannes.com">Template:Cite web</ref> In 1982 came Red Bells, based on John Reed's Ten Days That Shook the World (which serves as the film's alternative title).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> His 1986 film Boris Godunov was also screened at Cannes that year.<ref name="1986-cannes.com">Template:Cite web</ref>

Bondarchuk's last feature film, and his second in English, was an epic TV version of Sholokhov's And Quiet Flows the Don, starring Rupert Everett. It was filmed in 1992–1993 but premiered on Channel One only in November 2006,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> as there were disputes concerning the Italian studio that was co-producing over unfavorable clauses in his contract, which left the tapes locked in a bank vault. After his death, the film remained locked for several years until it was recovered and released in 2006.

In 1995, he was posthumously awarded an honorable diploma for contribution to cinema at the 19th Moscow International Film Festival.<ref name="Moscow1995">Template:Cite web</ref>

Personal life

He first married Inna Makarova, mother to his oldest daughter, Natalya Bondarchuk (born 1950). Natalya is remembered for her role in Andrei Tarkovsky's 1972 film Solaris.

He met his second wife Irina Skobtseva when both were appearing in Othello, and they married in 1959. They had two children, actress Yelena Bondarchuk (1962–2009) and son Fyodor (born 1967), (who starred with Bondarchuk in Boris Godunov), a popular Russian film actor and director best known for his box-office hit The 9th Company (2005).

Death

Bondarchuk died on October 20, 1994, at the age of 74 in Moscow from myocardial infarction. Before his death, he was confessed and given communion by Hieromonk Tikhon (Shevkunov). He is buried in the Novodevichy Cemetery, Moscow. In June 2007, his wife Irina Skobtseva unveiled a bronze statue of Bondarchuk in his native Yeysk.

Honours and awards

• Stalin Prize, 1st class (1952) – for the main role in the film Taras Shevchenko and the role of Sergei Tutarinov in Knight of the Golden Star (1950)
• Lenin Prize (1960) – for the film The Destiny of Man (1959)
• Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film (1968) – for the film War and Peace
• Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film (1968) – for the film War and Peace
• Vasilyev Brothers State Prize of the RSFSR (1977) – for the film They Fought for Their Country
• Hero of Socialist Labour (1980)
• Shevchenko National Prize (1982) – for his performance as Cardinal Montanelli in the film The Gadfly (1980)
• USSR State Prize (1984) – for the film Red Bells
• Order of Lenin, twice
• Order of the October Revolution
• Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd class
• Order of the Red Banner of Labour
• Honored Artist of the RSFSR (1951)
• People's Artist of the USSR (1952)

Filmography

Actor

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1948	The Young Guard	Comrade Valko
1948	Tale of a True Man	Gvozdev	Uncredited
1949	Michurin	Uralets	Uncredited
1949	Glorious Path	secretary of the city committee	Uncredited
1951	Dream of a Cossack	Sergei Tutarinov
1951	Taras Shevchenko	Taras Shevchenko
1953	Admiral Ushakov	Tikhon Alekseyevich Prokofiev
1953	Attack from the Sea
1954	Least We Forget	writer Harmash
1955	The Grasshopper	Dr. Osip Stepanovich Dymov
1955	Unfinished Story	Yuri Sergeyevich Yershov
1955	Othello	Othello
1956	Ivan Franko	Ivan Franko
1957	Two from the Same Block	Azis
1958	Soldiers Went	Matvei Krylov
1959	Fate of a Man	Andrei Sokolov	Grand Prix at the 1st Moscow International Film Festival<ref name="Moscow1959">Template:Cite web</ref>
1960	Era notte a Roma	Fyodor Aleksandrovic Nazukov
1960	Splendid Days	Korostelyov
1965–1967	War and Peace	Pierre Bezukhov	Grand Prix at the 4th Moscow International Film Festival<ref name="Moscow1965">Template:Cite web</ref>
1969	Battle of Neretva	Martin
1969	Golden Gates		background voice
1970	Uncle Vanya	Dr. Mikhail Lvovich Astrov
1973	Silence of Doctor Evans	Martin Evans
1974	Such tall mountains	Ivan Stepanov
1975	They Fought for Their Country	Ivan Zvyagintsev
1975	Take Aim	Igor Kurchatov
1976	Vrhovi Zelengore	professor
1977	Poshekhon Oldie		background voice
1978	The Steppe	Emelyan
1978	Velvet Season	Mister Bradbury
1979	Father Sergius	Father Sergius
1979	Profession: film actor		cameo
1979	Take off	narrator	background voice
1980	The Gadfly	Cardinal Montanelli	TV movie
1985	Bambi's Childhood	narrator
1986	Boris Godunov	Boris Godunov
1988	Incident in Airport	Major-General Tokarenko
1990	Battle of Three Kings	Selim
1992	Storm over Rus	boyar Morozov
2000	Sergei Bondarchuk	himself	Documentary

Director

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1959	Fate of a Man	Andrei Sokolov
1966–1967	War and Peace	Pierre Bezukhov
1970	Waterloo
1975	They Fought for Their Country	Zvyagintsev
1977	The Steppe	Yemelian
1982	Red Bells
1983	Red Bells II
1986	Boris Godunov	Boris Godunov
2006	Template:Interlanguage link		Filmed between 1992 and 1993

Writer

• Battle of Sutjeska (1973)

External links

• Template:IMDb name
• Template:Find a Grave
• War and Peace of Sergei Bondarchuk