Andrei Vasilievich Myagkov gained fame in 1975, after the release of "The Irony of Fate or Enjoy Your Bath". He quickly became one of the most beloved actors in the USSR. And in 2013, Vladimir Putin presented Myagkov with the Order of Friendship, an award for his many years of contribution to Russian art and culture.
Andrei Vasilievich Myagkov is a Soviet and Russian theater and film actor, a laureate of the USSR State Prize, People's Artist of the RSFSR and a writer in the detective genre. He first appeared on screens in 1965 as the dentist Chesnokov in the film "The Adventures of a Dentist." He became famous by acting in the paintings of Eldar Ryazanov.
Film critics consider Myagkov to be a comedian, but he also has dramatic roles, like Shvyrkov in The Afterword. Since 1987, Andrei Vasilievich has been working at the Moscow Art Theater named after A. P. Chekhov.
Biography
Myagkov was born in Leningrad, date of birth - July 8, 1938. His mother worked at the Leningrad Polygraphic College as a mechanical engineer, his father was a candidate of technical sciences. He worked in the same technical school as deputy. director for teaching and educational work. Over time, Andrei Vasilyevich's father moved to the Technological Institute.
Parents, and especially the father, wanted their son to follow in their footsteps. After graduating from school, Myagkov entered the Institute of Chemical Technology. When I finished my studies, I got a job at the Institute of Plastics. He would never have become an actor, if not for an accident: a teacher from the Moscow Art Theater came to an amateur performance, where the young Andrei Vasilyevich played. He was impressed by the play of Myagkov, and invited him to demonstrate the talent of the selection committee of the acting department.
Myagkov passed the entrance tests without difficulty, and then got into the courses of Vasily Markov, the legendary actor of the USSR. After graduating from the theater, Andrei Vasilievich began working at the Moscow Sovremennik Theater.
Theatre
Andrei Myagkov began to play the main roles in the Sovremennik theater almost immediately - his first role was Uncle in the play “Uncle's Dream” based on Dostoevsky. And then luck smiled on Myagkov for the second time: among the audience was Elem Klimov, a film director. He liked Andrei Vasilyevich's game so much that Klimov almost immediately suggested that Myagkov play Sergei Chesnokov in The Adventures of a Dentist.
And so it happened that almost at the same time Andrei Vasilyevich made his debut both in the theater and on movie screens. However, the first roles in cinema did not bring fame, so Myagkov continued to play in the theater. His roles were interesting:
- Baron in the drama At the Bottom;
- Rededu to Balalykin and K;
- characters from "Ordinary History" and "Bolsheviks".
In 1977, after the overwhelming success of "The Irony of Fate, or Enjoy Your Bath", Myagkov was invited to work at the Moscow Art Theater. Gorky, now renamed the Moscow Art Theater. Chekhov. Andrei Vasilievich still plays there, and earlier the troupe was headed by Oleg Tabakov. Myagkov goes on stage with Dmitry Dyuzhev, Irina Miroshnichenko, Konstantin Khabensky and other famous actors.
Moscow theater lovers will remember Andrei Vasilievich in such roles as:
- Zilov in "Duck Hunt";
- Aladin in "Mother of Pearl Zinaida";
- Repetilov in "Woe from Wit" and others.
In Chekhov's plays, Myagkov played the most vividly, and for the role of Kulygin received the Stanislavsky Prize and the Baltic House Festival Prize. In 2004, he was awarded another prestigious award - the "Seagull" prize for an acting duet with A. Pokrovskaya, with whom they played in the play "Bourgeois".
At the Moscow Art Theater Myagkov was also a director. He staged plays such as:
- "Retro" by A. Galina;
- Good Night Mom by M. Norman;
- "Autumn Charleston" A. Menchell.
Now Andrei Vasilyevich plays on the stage of the Moscow Art Theater in the production of "White Rabbit" in the role of Elwood.
Films
In 1973, Myagkov auditioned for the role of Nestor Petrovich in Big Change, already having a significant dramatic work in his resume - the role of Alyosha Karamazov in Pyryev's film The Brothers Karamazov. However, the actor was not taken to "Big Break".
In 1974, Eldar Ryazanov thinks about filming "The Irony of Fate". He wrote this play with Braginsky in 1968: it was called "Enjoy Your Bath!" and was sold out in provincial theaters. However, at "Mosfilm" the work was considered too simple and refused to shoot. And in the State Television and Radio - they accepted.
In the role of Zhenya Lukashin, Ryazanov himself first wanted to see O. Dahl, but the tests showed that the actor was not soft enough. They tried Pyotr Velyaminov, Stanislav Lyubshin and even Andrei Mironov, but in the end they all were rejected. And then one of the assistants suggested Ryazanov to try for the role of Myagkov. He doubted, knowing the serious dramatic role of Andrei Vasilyevich, but still later agreed. And, as it turned out, not in vain.
At first, they refused to release "The Irony of Fate, or Enjoy Your Bath" - they saw the propaganda of adultery and drunkenness in the film. But later, Brezhnev himself gave permission for the screening, and in 1977 this film was awarded the State Prize of the Soviet Union.
Ryazanov really enjoyed working with Myagkov. In 1977, he invited Andrei Vasilyevich to play the role of Anatoly Efremovich in "Office Romance", and then invited him to appear in the comedy "Garage" and the drama "Cruel Romance".
Myagkov played a lot of roles, but the most famous were the roles of Zhenya Lukashin and Anatoly Novoseltsev. For the first of them, Andrei Vasilyevich was awarded the State Prize of the USSR, and for the second - the State Prize of the RSFSR named after the Vasilyev brothers.
Myagkov wanted to shoot a sequel to The Irony of Fate, he offered it to Ryazanov several times, but he refused. Andrei Vasilyevich even wrote his own script and turned to Konstantin Ernst with it. The head of Channel One liked the idea. As a result, the sequel to the legendary comedy was released on the screens, but there was practically nothing from Myagkov's script in it. However, the actor still starred in the new film, but without great joy.
Personal life
With his wife, Anastasia Voznesenka, Myagkov met during his student years: they both studied at the Moscow Art Theater School. And they got married before they got their diplomas. This couple is still together. Together they played on the stage of Sovremennik, and then on the stage of the Moscow Art Theater. Chekhov. Even now, Myagkov does not play without his wife.
However, Anastasia Voznesenskaya never became a famous actress. Creative failures upset her very much, and Andrei Vasilyevich, in order to distract his wife, wrote 3 detective novels for her.
Myagkov and Voznesenskaya have no children. However, they find application for parental talents in teaching actors at the Moscow Art Theater School. The spouses do not like publicity, are reluctant to give interviews and do not attend social events.
