He died on January 10, 2018. Mikhail Derzhavin
An 81-year-old man died in the Odintsovo hospital in the Moscow region. Mikhail Derzhavin — actor. Friend and stage partner Alexander Shirvindt.
Theatre shouldn't be just entertainment. Otherwise, it loses its meaning.
Born in 1936 in Moscow, he grew up in a creative environment on Arbat Street: his father acted at the Vakhtangov Theatre, and his favorite play was "Field Marshal Kutuzov."
He spent the years of the Great Patriotic War with his family in evacuation in Omsk. At 5, he learned Kutuzov’s monologue by heart and read it in the hospital to the wounded.
Since childhood, I've believed that the most important profession in the world is that of an artist. When I learned about factories and plants, I thought they existed to help artists put on performances.
At 15 he lost his father: to help his mother, he transferred to evening school and acted as an extra at Mosfilm.
In 1959 he graduated from the Shchukin Theatre School.
He performed at the Lenkom Theatre and the Theatre on Malaya Bronnaya. But his longest tenure—exactly 50 years—was with the Moscow Academic Satire Theatre.
In the late 60s, he gained national fame for his role as Mr. Host in the TV show "The 13 Chairs Tavern": the actors masterfully performed skits from humorous magazines from the countries of the socialist commonwealth (the first one was Polish) live on air.
After the release of each program, viewers went to the theater not to see the performances, but to see the hosts of "Kabachok." Among the fans of the program was Brezhnev.
Mrs. Teresa: I'm going to pose for an artist.
Mr. Host: And for which picture?
Mrs. Teresa: "Cleopatra and the Snake"
Mr. Host: And who is he basing Cleopatra on?
Many jokes from "The Zucchini" have become popular.
Do you have a certificate proving that you are not a camel?
The show held the record among Soviet television programs for the number of episodes (133) and the length (145 hours). In 1980, it was canceled amid unrest in Poland—Derzhavin had worked on the project for 14 years.
He made his film debut in his second year at the Shchukin Theatre School in 1956.
His popularity plummeted in 1979 when he withdrew from Mironov и Shirvindt In the film "Three Men in a Boat" (he played the role of George). Filming was extreme—they had to dive into the November Neman River, which represented the Thames, and generally spend many hours on the water. They warmed themselves with whatever they could find—in some scenes, the divers securing the boat secretly delivered 40-degree water from the shore.
In 1990, he starred as the charming vacationer Mikhail Gudkov in "My Sailor." Derzhavin's character—the actor was 53 at the time of filming—enchanted viewers with his accordion playing. Lyudmila Gurchenko.
In the 2000s he played in films Ryazanov — the district committee secretary in "Old Nags" and a spoon player in the remake of "Carnival Night."
He starred with Shirvindt in the film "Womanizer" (1990). He had been friends with him since school, and they performed together on stage for nearly 60 years, hosting the shows "Morning Mail" and "I Want to Know."
He was considered one of the sex symbols of Soviet cinema and television. He remained in excellent shape into old age, joking to himself:
Elegant as a piano