September marks 110 years since the birth of actor Zinovy Gerdt, a native of Vitebsk province

Remembering Zinovia Gerdt

People's Artist of the USSR Zinovy Gerdt was not just a popular actor, he was a real cultural phenomenon of his time: for four decades he played in the puppet theater with Sergei Obraztsov, actively starred in films, worked on television, knew poetry impeccably, had a reputation as a conscientious and principled person of encyclopedic knowledge. September 21 marks the 110th anniversary of the actor’s birth.

Zinovy Gerdt was born on September 21 (the 8th in the old style) in the town of Sebezh, when he was part of the Vitebsk province of the Russian Empire (now it is the Pskov region). His name on the passport is Zalman Khrapinovich, but in the family of the future actor was called Zyama. The actor took the pseudonym Zinovy Gerdt later, in 1939. Besides Zinovius, there were three other children. In 1932, the family moved to Moscow, where Zinovy entered the factory school as a locksmith. After working at Metrostroy, in his spare time he played in the Moscow Theater of Working Youth (TRAM) at the factory club.

Here he got acquainted with the color of the Moscow intelligentsia: director Mikhail Schweitzer, writers Boris Slutsky, Mikhail Lvovsky, Alexander Galich, David Samoilov. Gerdt entered this circle. In the late 1930s, the Theatre of Working Youth was transformed into the studio of Valentin Pluchek and Alexei Arbuzov - Arbuzov Studio. It was then that the pseudonym Zinovy Gerdt appeared: the actor used the surname of the then popular ballerina Elizabeth Gerd, adding for solidity, on the advice of playwright Alexei Arbuzov, the letter “t”.

A gambler

Gerdt played in the production of the studio City at Dawn, which premiered in 1941 with great success. After it, the Arbuzov Studio was given the status of a state theater and allocated a room. In parallel with the theater, Gerdt was passionate about dance and jazz music. The actor had a constant partner, with whom he performed before the evening screenings in the theater “Drummer”. Gerdt took prizes and was considered one of the best Moscow dancers.

He volunteered for the front

In June 1941, the Great Patriotic War began. As an actor at the Arbuzovsky Theatre Studio, he had reservations, but among nine other studios he volunteered for the army. He was a sapper, commanded the engineering service of the regiment. He fought on the Kalinin and Voronezh fronts. In February 1943, in the battles near Kharkov, he was seriously wounded: a fragment of a tank shell hit his leg. For four years, the artist underwent 11 operations. After them, one leg was shorter than the other by eight centimeters, because of this he limp for the rest of his life. He was awarded the Order of the Red Star.

In 1945 Gerdt joined the troupe of the Central Puppet Theatre. At the audition to his head Sergei Obraztsov came on crutches, but Obraztsov immediately appreciated temperament, physical strength, intelligence, mobile hands, memorable voice. The first performance was “Mowgli” – Zinovy Efimovich just read the text from behind the scenes. His first role with a doll was performed in 1946 in the production of “Extraordinary Concerto”, where he played entertainer Eduard Aplombov. The performance became very popular. “Extraordinary Concert” became the world’s most famous Russian puppet performance of the XX century and entered the Guinness Book of Records as a performance that was watched by the largest number of spectators in the world. Zinovy Gerdt played the role of entertainer Eduard Aplombov in many languages of the world. The theater troupe visited China, Egypt, Sweden and other countries. The parody-satirical performance, ridiculing cliches in art and false pathos, was close to the audience on all continents. In the Central Puppet Theater, Zinovy Efimovich worked for almost 40 years. Gerdt left him in 1982.

Infarction on site

Zinoviy Efimovich began acting in the late 1950s, first in episodes and small roles, as in Rolan Bykov's comedy Seven Nannies. The situation was changed by a meeting with director Peter Todorovsky. In 1967, he invited Gerdt to star in the film “The Magician” according to the script of the famous playwright, a native of Minsk Alexander Volodin. Gerdt was so devoted to work that at some point he suffered a heart attack - he was taken by ambulance directly from the set. Later, Peter Todorovsky shot him in his paintings “Urban Romance”, “Military Field Romance” and “Intergirl”. They were friends all their lives and were neighbors in the country. Remembered by the audience and the lawyer played by Gerdt from the 1988 detective Yuri Kara “Thieves in law”.

"Dump the bird!"

A year later, Gerdt played the crook Mikhail Panikovsky in the film adaptation of the novel by Ilya Ilf and Evgeny Petrov “The Golden Calf”. It was one hundred percent hit in the image. The role truly glorified the actor. All the performers of the main roles - Sergey Yursky, Leonid Kuravlev, Evgeny Evstigneev - sparklingly worked on the overall plan of the tape, enriched the characters of their characters with new nuances. After Panikovsky Gerdt began to recognize on the streets, pass in stores without a queue, sellers began to offer scarce goods from under the counter. A year later, he received the title of People's Artist of the RSFSR, and the People's USSR became already at the outset of the empire - in 1990.

More than a comedian

Also popular with the audience were the films with his participation: “Shadow”, “The meeting place cannot be changed”, “Straw hat”, “Three in the boat, not counting the dog”, “Prank”, “Stoves-benches”, “Strange adults”, “On the poor hussar, say a word”, “Bindyuzhnik and the King” and others. Gerdt played with pleasure in children's fairy tales ("The Car, the Violin and the Dog of the Blot", "The Nightingale", "The Donkey Skin", "Mary Poppins, Goodbye", "They sat on the Golden Porch"). His concern with public problems conveyed in the acutely social films of director Dinara Asanova “Key without the right of transfer”, “Wife left”, “Boys”.

Broadness of interest

Gerdt actively worked on television, wrote the book “Knight of Conscience”, voiced voiceover text in many famous films, such as “Zigzag of luck” by Eldar Ryazanov and “12 chairs” by Mark Zakharov. His voice is spoken by Captain Wrungel and Dr. Aibolit in the animated masterpieces of David Cherkasy, the characters of the popular Soviet series of cartoons “Moomin-trolls” based on the fairy tale of Tove Jansson and other heroes.

Belarusian works

There are in the rich filmography of the master and roles created at the film studio "Belarusfilm". In the “City of Masters” by Vladimir Bychkov Gerdt played the role of an artist. In the two-part TV movie of Viktor Turov “Life and death of the nobleman Chertopkhanov” based on the stories of Ivan Turgenev, Zinovy Efimovich embodied the image of Moishe Leiba.

Family story

More than 30 years Gerdt lived with his third wife - philologist Tatiana Pravdina. One day Zinovius and Tatiana had a big fight. Finally, Tatiana, unable to resist, threw Gerdt in the face: “Actor!..” Gerdt, cutting off the scream, gloomyly said: "But for this you can and on the face ..." A moment later, both laughed. The word "actor" in the family was a symbol of something fake, bohemian-fake.

Zinovius Gerdt died on November 18, 1996. He was buried at the Kuntsevo cemetery in Moscow. But his roles, thoughts, and voice continue to live with us.

PUSH THE BUTTON

By the anniversary date, the channel “Culture” on September 19 and 20 will show the film by Peter Todorovsky “The Magician”.

pepel@sb.by