Boris Babochkin

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Boris Babochkin
Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Years active1921 – 1975
SpouseYekaterina Georgieva

Boris Andreyevich Babochkin (Russian: Бори́с Андре́евич Ба́бочкин; 18 January 1904 – 17 July 1975) was a Soviet and Russian film and theater actor and director.[1] Boris Babochkin was one of the first internationally recognized stars of the Soviet-Russian cinema. He rose to fame with the title role in the classic film Chapaev (1934) and later, in the 1950s, he played a sharp anti-communist character on stage in Moscow, for which he was censored by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.[2]

Biography

Life on the Volga

Babochkin was born on 18 January 1904, in

Urals with the legendary commander Chapayev
, whom he would later portray, although they never met.

Early career

In 1920 Babochkin entered a local

Berdichev in Ukraine
.

Leningrad

From 1927 to 1940 Babochkin lived and worked in

Bolshoi Drama Theater under director Aleksei Dikiy. In 1937, when Dikiy was arrested and imprisoned in the Gulag camps, Babochkin was hurt and suffered an emotional crisis. However, he survived the first wave of Stalin's Great Purge
. In 1937 Babochkin stepped in as artistic director of the Bolshoi Drama Theater (BDT) in Leningrad and worked in that position until 1940.

Moscow

In 1940 Babochkin was summoned by the Soviet leadership and moved back to Moscow, a move that he later described as the biggest mistake in his life. During

Minister of Culture of the Soviet Union.[3]

Furtseva used all her official power to destroy Babochkin. She banned the play and restricted the world-famous actor, known as Chapayev, from public performances.

Communist Party.[3] Official Soviet censorship, which was under the control of Furtseva, spared no effort in taming the famous actor and manipulating his star power.[3] After that, Babochkin's acting career was restricted to playing only positive, exemplary Soviet characters.[3]

Later career

Babochkin's acting career was suppressed until the death of his high-ranking Communist opponent Furtseva. The rare exception was his last role in

Chapayev
in the eponymous 1934 film remained the unsurpassed highlight of his film career.

Recognition

Boris Babochkin was the youngest actor designated People's Artist of the RSFSR (1935). He was awarded the Stalin Prize (twice: in 1941 and 1951) and USSR State Prize (1977, posthumously). He also received numerous awards and decorations in recognition of his best known film role as Chapaev.

Personal life

Babochkin was married to Yekaterina Mikhailovna Babochkina (née Georgieva), and the couple had two daughters, Natalia and Tatiana. Outside of his acting career, Babochkin taught a class at

Moscow Film School
(VGIK); he also wrote numerous articles and critical works about film and theatre. In 1968 he published his autobiography In theatre and film which became a bestseller in the USSR.

Boris Babochkin died of a heart attack while driving his Volga on 17 July 1975, in Moscow, and was interred in Novodevichy Cemetery.[4]

Sources

  • Biography of Boris Babochkin in English by: Steve Shelokhonov (2007).
  • Autobiography in Russian: (В театре и кино. M. 1968)

Filmography

References

  1. ISBN 978-1442268425
    .
  2. ^ Театральная энциклопедия (под ред. С. С. Мокульского)
  3. ^ a b c d e f "Совершенно секретно".
  4. ^ После смерти у звезды фильма «Большая перемена» пропали фамильные драгоценности

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Boris Babochkin.


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