Yevgeny Vesnik

File:Евгений Весник.jpg

Yevgeny Vesnik, 1940s

Yevgeny Yakovlevich Vesnik (Russian: Евге́ний Я́ковлевич Ве́сник; January 15, 1923 in Petrograd – April 10, 2009 in Moscow) was a Russian and Soviet stage and a film actor. The son of Yakov Vesnik, the first director of the Kryvorizhstal plant, he fought the Germans in the Second World War. He worked at the Maly Theatre from 1963 and was named a People's Artist of the USSR in 1989, three years before his retirement from the stage.

Primarily a comedian, Vesnik is remembered as the first Soviet actor to play the character of Ostap Bender. After he was remembered as Teatcher Taratar, or Tarator in The Adventures of the Elektronic (1979), one of greatest Soviet films for children'.

Among his other roles are the policeman (miliceman) in Old Khottabych, "Boss of Sport Complex" in Seven Old Men and One Girl, the Procurator in Die Fledermaus, the commissioner in Charodey (1982), "radist" in Weather Is Good on Deribasovskaya, It Rains Again on Brighton Beach and many other films.

He died, aged 86, on April 10, 2009 in Moscow after suffering a stroke.

Honours and awards

• Order of Merit for the Fatherland 4th class
• Order of the Red Banner of Labour (USSR)
• Order of Friendship of Peoples (USSR)
• Order of the Patriotic War 2nd class (USSR)
• Order of the Red Star (USSR)
• Medal "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" (USSR)
• Two Medals "For Courage" (USSR)
• Medal "For the Capture of Königsberg" (USSR)
• Medal "Veteran of Labour" (USSR)
• Medal "In Commemoration of the 800th Anniversary of Moscow" (USSR)
• Jubilee Medal "50 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR" (USSR)
• Medal "In Commemoration of the 850th Anniversary of Moscow" (Russia)
• Medal of Zhukov
• People's Artist of the USSR
• Honoured Artist of the RSFSR

Selected filmography

• Urok zhizni (1955)
• Othello (1956) - Roderigo
• Delo N. 306 (1956) - Grunin
• Old Khottabych (1957)
• Nochnoy patrul (1957)
• The Adventures of Buratino (1960) - Father Carlo (voice)
• Pryzhok na zare (1961)
• Komandirovka (1961)
• Yabloko razdora (1962)
• Styozhki-dorozhki (1964) - Timofey Ostapovich Voronyuk
• Priklyucheniya Toli Klyukvina (1964) - Malinin
• Sled v okeane (1965) - Ivan Yeltsov
• An Ordinary Miracle (1965)
• Svet dalyokoy zvezdy (1965) - Colonel
• Inostranka (1965) - Professor
• Pogonya (1965)
• Pereklichka (1966) - Vasya
• Puteshestvennik s bagazhom (1966) - Ivan Sergeev
• Londre (1966) - Narrator
• 12 mogil Khodzhi Nasreddina (1967) - Cvetkov
• Strong with Spirit (1967) - Voronchuk
• I Loved You (1968) - Pavel Golikov, papa
• Trembita (1968) - Bogdan Susik
• The New Adventures of the Elusive Avengers (1968) - Polpovnik
• Eksperiment doktora Absta (1968)
• Ded Moroz and Summer (1969, Short) - Father Frost / Truck Driver / The Doctor (voice)
• Seven Old Men and a Girl (1970, TV Movie)
• Priklyucheniya zhyoltogo chemodanchika (1970) - Airport manager
• Vzryv zamedlennogo deystviya (1970)
• Officers (1971) - Paramedic
• Krasnaya metel (1971) - Balaban
• Chudak iz pyatogo B (1972)
• Neylon 100% (1973) - Professor
• Samyy silnyy (1973)
• We Didn't Learn This (1976) - Ivan Andreevich, glavniy arkhitektor
• Po ulitsam komod vodili... (1978) - Shop Director
• Die Fledermaus (1979, TV Movie) - Prosecutor
• The Adventures of the Elektronic (1979, TV Mini-Series) - Math Teacher 'Tarator'
• The Theme (1979) - Igor Paschin - writer

• The Fairfax Millions (1980)
• Dog in Boots (voice, 1981)
• Sorcerers (1982)
• Act, Manya! (1991)
• Weather Is Good on Deribasovskaya, It Rains Again on Brighton Beach (1992)
• What a Mess! (1995)

External links

• Yevgeny Vesnik at IMDb