Alexander Alexejewitsch Afanassjew

Alexander Alexeyevich Afanasyev ( Russian Александр Алексеевич Афанасьев * 23. March 1917 in Palkino, Pskov Governorate , Russian Empire ; † 4. September 1987 ) was a Soviet theater - and film - actor .

Life and accomplishments

Alexander Afanassjew came from a penniless peasant family, his parents Alexei Afanassjewitsch and Arafja Dorofejewna († 1953) entered a collective farm in 1929 .

Afanasiev moved to Leningrad in 1934 , where he attended a design school and at the same time took part in amateur performances . As a result of this experience, he initially got a job at the Leningrad Small Opera House in 1936 , but joined the Red Army in 1938 and took part in the German-Soviet War . The information about Afanassev's military service diverges, on the one hand he is named as a submarine mechanic and a victim of the Leningrad blockade , who was later awarded the medal "For the defense of Leningrad" (1944), the medal "For merits in combat" (1945) and the Order of the Great Patriotic War II Class (1985). On the other hand, he is said to have participated first in the Winter War and then in the war against the Third Reich. After his capture, he was sent to a concentration camp in Finland, but due to Germany's war situation, he was forced to march to Norway. This was where the liberation took place, whereupon Afanasiev was stationed on the Japanese front . He is said to have experienced the demobilization in Vladivostok .

After the end of the war he initially worked as the artistic director of the Sudwerf Club in Vladivostok, but was then hired by Ivan Jewremov, the director of the Primorsky Regional Theater , and was one of the leading actors in the house until he left in 1957. Then he moved back to Leningrad and was hired by the Lenfilmstudio . In parallel with his film activities, Afanassiev appeared at the Leningrad Theater of Film Actors .

Afanassjew made his film debut in 1952 as a sailor in the television production Разлом ( Raslom ), but he did not appear regularly in front of the camera until the late 1950s. His filmography includes over 70 works, he always gave supporting characters , who were usually characterized by straightforwardness and authenticity. His work includes different genres such as drama (Люблю тебя, жизнь, Ljublju tebja, schisn , 1960), war (Жаворонок, Schaworonok , 1965), fairy tale ( The Twelve Months , 1973) and fantasy ( Sannikow-Land , 1973). In Liberation (1969) he portrayed General Dmitri Lelyushenko .

Afanassjew retired on May 31, 1977, but could still be seen in individual films until the end of his life. He died at the age of 70 and was buried in Pavlovsk .

Afanassjew was married to the restaurant worker Akkilina Grigoryevna Fedorowa (* 1908), who also took his family name after the wedding.

Filmography (selection)

• 1959: A city in alarm (W troich rukach schisn)
• 1960: new land under the plow (Podnjataja zelina)
• 1965: The mandate
• 1966: The hiding place on the seabed (Aqualangi na dne)
• 1967: The Snow Queen (Sneschnaja korolewa)
• 1969: The living corpse (Schiboi trup)
• 1969: Liberation (Oswoboschdenije)
• 1972: The Circle (Krug)
• 1973: The Twelve Months (Dwenadzat mesjazew)
• 1973: Sannikow-Land (Zemlya Sannikowa)
• 1974: Blockade (Blokada: Luschski rubesch, Pulkowski meridian)
• 1977: How the stupid Ivanuschka looked for the miracle (Kak Iwanuschka-duratschok sa tschudom chodil)
• 1978: attack in Lausanne (Ubit pri ispolneni)

Web links

• Alexander Afanasyev in the Internet Movie Database (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} Biography of Afanassiev at a-tremasov.ru (Russian), accessed on May 30, 2020
2. ↑ Afanassiev's biography at kino-teatr.ru (Russian), accessed on May 30, 2020
3. ↑ ^{a b} Afanassiev's filmography on kino-teatr.ru (Russian), accessed on May 30, 2020