Sergei Fyodorovich Bondarchuk[a] (25 September 1920 – 20 October 1994) was a Soviet and Russian actor and filmmaker who was one of the leading figures of Soviet cinema in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.[1] He is known for his sweeping period dramas, including War and Peace (1966-67), his internationally acclaimed four-part film adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's novel, and for Waterloo (1970) a Napoleonic War epic.
Sergei Fyodorovich Bondarchuk was born in the village of Bilozerka (now in Kherson Raion, Kherson Oblast, Ukraine) on September 25, 1920, in the family of Orthodox Christian peasants Fyodor Petrovich and Tatyana Vasilievna (nee Tokarenko). His paternal grandfather, Pyotr Konstantinovich Bondarchuk, was ethnically Bulgarian, the grandmother, Matryona Fyodorovna Sirvulya, was Serbian. At the time of childbirth, his father was serving in the Red Army. His mother, being a deeply religious person, named her son in honor of Sergius of Radonezh and baptized him in the Annunciation Monastery near Kherson.[3]
Bondarchuk spent his childhood in the cities of Yeysk and Taganrog, graduating from the Taganrog School Number 4 in 1938. His first performance as an actor was onstage of the Taganrog Theatre in 1937. He continued studies at the Rostov College of Arts (1938–1942).
After his studies, he was conscripted into the Red Army during World War II against Nazi Germany. Bondarchuk took part in the initial stage of the Battle of the Caucasus, then was reorganized into the Don Front. From October 19 to December 8, 1942, he fought at Stalingrad, took part in Operation Uranus. He was decorated for his courage in battles and was discharged with honors in 1946.
Film career
In 1948, Bondarchuk made his film debut in The Young Guard directed by Sergei Gerasimov. In 1952, he was awarded the Stalin Prize for the leading role in the film Taras Shevchenko; that same year, at the age of 32, he became the youngest Soviet actor ever to receive the top dignity of People's Artist of the USSR. In 1955, he starred with his future wife Irina Skobtseva in Othello. In 1959, he made his directorial debut with Fate of a Man, based on Mikhail Sholokhov's short story of the same name. The film was internationally acclaimed upon its release.[1]
His first English-language film was 1970's Waterloo, produced by Dino De Laurentiis. In Europe, the critics called it remarkable for the epic battle scenes and details in capturing the Napoleonic era. However, it failed at the box office. To prevent running into hurdles with the Soviet government[citation needed], he joined the Communist Party in 1970. A year later, he was appointed president of the Union of Cinematographers, while he continued his directing career, steering toward political films, directing Boris Godunov before being dismissed from the semi-governmental post in 1986.
Bondarchuk's last feature film, and his second in English, was an epic TV version of Sholokhov's And Quiet Flows the Don, starring Rupert Everett. It was filmed in 1992–1993 but premiered on Channel One only in November 2006,[8] as there were disputes concerning the Italian studio that was co-producing over unfavorable clauses in his contract, which left the tapes locked in a bank vault. After his death, the film remained locked for several years until it was recovered and released in 2006.
He met his second wife Irina Skobtseva when both were appearing in Othello, and they married in 1959. They had two children, actress Yelena Bondarchuk (1962–2009) and a son Fyodor (born 1967), (who starred with him in Boris Godunov), a popular Russian film actor and director best known for his box-office hit The 9th Company (2005).
Death
Bondarchuk died on October 20, 1994, at the age of 74 in Moscow from myocardial infarction. Before his death, he was confessed and given communion by Hieromonk Tikhon (Shevkunov). He is buried in the Novodevichy Cemetery, Moscow. In June 2007, his wife Irina Skobtseva unveiled a bronze statue of Bondarchuk in his native Yeysk.
Honours and awards
Stalin Prize, 1st class (1952) – for the main role in the film Taras Shevchenko and the role of Sergei Tutarinov in Knight of the Golden Star (1950)
Lenin Prize (1960) – for the film The Destiny of Man (1959)
