Sergei Bondarchuk

Sergei Bondarchuk
File:Sergei Bondarchuk, Sarajevo, 29. november 1969. Movie premier Battle of Neretva by Stevan Kragujevic.JPG Bondarchuk at the November 1969 premiere of Battle of Neretva in Sarajevo.
Born	Sergei Fyodorovich Bondarchuk (1920-09-25)25 September 1920 Belozerka, Kherson Governorate, Ukrainian People's Republic
Died	Moscow, Russia
Resting place	Novodevichy Cemetery, Moscow
Years active	1948–1994
Notable work	War and Peace (1965-67)
Title	Hero of Socialist Labour (1980) People's Artist of the USSR (1952)
Spouse(s)	Inna Makarova (1949–1956) Irina Skobtseva (1959–1994)
Children	Natalya Bondarchuk (b. 1950) Yelena Bondarchuk (1962–2009) Fyodor Bondarchuk (b. 1967)
Awards	Academy Awards (1969)

Sergei Fyodorovich Bondarchuk ГСТ HaCCP (Russian: Сергей Фёдорович Бондарчук, IPA: [sʲɪrˈɡʲej ˈfʲɵdərəvʲɪdʑ bəndɐrˈtɕuk]; Ukrainian: Сергі́й Федорович Бондарчук; 25 September 1920 – 20 October 1994) was a Soviet and Russian actor, film director, and screenwriter of Ukrainian, Bulgarian and Serbian origin who was one of the leading figures of Russian cinema of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. He is known for his sweeping period dramas, including the internationally acclaimed four-part adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace and the Napoleonic War epic Waterloo.

Bondarchuk's work won him numerous international accolades. His epic production of Tolstoy's War and Peace won Bondarchuk, who both directed and acted in the leading role of Pierre Bezukhov, the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film (1968), and the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1968. He was made both a Hero of Socialist Labour and a People's Artist of the USSR.

Early life

Sergey Bondarchuk was born in the village of Bilozerka (now in Kherson Raion, Kherson Oblast of Ukraine) on September 25, 1920 in the family of peasants Fyodor Petrovich and Tatyana Vasilievna (nee Tokarenko). The paternal grandfather was ethnically Bulgarian Pyotr Konstantinovich Bondarchuk, the grandmother was ethnically Serbian Matryona Fyodorovna Sirvulya. At the time of childbirth, the father was serving in the Red Army, the mother, being a deeply religious person, named her son in honor of Sergius of Radonezh and baptized him in the Annunciation Monastery near Kherson. Sergei 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 in the Rostov-on-Don theater school (1938–1942). After his studies, he was conscripted into the Red Army during World War II against Nazi Germany. 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. 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.

Bondarchuk earned international fame with his epic production of Tolstoy's War and Peace, which on original release totaled more than seven hours of cinema, took six years to complete and won Bondarchuk, who both directed and acted the role of Pierre Bezukhov, the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1968. The year after his victory, in 1969, he starred as Martin with Yul Brynner and Orson Welles in the Yugoslav epic Battle of Neretva, directed by Veljko Bulajic.

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, 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.

In 1973, he was the president of the Jury at the 8th Moscow International Film Festival.

In 1975, he directed They Fought for Their Country, which was entered into the 1975 Cannes Film Festival. In 1982 came Red Bells, based on John Reed's Ten Days That Shook the World (which serves as the film's alternative title). His 1986 film Boris Godunov was also screened at Cannes that year.

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, 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.

In 1995, he was posthumously awarded an honorable diploma for contribution to cinema at the 19th Moscow International Film Festival.

Personal life

He first married Inna Makarova, mother to his oldest daughter, Natalya Bondarchuk (born 1950). Natalya is remembered for her role in Andrei Tarkovsky's 1972 film Solaris.

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

Sergei 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 ex-wife Inna Makarova 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)
• Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film (1968) – for the film War and Peace
• Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film (1968) – for the film War and Peace
• Vasilyev Brothers State Prize of the RSFSR (1977) – for the film They Fought for Their Country
• Hero of Socialist Labour (1980)
• Shevchenko National Prize (1982) – for his performance as Cardinal Montanelli in the film The Gadfly (1980)
• USSR State Prize (1984) – for the film Red Bells
• Order of Lenin, twice
• Order of the October Revolution
• Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd class
• Order of the Red Banner of Labour
• Honored Artist of the RSFSR (1951)
• People's Artist of the USSR (1952)

Filmography

Actor

Year	Title	Medium	Role	Notes
1948	The Young Guard	Film	Comrade Valko
1948	Povest o nastoyashchem cheloveke	Film	Gvozdev	Uncredited
1949	Michurin	Film	Uralets	Uncredited
1949	Put slavy		Sekretar gorkoma	Uncredited
1951	Dream of a Cossack	Film	Sergei Tutarinov
1951	Taras Shevchenko	Film	Taras Shevchenko
1953	Admiral Ushakov	Film	Tikhon Alekseyevich Prokofiev
1953	Attack from the Sea	Film
1954	This cannot be forgotten	Film	writer Harmash
1955	Skipping girl	Film	Dr. Osip Stepanovich Dymov
1955	Not ended story	Film	Yuri Sergeyevich Yershov
1955	Othello	Film	Othello
1956	Ivan Franko	Film	Ivan Franko
1957	Dvoe iz odnogo kvartala	Film
1958	Soldiers went	Film	Matvei Krylov
1959	Fate of a Man	Film	Andrei Sokolov	Grand Prix at the 1st Moscow International Film Festival
1960	Era notte a Roma	Film	Fyodor Aleksandrovic Nazukov
1960	Splendid Days	Film	Korostelyov
1965–1967	War and Peace	Film	Pierre Bezukhov	Grand Prix at the 4th Moscow International Film Festival
1969	Battle of Neretva	Film	Martin
1969	Golden Gates	Film		background Voice
1970	Uncle Vanya	Film	Dr. Mikhail Lvovich Astrov
1970	Waterloo	Film
1973	Silence of Doctor Evans	Film	Martin Evans
1974	Such tall mountains	Film	Ivan Stepanov
1975	They Fought for Their Country	Film	Ivan Zvyagintsev
1975	Take Aim	Film	Igor Kurchatov
1976	Vrhovi Zelengore	Film	Profesor
1977	Poshekhon Oldie	Film		background Voice
1978	The Steppe	Film	Emelyan
1978	Velvet season	Film	Mister Bradbury
1979	Father Sergius	Film	Father Sergius
1979	Occupation – cinema-actor	Film		cameo
1979	Take off	Film	Narrator	background Voice
1980	The Gadfly	Film	Cardinal Montanelli	TV movie
1985	Bambi's Childhood	Film	Narrator
1986	Boris Godunov	Film	Boris Godunov
1988	Incident in airport	Film	Major-General Tokarenko
1990	Battle of three kings	Film	Selim
1992	Storm over Rus	Film	boyar Morozov
1993	Mushketyory 20 let spustya	Film
2000	Sergei Bondarchuk	Documentary	Himself

Director

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1959	Fate of a Man	Andrei Sokolov
1966–1967	War and Peace	Pierre Bezukhov
1970	Waterloo
1975	They Fought for Their Country	Zvyagintsev
1977	The Steppe	Yemelian
1982	Red Bells
1983	Red Bells II
1986	Boris Godunov	Boris Godunov
1993-2006	Quiet Flows the Don

Writer

• Battle of Sutjeska (1973)

External links

• Sergei Bondarchuk at the Internet Movie Database
• Sergei Bondarchuk at Find a Grave
• War and Peace of Sergei Bondarchuk