Mark Zakharov: biography and personal life of the director

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 14:00

This year, President V. V. Putin personally congratulated Mark Zakharov on his 85th birthday, about whose biography, personal life and children, on the eve of his birthday, all leading media began to write actively. This is a man of the era who created his own unique theater, brought together leading folk artists and made a huge contribution to the development of Russian culture.

His films were sold for quotes, the audience is constantly reviewing his cult films, and the legendary rock opera "Juno and Avos" has been staged with constant success for more than 20 years.

Biography

Mark Anatolyevich Shirinkin (this is the surname he received at birth) was born on October 13, 1933 in the family of Galina Sergeevna Bardina and Anatoly Shirinkin. Both of his parents are of noble origin. Mother's grandfather fought for whites at Kolchak and emigrated to Australia after the Civil War.

His wife Sofya Nikolaevna, Mark Zakharov's grandmother on the part of her mother, who in Soviet times became the director of the orphanage, remained in Soviet Russia.

Paternal relatives have no less amazing biography. The grandfather was a nobleman who married a Karaite woman of Jewish origin. He participated in the revolutionary movement during the tsarist era, was actively involved in journalism and died in the First World War. My father studied in the Cadet Corps, then entered the service in the Red Army.

He met Galina in 1931, two years later the young couple had a son, a year later Anatoly was tried under Art. 58 and expelled from Moscow.

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In 1941 he volunteered for the front, after the war he continued to serve in the garrison of the capital. In 1949 he was again sent into exile because of his noble origin and a criminal record.

Little Mark's love for the theater was instilled by his mother Galina Sergeevna, who herself studied at the theater school of the famous Yuri Zavadsky and then taught in children's theater groups. She passed away at the age of 54, dying suddenly from a broken heart. She took her little son to the theater studio at the Moskvoretsky House of Pioneers, in which the future famous film director and screenwriter Andrei Tarkovsky studied with Mark.

In his childhood memories, Mark Anatolyevich says that he was not interested in school and that he studied poorly. I was able to improve grades only in high school in order to get a good certificate.

Most of all he liked to communicate with his father during general walks and classes, when he talked about Moscow and about various local legends of those cities where the family lived during the two exiles.

Despite his passion for theater, after school, the young man tried to acquire a more earthly profession by submitting documents to the Civil Engineering Institute. Kuibyshev. But he did not score the required number of points and, at the insistence of his mother, entered the acting department of GITIS in 1951. He finished his studies in 1955 and was sent to the Perm Drama Theater.

Creative career of theatrical and cinematographic director

Zakharov began his first studies in directing at Perm University in 1956, where he ran a theater studio for students. After returning to the capital, he continues to stage amateur performances, getting a job with the help of his young wife, actress Nina Lapshinova, as the head of the drama club of the Machine-Tool Institute.

Also in 1959 he entered the service at the theater. Gogol. In 1960 he moved to the Moscow Theater of Miniatures, where at that time the main director was the writer Vladimir Polyakov.

Communication with him gave the necessary impetus for the literary work of Mark Zakharov, who managed to write many scripts and several books on the theatrical life of Moscow during his rich creative life.

In 1964 he left the theater of miniatures, where his wife worked. Leaving was a risky undertaking, since Zakharov finally broke with the profession of an actor, deciding to devote his life to directing. The famous student theater of Moscow State University became his first creative laboratory. The wife fully supported her husband's decision here.

Successful work in amateur theater attracted the attention of the theatrical community of the capital.

He was invited to the theater of satire in 1965, where in 1967 he staged his first performance with a professional cast - "A Profitable Place" by A. N. Ostrovsky.

Two years later, together with young satirical writers A. Arkanov and G. Gorin, they stage the comedy "Banquet".

It was after this performance that a strong creative union was formed between the director Zakharov and the writer Gorin, which lasted until the latter's death.

Despite the huge success, both productions were soon removed from the theater's repertoire due to ideological implications. It was a difficult period for the young director, but he was supported by a venerable colleague in the shop - the chief director of the Mayakovsky Theater - Goncharov. He invited the disgraced director to his place to stage the play "The Defeat" based on the novel of the same name by A. Fadeev.

In 1973 he became the artistic director of the theater. Lenin's Komsomol, which became his main brainchild. It was in it that he collected an incredible number of brilliant Soviet actors, on whom the entire repertoire of Lenkom was kept.

They were staged here in the 70s, 80s and 90s. famous sold-out performances by Zakharov.

As the most notable theatrical event of that era, they still talk about:

• "Tile";
• The Star and Deaths of Joaquin Murietta;
• the play “Not on the lists”;
• the play "Autograd XXI", staged with the participation of Yuri Vizbor;
• "Cruel games";
• "Juno and Avos";
• "Memorial prayer".

Zakharov gathered in his troupe the best actors of the Soviet theater and cinematographic school:

• Inna Churikova;
• Nikolay Karachentsev;
• Evgenia Leonova;
• Oleg Yankovsky;
• Alexandra Abdulova;
• Elena Shanina;
• Irina Alferova;
• Dmitry Pevtsov;
• Alexandra Rakina.

All performances by Lenkom of that time became real masterpieces of Soviet theatrical art.

Work in film and television

Zakharov was able to create not only theatrical masterpieces, but also cult films and television films. For several generations, viewers have admired films such as:

• "12 chairs"
• "Ordinary Miracle";
• "Love Formula";
• "The same Munchausen."

For many films, Zakharov himself wrote the script - not only for his works, but also for tapes shot by other directors.

Pedagogical and social work

Zakharov is not only actively engaged in directing work. He teaches students at GITIS the art of directing, being a professor at this university.

In 1989 Zakharov was elected a state deputy. In 1996, he became a member of the Council for Culture under President B. N. Yeltsin.

Despite the fact that he did not become a member of a new similar body created during the presidency of Vladimir Putin, he agreed to be a confidant of the United Russia party in the last elections to the State Duma.

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Family and personal life

In his personal life, the master turned out to be very happy. He met his future wife while studying at GITIS while working on a student wall newspaper. At first, the relationship did not go beyond friendship.

But after Mark saw Nina with another young man, he immediately proposed to her.

The young couple waited for children for a long time, their only daughter Alexandra was born only in the fifth year of marriage.

Mark Zakharov's wife always supported her husband in everything and was his muse. That is why the death of Nina Tikhonovna in 2014 as a result of a serious and prolonged illness at the age of 83 became a grievous loss for Mark Anatolyevich himself and his daughter Alexandra.

In public photos, Mark Anatolyevich Zakharov was rarely captured with his wife Nina Tikhonovna, since she was a theater actress who was practically not filmed. Viewers can see her only in one film of her husband - "12 chairs", where she talentedly played the episodic role of the wife of Fyodor's father.

Alexandra's daughter has no children, since the marriage was not very successful. The couple separated without having a child. Alexandra completely devotes herself to the stage. She already has the title of People's Actress of Russia and works in her father's theater.

Having celebrated his 85th birthday, the eminent Russian director is not going to retire. He has many creative plans, he is in a hurry to share the secrets of his art of directing with the students of his creative workshop.