Igor Ilyinsky
Encyclopedia
Igor Vladimirovich Ilyinsky was a famous Russian
actor and notable silent film
comedian
.
play Lysistrata
. Already then Igor Ilyinsky showed himself as a gifted comic actor.
In 1920 Igor Ilyinsky joined the Vsevolod Meyerhold
Theatre. The young actor’s vividly notional acting style was in total correspondence with the principles of Meyerhold, and so Ilyinsky soon became the central actor of that theatre.
In the Meyerhold Theatre he worked for over ten years. It is interesting to note that for some time Ilyinsky was the only young actor, who Meyerhold respectfully called by his first and patronymic name - Igor Vladimirovich.
featured him in his famous futuristic film Aelita
. It was followed by the first big success of the young actor - he starred in the eccentric comedy by Protazanov The Tailor from Torzhok
. That role was created specifically for Igor Ilyinsky.
The next year of 1926 saw as many as three films with Ilyinsky.In the 1920s-1930s all movies featuring Ilyinsky became significant events and made great box-office receipts.He created a charming image of clumsy and spoffy bounder,which made him famous.
“I can act on the roof of a train carriage, on the radiator of a moving car, on back of a galloping horse, or while swimming in the sea” – the actor wrote. He invented many of the gags and tricks himself. But cinema gave scope not only for acrobatic rolls and numerous gags. Close-up was the actor’s major tool: unforgettable face expressions that changed so quickly or just a raised eyebrow.The actor’s talent was unfolding from unexpected side also: he did not only make viewers laugh at his character, but also sympathize with him.
However, all the characters played by Ilyinsky at that time were all very much alike – mainly philistines and swindlers. But the actor wanted more. The feeling of dissatisfaction so typical of great artists never left Ilyinsky. It made him suffer a crisis of creativity.
It is interesting that in those years Ilyinsky decisively diverted from comic character on theatre stage as well. Later he left the Meyerhold Theatre and had a five years break in film acting.
that had been his favourite one since school years. Afterwards Ilyinsky stayed in the Maly Theatre for almost fifty years and even staged several plays there himself.
Later Igor Ilyinsky wrote that it was Russian classic literature
that had helped him overcome the crisis and feeling that he had been unable to create new characters, different from the previous ones.
An outstandingly prolific period in the actor’s life was related to his work with the famous film director Grigori Aleksandrov
. In 1938 Ilyinsky splendidly acted as Byvalov in the comedy Volga-Volga
(for this role, he was awarded Stalin Prize in 1941). He deliberately avoided any comic traits in his character to create a common image of a red-tapist. The starting point for him was the gracious and stirring character of Lyubov Orlova
. He decided to create a totally contrasting character, which he succeeded in.
That role brought Ilyinsky the State Prize and a new wave of people’s love. The film, probably, also rescued the actor from Gulag
camps, which lots of outstanding people risked at that time. Stalin
watched the film sixteen times. At Molotov’s birthday party Stalin flung Ilyinsky a remark: “Ah, Byvalov! You are a bureaucrat and I am a bureaucrat. We shall understand each other”.
The success of that movie determined the development of Soviet film comedy for several next decades. However, after the film Ilyinsky almost stopped his film acting. His only work of that period – a small role in the comedy Crime and Punishment
after Mikhail Zoshchenko
– never came to light.
During that difficult time Ilyinsky worked hard in the theatre and on radio. Besides, the actor showed himself as an extraordinary reciter when performing in variety theatre.
In the mid 1950s Ilyinsky finally got a chance to act in a movie. It was a light comedy titled A Crazy Day. However, the character created by Ilyinsky was none but the repetition of what he had done 20 years back.
He managed to play a truly starry film role only 18 years after Volga-Volga. It was the role of the bureaucrat Ogurtsov in the smash-hit comedy The Carnival Night directed by Eldar Ryazanov
.
“I was not going to feature the great Igor Ilyinsky in The Carnival Night - I felt timid, and understood that being a coryphaeus he would suppress me. When Pyriev offered him for the role of Ogurtsov, I just panicked: he was my idol from childhood, the famous actor of the Meyerhold Theatre! And me, directing my first film, on the other scale!” - Eldar Ryazanov recalls.
For a long time in this country not a single New Year’s Eve could be celebrated without that sparkling musical comedy – it became a tradition to watch The Carnival Night on TV with family or friends. That was the third wave of people’s love for Ilyinsky.
The master himself, though, did not like most of the comedies featuring him. In 1962 he again starred in Eldar Ryazanov’s musical film. In Hussar Ballad
he played role quite contrary in style, and created an unforgettable portrayal of the outstanding commander Mikhail Kutuzov.
. In the late 1960s Ilyinsky went into stage directing. His first stage production was the stage version of Gustave Flaubert
’s popular novel Madame Bovary
.
The last period of Ilyinsky’s career was marked by his portrayals of Leo Tolstoy in the play Turning Full Circle and of Firs in The Cherry Orchard
by Anton Chekhov
. Theatre-goers still remember Ilyinsky’s acting in The Inspector General
, where he played both Khlestakov and Gorodnichi in various years.
As a very old person Igor Ilyinsky acted a lot on the radio – almost blind, he was accompanied to the studio. As soon as he started his role, the weakness would vanish and a character would appear live.
Igor Ilyinsky died on 13 January 1987, on the Old New Year
’s Eve, just while The Carnival Night, one of his most famous works, was on air.
3622 Ilinsky
, discovered by Soviet
astronomer Lyudmila Zhuravlyova
in 1981 is named after Igor Ilyinsky.
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
actor and notable silent film
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
comedian
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
.
Early years
Igor Ilyinsky was born on 24 July 1901 in Moscow.At the age of 16 he entered the Komissarzhevskaya Theatre Studio and in half a year already debuted on the professional stage in Kommisarzhevskaya Theatre. His first theatre role was that of Old Man in AristophanesAristophanes
Aristophanes , son of Philippus, of the deme Cydathenaus, was a comic playwright of ancient Athens. Eleven of his forty plays survive virtually complete...
play Lysistrata
Lysistrata
Lysistrata is one of eleven surviving plays written by Aristophanes. Originally performed in classical Athens in 411 BC, it is a comic account of one woman's extraordinary mission to end The Peloponnesian War...
. Already then Igor Ilyinsky showed himself as a gifted comic actor.
In 1920 Igor Ilyinsky joined the Vsevolod Meyerhold
Vsevolod Meyerhold
Vsevolod Emilevich Meyerhold was a great Russian and Soviet theatre director, actor and theatrical producer. His provocative experiments dealing with physical being and symbolism in an unconventional theatre setting made him one of the seminal forces in modern international theatre.-Early...
Theatre. The young actor’s vividly notional acting style was in total correspondence with the principles of Meyerhold, and so Ilyinsky soon became the central actor of that theatre.
In the Meyerhold Theatre he worked for over ten years. It is interesting to note that for some time Ilyinsky was the only young actor, who Meyerhold respectfully called by his first and patronymic name - Igor Vladimirovich.
Career in silent cinema
In the second half of the 1920s Igor Ilyinsky started to appear in movies, where he also played vivid comic characters. In 1924 Yakov ProtazanovYakov Protazanov
Yakov Alexandrovich Protazanov was Russian and Soviet film director and screenwriter, and one of the founding fathers of cinema of Russia....
featured him in his famous futuristic film Aelita
Aelita
Aelita , also known as Aelita: Queen of Mars, is a silent film directed by Soviet filmmaker Yakov Protazanov made on Mezhrabpom-Rus film studio and released in 1924. It was based on Alexei Tolstoy's novel of the same name...
. It was followed by the first big success of the young actor - he starred in the eccentric comedy by Protazanov The Tailor from Torzhok
The Tailor from Torzhok
The Tailor from Torzhok is a 1925 Soviet silent comedy film directed by Yakov Protazanov and starring Igor Ilyinsky-Plot:A small-town tailor Petya Petelkin buys a lottery ticket starting a chain of comic adventures.-Cast:...
. That role was created specifically for Igor Ilyinsky.
The next year of 1926 saw as many as three films with Ilyinsky.In the 1920s-1930s all movies featuring Ilyinsky became significant events and made great box-office receipts.He created a charming image of clumsy and spoffy bounder,which made him famous.
“I can act on the roof of a train carriage, on the radiator of a moving car, on back of a galloping horse, or while swimming in the sea” – the actor wrote. He invented many of the gags and tricks himself. But cinema gave scope not only for acrobatic rolls and numerous gags. Close-up was the actor’s major tool: unforgettable face expressions that changed so quickly or just a raised eyebrow.The actor’s talent was unfolding from unexpected side also: he did not only make viewers laugh at his character, but also sympathize with him.
However, all the characters played by Ilyinsky at that time were all very much alike – mainly philistines and swindlers. But the actor wanted more. The feeling of dissatisfaction so typical of great artists never left Ilyinsky. It made him suffer a crisis of creativity.
It is interesting that in those years Ilyinsky decisively diverted from comic character on theatre stage as well. Later he left the Meyerhold Theatre and had a five years break in film acting.
1930s - 1950s
Only by the end of the 1930s he managed to overcome the crisis. In 1938 he joined the Maly TheatreMaly theatre
The Maly Theatre, or Mali Theatre, may refer to one of several different theatres:* The Maly Theatre , also known as The State Academic Maly Theatre of Russia, in Moscow...
that had been his favourite one since school years. Afterwards Ilyinsky stayed in the Maly Theatre for almost fifty years and even staged several plays there himself.
Later Igor Ilyinsky wrote that it was Russian classic literature
Russian literature
Russian literature refers to the literature of Russia or its émigrés, and to the Russian-language literature of several independent nations once a part of what was historically Russia or the Soviet Union...
that had helped him overcome the crisis and feeling that he had been unable to create new characters, different from the previous ones.
An outstandingly prolific period in the actor’s life was related to his work with the famous film director Grigori Aleksandrov
Grigori Aleksandrov
Grigori Vasilyevich Aleksandrov or Alexandrov was a prominent Soviet film director who was named a People's Artist of the USSR in 1947 and a Hero of Socialist Labor in 1973...
. In 1938 Ilyinsky splendidly acted as Byvalov in the comedy Volga-Volga
Volga-Volga
Volga-Volga is a Soviet comedy directed by Grigori Aleksandrov, released on April 24, 1938. It centres around a group of amateur performers on their way to Moscow to perform in a talent contest called the Moscow Musical Olympiad. Most of the action takes place on a steamboat travelling on the...
(for this role, he was awarded Stalin Prize in 1941). He deliberately avoided any comic traits in his character to create a common image of a red-tapist. The starting point for him was the gracious and stirring character of Lyubov Orlova
Lyubov Orlova
Lyubov Petrovna Orlova, was the first recognized star of Soviet cinema, famous theatre actress and a gifted singer.She was born to a middle class family in Zvenigorod near Moscow and grew up in Yaroslavl...
. He decided to create a totally contrasting character, which he succeeded in.
That role brought Ilyinsky the State Prize and a new wave of people’s love. The film, probably, also rescued the actor from Gulag
Gulag
The Gulag was the government agency that administered the main Soviet forced labor camp systems. While the camps housed a wide range of convicts, from petty criminals to political prisoners, large numbers were convicted by simplified procedures, such as NKVD troikas and other instruments of...
camps, which lots of outstanding people risked at that time. Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
watched the film sixteen times. At Molotov’s birthday party Stalin flung Ilyinsky a remark: “Ah, Byvalov! You are a bureaucrat and I am a bureaucrat. We shall understand each other”.
The success of that movie determined the development of Soviet film comedy for several next decades. However, after the film Ilyinsky almost stopped his film acting. His only work of that period – a small role in the comedy Crime and Punishment
Crime and Punishment
Crime and Punishment is a novel by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky. It was first published in the literary journal The Russian Messenger in twelve monthly installments during 1866. It was later published in a single volume. This is the second of Dostoyevsky's full-length novels following his...
after Mikhail Zoshchenko
Mikhail Zoshchenko
-Biography:Zoshchenko was born in 1895, in Poltava, but spent most of his life in St. Petersburg / Leningrad. His Ukrainian father was a mosaicist responsible for the exterior decoration of the Suvorov Museum in Saint Petersburg. The future writer attended the Faculty of Law at the Saint Petersburg...
– never came to light.
During that difficult time Ilyinsky worked hard in the theatre and on radio. Besides, the actor showed himself as an extraordinary reciter when performing in variety theatre.
In the mid 1950s Ilyinsky finally got a chance to act in a movie. It was a light comedy titled A Crazy Day. However, the character created by Ilyinsky was none but the repetition of what he had done 20 years back.
He managed to play a truly starry film role only 18 years after Volga-Volga. It was the role of the bureaucrat Ogurtsov in the smash-hit comedy The Carnival Night directed by Eldar Ryazanov
Eldar Ryazanov
Eldar Aleksandrovich Ryazanov is a Soviet/Russian film director whose comedies, satirizing the daily life of the country, are very famous throughout the former Soviet Union....
.
“I was not going to feature the great Igor Ilyinsky in The Carnival Night - I felt timid, and understood that being a coryphaeus he would suppress me. When Pyriev offered him for the role of Ogurtsov, I just panicked: he was my idol from childhood, the famous actor of the Meyerhold Theatre! And me, directing my first film, on the other scale!” - Eldar Ryazanov recalls.
For a long time in this country not a single New Year’s Eve could be celebrated without that sparkling musical comedy – it became a tradition to watch The Carnival Night on TV with family or friends. That was the third wave of people’s love for Ilyinsky.
The master himself, though, did not like most of the comedies featuring him. In 1962 he again starred in Eldar Ryazanov’s musical film. In Hussar Ballad
Hussar Ballad
The Hussar Ballad is a 1962 Soviet musical film by Eldar Ryazanov, filmed on Mosfilm. In effect, it is one of the best loved musical comedies in Russia....
he played role quite contrary in style, and created an unforgettable portrayal of the outstanding commander Mikhail Kutuzov.
Later years
In Maly Theatre at the same time Ilyinsky shifted to portrayals of deeply tragic characters, in particular, from Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Leo TolstoyLeo Tolstoy
Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was a Russian writer who primarily wrote novels and short stories. Later in life, he also wrote plays and essays. His two most famous works, the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, are acknowledged as two of the greatest novels of all time and a pinnacle of realist...
. In the late 1960s Ilyinsky went into stage directing. His first stage production was the stage version of Gustave Flaubert
Gustave Flaubert
Gustave Flaubert was a French writer who is counted among the greatest Western novelists. He is known especially for his first published novel, Madame Bovary , and for his scrupulous devotion to his art and style.-Early life and education:Flaubert was born on December 12, 1821, in Rouen,...
’s popular novel Madame Bovary
Madame Bovary
Madame Bovary is Gustave Flaubert's first published novel and is considered his masterpiece. The story focuses on a doctor's wife, Emma Bovary, who has adulterous affairs and lives beyond her means in order to escape the banalities and emptiness of provincial life...
.
The last period of Ilyinsky’s career was marked by his portrayals of Leo Tolstoy in the play Turning Full Circle and of Firs in The Cherry Orchard
The Cherry Orchard
The Cherry Orchard is Russian playwright Anton Chekhov's last play. It premiered at the Moscow Art Theatre 17 January 1904 in a production directed by Constantin Stanislavski. Chekhov intended this play as a comedy and it does contain some elements of farce; however, Stanislavski insisted on...
by Anton Chekhov
Anton Chekhov
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...
. Theatre-goers still remember Ilyinsky’s acting in The Inspector General
The Inspector General
The Government Inspector, also known as The Inspector General , is a a satirical play by the Ukrainian-born Russian dramatist and novelist Nikolai Gogol . Originally published in 1836, the play was revised for an 1842 edition...
, where he played both Khlestakov and Gorodnichi in various years.
As a very old person Igor Ilyinsky acted a lot on the radio – almost blind, he was accompanied to the studio. As soon as he started his role, the weakness would vanish and a character would appear live.
Igor Ilyinsky died on 13 January 1987, on the Old New Year
Old New Year
The Old New Year Нова година) or the Orthodox New Year is an informal traditional Slavic Orthodox holiday, celebrated as the start of the New Year by the Julian calendar...
’s Eve, just while The Carnival Night, one of his most famous works, was on air.
Legacy
A minor planetMinor planet
An asteroid group or minor-planet group is a population of minor planets that have a share broadly similar orbits. Members are generally unrelated to each other, unlike in an asteroid family, which often results from the break-up of a single asteroid...
3622 Ilinsky
3622 Ilinsky
3622 Ilinsky is an outer main-belt asteroid discovered on September 29, 1981 by Zhuravleva, L. at Nauchnyj.- External links :*...
, discovered by Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
astronomer Lyudmila Zhuravlyova
Lyudmila Zhuravlyova
Lyudmila Vasilyevna Zhuravleva is a Soviet, Russian and Ukrainian astronomer.She works at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory.She also serves as president...
in 1981 is named after Igor Ilyinsky.
Filmography
- 1976 This Is the House That Jack BuiltThis Is the House That Jack Built"This Is the House That Jack Built" is a popular British nursery rhyme and cumulative tale. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 20584. It is Aarne-Thompson type 2035.-Lyrics:This is perhaps the most common set of modern lyrics:...
(short) as Narrator (voice) - 1974 Yunga severnogo flota
- 1973 Eti raznye, raznye litsa
- 1969 Staryy znakomyy
- 1962 Dinner TimeDinner TimeDinner Time is an animated short subject produced and directed by Paul Terry, co-directed by John Foster, and produced at Van Beuren Studios...
- 1962 Hussar BalladHussar BalladThe Hussar Ballad is a 1962 Soviet musical film by Eldar Ryazanov, filmed on Mosfilm. In effect, it is one of the best loved musical comedies in Russia....
as Mikhail Kutuzov - 1956 Bezumnyy den as Zajtsev
- 1956 The Carnival Night as Serafim Ivanovich Ogurtsov
- 1953 Zvanyy uzhin (short)
- 1952 Woe from WitWoe from WitWoe from Wit is Alexander Griboyedov's comedy in verse, satirizing the society of post-Napoleonic Moscow, or, as a high official in the play styled it, "a pasquinade on Moscow."The play, written in 1823 in the countryside and in Tiflis, was not passed by the censorship for the stage, and...
as Anton Antonovich Zagoretski - 1952 Na vsyakogo mudretsa dovolno prostoty as Krutitsky
- 1952 Volki i ovtsy as Appolon Murzavetsky
- 1940 Crime and punishmentCrime and PunishmentCrime and Punishment is a novel by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky. It was first published in the literary journal The Russian Messenger in twelve monthly installments during 1866. It was later published in a single volume. This is the second of Dostoyevsky's full-length novels following his...
as Gorbushkin - 1938 Volga-VolgaVolga-VolgaVolga-Volga is a Soviet comedy directed by Grigori Aleksandrov, released on April 24, 1938. It centres around a group of amateur performers on their way to Moscow to perform in a talent contest called the Moscow Musical Olympiad. Most of the action takes place on a steamboat travelling on the...
as Byvalov - 1936 Odnazhdy letom as Teleskop/professor Sen-Verbuda
- 1931 Shakhta 12-28 as The Angel
- 1930 St. Jorgen's Day as Franz Schulz
- 1928 Kukla s millionamiKukla s millionamiKukla s millionami is a Soviet silent comedy film starring Igor Ilyinsky.-Cast:*Igor Ilyinsky as Pierre Cuisinai*Vladimir Fogel as Paul Cuisinai*Galina Kravchenko as Blanche...
as Pierre Cuisinai - 1927 A Kiss From Mary PickfordA Kiss From Mary PickfordA Kiss From Mary Pickford is a comedy film made in the Soviet Union, directed by Sergei Komarov and co-written by Komarov and Vadim Shershenevich. The film, starring Igor Ilyinsky, is mostly known today because of a cameo by the popular film couple Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks...
as Goga - 1926 Miss MendMiss MendMiss Mend is a 1926 Soviet feature film originally relised in three parts was directed by and starring Boris Barnet. The surviving print is just over four hours long...
as Tom Hopkins,clerk - 1926 The Three Million TrialThe Three Million TrialThe Three Million Trial is a 1926 Soviet silent comedy film starring Igor Ilyinsky and directed by Yakov Protazanov based on the play The Three Thieves by Umberto Notari...
as Tapioka - 1925 The Tailor from TorzhokThe Tailor from TorzhokThe Tailor from Torzhok is a 1925 Soviet silent comedy film directed by Yakov Protazanov and starring Igor Ilyinsky-Plot:A small-town tailor Petya Petelkin buys a lottery ticket starting a chain of comic adventures.-Cast:...
as Petya Petelkin - 1924 Papirosnitsa ot MosselpromaPapirosnitsa ot MosselpromaPapirosnitsa ot Mosselproma ) is Soviet silent comedy film directed by Yuri Zhelyabuzhsky and starring Igor Ilyinsky.-Plot:...
as Nikodim Mityushin, bookkeeper - 1924 AelitaAelitaAelita , also known as Aelita: Queen of Mars, is a silent film directed by Soviet filmmaker Yakov Protazanov made on Mezhrabpom-Rus film studio and released in 1924. It was based on Alexei Tolstoy's novel of the same name...
as Kravtsov, amateur sleuth