Mark Bernes

Mark Bernes
Mark Bernes in the movie "Miners" (1937)
Born	Mark Naumovich Neyman (Neumann) (1911-09-25)September 25, 1911 Nizhyn, Chernigov Governorate, Russian Empire
Died	August 16, 1969(1969-08-16) (aged 57) Moscow, Soviet Union
Occupation	Actor, Singer
Years active	1929-1969
Awards

Mark Naumovich Bernes (Russian: Ма́рк Нау́мович Берне́с) (October 8 [O.S. September 25] 1911,Nezhin, Chernigov Governorate, Russian Empire - August 16, 1969, Moscow, Soviet Union) was a Soviet actor and singer of Jewish ancestry (his father's last name was Neumann), who performed some of the most poignant songs to come out of World War II, including Tyomnaya noch (Russian: Тёмная ночь, Dark Night; 1943) and Zhuravli (Russian: Журавли, Cranes; 1969). His voice had some similarities to Bing Crosby, but his style was closer to French chansonniers such as Yves Montand.

In late 1930s, not long before the war, Mark Bernes starred in two motion pictures: Man With a Rifle and The Fighter Planes . In both of these films, he performed songs, which immediately became famous all over Soviet Union after each film was released. In the former film, he performed the song Clouds Rose Over the City, which was a romantic song of a simple young Soviet worker. In the later film, he performed a famous patriotic ballad Beloved Town. This pre-war song was full of hope and optimism, and several years later, this song helped soldiers during the war.

When the war began, Bernes became among the first singers to perform for the Soviet troops. In 1943, he starred in the motion picture Two Fighters. He played a young soldier from Odessa named Arkady Dzubin. In that film, Bernes demonstrated typically Jewish wit and humor, such humor that was characteristic of Jews from Odessa. In that film, he sang two masterpiece songs: Tyomnaya noch and Shalandy polnye kefali (Russian: Шаланды полные кефали, Scows Full of Mullet).The second song is the humorous account of Kostya the sailor man from Odessa who ironically spoke to his fiancee Sonya the fishing girl. The first song, "Dark Night" was a serious ballad about a wife with a baby child waiting for the soldier, who was in the midst of a deadly fight. The song was sung by Bernes from the point of view of that soldier, who addressed his wife at home and assured her that he will live through all the deadly battles as long as she waits for him. "Dark Night" is the most recognizable Soviet song from World War II.