Sergei Bondarchuk | |
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Born |
Sergei Fyodorovich Bondarchuk 25 September 1920 Belozerka, Kherson Governorate, Ukrainian SSR |
Died | 20 October 1994 Moscow, Russia |
(aged 74)
Years active | 1948–1992 |
Spouse(s) |
Inna Makarova (1949–1956) Irina Skobtseva (1959–1994) |
Children |
Natalya Bondarchuk (b. 1950) Yelena Bondarchuk (1962–2009) Fyodor Bondarchuk (b. 1964) |
Awards |
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Sergei Fedorovich Bondarchuk (Russian: [sʲɪrˈɡʲej ˈfʲɵdərəvʲɪtɕ bəndɐrˈtɕuk]; Russian: Серге́й Фё́дорович Бондарчу́к; Ukrainian: Сергі́й Фе́дорович Бондарчу́к, Serhiy Fedorovych Bondarchuk; 25 September 1920 – 20 October 1994) was a Soviet film director, screenwriter and actor.
Born in Belozerka, in the Kherson Governorate of the Ukrainian SSR, 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 against Nazi Germany and was discharged in 1946.
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 Destiny of a Man, based on the Mikhail Sholokhov short story of the same name.
Bondarchuk's western fame lies 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.