Georgy Mikhailovich Vitsin (nee Vitsyn). Born on April 5 (18), 1917 in Terioki - died on October 22, 2001 in Moscow. Soviet and Russian theater and film actor. People's Artist of the USSR (1990).

Georgy Vitsin was born on April 5 (18), 1917 in Terioki (now Zelenogorsk as part of St. Petersburg).

In the church book of the Exaltation of the Cross Church on Bolshaya Posadskaya Street there is a record that George was baptized there.

In later official documents the date of birth began to appear on April 23, 1918, and the place of birth was Petrograd. This happened due to the fact that Vitsin's mother in the 1920s, arranging her son in a health-improving forest school, made him “younger” and corrected the year of birth to 1918. April 23 (May 6) was his name day.

The original surname of the future actor also looked different - "Vitsyn", but later, due to a passport officer's mistake, the letter "s" was changed to "and".

When George was eight months old, his parents moved to Moscow.

In 1926-1933 he studied at the Moscow seven-year school No. 26.

In 1933-1934 he studied at the Theater School at the Maly Theater (now the Higher Theater School named after M. S. Shchepkin), from where he was expelled with the wording "for a frivolous attitude towards learning process».

In 1934 he entered the Theater School at the E. Vakhtangov Theater (now Theatre Institute named after Boris Shchukin). In 1935 he moved to the theater studio of the Moscow Art Theater 2nd, where he studied with S. G. Birman, A. I. Blagonravov, V. N. Tatarinov (all in Moscow).

Since 1936 - an actor in the studio theater under the direction of N.P. Khmelev, in 1937-1969 - the Moscow Drama Theater. M. N. Yermolova, which included the studio theater.

The roles of George Vitsin in the theater. M. N. Ermolova:

1940 - "As You Like It" by W. Shakespeare - William;
1943 - "Night of Errors" by O. Goldsmith - Tony;
1945 - "The Taming of the Tamer" by J. Fletcher - Moroso;
1946 - "Old Friends" L. A. Malyugin;
1947 - "People with clear conscience» P. P. Vershigory - Volichka;
1948 - "Happiness" by P. A. Pavlenko - Podnebesko;
1951 - "Xenia" by A. A. Volkov (director A. A. Goncharov) - Grandfather Semyon;
1955 - "Good Hour" by V. S. Rozov;
1956 - "Eccentric" N. Hikmet - Abdurakhman;
1958 - "Savages" by S. V. Mikhalkov - Lyubeshkin;
1964 - "Forest" by A. N. Ostrovsky (directed by L. P. Gallis) - Arkashka Schastlivtsev;
1966 - "Nails" by S. L. Lungin, I. I. Nusinov;
“There was not a penny, but suddenly an altyn” by A. N. Ostrovsky (staged by N. P. Khmelev);
“Do not make yourself an idol” A. M. Faiko - Molokanov;
"Twenty years later" by M. A. Svetlov;
"Guest from the Night" L. Ashkenazi - waiter;
"Freeloader" by I. S. Turgenev;
"Two stubborn" N. Hikmet.

From 1969 to 2001, he served at the Theater-Studio of a film actor in Moscow.

The film debut of the actor took place, as was believed, in the episodic role of a guardsman in the film "Ivan the Terrible" by S. M. Eisenstein (1944). However, according to V. Zuckerman, who scrupulously collected all the facts of G. Vitsin's life, the actor somehow admitted to him that he "had never seen S. M. Eisenstein", and made his debut in 1945 in the film by S. I. Yutkevich Hello, Moscow!

Fame came to the actor after the film "Reserve Player", in which he played the role of Vasya Vesnushkin. Following this, he starred in the film "She Loves You!". Despite the fact that in these films G. Vitsin played the role of young boys, the actor was already well over thirty. The shy and sympathetic heroes of G. Vitsin liked the viewer. At the same time, he starred in historical tapes: Composer Glinka and Belinsky.

Georgy Vitsin in the movie "Reserve Player"

However, the most widely known actor brought the image of a Coward, embodied by him in comedies - "Dog Mongrel and an unusual cross-country", "Moonshiners", "Operation" Y "and Shurik's other adventures" and "Prisoner of the Caucasus, or Shurik's New Adventures".

It is worth noting that Vitsin often had to play drunkard characters, and in these roles he was very convincing, as he had a specific voice and appearance. Despite the fact that in real life the actor did not drink or smoke, he led a healthy lifestyle, was fond of breathing exercises yogis. And only in the "Prisoner of the Caucasus" did the actor still have to drink real beer, since the dog rose, which G. Vitsin demanded, looked unconvincing in the frame.

Georgy Vitsin in the film "Prisoner of the Caucasus"

Also remembered for his roles: adventurer Sam in the comedy "Business People" ("Leader of the Redskins"), Balzaminov in the film "Balzaminov's Marriage", Sir Andrew in "Twelfth Night", the Wizard in "The Old, Old Tale".

The actor had a talent for recitation and worked hard on dubbing cartoons. He was a good artist - he drew caricatures of actors, tried himself in sculpture, graphics, painting.

Georgy Vitsin in the movie "Balzaminov's Marriage"

With the onset of the 1990s, G. Vitsin, together with other members of the famous trinity, began to tour the country a lot. Until his last days, he played in the Film Actor Theater. In recent years, he lived very modestly. Having given his large apartment in the center of Moscow to his daughter Natalya, he moved to the "Khrushchev" in Starokonyushenny Lane.

He extremely limited communication with outsiders, avoided meetings with journalists. He was almost constantly in the apartment, going outside only to feed the pigeons. He refused help, saying: “I can’t take it, because people give the last!”.

It is worth noting that George Vitsin looked very young until his advanced years. At thirty-seven, he played the eighteen-year-old Vasya Vesnushkin in the film "Reserve Player". At forty-six, twenty-five-year-old Misha Balzaminov ("Balzaminov's Marriage"). At the same time, his talent allowed him to play age roles: in particular, at the age of thirty-eight, the actor portrayed grandfather Musiy in the film “Maxim Perepelitsa”.

Georgy Vitsin died on October 22, 2001 (according to other sources - October 23) in a Moscow hospital. The cause of death of the actor was chronic diseases of the liver and heart. He was buried in Moscow, at the Vagankovsky cemetery.

On July 26, 2008, to the 460th anniversary of the city and the 90th anniversary of the actor, a monument to G. Vitsin was opened in the park of culture and recreation in Zelenogorsk. The sculpture depicts an actor in the role of Balzaminov from the film Balzaminov's Marriage.

In 2012, a monument to L. I. Gaidai and the Gaidai Trinity appeared near the circus building in Irkutsk.

There is a monument to Balbes, Experienced and Coward in Perm and also in Khabarovsk.

Growth of Georgy Vitsin: 174 centimeters.

Personal life of Georgy Vitsin:

He was in a relationship with actress Nadezhda (Dina) Topoleva, who was then the wife of director N.P. Khmelev. She was much older than him.

Their relationship began when 18-year-old Vitsin entered the Yermolova Theater. He passionately fell in love with Dina Topoleva, the wife of the artistic director of the theater Nikolai Khmelev, whom Vitsin considered his teacher. Dina responded to his feeling. Note that Khmelev did not change his attitude towards Vitsin and continued to give him roles.

They lived together for 20 years. After parting, he continued to take care of her, brought her medicines and food.

Dina Topoleva - civil wife George Vitsin

Wife - Tamara Fedorovna (1925-2009), dresser, niece of biologist and breeder I. V. Michurin.

In marriage, a daughter, Natalia, was born, a graphic artist.

Tamara Fedorovna - wife of Georgy Vitsin

Daughter Natalya spoke about Georgy Mikhailovich: “They made a hermit out of their father. This is absolutely not true! If girls called him and asked naive questions, he did not like to answer. But if, for example, Wulf was on the phone, he could talk for hours. As a child, I was even jealous father to his admirers. We walk down the street - everyone says hello. "Go home, girl," dad said and continued the conversation. By nature, dad was more suited to his first profession - an artist, sculptor, observing, contemplating. He painted everywhere - on trips, between performances, between filming hours. Mom sometimes suffered from the fact that you couldn’t talk seriously with him. Laughter from morning to night. Even in the most terrible situation, he knew how to relieve tension with wise humor. Dad was a responsible person. He supported us with mother, and first wife, actress Dina Topoleva".

Filmography of George Vitsin:

1944 - Ivan the Terrible Oprichnik (uncredited)
1945 - Hello, Moscow! - railwayman at the station "Dolsk"
1946 - Glinka - spectator at the premiere (not in the credits)
1947 - Spring - an actor rehearsing N.V. Gogol
1951 - Belinsky - Nikolai Gogol
1952 - Composer - Glinka Nikolai Gogol
1954 - Spare player - Vasya Vesnushkin
1954 - We met somewhere - a vacationer on the balcony of a rest home (not in the credits)
1955 - Mexican - Bill Carty
1955 - Maxim Perepelitsa - grandfather Musiy
1955 - Twelfth Night - Sir Andrew
1956 - She loves you! - Konstantin Petrovich Kanareikin
1956 - Poet - poetry evening entrepreneur (uncredited)
1956 - Murder on Dante Street - Pitu
1957 - Wrestler and clown - Enrico
1957 - Don Quixote - Samson Carrasco
1957 - New attraction - Semyon Ilyich, circus administrator
1958 - Rotation of life - hairdresser (uncredited)
1958 - Fathers and sons - Sitnikov
1958 - Groom from the other world - Fikusov, manager
1958 - Girl with a guitar - buyer
1958 - "Wonderworker" from Biryulyov - drunk
1959 - Vasily Surikov - Ilya Efimovich Repin
1959 - I was a satellite of the Sun - scientist, colleague of Andrey
1959 - How Ivan Ivanovich quarreled with Ivan Nikiforovich - Nikolai Gogol
1960 - The end of the old Berezovka - geometry teacher
1960 - Revenge - Fedor Fedorovich Degtyarev
1961 - Trainers - grandfather
1961 - Quite seriously (short story "Dog Mongrel and an unusual cross") - Coward
1961 - Moonshiners - Coward
1961 - Artist from Kokhanovka - grandfather Kuzma
1962 - How toasts are born - accountant Plyushch
1962 - The path to the pier - Velikankin, an intellectual in a sobering-up station
1962 - Business people (short story "Leader of the Redskins") - Sam
1962 - Only statues are silent - Jacques Mellier
1963 - Short stories(musical film) (miniature "Instructive case" husband
1963 - Cain XVIII - executioner
1963 - Mommy and two drones - a visitor to the cutlet
1963 - First trolley bus - drunk
1963 - Blind bird - train passenger
1964 - Variety fantasy (musical film)
1964 - Balzaminov's marriage - Misha Balzaminov
1964 - Bunny - assistant director Fyodor Mikhailovich
1964 - The Tale of Lost Time - the evil wizard Andrei Andreevich
1964 - What is the theory of relativity? - actor (cameo)
1964 - Spring chores - Uncle Pudya
1965 - It happens like this (film almanac) (short story "The Skeleton of Apollo") - Nazliev
1965 - At the first hour - guest of the "Blue Light"
1965 - Give a complaint book - department head in a clothing store
1965 - New Year's calendar
1965 - Operation "Y" and other adventures of Shurik - Coward
1965 - The road to the sea - timber rafting foreman Alexander Terentyevich
1966 - Capa Collection - Granatkin
1966 - Red, blue, green - museum director
1966 - Who invented the wheel? - uncle Kolya
1966 - Tales of the Russian Forest - Coward
1966 - Rainbow Formula - director of a toy factory
1966 - Prisoner of the Caucasus, or Shurik's New Adventures - Coward
1966 - Wick (film No. 47 "Carousel") - episode
1967 - Save a drowning man - police major / old man in panama
1967 - Tatyana's Day - who proposed a new chronology
1968 - Gulf Stream - Igor's father
1968 - Seven old men and one girl - a robber ("Coward")
1968-1981 - Zucchini "13 chairs" (film-play) - critic pan Tsypa
1968 - Old, old fairy tale- good magician
1968 - At the thirteenth hour of the night - water
1969 - Yesterday, today and always - Aunt Berry
1969 - Abduction - cameo
1970 - Step from the roof - Englishman
1970 - How we were looking for Tishka - Police Sergeant Stepanov
1970 - Guardian alcoholic and parasite - Tebenkov
1971 - Spring Tale - Tsar Berendey
1971 - 12 chairs - fitter Mechnikov
1971 - There will be no fire! - driver Peter
1971 - Shadow - Doctor
1971 - Mortal Enemy - Yegor
1971 - - Khmyr (Gavrila Petrovich Sheremetyev)
1972 - Tobacco Captain - Chef Mouton
1972 - Large-scale guys - foreman Afanasiev
1972 - Wick (film No. 121 "Purchase") - buyer
1973 - Cipollino - lawyer Peas
1973 - Have you ever loved? - Nina Dmitrievna's mother, Olin's father Yakov Ivanovich Nikolsky
1973 - Sannikov Land - Ignatius
1973 - My fate is drunk
1973 - Incorrigible liar - hairdresser Alexei Ivanovich Tyutyurin
1974 - Dear Boy - Macintosh
1974 - Northern Rhapsody - seller Kuzma Petrovich
1974 - Tsarevich Prosha - King Katorz IX
1974 - Wick (film No. 147 "Find Yourself")
1974 - Car, violin and dog Klyaksa - musician with banjo / guitar
1974 - My "Zhigulyonok" - Uncle Zhenya
1974 - Big attraction - Galkin, television director
1975 - Finist - Clear Falcon- Agathon
1975 - Step towards (short story "The Captain's Daughter") - a man in a buffet
1975 - It can't be! (short story "Wedding Accident") - father of the bride
1975 - Bubbles - the driver of "Zaporozhets"
1975 - Aw! (short story “And the matchmaker drove up to the hut ...”) - grandfather, ethnographer
1975 - Where are you, Arina Rodionovna? - Rodionich
1976 - Shepherd Yanka - Prince Kukimor
1976 - A cheerful dream, or Laughter and tears - Minister Crivello
1976 - While the clock is striking - Masha's grandfather, the Great Gardener
1976 - Blue Bird - Sugar
1976 - 12 chairs - undertaker Bezenchuk
1976 - The sun, the sun again - grandfather
1976 - Yeralash (in the plot "Wonderful Moment") - Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol
1977 - These incredible musicians, or Shurik's New Dreams (film-play) - cameo
1978 - The story of the meter page - hotel administrator Semyon Nikolaevich Kaloshin
1980 - For matches - tailor Tahvo Kenonen
1980 - Comedy of bygone days - Coward
1981 - Hands up! - agent YX-000, aka Fondy-Mondy-Dundy-Peck
1985 - Rivals - grandfather Ivan Stepanovich
1985 - Dangerous for life! - Alexander Petrovich Chokolov
1986 - The Journey of Pan Klyaksa - King Apollinaris Bai
1992 - Shot in the coffin - Colonel Zakusnyak
1992 - Gentlemen artists - hairdresser Nil Palych
1993 - Brave Guys - Major Griboyedov
1994 - Several love stories - pharmacist Fornari
1994 - Hagi-Tragger - puppet master Genrikh Yanovich

Voiced by Georgy Vitsin:

1936 - Dowry (in the restored edition of 1970)
1937 - Rich bride - junior accountant
1937 - 1938 - Peter the Great (in the restoration of 1965) - reader
1939 - The Golden Key (in the restoration of 1959) - Pinocchio (the role of O. A. Shaganova-Obraztsova), Giuseppe (the role of M. N. Dagmarov)
1950 - Casimir - Paul-Andre (the role of B. La Jarrige)
1953 - The great warrior of Albania Skanderbeg - Mamitsa's husband
1954 - True friends - grandfather on a barge (role of A. I. Zhukov)
1954 - There will be a circus - Viewer (the role of V. Tregle)
1954 - Dad, mom, maid and I - Robert Langlois (role of R. Lamoureux)
1955 - Lourja Magdana - Gigo's grandfather (role of A. A. Omiadze)
1955 - The collapse of the emirate - Urzuf, ambassador of the emir (role of S. Tabibullaev / commandant)
1955 - Dzhigit girl - Murat (role of S. P. Telgaraev)
1956 - A precious gift - the head of a pharmacy (the role of E. S. Geller)
1956 - Around the world in 80 days - train conductor (role of K. Buster)
1956 - Bashi-Achuk
1957 - 12 Angry Men - Juror No. 2 (role of J. Fidler / Juror No. 9 (role of J. Sweeney)
1958 - My uncle
1958 - Mr. Pitkin behind enemy lines - Norman Pitkin / General Schreiber (role of N. Wisdom)
1959 - Babette goes to war - Captain Gustave Fremont (role of N. Roquer)
1959 - Keep it up, nurse! - the orderly Mick (the role of G. Lok)
1959 - Twelve girls and one man - Joseph (role of E. Waldbrunn)
1959 - Prairie Street - orderly Mick (role of G. Guy Decomble)
1961 - Beggar's Story - Pepia (role of A. A. Omiadze)
1961 - hard life- episode (role of A. Blasetti)
1961 - Divorce in Italian - Carmelo Patane (role of L. Trieste)
1962 - Postman Knock - Harold Pug (role of S. Milligan)
1963 - Pitkin's Adventures in the Hospital - Norman Pitkin (role of N. Wisdom)
1963 - The way to the arena - agent of the State Insurance
1963 - Yesterday, today, tomorrow - grandfather (role of D. di Gregorio)
1964 - Believe it or not ... - lecturer (role of A. M. Matkovsky)
1964 - Forward, France! - Le supporter avec le bonnet tricolore (role of R. Rolli)
1964 - Fantomas - Executive Secretary of the Union of Jewelers (role of J. Berger)
1965 - The first teacher - Kartynbay (the role of Kirey Zharkimbaev) / the role of M. Kyshtobaev)
1966 - How to steal a million - insurance agent (role of E. Malin)
1966 - Amazing story, similar to a fairy tale - reads the text
1967 - Triangle - photographer
1968 - Diamond Hand - an alcoholic who is taken away by the police (the role of L. I. Gaidai) (uncredited)
1968 - Little bather - minister (role of P. Duck)
1969 - The Adventures of Gunner Dolas, or How I Unleashed the Second world war- Captain Ralph Peacock (the role of K. Rudzkiy)
1970 - Old Toomas was stolen - Old Toomas (role of K. K. Kiysk)
1971 - Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
1972 - The secret of the great storyteller - Count
1974 - Dealers in death - Uncle Kyokki (role of A. Cutolo)
1975 - Dear people - Profumo (role of D. Pagnani)
1976 - Acquaintance by marriage announcement - waiter (role of R. Riffar) / taxi driver (role of P. Repp)
1976 - Regentrude - the evil dwarf sorcerer Feuerbart
1977 - Garib in the country of Jinn - Asra (role of A. Mammadoglu)
1977 - Fantasies of Vesnukhin - Uncle Gosh, photographer (role of G. M. Roninson)
1977 - Stepmother Samanishvili - priest Michael (uncredited)
1978 - Who is who - driving school inspector (role of F. Castelli)
1979 - D'Artagnan and the Three Musketeers - the second judicial officer (the role of V. A. Dolinsky)
1979 - Rhythms of songs - Tushar Babu Ghosh / Chatterjee (role of K. Mukherjee)
1980 - The Taming of the Shrew - the priest Cirillo (the role of P. Santonasto)
1981 - Grandfather of our grandfather's grandfather - grandfather Aziz (role of G. Sadikhov)
1981 - Maria, Mirabela - King of caterpillars, father of Omide (role of D. Radulescu)
1982 - In love of his own free will - boyfriend-artist (role of I. V. Ufimtsev)
1982 - Pokrovsky Gates - grandfather Savelich (role of E. S. Geller)
1982 - Wizards - talking cat(uncredited)
1986 - I am an outpost leader - father of Kolya Gudkov (role of A. A. Kozhevnikov)

Voiceover of cartoons by Georgy Vitsin:

1946 - Peacock's Tail - Dr. Aibolit
1947 - The Little Humpbacked Horse - Sleeping bag
1951 - High slide - sparrow Chick
1953 - Magic store - Mage-manager
1954 - Orange neck- rooster Podkovkin
1954 - The arrow flies into a fairy tale - The old man-forester
1954 - Goat-musician - First hedgehog
1954 - On the forest stage - Hare
1954 - Tanyusha, Tyavka, Top and Nyusha - Tyavka
1955 - Nut twig - Kloanza witch / raven (credited as "G. Vitsyn")
1955 - Postman Snowman - Snowman
1955 - Brave Bunny- Brave Bunny
1955 - The Enchanted Boy - Wooden statue of the old sailor Rosenbaum
1955 - What kind of bird is this? - Goose (uncredited)
1955 - Four coins - grandfather Ahmed
1956 - Little Shego - Parrot (uncredited)
1956 - The Ugly Duckling - Both Roosters / Goose / Turkey / Cat (uncredited)
1956 - Ship - Ant / Frog
1956 - forest history- Doctor Crane (uncredited)
1956 - Jackal and camel - Jackal
1956 - The Adventures of Murzilka - Starling / Janitor Uncle Yegor
1956 - 12 months - Raven / Herald / Parrot / Brother February
1956 - Ajar-bay stork (uncredited)
1957 - Verlioka - Drake (uncredited)
1957 - Wolf and seven kids - Woodpecker (uncredited)
1957 - In a certain kingdom ... - Overseas prince / clerk
1957 - Hello friends! - Fanfan Reporter
1957 - Miraculous - Rooster
1957 - The Tale of the Snow Maiden - Grandfather (uncredited)
1958 - Cat's House - Goat / Raven Fireman
1958 - Beloved Beauty - Robber Truha / Magpie / Crow
1958 - We are going for the sun - Hedgehog
1958 - The Tale of Malchish-Kibalchish - Grandfather / bourgeois general Englishman / bourgeois general Japanese
1958 - Boy from Naples - Little Signor
1958 - Sportland - Hottabych from the book
1959 - The Adventures of Pinocchio - Giuseppe / clown / conductor (credited as "I. Vitsin")
1959 - Exactly at three fifteen ... - Pencil; Parsley (uncredited)
1959 - Three lumberjacks - Bubble
1960 - Different wheels - Rooster
1960 - Vintik and Shpuntik - merry masters - Pilyulkin (uncredited)
1960 - I drew a little man - Confectioner
1960 - Thirteenth flight - Hare, goat
1960 - The End of the Black Swamp - Goblin
1960 - Cartoon Crocodile #2 - gramophone/knife
1960 - Non-Drinking Sparrow - Non-Drinking Sparrow
1960 - Three sons-in-law - Old man (uncredited)
1961 - Dear penny - Pyatak-watchman
1961 - Dragon - Tax Collector
1961 - Key - Nikolai Zakharov, the boy's father
1961 - Ant-braggart - Grasshopper
1961 - Cipollino - gardener Cactus
1961 - Dunno is studying - Dr. Pilyulkin
1961 - Overseas Reporter - Reporter Bob Sketch
1962 - Two Tales - Hare
1962 - Just not now - the wizard "Now"
1962 - Queen Toothbrush - Grandpa Soap (uncredited)
1962 - Wick, plot "Modern Fairy Tale") - Dabran-aga
1963 - The Tale of the Old Cedar - Mushroom / Gingerbread Man
1963 - Pathfinder - aged repeater Vasya Petrov
1963 - Grandma's goat - 3rd wolf
1963 - Firefly #3 - Firefly
1963 - Three Fat Men - Balloon Seller (uncredited)
1964 - Life and suffering of Ivan Semyonov - doctor
1964 - Who will go to the exhibition? - Defective man
1964 - Brave Little Tailor - Minister / Trumpeter
1964 - Rooster and paints - Rooster
1964 - Thumbelina - Grasshopper musician / one of the three respectable moles (uncredited)
1964 - Who is to blame? - Box of matches
1965 - Your health - Xvoroba / Microbe
1965 - Neither God nor Hell - carpenter Kuzma (uncredited)
1965 - Rikki-tikki-tavi - old mongoose
1965 - Firefly No. 6, plot Sunflower - Turkey
1965 - Where did I see him? - Pencil, chairman of the "Club of funny little men" (uncredited)
1966 - About the hippo who was afraid of vaccinations - Wolf / Giraffe / Crocodile
1966 - Go there, I don't know where - Text from the author / thin buffoon
1966 - Today is a birthday - Dispatcher at the station / Cat
1966 - Tails - Hare
1967 - Mirror - Hare
1967 - Mezha - Old Man (uncredited)
1967 - A train from Romashkov - Dad
1967 - Simulant Hare - Hare
1967 - Tales for big and small - Hare
1967 - Baby Elephant - Baboon
1967 - Time machine - Spartak fan
1967 - One, two - together! - Hare / one-eared wolf
1967 - The Tale of the Golden Cockerel - Sage Stargazer; gunner
1967 - Honest crocodile - Steam locomotive (uncredited)
1967 - How to get big - Mushroom
1968 - The kid who counted to ten - Horse
1968 - Comedian - Guard in Bombizhu (uncredited)
1968 - I want to butt! (short story "Helpful") - Hare
1968 - Film, film, film - screenwriter
1969 - Wick (short) (film No. 80 "Is there life on Mars?") - professor-lecturer
1969 - Wick (short) (film No. 177 "Happy Ending") - motorcyclist
1969 - Stolen Month - Month
1969 - Puss in Boots Part 1 - Perrault the Cat
1969 - Absent-minded Giovanni (Merry Carousel No. 1) - Postman (uncredited)
1970 - Beavers are on the trail - Beaver teacher
1971 - Petrushka - Petrushka
1971 - Terem-Teremok - Cockerel
1972 - Cheerful old man (Funny carousel No. 4) - Old man
1972 - Old Sailor's Tales: Antarctica - Caretaker Penguin
1972 - The duckling who did not know how to play football - the bully duckling (uncredited)
1973 - How It Happened - Clown Toy
1973 - Fiction in faces (Merry Carousel No. 5) - Egor
1974 - A bag of apples - Papa Hare
1974 - Themselves to blame - Papa Hare
1975 - The inheritance of the magician Bahram - The Magician Bahram
1975 - The Little Humpbacked Horse - Sleeping bag / episodic characters
1975 - Visiting the Gnomes - Dwarf (uncredited)
1976 - Bunny-knower - Bunny-Knaughter
1976 - All the dull ones - Intellectual worm
1977 - How mushrooms fought with peas - Pod (uncredited)
1977 - Hare and fly - Sparrow
1977 - Quartet "Kva-kva" - Beetle (uncredited)
1978 - Santa Claus and Gray wolf- Papa Hare (credited as "G. Vitsyn")
1978 - Robinson Kuzya - Savage Cat
1978 - How a musician duck became a football player - Bully duck (credited as "G. Vitsyn")
1979 - How the fox caught up with the hare - Hare
1979 - From whom to take an example? - Spotted Rooster
1980 - First autograph - Beaver (song performance)
1980 - Vacation in Prostokvashino - Beaver
1981 - Maria, Mirabela - King of caterpillars, father of Omide
1981 - winter fairy tale- bullfinch
1982 - The Adventures of a Magic Globe or the Witch's Tricks - Little Signor / Kloanza Witch / Wise Raven
1982 - Birthday - Dwarf
1982 - Sweet Spring - Rooster / Goby
1982 - Lost and found - parrot Stepanych
1983 - Catch, fish! - grandfather
1983 - A goat lived with my grandmother - Bunny
1983 - The smallest gnome (4th edition) - Cockerel
1983 - Koloboks are investigating (2nd edition of "Robbery of the Century") - ice cream seller
1984 - Underpass - Already
1984 - I want the moon - Lord Chancellor
1984 - I don't want and I won't - Cat
1984 - Elephant went to study - Cat
1984 - How a puppy learned to swim - Swan
1984-1990 - KOAPP - Cheetah
1984 - Brownie Kuzya. House for Kuzka - brownie Kuzya / guest / loader
1985 - Brownie Kuzya. Adventures of a brownie - brownie Kuzya / cat
1986 - Brownie Kuzya. Tale for Natasha - brownie Kuzya
1986 - Snow Maidens - Scarecrow
1987 - Brownie Kuzya. The return of the brownie - brownie Kuzya
1990 - Chicken - Old Rooster
1990 - Sweet turnip - narrator
1991 - Nikolai Ugodnik and hunters - all characters
1991 - Guest - raeshnik
1992 - A simple man - a raeshnik
1992 - Woman's work - raeshnik
1993 - Two crooks - raeshnik
1993 - Relatives - raeshnik
1993 - Chuffyk - Hare
1994 - Dreamers from the village of Ugory - Koschey the Immortal
1994 - Sharman, Sharman! -2 - Turtle
1995 - Sharman, Sharman! -3 - Turtle

Radio performances by George Vitsin:

1961 - "Pharmacy "Blue Balls"" - Doctor-Pharmacist
1962 - "The Star Diaries of Iyon the Quiet" - from the editors
1965 - "Faithful Robot" - a strange type
1972 - "Treasure Island" - Pew
1981 - "Children of Captain Grant" - Paganel

musical tales George Vitsin:

1965 - "The Wizard emerald city» - Goodwin
1981 - "The Incident in the Country of Multi-Pulti" - Coward
1984 - "The Adventures of Grasshopper Kuzi" - grasshopper Kuzya
1984 - "New Adventures of Grasshopper Kuzi" - grasshopper Kuzya
1989 - “Wanted Grasshopper Kuzya” - grasshopper Kuzya
1989 - "Grasshopper Kuzya on the planet Tuami" - grasshopper Kuzya


"Life is too short to waste it on any rubbish."

Actor Georgy Mikhailovich Vitsin studied the works of Ovid, Horace, Plutonius, Petrarch. He was fond of astronomy and looked through a telescope from his balcony on the Arbat every evening. Seriously engaged in yoga, was a vegetarian. Lived modestly. And for food and food for dogs and pigeons, which he adored, Vitsin had enough.

He loved animals madly, he even loved cockroaches, he never destroyed them. All the surrounding inhabitants (birds, cats, dogs) knew exactly the hours when he went out “for feeding”, and gathered in front of the entrance.

“If I had not practiced yoga, then many of my film roles would not have been so successful. After all, the process of filming is a very difficult dreary thing. Georgy Vitsin

Georgy Vitsin about animals:

“Here are dogs, they are like medicine: they heal, save people, strengthen nervous system. After eighty, everyone should have a dog. She will save you, help you with your daily routine better than any doctor.” He said: “Time has proved to me that the meaning of life is still not in money and not in fame ... I see a normal life position of a person in patience. This is the most important thing to develop in yourself. In my opinion, while alive, it is very easy to be happy. And when there is a dog, a wife, a daughter and good memories - this is already beyond the norm for an elderly person!

The only thing he never felt sorry for either money or time was books. Vitsin was interested in various spiritual practices and was very fond of yoga. He mastered her so much that he could sleep in just 15 minutes

If I had not become an artist, I would have become a naturalist - I love plants, birds, especially animals. Remember Zoshchenko: "An animal is not a person, you can rely on it." They do not fuss, do not do dirty tricks to each other, but faithfully wait ... And if they kill, then only when there is nothing to eat. And people are just like that.

A couple of years ago, Georgy Vitsin found a dying dog in the snow.
“She even got all her hair out because she ate anything, and now, thank God, she is a healthy and cheerful dog,” he says. And Lai (as the tramp was called) became Vitsin's friend. He takes the artist for a walk.

“Time has proved to me that the meaning of life is still not in money and not in fame”
Georgy Vitsin

Georgy Vitsin could slow down and speed up his pulse, loved vegetarian food and did not get sick until his last years. He didn't even have a medical card at the clinic.

In addition to the "yard terrier", two parrots lived in the tiny apartment of the Vitsins and ladybug rescued from a puddle.

Georgy Mikhailovich, what does old age know, what is inaccessible to youth?
- That you don't have to go out of your way ... Do what you can, and that's it.
What years were the happiest for you?
- All. I am a happy man.

Do you have a dream?
- To feed the animals. …
- You know, in last years in the cities it became crowded with stray dogs, which you feel sorry for.
- These people are to blame, they cannot equip ...

“If I had not practiced yoga, then many of my film roles would not have been so successful. After all, the process of filming is a very difficult dreary thing. But during the filming, despite the noise, screaming, I often fell asleep for exactly ten to fifteen minutes, thereby giving the body a rest, relaxation.


He was very fond of freedom and silence and often joked: "I can live in a barrel, like Diogenes." Nevertheless, Vitsin was very fond of people. He lived like everyone around him was his. His love for people was unselfish.

"That's not what you eat." - “And what is there, Gosha?” “Nuts,” he replies. “Here I will eat a few nuts, and not only will I be full, but I will also be healthy.” Some giggled, and someone also took on arms. He generously shared these nuts with the bird world. He went out - on tour, at home - endured food for crows, sparrows, pigeons, magpies. He was often caught somewhere on the boulevard - alone, with a bag full of food. He lived in the world that he needed. He loved nature, its remnants in the city, he loved loneliness: apparently, there he preserved and accumulated the ferments of good ...

Many considered Georgy Mikhailovich strange ... Probably, because of his rare modesty - he always had enough of everything. He himself could never pass by someone else's misfortune. So he fed the homeless. They were waiting for him every morning, and if they saw from the window that someone was swarming around the garbage cans, they would take out hot food, bread and a few ten rubles. When they thanked him, he said: "Go in peace."

He fed all the homeless animals and arranged their fate: he handed them over to the Arbat pet store, where they were given away for free in good hands. And he always gave a package of milk with the kittens. He also had his own three dogs - “girls”, whom he kept in the corridor in front of the apartment. But one day in severe frost I saw a dog lying on the hatch of a heating plant. He fed me, and then, returning home, he said: “We must take the dog, otherwise it will freeze overnight.” At first, the animal was vicious - it didn’t let anyone near it, but Vitsin Lai warmed up, and he became completely tame. Georgy Mikhailovich is no longer there, and local pigeons, having seen his dog, circle over the entrance, waiting for the owner with cereals.

More about this outstanding person you can learn from the documentary

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(139.57 MB / 39:03 min)

"Georgy Vitsin. "The Hermit"" - documentary channel "TV Center", dedicated to the great Soviet actor Georgy Mikhailovich Vitsin (1917-2001). Vitsin starred in more than a hundred films, but did not give a single interview.

When he was buried, all the stray dogs and birds that he fed, along with the crowd of people, came out to see him on his last journey ...

Shortly after the birth of their son, the family moved to Moscow. Vitsin received his first inoculations of art in the Hall of Columns, where his mother worked as an usher. Already in those years, Georgy Vitsin was quite funny, because of all the genres of cinema, it was comedy that attracted him the most. At the age of twelve, George began performing in school amateur performances. One of the reasons that prompted him to do this was his shyness, with which he decided to fight with all available means.

In the school at the theater. Evgenia Vakhtangov Vitsin entered in 1934, but already on next year moved to the studio at the second Moscow Art Theater. In the period from 1936 to 1969, he performed on the stage of the Moscow Theater. Yermolova. Among the most successful roles of George Vitsin in the theater: Schastlivtsev (“The Forest” by A. N. Ostrovsky), Tony (“Night of Errors” by O. Goldsmith), William (“As You Like It” by W. Shakespeare). From 1969 to 2001 he performed at the theater-studio of a film actor.

He made his film debut in 1945, playing the role of Eisenstein in the second series of Ivan the Terrible. In total, during his life, one of the most talented comedians of the 20th century played more than 100 roles and voiced more than 80 animated films.

Vitsin played his first really big role (Nikolai Gogol) in 1951 in the film "Belinsky" by G. M. Kozintsev. The first fame came three years later, along with the role of the eighteen-year-old football player Vasya Vesnushkin in the film "Reserve Player" (1954). The image of a charming, shy and rustic boy, created by the actor, fell in love with the audience. The actor carried the same image with him into the film “She Loves You” (1956) and some others. However, he did not become an actor in a single role. Among the most memorable images created by Vitsin: Sir Andrew - "Twelfth Night" (1955), Balzaminov - "The Marriage of Balzaminov" (1965), Good Wizard - "Old, Old Tale" (1968).

He won all-Union love thanks to the roles played in the so-called “Coward period”. The image of the Coward in Vitsin was opened by the legendary comedy director Leonid Gaidai, who involved the actor in the comedies: Dog Mongrel and an Unusual Cross Country (1960), Moonshiners (1961), Operation Y and Shurik’s Other Adventures (1965), Caucasian prisoner ”(1967), etc. The magnificent trinity Coward (Vitsin), Bolvan () and Experienced (), created by the director, became one of the symbols of the Soviet era.

The image of a coward, which the audience loved, was also used by other directors, for example, Alexander Sery, who invited Vitsin to play in the cult comedy Gentlemen of Fortune (1971) with Yevgeny Leonov in the title role.

Georgy Vitsin died on October 22, 2001 at the age of 83 after a long illness. Buried at the Vagankovsky cemetery


Georgy Mikhailovich Vitsin (officially: April 23, 1918, Petrograd, RSFSR; in fact: April 23, 1917 (this is the date indicated on the grave of Georgy Vitsin), Terioki, the Grand Duchy of Finland - October 22, 2001, Moscow, Russia) - Soviet and Russian theater actor and cinema, People's Artist of the USSR (1990).

A modest and inconspicuous person, whose credo was "Life must be lived quietly." A serious clown of Soviet cinema, a book lover and a sculptor, a yogi and a sage. The essence of the funny, in his own words, he understood only by the age of eighty: “Laughter is great ... Laughing is natural need normal person. Lack of a sense of humor is a disease ... of an abnormal person.

Georgy Vitsin in the city of Terioki (now Zelenogorsk), which at that time belonged to Finland, which was part of the Russian Empire. His mother, Maria Matveevna, changed many professions, she alone carried all the household chores, since her husband returned from the war as a seriously ill person: he was poisoned by gas and did not live long.

The newborn Gosha was so weak and sickly that the doctors scared the parents: "Your son is unlikely to ever walk." When the future artist was eight months old, his parents moved him to Moscow. Mom sent the boy to a forest school where they taught yoga. Over time, her passion grew for Georgy Mikhailovich into a philosophy of life. I must say that Vitsin studied at school for one triple, only in drawing there was a four. When she went to work as an usher in the Hall of Columns, she often began to take her son with her to work. It was there that he became interested in art.

I must say that since childhood, Vitsin was a very shy boy. In the classroom, hiding from the teacher's strict gaze, he always hid behind other people's backs. However, he made a firm decision to become an actor. To begin with, George chose the school theater as a therapy for shyness. IN children's play performed the dance of the shaman so passionately and emotionally that he received advice from his teachers to seriously take up ballet. But after school, Vitsin decided to "seriously engage" in the theater.

After leaving school, Georgy Vitsin entered the Maly Theater School. But soon he was expelled with the wording "For a frivolous attitude to the educational process." In the fall, Vitsin again decided to test his strength. He was tested in three studios at once - Alexei Diky, the Theater of the Revolution and the Moscow Art Theater-2 - and was accepted into all at once. He stopped his choice at the Theater School. E. Vakhtangov of the Moscow Art Theater-2 Studio, where he studied from 1934 to 1935.

It is hard to imagine, but in life Georgy Mikhailovich possessed a truly magical charm, literally bewitching women. Moreover, the actor had this gift from his youth.

At the age of 18, Vitsin entered the Yermolova Theater. And immediately - as if heading into the abyss - he fell in love with actress Dina Topoleva. The feeling was strong, but hopeless. After all, Topoleva is not only much older than him, but also married. And behind the artistic director of the theater Nikolai Khmelev, whom Vitsin idolized and considered his teacher! Dina responded to his feelings, left her husband. And the most surprising thing is that Khmelev did not change his attitude towards Gosha, still considered him one of the best actors. Vitsin and Topoleva lived in a civil marriage for almost 20 years.

And then 38-year-old George bewitched Tamara, the niece of the famous scientist Michurin. For the first time she saw him in a portrait in the corridor of the theater when she came to get a job as a decorator. It seemed to be an unremarkable appearance. But the eyes! She remembered their look for a long time. They have been married for over half a century. Their daughter Natasha is an artist.

But Gosha did not break off relations with Dina. Moreover, until her death, she remained a member of his family. Unthinkable? Only not for those who knew Georgy Mikhailovich! Recalls A. Voinov, the daughter of a close friend of Vitsin, director Konstantin Voinov:
- He built an absolutely amazing system of relationships. He wanted a child, there (in the family with Dina - Ed.) There was no child. Aunt Tamara's baby was born. The child is adored, he simply idolized his daughter Natasha. But he managed to arrange so that Natasha was admitted to Aunt Dinin's house. He brought her there because he kind of had two families. Because he supported Aunt Dina all his life. Both her and her sister, with housekeepers, with a dacha for the summer ... Vitsin could not leave Dina, she was older and needed custody.

Georgy Mikhailovich could not stand the heat. He preferred to be, as they say, always “buttoned up” - in a jacket, closed shoes, with an umbrella. But, unfortunately, most of his star filming takes place in the summer, and even in the south. But even the 30-degree heat could not change his dress code. And to the exclamations “Yes, you are crazy! In such heat! Vitsin calmly and dignifiedly answered: "Nature cannot be against me." And indeed. The film crew even brought out a sign: if Vitsin arrives, the weather will definitely deteriorate, it will start to rain and storm. But if the sun is needed for filming, Georgy Mikhailovich did not resist nature. For their sake, in the thirty-degree heat, he was ready to spend the whole day.

The cinematic career of Georgy Vitsin can be conditionally divided into three periods. He made his debut with the role of Gogol in Kozintsev's film "Belinsky" in 1951 (before that, he only had a cameo role as a guardsman in the film "Ivan the Terrible"). Before filming "Reserve Player", Vitsin trained daily at the stadium for a whole month in order to "burn fat". And at the rehearsal of the boxing match, he was so dispersed that he seriously attacked Pavel Kadochnikov. Kadochnikov, who boxed professionally, reacted automatically. As a result, Vitsin woke up with a crack in his rib, but did not leave the site, but continued filming, tightening chest towel.

In the film "She Loves You" (1956), according to the script, a complicated stunt episode on water skis was supposed. An understudy was supposed to be filmed, but the director decided to take Vitsin "weakly". Together with the screenwriter, they fabricated a letter from a certain "fan of Klava", in which she said that she would personally observe how the most daring actor is worn on water skis. At the end of the letter there was a transparent allusion to the possibility of a close personal acquaintance. Vitsin read the letter, agreed to act, worked brilliantly for the whole episode, but at the end he said to the joyful director: "But the name of the girl could be more interesting to come up with."

Surprisingly, Vitsin, who often played drunks on the screen, was an absolutely non-drinker in life. He could drink his glass of vodka, but it looked ridiculous. "Gosh, have a drink!" You know how they persuade. Or when he wasn't feeling well. Then he allowed himself to drink. But he drank like this: he took a stack or a glass, did it like this (shows that he is gargling) and put it down. That was the drink for him. Some kind of disinfection, rather... Besides, he didn't smoke. Nonna Mordyukova, who, after the episode of the kiss of the merchant Belotelova with Balzaminov, told Vitsin: “Are you a man? You don’t drink, you don’t smoke, you don’t pester women. You’re a corpse!”

All his life Georgy Mikhailovich was engaged in yoga. In those days, in the Soviet Union, no one really knew what it was, and Vitsin systematically and regularly studied according to this ancient Indian system. Mandatory cleansing of the body, proper nutrition, high resistance to stress, daily training and meditation, and strictly on schedule and regardless of the circumstances.

According to the actor
- Well, if I'm still on film set, and it's time for me to do yoga, I just stop the process and say that I urgently need to stand on one leg and sit in the lotus position. The director, of course, tears his hair out, but there's nothing to be done - I have yoga.

Screenwriter Yakov Kostyukovsky says:
- With me it never happened, and without me, I'm sure it could not be. He was so tactful that he would never allow himself to disrupt the shooting.

The nondescript but sympathetic heroes of Vitsin aroused the sympathy of the audience. At the same time, the actor starred in detective, historical, and lyrical films. Kozintsev was going to turn him into a positive movie character "with a touch of irony." But then the second period of Vitsin's work began - the "epoch of the Coward." His fragile and slender figure arose next to Experienced - Morgunov and Dunce - Nikulin, creating an absurd satirical trinity ridiculing the vices of society.

last role Georgy Vitsin played in the film "Hagi-Tragger" (1994). In addition to cinema, Georgy Vitsin worked a lot on dubbing cartoons. He approached his puppet and drawn characters according to the Stanislavsky system, considering this part of his work no less responsible and serious. His voice is spoken by: brownie Kuzka, a hare ("A bag of apples"), Giuseppe ("The Adventures of Pinocchio"), a beetle-musician ("Thumbelina") and many others.

According to his partners Morgunov and Nikulin: "Vitsin is devilishly talented and both of us put together are not worth his fingernail." For the last 7 years he has not acted in film, until recently the actor appeared before the audience only in humorous concerts of the film actor's theater.

The only thing that saved him was the duty that he placed on himself: "I must go feed the pigeons." Every day he got out of bed, took sacks of millet and went outside to feed the birds. got to delicious pieces and the surrounding stray cats and dogs - Georgy Mikhailovich also could not pass by their troubles calmly. And so it turned out that by the time Vitsin left the house, all his pets were gathering near the entrance. The family had two parrots and a dog.

When the actor died in October 2001, cages with 12 pigeons were brought to his funeral. And when the coffin was taken out of the entrance, the birds were released. But one dove fell dead... October 22, 2001 after a serious illness People's Artist Soviet Union passed away. The monument, which was erected on his grave at the Vagankovsky cemetery, was erected with public money, which the actor did not accept during his lifetime.

On July 26, 2008 (on the occasion of the 460th anniversary of the city and the 90th anniversary of Vitsin), a monument to Georgy Vitsin was unveiled in the park of culture and recreation of Zelenogorsk. The sculpture depicts an actor in the role of Balzaminov from the film Balzaminov's Marriage. Artist-sculptor Yuri Kryakvin. In 1973, the film-portrait Georgy Vitsin (directed by Vladimir Tomberg) was shot at the Tsentrnauchfilm film studio.

Interesting Facts-
# It turned out that in the metric book of the Petrograd Holy Cross Church, the baby Georgy Vitsin was indeed recorded in 1917! Next to the entry is the date "April 23". But this is the day of St. George, after whom the boy was named. And the date of birth is April 5! Vitsin's mother corrected the year for 1918 in order to enroll her son in a health-improving forest school.
# Vitsin looked very young until his advanced years. At thirty-six, Georgy Vitsin portrayed the ancient grandfather Musiy in the painting Maxim Perepelitsa. At thirty-seven - eighteen-year-old Vasya Vesnushkin in the film "Reserve Player". At forty-six, he played the twenty-year-old Misha Balzaminov ("Balzaminov's Marriage").
# Vitsin was interested in books and coins.

Awards and titles
# Honored Artist of the RSFSR (1959).
# People's Artist of the RSFSR (1977).
# People's Artist of the USSR (1990).

One of recent interviews Georgy Vitsin finished like this: "Don't fuss, people. Life takes a terribly long time!"

Honored Artist of the RSFSR (1959)
People's Artist of the RSFSR (1977)


Georgy Vitsin was born in Petrograd on April 23, 1918. When George was eight months old, his parents moved him to Moscow.

However, according to the entry in the Metric Book of the Petrograd Holy Cross Church for 1917, Vitsin was baptized on April 23, on the day of the Holy Great Martyr George, and April 5 (April 18 according to the new style) 1917 is indicated in the “birthday” column. His mother, Maria Matveevna, corrected the year from 1917 to 1918 in the metrics in order to send the sick Georgy to a health-improving forest school, where there was only a place in the younger group.

Maria Matveevna alone carried all the household chores, since her husband returned from the war as a seriously ill person - he was poisoned by gas and did not live long. When Maria Matveevna, having changed many professions, went to work as an usher in the Hall of Columns, she often took her son with her to work.

Georgy Vitsin was a very shy boy from childhood. To overcome his complexes, George made a firm decision to become an actor. Georgy Vitsin really became interested in theater at the age of 12, when he began to play in school amateur performances.

Here is what he recalled about this: “I grew up as a very shy child. And in order to get rid of this complex, I decided to learn how to perform. Went to the fourth grade in the theater club. By the way, a very good remedy, even the psychologist Vladimir Levy wrote about this. I know him, he treats stutterers in this way, people with all sorts of complexes - arranges a theater at home, distributes roles, and they improvise. Here I am cured…”

In the school theater, as a therapy for shyness, in one of the performances, Vitsin performed the dance of the shaman so passionately and emotionally that he received advice from the teachers to seriously take up ballet. But after graduating from school, Vitsin decided to seriously engage in theater.

After leaving school, Georgy Vitsin entered the Maly Theater School. But soon he was expelled with the wording "For a frivolous attitude to the educational process." In the fall, Vitsin again decided to test his strength. He was tested in three studios at once - Alexei Diky, the Theater of the Revolution and the Moscow Art Theater-2 - and was accepted into all at once. He stopped his choice at the Theater School. E. Vakhtangov of the Moscow Art Theater-2 Studio, where he studied from 1934 to 1935, where he studied with S.G. Birman, A.I. Blagonravova and V.N. Tatarinov.

In 1936, the secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine, Postyshev, in a personal conversation with Stalin, complained that there were two Moscow Art Theaters in Moscow, and not a single one in Ukraine. Stalin immediately presented the fraternal republic with the Moscow Art Theater-2 with the entire troupe. The actors were offered to pack their things and go to Kyiv, and when they refused to leave the capital, the theater was disbanded, recalling in the newspapers that it had once been organized by the "renegade emigrant" Mikhail Chekhov. Actress Serafima Birman, one of the most strict theater teachers, compared Vitsin with Mikhail Chekhov.

Vitsin since 1936 served at the Yermolova Theater and brilliantly played a sexually horny impotent old man in Fletcher's play The Taming of the Tamer. The audience poured into this production, and specifically “on Vitsin”, finding out at the box office whether he was playing, and only then buying tickets. True, they were dissatisfied. One day, an angry general appeared backstage, watching a performance with his 16-year-old daughter, and demanded that the "indecent text" be cut.

Vitsin himself always treated the theater with great reverence. Even after he finally said goodbye to the stage and went to the cinema. There is no such thing as a "film actor", he believed. There is an ACTOR, and he is born on stage, in live communication with the audience.

In his theatrical experience, Vitsin found blanks for many film roles. The sexy old man who embarrassed the general's daughter turned into Sir Andrew from Jan Fried's Twelfth Night. The British press, which always jealously follows any adaptations of Shakespeare, caressed this picture, and the role of "the Russian actor Vypin, who accurately grasped the specifics of English humor", although with a mistake in the surname, was mentioned in the BBC program.

Theater critics wrote about Vitsin with pleasure, and no one then could have imagined that an actor with such a brilliant stage career could leave the theater forever for the sake of cinema.

Georgy Vitsin's cinematic career began with an episodic role as a guardsman in the film "Ivan the Terrible", and continued with the role of Gogol in Kozintsev's film "Belinsky" in 1951.

The director's assistant, who came from Lenfilm to Moscow, selected several actors from the mass of the capital's actors at once, among whom were famous actors Vladimir Kenigson, Boris Smirnov and a number of others. However, it was in Vitsin that the assistant saw the features of Gogol's nature.

Vitsin played this role so reliably that a few months after filming this film, he was invited to work in another film, and again for the role of Gogol - in Grigory Alexandrov's film Composer Glinka.

Georgy Vitsin starred in films of various genres, but Georgy Vitsin became widely known for his roles in comedies.

The first such role was the charming football player Vasya Vesnushkin in Semyon Timoshenko's film "Reserve Player", filmed in 1954. Vitsin got into this role quite by accident. The picture was shot at Lenfilm, where Vitsin was invited to audition for the role of the Gadfly in the film directed by Alexander Feintsimmer. The tests were unsuccessful, Oleg Strizhenov was approved for the role, and Vitsin was about to return to Moscow, when Semyon Timoshenko's assistant accidentally found him in one of the Lenfilm corridors. This time the test of the young actor was successful, and Vitsin was immediately approved for the role.

True, later the director was very surprised to learn that “ young actor"Not 25 years old, as it seemed to the eye, but almost 37. Vitsin's "ageless phenomenon" deserves a separate discussion. He was under 40 when he equally convincingly played a 70-year-old old man in the film "Maxim Perepelitsa" and a 17-year-old hero of Rozov's play "Good Hour!"

Before filming "Reserve Player", Vitsin trained daily at the stadium for a month to be in shape. And at the rehearsal of a boxing match, he seriously attacked Pavel Kadochnikov, who was professionally engaged in boxing. As a result, Vitsin had a crack in the rib, but Vitsin did not leave the site, but continued filming, tightening his chest with a towel.

In 1956, with the participation of Vitsin, the film "She Loves You" was filmed. In the film, according to the script, a complex stunt episode on water skiing was supposed. An understudy was supposed to be filmed, but the director decided to shoot Vitsin. Together with the screenwriter, they fabricated a letter from a certain fan: “Dear Comrade Vitsin! You are my ideal, I dream to meet you! Heard you're aquaplaning tomorrow? How brave are you! I will definitely look and after the shooting I will come to you. Believe me, you will not be disappointed. Klava.

The quick-witted Vitsin read the letter, agreed to shoot, worked brilliantly for the whole episode, but after shooting he said to the director: “But the name of the girl could be more interesting to come up with.”

The heroes of Vitsin invariably aroused sympathy among the audience in any films in which the actor starred - in detective, historical and lyrical.

In the film "The Marriage of Balzaminov", which was planned to be put into production in 1955, the only candidate for the role of the immature Misha Balzaminov was Vitsin, a longtime friend of the director Voinov for joint work in the theater-studio Khmelev. But something did not work out, and the launch of the film was postponed. After 10 years, the director had the opportunity to return to the project, and Voinov suggested leading role Vitsin again. And Georgy Mikhailovich then turned 48 years old. He flatly refused, but Voinov insisted: “It’s 48 according to your passport, but you don’t look 30 either. We’ll remove the makeup for another five years, and then the light, etc., etc.”

This reincarnation was possible because Vitsin treated his health responsibly and reverently. He did not smoke, because at the age of eight he took a puff under the stairs and received an anti-nicotine reflex for life. And did not drink, after once in New Year I decided to drink and realized that if you want to strangle yourself in the morning, it’s better not to drink.

But most importantly, he did yoga when no one really knew what it was. Vitsin carried out a mandatory cleansing of the body, ate right, developing high resistance to stress, conducted daily workouts and meditations, and strictly on schedule and regardless of the circumstances. Many directors got angry when, after the command "Motor!" Vitsin looked at his watch and politely but firmly stated: “Excuse me, I need to stand on one leg for seven minutes and sit in the lotus position.” Ignoring the heated atmosphere, he stepped aside, worked out his norm and calmly returned to work.

Savely Kramarov recalled how he lived with Vitsin on one of his business trips, and he amazed him with his daily yoga classes. “If I had not practiced yoga, then many of my film roles would not have been so successful,” Georgy Mikhailovich explained. - After all, the process of filming is a very difficult dreary thing. In anticipation of being filmed, you can sit all day, moreover, get so tired that all the humor will fizzle out of you by itself. How then to play? But during the filming, despite the noise, screaming, I often fell asleep for exactly ten to fifteen minutes, thereby giving the body a rest, relaxation.

To such an obsession with healthy way life partners treated differently. Some were indifferent, others were skeptical, and some were rather harsh. For example, Nonna Mordyukova, who, after the episode of the kiss of the merchant's wife Belotelova with Balzaminov, told Vitsin: “Are you a man? Don't drink, don't smoke, don't hit on women. You're dead!"

“For all this, long years work in the cinema, Georgy Mikhailovich masterfully learned to play drunks, - said Vladimir Tsukerman. “However, in real life, he never learned to drink. And smoked first and last time at the age of seven. Therefore, Vitsin did not like all kinds of acting gatherings, anniversaries and creative meetings in restaurants. “The worst thing that mankind has come up with is a feast,” he said. In the cinematic environment, such a bike even went. One actor says to another: “I was at the presentation yesterday. The table was awesome. Everyone was there, everyone was drinking. Leonov, Papanov, Mironov, Nikulin, Morgunov, Vitsin…” “Stop,” the second interrupted, “don’t lie.” “Well, everyone was there, and everyone drank. In addition to Vitsin, of course ... "

In the 10 years that have passed between the idea and the release of Balzaminov's Marriage, a lot has happened in the fate of Vitsin. But the main event took place in 1957, when Leonid Gaidai invited him to his first comedy "The Bridegroom from the Other World." The picture did not have much success, especially since the censorship dealt with the "Groom ..." quite abruptly, turning the film into a curvy short film with peripheral distribution. But the next teamwork, from the very beginning focused on the short film, has become a cult and fateful. In the film “Dog Mongrel and an Unusual Cross”, the most famous film trinity of Soviet cinema was born - Coward, Dunce and Experienced.

Grigory Kozintsev, who planned to shoot Vitsin in the role of Hamlet, was shocked when he saw the artist in Gaidai's short films. No one could have imagined that a dramatic actor would turn out so brightly comedic.

First, Gaidai read a poetic feuilleton about poachers in Pravda, then he came up with three characters-masks and began to look for actors. Vitsin immediately chose Coward, Coward found Dunce, seeing Yuri Nikulin in the circus. Experienced, in the person of Yevgeny Morgunov, Gaidai was betrothed by the director of Mosfilm, Ivan Pyryev. The fourth hero, Barbosa, was portrayed by the dog Brekh, who spoiled a lot of blood for the artists, stubbornly refusing to fulfill Gaidai's ideas in the frame.

Dog Mongrel was only one of five short stories in the humorous almanac Quite Seriously, on which the Mosfilm studio did not pin much hope. But Gaidai's eccentric short film was a resounding success with the public. The viewer liked everything - tricks, music, frantic rhythm and filigree editing. New heroes instantly became characters folklore, tales and anecdotes. Made after "Moonshiners" aggravated the situation of universal love and popularity. Bags of letters came from all over the country, in which Gaidai, in an ultimatum form, was required to make a new movie about Coward, Dunce and Experienced. Meanwhile, the trio in full force temporarily migrated to Eldar Ryazanov’s film “Give a Book of Complaints”, where it was remembered for a fight in a restaurant and Vitsin’s conceptual phrase: “You need to know the authorities in person!”

The phenomenal success of Gaidai's films even influenced the inviolable laws of the Soviet planned economy. The light industry responded to potential demand and quickly launched the production of products with "triple" symbols: T-shirts, masks, toys, calendars. Coward, Dunce and Experienced reincarnated as terrible forest robbers from the cartoon "The Bremen Town Musicians".

The audience perceived them as a single being, and even came up with a name for him - ViNiMor (according to the first letters of the surnames). But what different people made up this trio! A clown from God, a holiday man Yuri Nikulin (for him, Gaidai's films became the beginning of a film career), calm, quiet, contemplatively closed Vitsin - an artist with excellent theatrical training and solid film experience, and noisy, interfering in everything, often cheeky in communication Evgeny Morgunov, who, unfortunately, did not play anything of equal value either before or after the role of Experienced.

While working on "Operation" Y ..." Gaidai planned to complete the adventures of his heroes. The director had a difficult relationship with Morgunov, who was naughty even on Moonshiners, and allowed a lot both on and off the set. In his picture "Business People" based on the stories of O. Henry Gaidai, Experienced did not take, although both Nikulin and Vitsin played excellent roles there. However, a suitable scenario was soon found.

When Nikulin read the script " Caucasian captive”, then flatly refused to act in“ this nonsense. But Gaidai convinced him and the others that the script would be just the main canvas, on which everyone has the right to string as many fictions, tricks and gags as they can invent. And in order to stimulate the imagination of his “co-authors”, the director promised to give the inventor a couple of bottles of champagne for each idea.

According to the oral traditions of filmmakers, Nikulin earned 24 bottles, Morgunov - 18, and Vitsin - 1, because he did not like champagne. In fact, Georgy Mikhailovich was no less prolific than his colleagues. It is to him that we owe the cry “Beware!” Coward flying out of the door, a trick with a cucumber and a slingshot, Varley's handkerchief, which Coward is afraid of, and the famous scene under the motto "Stand to the death!" When the heroes build a living wall in front of a rushing car. In general, tricks were invented so spontaneously that it was then difficult to determine exactly who invented what. For example, Nikulin came up with a huge syringe that remains after an injection in Experienced’s ass, but the fact that the syringe will swing is Vitsin’s find.

The actor was hardly persuaded to drink a mug of beer on the set of "Prisoner of the Caucasus". At first, he categorically refused: “I won’t beer, pour rose hips.” One take, a second, a third... I've already drunk five mugs of rosehip infusion, as someone from the film crew remarked: “It won't work! There is no foam! Nikulin suggested putting cotton in a mug, but Vitsin could not stand it: “Yes, the sixth mug will not fit into me. Even with cotton wool, even without!” “As you wish, Georgy Mikhailovich,” the director of the film, Leonid Gaidai, intervened. - And you still have to shoot another take. And with real beer. And the teetotaler Vitsin had to forcefully drain a whole mug.

Pyotr Vail wrote about "ViniMore":

“The heroes of the great Gaidai troika bore meaningful names denoting those qualities without which there is and cannot be a worthy person. According to the clownish laws of comedy, these were shifting names, which, of course, did not confuse anyone. It is clear that Experienced - Evgeny Morgunov - who always gets into a puddle - is the personification of honest insecurity: the inevitable fate of the individual in society. That Dunce - Yuri Nikulin - incarnate common sense. That Coward - Georgy Vitsin - courage and resilience, beyond the control of either society or the state. With these three it was possible to make life clearer and more convincing than with Pavlik Morozov and Pavka Korchagin. Their words and phrases diverged in quanta of worldly wisdom no worse than quotes from Ilf and Petrov. If you think about it, the replica: "To live well, but to live well is even better," has become a key one for the people of a vast country. It was this intelligible philosophy that led the country from a vague slogan to everyday care, brought it out of ideology and into life. All three of them had one common name. This name is freedom. They appeared on the screen in the early 60s, when for the first time much of what was then opened wide open a quarter of a century later opened up in the country for the first time. The eccentricity of Gaidai's cinema was reminiscent of the movements of a suddenly freed man who, once in freedom, randomly swings his arms, turns his head, jumps up and down, tries to run away. The reflex freedom of that thaw was imprinted in many ways - youth prose, the Taganka theater, intimate lyrics, and most clearly in Gaidai's comedies, where the trio Nikulin-Vitsin-Morgunov possessed something that had not been seen before: plastic free man. Dostoevsky wrote that laughter is the true test of the soul, and it is right that our freedom began with laughter.

"Prisoner of the Caucasus" is a favorite of Russian cinema from 1967 to the present day. In the year of release, the film took 1st place at the box office, gathering 76.5 million viewers at the screens.

Actress Natalya Varley recalled Georgy Vitsin:


“I can start to remember, analyze or invent, but I didn’t have the feeling that separately Georgy Mikhailovich, separately Yuri Vladimirovich, separately Evgeny Alexandrovich. For me it was a group of very strong actors, wonderful people. My fear of a debutante, of course, at first did not allow me to navigate even what was happening. I was scared. Scary, joyful, interesting, and then I began to observe, analyze how different tempers why Leonid Iovich connected such dissimilar, it would seem, people and created three masks from them: Coward, Experienced, Dunce. In fact, Yuri Vladimirovich, and Evgeny Alexandrovich, and Georgy Mikhailovich were intelligent, smartest people. Georgy Mikhailovich was a deeply read man, an excellent theater actor. As a theater actor, he is known, of course, less. They mainly know his comedic roles, but I also saw him as an actor at the Yermolova Theater, even before I started acting in The Prisoner of the Caucasus. I studied at the circus school and ran to all the performances of the Yermolovsky Theater, because my classmate's aunt worked there. And I saw Georgy Mikhailovich in his theatrical works. He was from a different generation, with different values ​​and criteria. It seems to me that it would not have occurred to Georgy Mikhailovich Vitsin to bargain over the fee for the role, especially if he liked the role, if he wanted to play this role. And today I understand that this old, intelligent acting school is sorely lacking. When today they say, “how can it be, he died alone, in poverty,” I want to object. First, not alone, he had a beloved wife, a beloved daughter, a beloved dog. Yes, he was an old man, toothless, who already refused to go out with concerts, because he listened to his own health. My heart was shaking, he is still so suspicious. It was quite enough for him to go out in his Coward suit, to say a monologue, which was accepted with a bang. But he lived some kind of his own, quiet, life. I think he lived the way he already wanted - to correspond to his age, not to get younger, not to put in his teeth, because you don’t need to eat meat anymore, you need to eat porridge. Feed cats and dogs. There was also a Smolensk grocery store and they left for stray cats and dogs trimming bones and meat. He walked around the yards and fed them. He just loved animals and was very worried about them. He was a very kind and gentle person. Despite the fact that he loved dirty jokes, I have a feeling of such a tender depth of soul. Here is such a person - with a very tender soul, very vulnerable, never, as it seems to me, never asking for anything for himself, never putting forward any demands on others in relation to himself, no wealth he had never achieved in his life. The very memory of Georgy Mikhailovich is very bright. It is sad because he is gone and sad because he cannot now give a lesson in modesty, intelligence, politeness and reverent attitude to the acting profession.

The apotheosis of the troika was its end. Gaidai came to the conclusion that it was no longer possible to exploit these types without self-repetitions. In addition, on the set of "The Captive" he had a major scandal with Morgunov. Evgeny Alexandrovich appeared on the site surrounded by fans and began to make comments to the director, causing an enthusiastic reaction from the environment. Gaidai sharply ordered the director to remove all outsiders from the site, Morgunov was offended, Gaidai too, and in front of the actor tore out all the remaining episodes from the director's script.

Vitsin, Nikulin and Morgunov met only once on the screen, but not with Gaidai, but in Karelov's film Seven Old Men and One Girl.

In 1980, director Yuri Kushnerev tried to revive the legendary trio in the film “The Comedy of Bygone Days”, connecting it with the equally famous Gaidai two - Archil Gomiashvili and Sergey Filippov. Despite the fact that the authors of “Operation Y” took up the script, “ Prisoner of the Caucasus” and “Diamond Hand” Yakov Kostyukovsky and Maurice Slobodsky, the result was not very good. Nikulin immediately abandoned the project, and the remaining four strained with all their might, but could not make “at least something out of nothing”.

In our country, the popularity of a film actor is often determined by the number of "catch phrases" he sent from the screen to the people. “Money in the morning, chairs in the evening!” (“12 chairs”), “There is no romanticism, there is no one to drink with” (“It can’t be”), “Well, quickly everyone in the caves!” ("Sannikov Land"), "Yes, yes ... OBKhSS!" (“Gentlemen of Fortune”) is all Vitsin. And as the apogee of popularity - an invitation to become a guest of the TV pub "13 chairs" by the poet Odysseus Tsypa.

Vitsin, along with other popular artists, often toured the country with the Comrade KINO programs and combined concerts. On one of these, leaving the stage, I ran into a young singer standing backstage: “And I am watching you, Georgy Mikhailovich, I am learning from a professional to feel the stage and the audience,” Alla Pugacheva told the artist. In 1990, they were again side by side - in the "last list" for the title People's Artist USSR, which Gorbachev managed to sign in front of Belovezhskaya Pushcha.

Georgy Vitsin said about himself: “I am generally very flexible, patient and non-aggressive. I will always turn the other cheek and will not fight ... Just because it is Christian wise rule. My dogs sometimes bite me, but I forgive them - after all, they are all so unfortunate, curs ... I'm not explosive. Nerves can pass, but I still try not to let it happen. My temperature is not such that passions play. Yes, I'm afraid of them ... "