Sergey Bondarchuk

About Sergey Bondarchuk

Who is it?: Actor, Director, Writer
Birth Day: September 25, 1920
Died On: 20 October 1994(1994-10-20) (aged 74)\nMoscow, Russia
Birth Sign: Libra
Resting place: Novodevichy Cemetery, Moscow
Years active: 1948–1992
Notable work: War and Peace (1965-67)
Title: Hero of Socialist Labour (1980) People's Artist of the USSR (1952)
Spouse(s): Inna Makarova (1949–1956) Irina Skobtseva (1959–1994)
Children: Natalya Bondarchuk (b. 1950) Yelena Bondarchuk (1962–2009) Fyodor Bondarchuk (b. 1964)
Awards: Academy Awards (1969)

Sergey Bondarchuk Net Worth

Sergey Bondarchuk was born on September 25, 1920, is Actor, Director, Writer. Sergei Bondarchuk was one of the most important Russian filmmakers, best known for directing an Academy Award-winning film epic Voyna i mir (1966), based on the book by Leo Tolstoy, in which he also starred as Pierre Bezukhov.He was born Sergei Fedorovich Bondarchuk on September, 25, 1920, in the village of Belozerka, Kherson province, Ukraine, Russian Federation (now Belozerka, Ukraine). He was brought up in Southern Ukraine, then in Azov and Taganrog, Southern Russia. Young Bondarchuk was fond of theatre and books by such authors as Anton Chekhov and Leo Tolstoy. He made his stage debut in 1937, on the stage of the Chekhov Drama Theatre in the city of Taganrog, then studied acting at Rostov Theatrical School. In 1942 his studies were interrupted by the Nazi invasion during WWII. Bondarchuk was recruited in the Red Army and served for four years until he was discharged in 1946. From 1946 - 1948 he attended the State Institute of Cinematography in Moscow (VGIK), graduating as an actor from the class of Sergey Gerasimov. In 1948 he made his film debut in Povest o nastoyashchem cheloveke (1948) then co-starred in Molodaya gvardiya (1948).For his portrayal of the title character in Taras Shevchenko (1951) he was awarded the State Stalin's Prize of the USSR, and was designated People's Artist of the USSR, becoming the youngest actor ever to receive such honor. Then he starred in the internationally renowned adaptation of the Shakespeare's Otello (1956), in the title role opposite Irina Skobtseva as Desdemona. Bondarchuk expressed his own experience as a soldier of WWII when he starred in Sudba cheloveka (1959), a war drama based on the eponymous story by Mikhail Sholokhov, which was also Bondarchuk's directorial debut that earned him the prestigious Lenin's Prize of the USSR in 1960.Bondarchuk shot to international fame with Voyna i mir (1966), a powerful adaptation of the eponymous masterpiece by Leo Tolstoy. The 7-hour-long film epic won the 1969 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and brought Bondarchuk a reputation of one of the finest directors of his generation. The most expensive project in film history, Voyna i mir (1966) was produced over seven years, from 1961 to 1968, at an estimated cost of $100,000,000 (over $800,000,000 adjusted for inflation in 2010). The film set several records, such as involving over three hundred professional actors from several countries and also tens of thousands extras from the Red Army in filming of the 3rd two-hour-long episode about the historic Battle of Borodino against the Napoleon's invasion, making it the largest battle scene ever filmed. Bondarchuk also made history by introducing several remote-controlled cameras that were moving on 300 meter long wires above the scene of the battlefield. Having earned international acclaim for Voyna i mir (1966), he starred in the epic Bitka na Neretvi (1969) with fellow Russian, Yul Brynner, and Orson Welles, whom he would direct the following year.By the late 1960s Bondarchuk was one of the most awarded actor and director in the Soviet Union. However, he was still not a member of the Soviet Communist Party, a fact that brought attention from the Soviet leadership under Leonid Brezhnev. Soon Bondarchuk received an official recommendation to join the Soviet Communist Party, an offer that nobody in the Soviet Union could refuse without risking a career. At that time he was humorously comparing his situation with the historic Hollywood trials of filmmakers during the 50s. Bondarchuk was able to avoid the Communist Party in his earlier career, but things changed in the Soviet Union under Brezhnev, so in 1970, he accepted the trade-off and joined the Soviet Communist Party for the sake of protecting his film career. In 1971 he was elected Chairman of the Union of Filmmakers, a semi-government post in the Soviet system of politically controlled culture. Eventually he evolved into a politically controlled figure and turned to making such politically charged films as Krasnye kolokola, film pervyy - Meksika v ogne (1982) and other such films. Later, during the liberalization of the Soviet Union under Mikhail Gorbachev, Bondarchuk was seen as a symbol of conservatism in Soviet cinema, so in 1986 he was voted out of the office.Bondarchuk was the first Russian director to make a big budget international co-production with the financial backing of Italian producer Dino De Laurentiis, such as Waterloo (1970), a Russian-Italian co-production vividly reconstructing the final battle of the Napoleonic Wars. This was his first English-language production, but several Soviet actors were cast, e.g. Sergo Zakariadze and Oleg Vidov. In this film, Orson Welles, his co-star in Bitka na Neretvi (1969) made a cameo as the old King Louis XVII of France. But this time Bondarchuk was unable to control the advances of Rod Steiger, and the film was a commercial flop in Europe and America, albeit it gained the favor of critics.After his dismissal from the office of Chairman of the Union of Cinematographers he started filming And Quiet Flows the Don (2006) based on the eponymous novel by the Nobel Prize winner Mikhail Sholokhov, with Rupert Everett as the lead. At the end of filming, just before post-production, Bondarchuk learned about some unfavorable details in his contract, causing a bitter dispute with the producers over the rights to the film and bringing much pain to the last two years of his life. Amidst this legal battle the production was stopped and the film was stored in a bank vault, and remained unedited and undubbed for nearly fourteen years. The production was completed by Russian television company "First Channel", and aired in November 2006.In his career that spanned over five decades, Sergei Bondarchuk had credits as actor, director, writer, and co-producer in a wide range of films. He suffered a heart attack and died on October 20, 1994, and was laid to rest in Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow, Russia, next to such Russian luminaries as Anton Chekhov and Mikhail A. Bulgakov. His death caused a considerable mourning in Russia. Bondarchuk was survived by his second wife, actress Irina Skobtseva and their children, actress Alyona Bondarchuk, and actor/director Fedor Bondarchuk, and actress Natalya Bondarchuk, his daughter with his first wife, actress Inna Makarova.As a tribute to Sergei Bondarchuk, his son, Fedor Bondarchuk called him "a father and my teacher," and dedicated his directorial debut, 9 rota (2005), set in war-torn Afghanistan, whereas Sergei's directorial debut was set in WWII.
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Biography/Timeline

1938

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.

1950

He first married Inna Makarova, mother to his elder daughter, Natalya Bondarchuk (1950). Daughter Natalya is remembered for her role in Andrei Tarkovsky's 1972 film Solaris.

1955

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.

1959

He met his second wife Irina Skobtseva when both were appearing in Othello, and they married in 1959. They had two children, Actress Elena Bondarchuk (1962–2009) and a son Fyodor (who starred with him in Boris Godunov), a popular Russian film actor and Director best known for his box-office hit The 9th Company (2005).

1968

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.

1970

His first English-language film was 1970's Waterloo, produced by Dino De Laurentiis. In Europe the critics called it remarkable for the epic battle scenes and details in capturing the Napoleonic era. However, it failed at the box office. To prevent running into hurdles with the Soviet government, he joined the Communist Party in 1970. A year later, he was appointed President of the Union of Cinematographers, while he continued his directing career, steering toward political films, directing Boris Godunov before being dismissed from the semi-government post in 1986.

1973

In 1973 he was the President of the Jury at the 8th Moscow International Film Festival.

1975

In 1975 he directed They Fought for Their Country, which was entered into the 1975 Cannes Film Festival. In 1982 came Red Bells, based on John Reed's Ten Days that Shook the World (which serves as the film's alternative title). His 1986 film Boris Godunov was also screened at Cannes that year.

1992

Bondarchuk's last feature film, and his second in English, was an epic TV version of Sholokhov's And Quiet Flows the Don, starring Rupert Everett. It was filmed in 1992–93 but premiered on Channel One only in November 2006, as there were disputes concerning the Italian studio that was co-producing over unfavourable clauses in his contract, which left the tapes locked in a bank vault, even after his death.

1994

Bondarchuk died on 20 October 1994, aged 74, from a heart attack. He is buried in the Novodevichy Cemetery, Moscow. He was survived by his children and both wives. In June 2007, his ex-wife Inna Makarova unveiled a bronze statue of Bondarchuk in his native Yeysk.

1995

In 1995 he was posthumously awarded an Honorable Diploma for contribution to cinema at the 19th Moscow International Film Festival.