July 25, 2010 marks 30 years since the death of the actor, poet, and singer-songwriter Vladimir Vysotsky, whose songs include both romantic ballades and... 25.07.2010, Sputnik International
July 25, 2010 marks 30 years since the death of the actor, poet, and singer-songwriter Vladimir Vysotsky, whose songs include both romantic ballades and satires of Soviet life.
July 25, 2010 marks 30 years since the death of the actor, poet, and singer-songwriter Vladimir Vysotsky, whose songs include both romantic ballades and satires of Soviet life.
July 25, 2010 marks 30 years since the death of the actor, poet, and singer-songwriter Vladimir Vysotsky, whose songs include both romantic ballades and satires of Soviet life.
Vysotsky developed a passion for the theater while he was still in high school. In 1953, he began attending acting classes led by Vladimir Bogomolov, an actor from MKhAT, Moscow’s premier theater. In 1960, he graduated from the acting department of the MKhAT School of Drama and joined the Pushkin Theater company. In 1962 and 1963, he performed at Moscow’s Miniatures Theater. Photo: Vysotsky as von Koren in Joseph Kheifitz’s film “A Bad Good Man,’’ adapted from Anton Chekhov’s story “The Duel.”
In 1964, Vysotsky joined Moscow’s Drama and Comedy Theater (later renamed the Taganka Theater), led by artistic director Yury Lyubimov. He stayed with the company for the rest of his acting career. Photo: Vysotsky as Khlopusha in a 1967 production of “Pugachev.”
Vysotsky began writing songs in the early 1960s under the name of Sergei Kuleshov. His first compositions were outlaw songs, which neither Vysotsky nor his first listeners took very seriously. Photo: Vysotsky in concert, 1977.
In 1965, Vysotsky began to perform his songs on stage at the Taganka Theater. On January 18, 1967, he gave his first official concert. Thanks to tape recordings of his songs, he soon became very popular across the country. But the authorities remained critical. In the photo: Vladimir Vysotsky at the celebrations of the 10th anniversary of the Taganka Theater in 1974
Vysotsky became known as a movie actor following the 1967 release of “The Vertical” about a group of mountain climbers. Several of his songs were used in the film’s soundtrack. Both the film and songs became very popular throughout the vast country. Photo: Vysotsky in Stanislav Govorukhin’s 1967 film “The Vertical.”
For many, Vysotsky is remembered as the hard-boiled yet charming investigator Gleb Zheglov from the immensely popular TV miniseries “The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed.” During the premiere nights of the 5-part series, crime rates dropped to record lows nationwide -- a fact recorded in official Interior Ministry reports.
Vysotsky’s Hamlet was, perhaps, his greatest performance. He first appeared as Hamlet in a Taganka Theater production of Shakespeare’s play on November 19, 1971.
Vysotsky’s final appearance on stage was as Hamlet. He played the Prince of Denmark for the last time on July 18, 1980, just a week before his death. Photo: Vysotsky starring as Hamlet, 1972.
Vysotsky died in the early hours of July 25, 1980 from a heart attack. There was no official report on his death, as Moscow was busy hosting the Summer Olympics. The box-office at the Taganka Theater posted a short notice that read, “Actor Vladimir Vysotsky has died.” But no one returned their tickets, which had become a kind of memento. Photo: Vysotsky as Solodov in the 1976 film “The Only Road.”
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