Mikhail Kononov

Mikhail Ivanovich Kononov (Russian: Михаи́л Ива́нович Ко́нонов) (25 April 1940, Moscow – 16 July 2007, Moscow) was a Soviet and Russian actor. People's Artist of Russia (1999).

Mikhail Kononov
Born
Mikhail Ivanovich Kononov

(1940-04-25)25 April 1940
Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Died16 July 2007(2007-07-16) (aged 67)
Moscow, Russia

Biography

He first appeared on stage at school. In 1963, Mikhail Kononov graduated from the Shchepkin Drama School and was admitted to the Maly Theatre. However, after five years of acting in theatre, in 1968 he quit the stage forever. He married to Natalya Pavlovna Kononova in 1969.

The typical image of his hero, a simple-hearted, kind and unaffected fellow, started taking its shape in his debut film Nash Obshchiy Drug (Our Common Friend) (1961) and further on in the revolutionary tragic comedy Nachalnik Chukotki (Chief of Chukotka) (1966), the war drama V ogne broda net (No Path Through Fire) (1967), the heroic comedy Na voyne, kak na voyne (At War as at War) (1968), among others.

As the actor stated himself, his best role was that of Foma in Andrei Tarkovsky's well-known historic drama Andrei Rublev. One of the most popular films starring Mikhail Kononov was the series Bolshaya Peremena (Big School-Break) (1972), where he played the young teacher Nestor Petrovich. He was also popular for his roles in children's films. Many Russian viewers remember Kononov as the sly and crafty space pirate Krys in the legendary children's sci-fi miniseries Gostya iz budushchego (Guest from the Future) (1985).[1] Kononov considered himself a tragicomic actor.[2]

In the last years of his life Mikhail Kononov rejected most of the roles offered to him due to his dislike of modern Russian cinema. [3]

I read the scripts and start back: this is something from the realm of horror! It's so unprofessional and ridiculous that I have no right to allow myself to act in such a dope. In the name of my friends who are no longer alive. ...At one movie test, I even burst into tears. Everyone thought that I was sobbing, and I was sobbing from the horror of today's cinema, today's television. And I refused the role, although they offered a lot of money. You can’t go to the audience at such a low moral and intellectual level ... You see, we were taught to treat our business differently. If you follow the lead of the viewer, you can get lost at all. What is now observed in cinema and on television ... We should not support a vice, nor mass psychosis. Otherwise, our profession is not needed. Neither artists nor writers are needed.

— Mikhail Kononov

Two weeks before his death, he went to hospital with pneumonia. However, in the hospital, his condition only worsened as he didn't have enough money to afford medicine.[4] Mikhail Kononov died from tromboembolism on 16 July 2007 in Moscow.[5] His body was cremated and buried in the Vagankovo cemetery.

Awards

Selected filmography

References
  1. Последнее интервью актёра журналистам «Комсомольской правды»
  2. правды», Комсомольская правда | Сайт «Комсомольской (17 July 2007). "Михаил Кононов: Я принес Путину удачу". KP.RU - сайт «Комсомольской правды» (in Russian). Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  3. "Михаил Кононов был в ужасе от сценария "Большой перемены"". РИА Новости (in Russian). 17 July 2007. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  4. "Новости@Mail.Ru: СМИ: Актеру Михаилу Кононову не хватило денег на лекарства". web.archive.org. 18 August 2007. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  5. Актёру Михаилу Кононову не хватило денег на лекарства
  6. "Президент России". web.archive.org. 4 January 2012. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
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