Yevgeny Leonov

**Yevgeny Pavlovich Leonov** (; 2 September 1926 – 29 January 1994) was a Soviet and Russian actor. He was in many of the most famous Soviet movies. These include _Gentlemen of Fortune_, _Mimino_ and _Striped Trip_. He has been called "one of Russia's best-loved actors". He also voiced many Soviet cartoon characters. This includes _Vinny Pukh_ (_Winnie-the-Pooh_).

## Early life

While growing up in Moscow, he wanted to be a pilot. His father worked in an airplane factory. During the Great Patriotic War, he and his whole family worked in a weapons making/airplane making factory. After the war, he joined the Moscow Art Theatre school. There he studied under Mikhail Yanshin.

## Career

In his first movie, Leonov was cast as an extra. He later became Georgiy Daneliya's regular. He was in all of Daneliya's features. These include _Gentlemen of Fortune_, _Autumn Marathon_, _Mimino_, _Afonya_ and _Kin-dza-dza!_. He was seen for his tragic parts and his natural acting.

He won Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival for Daneliya's _Autumn Marathon_ (1980). He performed over 200 roles and was the Russian cinema's best-known supporting actor.

In 1991 (or in 1988), when touring in Germany, he had a heart attack. This put him into a coma for 10 days (or 16 days). His life was saved only after a big surgery.

Leonov died on 29 January 1994 on his way to the Lenkom Theatre to perform in _The Prayer for the Dead_ (_A Memorial Prayer_). His death was announced in the auditorium. Following the announcement, the audience went to the church across the road and lit candles in mourning. Over half a million people went to his memorial service in the freezing cold of winter. He is buried in Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow near other major people of Russian culture.

## Filmography

- Actor

- _Happy Flight_ _(Счастливый рейс)_ (1949) as Firefighter (uncredited)
- _Sporting Honour_ _(Спортивная честь)_ (1951) as Waiter (uncredited)
- _Submarine chaser_ _(Морской охотник)_ (1954) as cook
- _Road_ _(Дорога)_ (1955) as driver Pasha Yeskov
- _Criminal Case of Rumyantsev_ _(Дело Румянцева)_ (1956) as driver Mikhail Snegiryov
- _A Unique Spring_ _(Неповторимая весна)_ (1957) as Alexey Koshelev
- _The street is full of surprises_ _(Улица полна неожиданностей)_ (1958) as Yevgeniy Pavlovich Serdyukov
- _Difficult happiness_ _(Трудное счастье)_ (1958) as Agathon
- _Tale of newlyweds_ _(Повесть о молодожёнах)_ (1959) as Fedor
- _Ne imey 100 rubley..._ _(Не имей сто рублей...)_ (1959) as Ivan S. Mukhin
- _Povest o molodozhyonakh_ (1960) as Fedya
- _Artwork_ _(Произведение искусства)_ (196, Short) as Sasha Smirnov
- _Snow tale_ _(Снежная сказка)_ (1959) as Old Year
- _Striped Trip_ _(Полосатый рейс)_ (1961) as Gleb Shuleykin
- _Cheremushki_ _(Черёмушки)_ (1962) as Barabashkin
- _Serf actress_ _(Крепостная актриса)_ (1963) as Count Ivan P. Kutaisov
- _Short humoresques_ _(Короткие истории)_ (1963, TV Movie) as client
- _Don Tale_ _(Донская повесть)_ (1964) as Yakov Shibalok
- _Thirty Three_ _(Тридцать три)_ (1965) as Ivan S. Travkin
- _Nad nami Yuzhnyy Krest_ (1965) as Disabled-seller in the market
- _The Snow Queen_ _(Снежная королева)_ (1967) as King Erik XXIX
- _Parviyat kurier_ (1968) as Kritski
- _Illusionist_ _(Фокусник)_ (1968) as Stepan Nikolaevich Rossomakhin
- _Do not be sad_ _(Не горюй!)_ (1968) as soldier Yegor Zaletayev
- _Zigzag udachi_ _(Зигзаг удачи)_ (1968) as photographer Vladimir Oreshnikov
- _Literature lesson_ _(Урок литературы)_ (1968) as Pavel Vronsky, Nina's father
- _Virineya_ _(Виринея)_ (1969) as Michael
- _Carrousel_ _(Карусель)_ (1969, TV Series) as Ivan I. Nyukhin (voice)
- _Tchaikovsky_ _(Чайковский)_ (1970) as Alyosha
- _Shine, shine, my star_ _(Гори, гори, моя звезда)_ (1970) as Pasha, the master illusion
- _Between high spikes_ _(Меж высоких хлебов)_ (1970) as Pavlo Struchok
- _Belorussian Station_ _(Белорусский вокзал)_ (1971) as Ivan Prikhodko
- _Gentlemen of Fortune_ _(Джентльмены удачи)_ (1971) as Yevgeny Ivanovich Troshkin / Dotsent
- _As Ilf and Petrov rode a tram_ _(Ехали в трамвае Ильф и Петров)_ (1972) as Vitaly Kapitulov
- _Big School-Break_ _(Большая перемена)_ (1972, TV Mini-Series) as Lednyov
- _Racers_ _(Гонщики)_ (1973) as Ivan M. Kukushkin
- _Hopelessly Lost_ _(Совсем пропащий)_ (1973) as rogue nicknamed "The King"
- _Under a stone sky_ _(Под каменным небом)_ (1974) as Senior lieutenant Kravtsov
- _Bonus_ _(Премия)_ (1974) as Vasily T. Potapov
- _Afonya_ _(Афоня)_ (1975) as Kolya
- _Circus in the Circus_ _(Соло для слона с оркестром)_ (1975) as circus director Ivanov
- _Step towards_ _(Шаг навстречу)_ (1976) as Serafim Nikitich
- _The Elder Son_ _(Старший сын)_ (1976, TV Movie) as Andrei Grigorievich Sarafanov
- _Legend about Till Eulenspiegel_ _(Легенда о Тиле)_ (1977) as Lamme Goedzak
- _Long criminal case_ _(Длинное, длинное дело)_ (1977) as Mikhail P. Luzhin
- _Mimino_ _(Мимино)_ (1977) as Volokhov
- _Funny people!_ _(Смешные люди!)_ (1977) as chorister Aleksei Alekseyevich
- _Marriage_ _(Женитьба)_ (1978) as Baltazar Baltazarovich Zhevakin
- _Chaperon_ _(Дуэнья)_ (1978, TV Movie) as Don Izokelyo Mendoso
- _An Ordinary Miracle_ _(Обыкновенное чудо)_ (1978, TV Movie) as King
- _And it's all about him_ _(И это всё о нём)_ (1978) as Police Captain Aleksandr M. Prokhorov
- _Autumn Marathon_ _(Осенний марафон)_ (1979) as Vasily Ignatyevich Kharitonov, sosed Buzykina
- _Faithfully_ _(Верой и правдой)_ (1979) as Evgeny S. Bannikov
- _Holidays in September_ _(Отпуск в сентябре)_ (1979, TV Movie) as Vladimir Andreevich Kushak
- _Borrowing Matchsticks_ _(За спичками)_ (1980) as Antti Ihalainen
- _Say a Word for the Poor Hussar_ _(О бедном гусаре замолвите слово)_ (1981, TV Movie) as provincial actor Afanasy P. Bubentsov
- _The House that Swift Built_ _(Дом, который построил Свифт)_ (1982, TV Movie) as giant Glyum
- _Tears Were Falling_ _(Слёзы капали)_ (1983) as Pavel Ivanovich Vasin
- _Unique_ _(Уникум)_ (1983) as director
- _Time and the Conways_ _(Время и семья Конвей)_ (1984) as Alan Conway, twenty years later
- _Kin-dza-dza!_ _(Кин-дза-дза!)_ (1986) as Wef the Chatlanian, a wandering singer
- _To Kill a Dragon_ _(Убить Дракона)_ (1988) as burgomaster
- _Passport_ _(Паспорт)_ (1990) as official of Soviet Embassy in Austria
- _Detective bureau "Felix"_ _(Детективное агентство "Феликс")_ (1993) as uncle Vanya
- _Amerikanskiy dedushka_ _(Американский дедушка)_ (1993) as Gogolev
- _Nastya_ _(Настя)_ (1993) as Yakov Alekseyevich

- Voice actor

- _Winnie-the-Pooh_
- _Winnie-the-Pooh Pays a Visit_
- _Winnie-the-Pooh and a Busy Day_
- _Vasilisa the Beautiful_
- _The Adventures of Lolo the Penguin_
- _Welcome_
- _Laughter and Grief by the White Sea_

## Other websites

- Website about Leonov

## Infobox (person)

- **name**: Yevgeny Leonov
- **image**: Евгений Леонов (1979) (cropped).jpg
- **imagesize**: 300px
- **caption**: 1979
- **birth name**: Yevgeny Pavlovich Leonov
- **birth place**: Moscow, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, RSFSR, Soviet Union
- **death place**: Moscow, Russia
- **resting place**: Novodevichy Cemetery, Moscow
- **alma mater**: Moscow Art Theatre
- **occupation**: Actor
- **yearsactive**: 1947–1994
- **title**: People's Artist of the USSR (1978)
- **spouse**: Vanda Stoilova
- **children**: Andrei Leonov
- **parents**: Pavel Vasilyevich Leonov
Anna Ilyinichna Leonova
- **awards**: Order of Lenin