Leonid Bronevoy

Leonid Bronevoy
Bronevoy in 2014
Born	Leonid Sergeyevich Bronevoy (1928-12-17)December 17, 1928 Kyiv, Ukrainian SSR
Died	December 9, 2017(2017-12-09) (aged 88) Moscow, Russia
Nationality	USSR (1928–1991) Russian (1991–2017)
Years active	1950–2017

Leonid Sergeyevich Bronevoy (Russian: Леони́д Серге́евич Бронево́й; December 17, 1928 – December 9, 2017^[1]) was a Soviet and Russian actor. Though primarily a stage actor in the Lenkom Theatre, Bronevoy also made occasional appearances in films. He was awarded a People's Artist of the USSR in 1987 and won the Nika Award in March 2008.

Life and career[]

Bronevoy was born on December 17, 1928 in the city of Kyiv in the Jewish family of Solomon Iosifovich Bronevoy (Faktorovich) and Bella Lvovna Bronevaya.^[2][3] In childhood, he learned to play violin at the 10-year musical school under the Kyiv Conservatory. His teacher was the famous Kyiv master, professor David Solomonovich Berthier.^[4]

The father of the future actor, Solomon Iosifovich Bronevoy (whose true family name is Faktoróvich) represented the family of an Odessian confectioner, acted in Russian Civil War, who also worked at The State Political Directorate in 1920-1923, completed a legal education in Kyiv, where he met his future wife, a student of Economy Department. Solomon Bronevoy worked at the Institute of National Economy until dismissal on charges of Trotskyism. In 1928 before the birth of his son Solomon Iosifovich got a job in Kyiv District economic department of the Prosecutor General's Office. His elder brother, Alexander Iosifovich Bronevoy, helped him with getting that job. Later, Solomon Iosifovich was sent to Ivanovo. In 1933 was awarded the Order of the Red Star, and in 1934 in the rank of Major of State Security appointed the director of 6-th Department in USSR's People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD). In 1935 he was dismissed from the NKVD and was appointed the chief of Kyiv's "culture and recreation park". On September 13, 1936, he was arrested and on March 9, 1937 he was sentenced to five years in prison (after the extension of the term he was released in 1946; till 1949 in exile, released in 1954). The actor's mother divorced him and changed his son's patronym to "Sergeyevich", but that did not help - as a "family of an enemy of the people" she, with her son, was sent into exile in the city of Kirov region Malmyzh.

In 1941, the family was allowed to return to Kyiv, but the World War II began and they were evacuated to the city of Chimkent, Kazakh SSR, where L.S. Bronevoy studied in high school and began to work independently. However, parents of Leonid Bronevoy never lived together since.

In 1950 L.S. Bronevoy graduated from the Alexander Ostrovsky Tashkent Theatrical Art Institute. After his graduation in 1950 he worked in Magnitogorsk and Orenburg drama theatres.

In 1953, Leonid took a chance and went to Moscow where he was able to immediately enter the third year of the Moscow Art Theater School (class of A.M. Karev) and successfully complete it in 1955. After finishing the School-Studio, the actor left Moscow and got in Grozny Drama Theatre. Then there were the Irkutsk  [ru], and Voronezh  [ru].

From 1962 to 1988 he was the leading actor of the  [Wikidata]. Since 1988 - in the Moscow Lenkom Theatre.

First all-Union popularity Bronevoy got after playing the 45-year-old Muller role in the TV series Seventeen Moments of Spring. He created the image of Gestapo chief - not primitive, sadistic bonecracker as the Gestapo is often portrayed in Soviet films, but a normal person with a sense of humor, simple manners and not too scrupulous attitude to the official ideology, but an intelligent, skilled professional and a dangerous enemy. And that image got striking, memorable, provocative and even respect for sympathy. Many replicas of television Mueller became popular expressions.

Another equally popular character of Bronevoy was the Doctor from the film Formula of Love. An elderly experienced man, for which there is nothing surprising in the world, and nothing that could shake his confidence in the correctness of his views on life. Many phrases Doctor pronounced with the Bronevoy's intonation, became popular meme. The same applies to the role of the artist's pop band Velyurov from The Pokrovsky Gate.

In subsequent years the actor had played more than twenty roles in the movies. The last was the role of an old actor in Zhuravlev's film, Simple Things, for which he received the Nika Award in March 2008.

His name appeared on a petition against Russian annexation of Crimea, however, he himself stated in an interview that his name was placed without his permission, and that he, in fact, supports Vladimir Putin and Russian actions in Crimea.^[5]

He died in a hospital on 9 December 2017, one week before his 89th birthday.^[1]

Partial filmography[]

Voice in animation[]

• Plasticine Crow (1981) as Grandpa
• Investigation Held by Kolobki (1986-1987) as Boss (in parts 1 and 2)

Honours and awards[]

• Honored Artist of the RSFSR (1971)
• People's Artist of the RSFSR (1979)
• People's Artist of the USSR (1987)^[6]
• People's Artist of Ukraine (2013)^[7]
• Order of the Red Banner of Labour (1982)
• Order "For Merit to the Fatherland";
  • 1st class (13 September 2013)
  • 2nd class (1 December 2008, the award ceremony was held on December 17) for outstanding contributions to the development of domestic theatrical and cinematic arts, many years of creative activity
  • 3rd class (17 December 2003) for outstanding contribution to the development of national art
  • 4th class (25 August 1997) a great contribution to the development of theatrical arts
• State Prize of the Russian Federation in Literature and Art in 1996 (29 May 1997)
• Vasilyev Brothers State Prize of the RSFSR (1976) for his role of Heinrich Müller in the television series Seventeen Moments of Spring

References[]

External links[]

• Leonid Bronevoy at IMDb