Igor Livanov is a Russian actor, whose filmography includes over fifty roles in films and TV shows. Most viewers know him from the film “Thirtieth Destroy!” In which Livanov played the Afghan war veteran Sergei Cherkasov, who entered into an unequal battle with the mafia. Difficult tests fell on the actor and in his personal life. And only he knows how difficult it was to rise after another blow of fate.
Biography: family, childhood, study
Igor Evgenievich Livanov was born in Kiev on November 15, 1953. His parents met during the war, and in peacetime found their calling in the puppet theater and acting profession. The actor’s paternal grandfather was a clergyman, he was shot on false charges of espionage. Even in Soviet times, which were not easy for religion, the actor’s family remained a believer; little Igor was baptized and regularly brought to church.
The artist has an older brother - no less famous actor Aristarchus Livanov (1947). Igor Evgenievich believes that their future was predetermined by the profession of parents. Aristarchus graciously accepted his fate and soon left to study at LGITMiK. But the younger brother tried to protest. From the fifth grade, he visited the boxing section and showed very decent results, losing only one fight.
Nevertheless, the athlete from Livanov did not succeed, because after school his mother persuaded him to enter LGITMiK after his brother. The future actor studied on the course of Igor Olegovich Gorbachev, received a diploma in 1975. He liked to study, but at first it did not work out with an acting career. In the Ulyanovsk Drama Theater, where Livanov was accepted after graduation, he could not find a common language with the main director. In order not to work out the required two years for distribution, Igor decided to join the army. He served in the Far East in parts of the Marine Corps.
Creativity: roles in film and theater
After the army, the actor and his wife moved to Rostov-on-Don and got a job in the Rostov Youth Theater. Already in the first season, Livanov played eleven roles. In 1978 he moved to the Gorky Rostov Academic Drama Theater, where he stayed for 10 years. Soon, the artist made his film debut: in 1979 he got a role in the film “Unrequited Love”. This film did not add popularity to Livanov, however, on the set, he met with Soviet movie stars Inna Makarova and Leonid Markov.
The next screen hero of Igor Evgenievich was the translator Sasha Ermolenko from the military action movie "Mercedes escapes the chase" (1980). After this film, the actor was assigned the role of a noble hero and a fighter for justice. Most often, he was trusted with the roles of the military, representatives of the law, fearless and strong men.
In the 80s, the actor starred in six films, but not one of them made a star out of him. Most of all, Livanov was lucky with partners, he starred with Mikhail Ulyanov, Innokenty Smoktunovsky. In the theater, too, things did not go well. The chief director changed, and his wife began to intervene too eagerly in the creative process, which did not suit Livanov at all. There was a quarrel, the artist fell into disgrace. Under the patronage of his elder brother, he managed to move to the capital's Detective Theater under the guidance of his namesake Vasily Livanov.
Soon the long-awaited fame came to the actor. Together with his brother, they played the main roles in the action movie “Thirtieth Destroy!”, Which was released in 1992. For Livanov’s career, the 90s passed more fruitfully. The audience warmly accepted many works with his participation:
- The Code of dishonor (1993);
- “On the corner, near the Patriarchs” (1995);
- "A play for the passenger" (1995);
- The Countess de Monsoro (1997).
Good physical preparation was useful to the actor during the performance of tricks. He jumped from a great height, threw himself under a moving train, fell from a helicopter, hung on a cable one and a half kilometers from the ground. Later Livanov complained that the experience of attracting stuntmen was then poorly developed in Russian cinema. As a result of one of the tricks, he received a serious spinal injury and miraculously escaped disability.
In the zero years, the actor switched to roles in the series, which overnight filled Russian television. Among the most famous serial works of Igor Evgenievich are:
- “Empire under attack” (2000);
- “On the corner, near the Patriarchs” 2nd, 3rd, 4th parts (2001, 2003, 2004);
- “Gentlemen Officers” (2004);
- "Saboteur" (2004);
- “Hunting on the pavement” (2005);
- “One Family” (2009);
- “Tango with an Angel” (2009).
Livanov’s theatrical career continued at the Moscow Theater of the Moon under the direction of Sergei Prokhanov, where the actor continues to this day. Igor Evgenievich tried his hand at popular television shows. For example, in 2003 he participated in the program “The Last Hero”, and in 2007 - in the boxing show “King of the Ring”.
The film "72 meters" (2004), dedicated to submariners, is especially close to Livanov, because he himself served in the navy, and his third wife is from the family of a naval officer.
The actor played one of the roles atypical for himself in the TV series Vangeliya (2013). In front of the audience, he appeared in the image of the German dictator Adolf Hitler. In 2018, with the participation of Livanov, the criminal series “Embassy” was released.
