Perhaps the name of the national artist Konstantin Sorokin is not at the hearing of our contemporary, but it is worth watching any of the films that have been released since 1935, and in almost every picture we will meet his face. How many films - so many images, unique, believable, often humorous. Basically the roles of the second plan, but they are embedded in the memory forever. And it’s hard to believe that this cheerful, sparkling humor merry man actually fully experienced all the hardships of the life of his generation.
Actor Biography
September 3, 1908 in St. Petersburg in the family of Nikolai Nikanorovich and Sofia Mikhailovna Sorokins, a son Konstantin was born. Kostya had a brother Nikolai, five years older. His father worked as a caster at the Putilov iron foundry, and his mother, like many women of that time, simply kept the household.
Sorokins lived behind the Narva outpost, on Elizavetinskaya street. Childhood Bones came in before and after the revolutionary period. Before is a modest life of the family, but a living father and mother could play carefree with peers and enjoy life. In 1916, the boy was assigned to elementary school, but he did not study there for long, since it was soon closed due to revolutionary actions.
And yet he received some education. When Kostya was 14 years old (1922), the family was left without a father. Nikolai Nikanorovich died of typhus, leaving his wife with two sons without a livelihood. Fortunately, the government provided assistance to such families, especially since the health of the mother left much to be desired.
The issue of homelessness was strictly controlled in the 1920s and not even orphans were taken under guardianship, but also children of those families where parents were not able to provide them with the most necessary. So Kostya was assigned to a labor colony in the city of Slutsk, where, along with traditional training, professional skills were given.
A guy left the colony with a profession as a locksmith. However, during this time the mother was gone. Sofya Mikhailovna died in 1924. However, Kostya still returned to his homeland, in St. Petersburg, settled with his aunt and went to work at the Putilovsky plant as a caster, where Sorokin Sr. was still remembered and respected very well.
Foundry also had to learn, so from a locksmith apprentice, he turned into a cast iron apprentice apprentice. New professional skills could be obtained at the factory school under the name "Red Shipbuilder". Leisure for youth was also organized and in parallel Konstantin Sorokin began to visit the drama club here in his spare time.
During his studies in the circle, his remarkable acting abilities were revealed. It turns out that Kostya had an excellent memory and he could easily memorize role texts. In this regard, I began to read a lot, this was facilitated by a visit to the library at the school. As a result, in 1926, on a Komsomol ticket, Sorokin went to study at the studio of Honored Artist Nikolai Nikolayevich Khodotov.
The first steps in art
Charisma, ease of communication, an inquiring mind, well-read, all this was peculiar to the favorite of Petersburgers Khodotov. It is not surprising that many of the later renowned students came out of his drama studio. And one of them is Konstantin Sorokin. True, his native city did not need his talent, and after graduating in 1929, he was unable to find a job in his specialty.
Even while studying at Khodotov's studio, in 1928, the future actor married. His wife, named Catherine, was not involved in the theater. But this did not prevent the spouses from living together for 46 years. During this time, I had to change my place of residence more than once, following the acting troupe of the theater in which my husband served.
It is worth noting that by profession Konstantin Nikolaevich is a dramatic actor, however, he played many comedic roles in his life. At the beginning of his career, for four years, the newly-made actor did not disdain work in the province. Moreover, he did not "grow" to any particular theater, worked seasonally in different.
Until now, the stay of Konstantin Sorokin in the walls of some theaters is remembered by such cities as Pskov, Novgorod, Cherepovets, Arkhangelsk, Vologda. During this time, he played more than one and a half hundred roles, about which the actor responds with gratitude as a serious school of life. It was not for nothing that colleagues in the theater workshop later called Sorokin the master of reincarnation, and some directors claimed that he could play any role.
A little later, the actor still managed to find work in Leningrad, in the Comedy Theater, and later in the Miniature Theater, which was directed by Arkady Raikin. Sorokin’s debut in the movie took place in 1938, when he was taken on the role of Paramoshka’s clerk in the film Dubrovsky. The director Ivanovsky incidentally had his rustic appearance: "gubastenny, snub-nosed, blue-eyed, with a careless smile on his face."
Comedian with the soul of a tragedian and philosopher
All of the above gives an understanding of how easily comedic roles were given to Konstantin Sorokin. And yet he was very proud of his role in the film Three Sisters, where director Samson Samsonov saw him in the dramatic role of Dr. Chebutykin. One can only guess how important this was to Sorokin.
Samsonov recalls how easy it was to work with Sorokin. He managed to see not only himself in a certain scene, but all the performers. Behind the scenes, other actors often approached Konstantin Nikolayevich and consulted on how to improve a particular scene. Despite the fact that the actor has never played a major role in his life, Samsonov believes that Sorokin in “Three Sisters” was the soul of the film.
How much respect Sorokin was repeatedly told by his colleagues in the film "Oleko Dundich". He was expected on the set as if he was playing Oleko himself. Among the epithets that characterized the actor everyone who was lucky to work with him, there are many contradictions: easy, but at the same time strict and harsh, witty, but the humor is often daring, simple and at the same time significant.
Many noted an amazing dissonance between his rustic appearance and the deepest “gut”. Konstantin Nikolaevich was essentially the most educated person. With him it was possible to conduct discussions on any topic: literature, history, philosophy, music, painting. Acting professionals believe that Sorokin was the king of the episode.
After all, when they give you the main role, the “shoals” can be corrected in further plots throughout the film, and when the actor has only a few minutes - this is where you need real acting power to give yourself away, to mobilize so that the audience remembers you forever. No matter how many paintings he had behind him, Konstantin Nikolaevich was not shy about rehearsing the same episode many, many times, although he knew everything from the first take.
Pictures with his participation:
- Dubrovsky;
- Cook;
- Oleko Dundich;
- Kuban Cossacks;
- Taras Shevchenko;
- Air cab;
- Member of government;
- Kochubey et al.
Personal life
The Sorokin family had to repeatedly move from place to place. So together with the troupe of the Theater of Miniatures in 1941 they moved to Tashkent. Then there was a move to Alma-Ata, where the combined film studio was located. During the war, Konstantin Nikolaevich starred a lot and has an award that he has always been proud of - the Order of the Red Star.
During the war years, he starred in 8 films. And when they invited to shoot the film "Twins", the family moved to Moscow. There was nowhere to live, and at first the family rented the cheapest hotel room, and then the corner where the janitor had previously lived. And the exit was directly to the landfill. But this did not stop creating new movie images.
Sorokin’s colleagues recall how guests always had their house. The only daughter of Konstantin Nikolayevich Natasha recalls that at home his father was not such a joker here as on the TV screen. On the contrary, he had, as he himself said, "sick days." At this time, he wanted to be alone. However, with the book.
This could go on for 3-4 days, after which he elegantly dressed, gathered a dinner party and was again open for communication with relatives and friends. Natasha also reveals the fact from the biography of Sorokin that he loved ladies, and those were not opposed to communicating with him. Yes, there were novels, but that did not destroy the family. The wife sometimes chuckled at Konstantin Nikolayevich, saying "and why do women love you?"
Indeed, he possessed the most ordinary appearance of a simpleton peasant, but he was able to impress. He could not only dress like a Hollywood actor, but also reveal his inner potential in such a way that not only women, but also men from the close circle of the family considered him a chic person in every sense.
Sorokin Konstantin Nikolaevich died in May 1981. The actor died of myocardial infarction. His wife Ekaterina Ivanovna did not die earlier, in 1974. However, with all his love for women, he did not seek, in the years of solitude, to enter into a new marriage.
