Nikolai Khmelyov
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Nikolai Pavlovich Khmelyov (1 November 1945) was a Soviet and Russian stage and film actor, theater director, and pedagogue, associated with the
Moscow Art Theatre The Moscow Art Theatre (or MAT; , ''Moskovskiy Hudojestvenny Akademicheskiy Teatr'' (МHАТ) was a theatre company in Moscow. It was founded in by the seminal Russian theatre practitioner Konstantin Stanislavski, together with the playwright ...
and later the
Yermolova Theatre The Yermolova Theatre () is a theatre company in the Tverskoy District of central Moscow. It is under the artistic direction of Vladimir Andreyev (). The theatre's building was built in the 1830s, and is one of the largest on Tverskaya Street ...
.


Biography

Nikolai Khmelyov was born in Sormovo,
Nizhny Novgorod Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət, t=Lower Newtown; colloquially shortened to Nizhny) is a city and the administrative centre of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast an ...
, to a working-class family. "A man who was highly ambitious, always dissatisfied with himself and difficult to contact with," he joined the MAT's Second Studio in 1919, soon to become "one of the most intriguing figures of the 'second generation' of MAT actors," according to the theatre historian Inna Solovyova. He excelled in the parts of Tsar Fyodor in ''
Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich ''Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich'' (, old orthography: Царь Ѳедоръ Іоанновичъ) is a 1868 historical drama by Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy.Banham (1998, 1115) and Moser (1992, 270). It is the second part of a trilogy that begins with ...
'' by Aleksey Tolstoy (1935), Karenin in ''
Anna Karenina ''Anna Karenina'' ( rus, Анна Каренина, p=ˈanːə kɐˈrʲenʲɪnə) is a novel by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy, first published in book form in 1878. Tolstoy called it his first true novel. It was initially released in serial in ...
'' (1937), Tuzenbach in '' Three Sisters'' by
Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; ; 29 January 1860 – 15 July 1904) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer, widely considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career as a playwright produced four classics, and his b ...
(1940), but before that as Alexey Turbin in ''
The Days of the Turbins ''The Days of the Turbins'' () is a four-act play by Mikhail Bulgakov that is based upon his novel '' The White Guard''. It was written in 1925 and premiered on 5 October 1926 in Moscow Art Theatre (MAT) and was directed by Konstantin Stanisla ...
'' by
Mikhail Bulgakov Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov ( ; rus, links=no, Михаил Афанасьевич Булгаков, p=mʲɪxɐˈil ɐfɐˈnasʲjɪvʲɪdʑ bʊlˈɡakəf; – 10 March 1940) was a Russian and Soviet novelist and playwright. His novel ''The M ...
, which brought him critical recognition and fame in 1926.Хмелёв, Николай Павлович
at the Krugosvet Online Encyclopedia "Khmelyov imparted his characters with extreme tension and clarity… His stage moves were both highly elaborate and unexpected, he was totally free in his choice of stylistic means and emotional colours, and he loved the sudden change of perspectives," Solovyova wrote. His Karenin and Turbin were lavishly praised by
Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...
who, upon seeing MAT's ''Anna Karenina'' in 1937, instantly issued an order for Khmelyov and
Alla Tarasova Alla Konstantinovna Tarasova (; – 5 April 1973) was a Soviet and Russian stage and film actress and pedagogue. She was a leading actress of Konstantin Stanislavski's Moscow Art Theatre from the late 1920s onward. People's Artist of the USSR ( ...
to be awarded the titles of the
People's Artist of the USSR People's Artist of the USSR, also sometimes translated as National Artist of the USSR, was an honorary title granted to artists of the Soviet Union. The term is confusingly used to translate two Russian language titles: Народный арти ...
. A respected pedagogue, in 1932 Khmelyov founded his own theatre studio. In 1937 it merged with
Yermolova Theatre The Yermolova Theatre () is a theatre company in the Tverskoy District of central Moscow. It is under the artistic direction of Vladimir Andreyev (). The theatre's building was built in the 1830s, and is one of the largest on Tverskaya Street ...
, which he was the director of in 1937–1945. In 1920–1939 he was cast in seven Soviet films, including ''
Salamander Salamanders are a group of amphibians typically characterized by their lizard-like appearance, with slender bodies, blunt snouts, short limbs projecting at right angles to the body, and the presence of a tail in both larvae and adults. All t ...
'' (1928), ''
Bezhin Meadow ''Bezhin Meadow'' (, ) is a 1937 Soviet propaganda film, famous for having been suppressed and believed destroyed before its completion. Directed by Sergei Eisenstein, it tells the story of a young farm boy whose father attempts to betray the gove ...
'' (1937) and ''The Man in a Case'' (1939). Khmelyov was a recipient of numerous state awards (including the
Order of the Red Banner of Labour The Order of the Red Banner of Labour () was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to the Soviet state and society in the fields of production, science, culture, literature, the arts, education, sports ...
, 1937) and a three times Stalin Prize laureate (1941, 1942 and 1946, posthumously). Khmelyov died on 1 November 1945 in the theatre, during the rehearsals for ''Hard Days'' by
Aleksey N. Tolstoy Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy (; – 23 February 1945) was a Russian writer whose works span across many genres, but mainly belonged to science fiction and historical fiction. Despite having opposed the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, he was abl ...
in which he played
Ivan the Terrible Ivan IV Vasilyevich (; – ), commonly known as Ivan the Terrible,; ; monastic name: Jonah. was Grand Prince of Moscow, Grand Prince of Moscow and all Russia from 1533 to 1547, and the first Tsar of all Russia, Tsar and Grand Prince of all R ...
. He is interred in
Novodevichy Cemetery Novodevichy Cemetery () is a cemetery in Moscow. It lies next to the southern wall of the 16th-century Novodevichy Convent, which is the city's third most popular tourist site. History The cemetery was designed by Ivan Mashkov and inaugurated ...
.


Filmography

* 1920 – ' – Groom * 1927 – ''
The End of St. Petersburg ''The End of St. Petersburg'' () is a 1927 silent drama film directed by Vsevolod Pudovkin and produced by Mezhrabpom. Commissioned to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the October Revolution, ''The End of St Petersburg'' was to be one of P ...
'' – speculator * 1928 – ''Salamander'' – Prince Ruprecht Karlstein * 1932 – ''
The House of the Dead ''The House of the Dead'' is a horror-themed light gun shooter video game franchise created by Sega in 1996. Originally released in arcades, it utilizes a light gun on the platform, but can be played with standard controllers on consoles and a ...
'' – Dostoevsky * 1936 – ' – Evgeny Svetlov * 1936 – ''
Bezhin Meadow ''Bezhin Meadow'' (, ) is a 1937 Soviet propaganda film, famous for having been suppressed and believed destroyed before its completion. Directed by Sergei Eisenstein, it tells the story of a young farm boy whose father attempts to betray the gove ...
'' – father Styopka * 1939 – ''
The Man in the Case "The Man in the Case" () is an 1898 short story by Anton Chekhov, the first part of what has been later referred as ''The Little Trilogy'', along with "Gooseberries" and " About Love". Publication The story was written in Nice, France. On 15 Jun ...
'' – Belikov


Notes


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khmelyov, Nikolai 1901 births 1945 deaths 20th-century Russian male actors Male actors from Nizhny Novgorod Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Honored Artists of the RSFSR People's Artists of the USSR Recipients of the Stalin Prize Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Russian drama teachers Russian male film actors Russian male stage actors Soviet drama teachers Soviet male film actors Soviet male stage actors Soviet theatre directors Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery