Nikolay Vladimiriovich Olyalin (; 22 May 1941 — 17 November 2009) was a

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

- Ukrainian actor of

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

ethnicity.

Biography

Early life

As a child, Olyalin took drama classes at school. In 1959, when his father sent him to a military academy in

Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, hoping that he would become an army topographer, Olyalin chose to study in the Leningrad State Institute of Theater, Music and Cinematography instead. After graduating at 1964, he joined the

Krasnoyarsk Krasnoyarsk is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative center of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. It is situated along the Yenisey, Yenisey River, and is the second-largest city in Siberia after Novosibirsk, with a p ...

Children's Theater, where - in spite of having tense relations with the director - he was considered the best comical actor among the cast. There, he met his wife, Nella, who was the second secretary of the local

Komsomol The All-Union Leninist Young Communist League, usually known as Komsomol, was a political youth organization in the Soviet Union. It is sometimes described as the youth division of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), although it w ...

. Olyalin made his debut on screen depicting a test pilot in the 1965 film ''Days of Flight''. Afterwards, he received many invitations to play in other motion pictures, but the Theater manager never told him of those and threw them away. When a letter from the

Mosfilm Mosfilm (, ''Mosfil’m'' , initialism and portmanteau of Moscow Films) is a film studio in Moscow which is among the largest and oldest in the Russian Federation and in Europe. Founded in 1924 in the USSR as a production unit of that nation's fi ...

studio reached Krasnoyarsk, offering Olyalin the main role in Yuri Ozerov's ''

Liberation Liberation or liberate may refer to: Film and television * ''Liberation'' (film series), a 1970–1971 series about the Great Patriotic War * "Liberation" (''The Flash''), a TV episode * "Liberation" (''K-9''), an episode Gaming * '' Liberati ...

'', one of the couriers told him of the matter. He claimed to be sick, took a leave and boarded a flight to Moscow. The character of Captain Tzvetaev, which he portrayed in the five parts of ''Liberation'', gained him fame throughout the Soviet Union.

Height of career

At 1968, during the filming of Ozerov's series, Olyalin met director Vasili Tzvirkunov from the

Dovzhenko Film Studios The Dovzhenko Film Studios () is a former Soviet film production studio in UkrSSR and Ukraine that was named after the Soviet film producer, Oleksandr Dovzhenko, in 1957. With the fall of the Soviet Union, the studio became a property of the ...

and accepted his proposal to work with the company. He starred in several films during the early 1970s, among which was the popular ''

Gentlemen of Fortune ''Gentlemen of Fortune'' () is a 1971 Soviet crime comedy-drama film, filmed at Mosfilm and directed by Aleksandr Sery. The stars of the film include famous Soviet actors such as Yevgeny Leonov, Georgy Vitsin, Savely Kramarov and Radner Muratov ...

'', and received the

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. ...

Komsomol's

Nikolai Ostrovsky Nikolai Alekseyevich Ostrovsky (; ; 29 September 1904 – 22 December 1936) was a Soviet socialist realist writer. He is best known for his novel '' How the Steel Was Tempered''. Life Ostrovsky was born in the village of ''Viliya'' (today a v ...

Prize in 1972. Overall, he appeared in some sixty cinema and television productions until his departure. Olyalin's career was compromised when he sunk into severe

alcoholism Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World He ...

, and banned from acting for a while. The secretary of the Communist Party in Ukraine,

Volodymyr Shcherbytsky Volodymyr Vasyliovych Shcherbytsky (17 February 1918 – 16 February 1990) was a Ukrainian Soviet politician who served as First Secretary of the Ukrainian Communist Party from 1972 to 1989. A close ally of Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, Sh ...

, a personal friend of Olyalin, arranged for him to be taken into rehabilitation. Olyalin told an interviewer that since then he "didn't drink a drop". After resuming his work, he was granted the title

People's Artist of Ukraine People's Artist of Ukraine () is an honorary title awarded by the government of Ukraine. It is the highest title awarded to outstanding performing artists whose merits are exceptional in the sphere of the development of the performing arts, inc ...

at 1979.

Later years

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Olyalin stayed in the newly independent Ukraine. At 1992, he directed his own film, ''Volya''. He has been a member of the Ukrainian Association of Cinematographers and awarded the

Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise The Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise () is a Ukrainian award. It is awarded for distinguished services to the state and people of the Ukrainian nation in the field of state building, strengthening the international prestige of Ukraine, develop ...

, fifth class, by the Ukrainian government. He continued to perform in his later years, playing the Inquisitor in ''

Night Watch Night Watch or Nightwatch may refer to: Being on duty at night * The nighttime shift worked by a security guard (night watchman) * Watchman (law enforcement), organized groups of men to deter criminal activity and provide law enforcement * One of ...

'' (2004) and '' Day Watch'' (2006). Olyalin suffered from a heart condition, apparently caused by being exposed to radiation during the

Chernobyl disaster On 26 April 1986, the no. 4 reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, located near Pripyat, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Ukraine), exploded. With dozens of direct casualties, it is one of only ...

. He died of a heart attack at 2009 and was laid to rest in the

Baikove Cemetery Baikove Cemetery () is a historic cemetery memorial in Holosiivskyi District of Kyiv, Ukraine. It is a National Historic Monument of Ukraine and is known as a necropolis of distinguished people. History The cemetery was established in 1833 a ...

Partial filmography

* ''

'' (1970-1971, part 1-5) as Tsvetaev * '' The Flight'' (1971) as Krapilin * ''

Stopwatch A stopwatch is a timepiece designed to measure the amount of time that elapses between its activation and deactivation. A large digital version of a stopwatch designed for viewing at a distance, as in a sports stadium, is called a stop clock ...

'' (1971) as Sergey Lavrov * ''

'' (1971) as Colonel Verchenko * ''World Guy'' (1971) as Viktor Loginov * ''The Great Battle'' (1973) as Tsvetayev * ''The Legend of Princess Olga'' (1984) as Oleg the Seer * '' Day Watch'' (2004) as Inquisitor * ''

Yesenin Sergei Alexandrovich Yesenin (, ; 1895 – 28 December 1925), sometimes spelled as Esenin, was a Russian lyric poet. He is one of the most popular and well-known Russian poets of the 20th century. One of his narratives was "lyrical evocations ...

'' (2005, TV Mini-Series) as Grigory Samohin * ''

'' (2006) as Inquisitor * '' Bimmer 2'' (2006) as grandfather Ilya * ''

Attack on Leningrad ''Attack on Leningrad'', or just ''Leningrad'', is a 2009 war film written and directed by Aleksandr Buravsky, set during the Siege of Leningrad. Plot In 1941 Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union and their troops besieged the city of Leningr ...

'' (2009) as Grevitskiy (final film role)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Olyalin, Nikolay 1941 births 2009 deaths People from Vologodsky District Soviet male stage actors Soviet male film actors Soviet male television actors Ukrainian people of Russian descent Recipients of the title of People's Artists of Ukraine Russian film directors Soviet film directors Recipients of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise Laureates of the Honorary Diploma of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine