Solomin Vitaly. Vitaly Solomin's secret lovers Vitaly Solomin where he is buried

In Italy, Methodievich Solomin was a bright, sunny person, a wonderful actor, a good director, an intelligent teacher (he took that unfortunate course at VGIK, which Anatoly Romashin took shortly before his death). This is how he remained in the memory of those who knew him.

“I think every person remembers his childhood as a happy time of life. After all, all people live with childhood memories and draw the best from them. Difficulties are forgotten... I was born in 1941 in the city of Chita. The war, then the difficult post-war period. We lived from hand to mouth and planted potatoes everywhere. Even the streets and vacant lots were planted. In summer - fishing, swimming, sun. In winter - sleds. There was nothing except radio then, and I listened to radio shows. We lived in the same room. In order not to disturb anyone, I put the radio to my ear like an earphone, sat on the piano and listened for hours.”

Vitaly Solomin

At school, the future actor studied mathematics seriously and was going to continue to do it in the future, but life decreed otherwise. A commission from the Moscow Theater School came to Chita to recruit students. I entered and left for the capital. Moreover, his older brother Yuri, who also became an actor, was already there.

After college - the Maly Theater, where Solomin showed himself not only as an actor, but also staged plays himself. Unfortunately, now they are no longer performed on the Maly stage, but these were indeed very worthy productions - “My Favorite Clown”, “The Living Corpse”, “Savage”, “Krechinsky’s Wedding”, “Ivanov”.

Of course, the overwhelming majority of viewers know Vitaly Methodievich from his film works. The most famous, perhaps, is Dr. Watson from the films directed by Igor Maslennikov about Sherlock Holmes. “It’s not the role that is being played, but the theme,” said the actor. - Watson also has a certain theme, not detective, which holds all readers and viewers. It's not such a twisted detective story, but everyone reads it and rereads it. There is a mystery in Holmes that is impossible without Watson." The audience also loves the hero Solomin from “Winter Cherry” by the same Igor Maslennikov.

Speaking about Vitaly Solomin, it is impossible to do without such words as generosity and attentiveness to people. People approached him with various requests: to get medicine, help with doctors, buy train tickets. He didn't refuse anyone. When his classmate, actor Oleg Dal, died, Solomin got him a place at the Vagankovskoye cemetery.

Vitaly Methodievich was very fond of holidays and cheerful friendly feasts. After the prime minister, he always organized banquets with his own money and brought cucumbers and tomatoes he had pickled with his own hands. If there weren’t enough holidays, he invented them: once in the spring he organized a New Year’s Eve for the actors!

Probably, the definition of a holiday person is quite suitable for him. But besides the holidays, there was also work. There was a lot of it. Filming (he played his last role in Igor Ugolnikov’s film “Casus Belli”), teaching at VGIK, theater. In recent years, he has also staged private performances, which means constant tours. And on the Maly stage he worked on a production of Chekhov’s “Ivanov”.

On a spring evening in 2002, the play “Krechinsky’s Wedding” was staged on the stage of the Maly Theater. Directed by Vitaly Solomin, he also stars. The blow happened to him right on stage. He found the courage and strength to finish the first act. He never returned to the stage. After 34 days he was gone.

“The life of an actor is very difficult, the cross of talent is not easy. And the greater the talent, the more difficult I think it is to live. In general, the most difficult thing is to remain yourself. This is very important."

Vitaly Solomin

At the funeral service for Vitaly Solomin, which took place at the Maly Theater, actor Valery Barinov said: “Our kingdom has lost a prince... When the king dies - “The king is dead, long live the king!” But when a prince dies, no one can replace him.”

Bitter and true words. But, fortunately, after a person leaves, memories remain. And as long as they remember him, as long as they think about him, he is alive.

12/12/1941, Chita - 05/27/2002, Moscow

Winner of the Moscow Prize (1998)
Laureate of the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, IV degree (1999)

Vitaly Methodievich Solomin was born on December 12, 1941, in Chita. The Solomin family lived in a wooden house built for a doctor who came to treat the exiled Decembrists. One of the brightest memories of childhood is the windows of the house, which are not Siberian-large - after all, the frost there is terrible! If you go for water, God forbid you spill it and step in a puddle. The leg will immediately freeze. In the evenings, Vitalya liked to sit with his feet on the hot stove, with a book and a glass of sweet tea. One of my favorite writers was, of course, Conan Doyle. By the way, Dr. Watson then seemed to the future actor to be a pot-bellied and short man, in no way similar to himself - tall and fit.

The parents of Vitaly and Yuri Solomin - professional musicians Methodius Viktorovich and Zinaida Ananyevna - dreamed of seeing Vitaly as a pianist. For five years the boy drummed on the keys, dreaming that the hated piano would fall to pieces. And then one day, lo and behold! In the bitter cold, holding a huge music folder under his arm, approaching the threshold of the music school, he could not open the door, it was simply jammed from the cold. The happy boy returned and announced that the school... was closed! The parents, realizing that their son would not make Richter, gave up on him and allowed him to do as he pleased.

There was no such sports club in Chita, no matter where Solomin Jr. studied: volleyball section, basketball,
gymnastics, athletics, boxing... True, until about forty-five years old, Solomin could not hit a person. A serious reason was needed: Vitaly Methodievich’s best friend, surgeon Evgeny Matyakin, was mortally insulted by one of the Moscow artists. The offender turned out to be the first person to try on himself the power of Solomin’s right hand blow, and he remembered it for a long time.

There are two versions about what forced Vitaly Solomin to go to Moscow to storm the Shchepkinskoye School. The first is that the authority of the older brother worked. When his older brother Yuri went to Moscow to enter theater school, Solomin was eleven years old. The second - the decisive role was played by the film “The Fate of Man”, which Vitaly once watched at an afternoon screening in a cinema, where besides him there were only two other spectators... Probably these three needed the film to resolve vital issues. And Vitaly Solomin decided that it was great to do something that was vital for at least three people.

In a word, the young man went to Moscow, encouraged by his father’s comment: “Everything is correct, son. Fall like that from a white horse!” Why exactly to the Shchepkinsky School? It’s just that the boy from Chita didn’t know about the existence of any other Moscow theaters except the Maly, which Shchepkinsky’s graduates go to, which was suggested, of course, by Yuri Solomin.

Love for the Maly Theater

Vitaly Solomin is not one of those who rushed through life. Once and for all, falling in love with the Maly Theater, with its traditions, atmosphere filled with the presence of several great acting generations. The actor was faithful to him both in the days of great success (he was brought in by roles in the plays: “The Inspector General,” “Woe from Wit,” “The Living Corpse”), and in the years of protracted downtime.

Solomin “cheated on” Malaya only once: tired of eternal disagreements with the management, he went to the Theater named after him for two years. Mossovet. Here he played in the play based on V. Astafiev’s play “The Sad Detective”. The actor very quickly realized that it was the same everywhere. And there is no point in exchanging your theater for someone else’s. Meanwhile, at the Maly Theater there was a change of leadership - Yuri Methodievich Solomin became artistic director. Vitaly Methodievich succumbed to his brother’s persuasion and returned “home.” And then on his native stage he staged a play based on Ostrovsky’s play “The Savage”, in which he himself played Ashmetyev.

The time has come when, from a budding actor, Vitaly Solomin became an actor who can be staged in plays. Among the theatrical works of that period, I remember the beloved role of Hippolyte in the play staged by Khokhryakov and director Yunnikov “It’s not all Maslenitsa for cats,” the role of Chatsky in Tsarev’s play “Woe from Wit,” and the role in Salynsky’s play “Summer Walks.” Next were the performances “The Fieko Conspiracy in Genoa” and “The Living Corpse”, a joint work with Nelly Kornienko.

Directing

However, Vitaly Solomin did not wait for years for weather by the sea. After reading the play “Siren and Victoria” by Alexander Galin, he
I saw a private enterprise. Having persuaded film actress Larisa Udovichenko to appear on the theater stage for the first time in her life and having secured the consent of Irina Rozanova, director Vitaly Solomin staged the play “for three actors.” The third, of course, was himself. “Sirena” attracted sold-out crowds on a tour across Russia, in Moscow...

An enterprise based on Max Frisch’s play “Biography: A Game” was staged on the stage of the Maly Theater. The premiere, however, had to be postponed: the artist Evgeny Dvorzhetsky died untimely the same day, and the troupe had to urgently look for a replacement. Ivar Kalnins was invited to play the role. Director Vitaly Solomin believed that entrepreneurial work was not just a way to make money. In them, an artist can realize himself in interesting works, when artists go on stage without prior rehearsal. Which, however, in his opinion, does not prevent the audience from fully perceiving the play. In addition, he believed that enterprise is what the viewer needs today.

It was useless to argue with Vitaly Methodievich. Not the same character. “A stone flower,” Andron Konchalovsky, who directed Solomin in “Siberiad,” said about him. He considered almost the most terrible sin... optionality. For the organizers of theatrical tours, Solomin was a real punishment. God forbid there are any hiccups, delays in fees or anything like that! He could even refuse to go on stage - and further cooperation was out of the question.

Film work

There were different periods in the actor’s theatrical life - directors and theater management changed, there were breaks, even for several years. Filming saved me. Vitaly Solomin became famous faster than his brother Yuri - films with his participation were released earlier than “His Excellency’s Adjutant.” The first film in which Vitaly Solomin made his debut in a small role was the film “Newton Street, Building 1.” Then followed “The Chairman” and the film “Women”, where the actor played the main role - Zhenya. The film was well received by experts and was a huge success with viewers. In the film “Big Sister” he played the role of Kirill. His partners were the wonderful Mikhail Zharov and the incomparable Tatyana Doronina. Subsequently, Vitaly often and successfully acted in films.

Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson

Vitaly Solomin felt a grateful feeling towards director Igor Maslennikov, in whose films he played leading roles. The favorite that brought the actor real popularity is Dr. Watson in the series about Sherlock Holmes. Among the numerous pairs of Holmes and Watson, of which there are several dozen in history, the British themselves recognize only their own and... Russians: Lebanese Holmes and Solominsky Watson became the best in world cinema.

Although, what's the difference?! The main thing is that our viewers like it, that we are recognized. And what the British think about this... During the filming of the film, the actor met and became lifelong friends with Vasily Livanov. And in one of the episodes of “Sherlock Holmes” - based on the story “The Speckled Ribbon” - Solomin even allowed his wife to act; at the request of her husband, Maria Solomina refused directorial offers for several years.

Solomin himself believed: “Watson is “reading”, just a detective story, well and stylishly done by a good cameraman and director, talented actors. But Conan Doyle is not Chekhov, not Griboyedov and not Sukhovo-Kobylin! Theater roles are much more interesting! Only in the classics can an actor demonstrate what he is capable of.” Subsequently, director Igor Maslennikov invited the actor to play in “The Queen of Spades.”

Winter cherry

The film “Winter Cherry” brought Vitaly Solomin great success. A psychological film, a witty artistic experiment staged by the director on a single male individual. The duo Solomin - Kalnins play two different men who fought for the heart of the same woman.

Vitaly Solomin plays what would happen to the hero if he did this and that in his relationship with the woman he loved, and Ivar Kalnins - if he did the opposite, like this and that. Who will win - the phlegmatic Solomin or the superman Kalnins.

“Anything can happen in the life of a male actor. A creative person should always be in a state of love - and those who believe that this is love for something abstract are very mistaken. “Actors fall in love with their stage partner, and not at all with the landscape outside the window,” Solomin frankly admitted, “it’s always difficult to get used to the role, it’s only on the screen that everything looks easy and simple.”

Other films

The actor’s filmography included several dozen films that brought Vitaly Methodievich enormous popularity and love from millions of viewers. His work in the film “Dauria” was very dear to him: the action of the novel takes place in Siberia, Transbaikalia, and the actor’s native places.

With pleasure, Vitaly Solomin starred in the musical films “Silva” and “Die Fledermaus”: he loved music, wanted to sing, dance, there was even a period of recording songs on the radio, which, unfortunately, was not long. One of Vitaly Solomin’s latest works is the serial film “Everything is Red.”

Vitaly Solomin also tried himself as a film director, directing the full-length film “The Hunt.” The film takes place at the end of the 18th century. Her costumes - embroidered camisoles and dresses - were made by craftsmen using special technology. Filming took place at the Lenfilm film studio, and the film was shown on television.

Personal life

Wife - Solomina Maria Antoninovna, graduate of the Textile Institute, fashion designer. Works at the House of Models, participates in the production of fashion magazines. She starred in the films “City Romance”, “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson” and “Silva”.

Daughters - Anastasia, graduated from school with the ensemble of Igor Moiseev, works in this group, and Elizaveta. Grandson - Kirill.

Vitaly Solomin did not go to festivals, did not attend film events, and rarely appeared on the TV screen. He just felt the taste of private life too well... The place where Vitaly Solomin could easily be found was the restaurant of the House of Journalists. Waiters from the former WTO worked there, with whom the actor had known for many good three decades. They knew everything about his life, and he knew everything about them.

Vitaly Solomin is least similar to his famous character from “Winter Cherry” - a weak-willed, indecisive man, prone to eternal compromises. Although the actor himself believes that there is still something in common between them. “Loving two women at once is not that abnormal, it’s just very difficult.” However, his own family boat safely passed these reefs. Masha turned out to be an extremely understanding wife. Once Vitaly Solomin asked his eldest daughter what life is. She replied: “This is our circle on Earth.” Very accurate.

“One’s own circle” for Vitaly Solomin also means life in the country. He bought an old one, 1937, with huge apple trees in the garden, birch trees, thickets of raspberries, currants, and bird cherry. There are some nooks and crannies, old benches, sheds, and in them are antique lamps, typewriters from the late 19th century, and wicker bottles. Beautiful creations of human hands. In all this there is a sense of the presence of people. Thick atmosphere.

To teach his grandson Kirill to feel this atmosphere, Vitaly Methodievich worked on arranging a special shed - with tools, a workbench, and most importantly - with a wheel like the one that Timur and his team spun: so that everything would ring, rattle, live... And so that Kirill would know , what the earth is and how something grows on it, Vitaly Methodievich, completely indifferent to gardening and gardening, set up a greenhouse for cucumbers. They dug up the ground together with Kirill - both naked to the waist, grimy, red-haired, snub-nosed, stubborn, harmful...

His friend Matyakin, the same one for whose honor the actor entered into hand-to-hand combat, also bought a house next to the Solomins. It doesn’t matter that the village is located too close to Sheremetyevo airport and the roar of airplanes prevents you from falling asleep. But close to a friend! This friendship is now thirty years old. Vitaly Solomin officially celebrated this event - he organized several bonfires, invited nice people... Celebrating the thirtieth anniversary of friendship is also “one’s own circle” on Earth.

At the Maly Theater, Vitaly Solomin was famous for his ability to celebrate. Holidays are a whole ritual. Don't need any deliberate luxury. The main thing is that everything should be sincere, with love, with imagination. Everyone was waiting for the premiere of his performances - and not only for the performances themselves, but also for the banquets. Vitaly Methodievich always came up with something - either he would get a giant sturgeon, which eight people carried into the dining room, or he would set off fireworks. If only the feeling of “being in one’s circle” does not go away, if only the taste of life does not disappear...

It became a bit boring in the theater towards the end of the season - so we need to organize the New Year! It doesn't matter that it's April! The Christmas tree, Father Frost and the Snow Maiden, and most importantly, the skit boy, for whom everyone must prepare his own act, everything - from the director to the fireman - and people’s lives will become a little easier. And it doesn’t matter that the next day it was easy for Solomin, lost in his thoughts, to forget to say hello to yesterday’s comrades at the celebration of life... Colleagues at the theater forgave him both his absent-mindedness and sometimes difficult temper.

Maly's stage, the actor's relatives - all this was his circle. And those places where he was greeted with love - this was also his circle on this Earth.

Filmography:

1963 Newton Street, building 1
1964 Chairman
1965 Beloved
1965 Women
1966 Big Sister
1967 Die Hard
1967 Indian Kingdom
1967 An incident that no one noticed
1968 Pacer's Run
1970 Salute, Maria!
1970 The Day Ahead
1971 Tell me about yourself
1971 Dauria
1972 Last days of Pompeii
1972 At our factory
1973 Manuscript by Academician Yuryshev
1973 This is my village
1973 Opening
1975 Krechinsky's Wedding - teleplay
1975 The Cherry Orchard - teleplay
1978 Sibiriada
1978 Roof Jump
1978 Apartment for rent with a child
1979 The Bat - operetta
1979 Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson
1980 Who will pay for luck?
1980 The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson
1981 The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson. Hound of the Baskervilles
1981 Hot streak
1981 Silva - musical
1982 The Man Who Shut Down the City
1982 Desire Limit
1982 Queen of Spades
1983 The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson. Treasures of Agra
1984 Return from orbit
1984 The Limit of Possibility
1985 Winter Cherry
1985 Sincerely yours...
1986 55 degrees below zero
1986 The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson. The twentieth century begins
1986 He, She and Children
1989 Svetik
1990 Winter Cherry-2
1991 Cuckold
1992 Black Square
1993 Prisoners of Fortune
1994 Hunting - actor, director, script
1995 Interview with Hitler - documentary video
1995 Winter Cherry-3
1996 Tests for real men
2000 Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes - TV series
2001 Stop on demand-2 - TV series
2002 Casus Belli
2003 Pan or Missing - TV series

The calling card of actor Vitaly Solomin is the restrained and serious Doctor Watson. He was almost always the same in real life. But sometimes he unleashed the hussar part of his soul and then there was a feast for the whole world - banquets with friends, mountains of flowers for his wife and a fireworks display of good jokes.

This actor had a bright and rich creative biography, and several dozen memorable roles. The actor’s first fame came from the film “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson.” Then there were “Winter Cherry”, “Bat”, “Silva”.

Childhood and youth

Vitaly Solomin was born on December 12, 1941 in Chita, into a creative family. Father Methodius Solomin and mother Zinaida Ryabtseva taught music, and tried to pass this love on to their sons. The eldest son Yuri was already growing up in the family. Thanks to his parents, Vitaly quickly mastered the intricacies of playing the piano; he was sent to a music school to continue his studies. Vitaly did not like this instrument, but did not argue with his parents. His favorite pastime was reading; the boy preferred Conan Doyle among authors, whom he read on long winter evenings, sitting by the stove.

Soon the parents realized that their son would not make a musician, and allowed him to do what he wanted. The guy became interested in sports and was enrolled in all the clubs he could find in his hometown. He attended volleyball, basketball, track and gymnastics at the same time. But he still preferred boxing.

After graduating from school in 1959, Vitaly decides to go to Moscow and try his hand at the Shchepkin Theater School, which his brother had once graduated from. Luck was on the side of the young, handsome applicant, and he joined the ranks of students. Nikolai Annenkov became his teacher, and fate sent Vitaliy to be his fellow students.

One feature of Vitaly Solomin was his amazing maximalism, because of which he almost dropped out of school after his first year of study. The future artist was accustomed to receiving only excellent grades, and when he was given a 4, he even wanted to quit his studies.

Theater

But still, common sense won, and the young man continued his studies at a theater university. Vitaly Solomin's debut on the theater stage took place in his second year of study. He was invited to the Maly Theater to participate in the production of “Your Uncle Misha.” After receiving his Slivers diploma, Solomin was accepted into the troupe of this theater. His repertoire included mainly classical characters - Chatsky, Astrov, Khlestakov, Protasov. In the 70s, Solomin developed an interest in directing. He released the plays “The Living Corpse” and “My Favorite Clown,” which his fans liked.

Vitaly Solomin served not only at the Maly Theater, at one time he appeared on the stage of the Mossovet Theater. Fans of the artist remember his innate talent as a reader, especially evident during the recording of the novels “The Adventures of Father Brown” and “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign.”

Movies

The cinematic biography of Vitaly Solomin started with the film “Newton Street, Building 1”, in which he became the philologist Boyartsev. It was a cameo role, which gave the aspiring artist his first experience of working on a film set. Then Vitaly was invited to a film called “Women,” in which he had to become Zhenya, the son of the central character. After this role, they started talking about actor Vitaly Solomin.

But all-Union fame covered the artist after he became Sherlock Holmes’s best assistant, Dr. Watson, in the film “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson.” Holmes got the role, and he fit perfectly into this image. The first two-part film was released in 1979. Then director Igor Maslennikov wanted to continue the adventures of the two detectives, and he shot four more films, each containing several episodes. The duet of Livanov and Solomin took part in the film adaptation of twelve stories by the famous writer.

It is the Soviet film with the main characters, masterfully brought to life by Solomin and, that is considered the best of all that were filmed based on the works of Conan Doyle. As a sign of gratitude and recognition of the skill of the actors, a monument to the great detective and his permanent assistant was erected in Moscow, next to the British Embassy. Upon closer examination of the faces and figures of these two characters, you can see that they are an exact copy of the actors who so talentedly portrayed them on the screen.

Another significant film in the career of actor Vitaly Solomin was “Winter Cherry”. His character is very ambiguous and each viewer perceives him differently. In this film, Vitaly became Vadim Dashkov, the married lover of the main character. The character seems to be repulsive, but as performed by Solomin, he turned out to be not so bad. The film found its audience and was especially liked by the female half of the audience. It was decided to film a sequel, and two more seasons of the beloved story were released at an interval of five years.

No less interesting were Solomin’s works in the films “Silva” and “Die Fledermaus,” directed by Jan Fried. These films helped the actor demonstrate to everyone his comic talent, thanks to which the stories are watched in one go.

Personal life

In the life of Vitaly Solomin there were two official marriages. The first time he married actress Natalya Rudnaya. They met in 1962, during a student production, and in 1963 they got married. Very soon their family life went wrong, and the young people divorced. After the divorce proceedings, Solomin decided that he would never marry again.

Several years passed, and Vitaly was invited to audition for the film “City Romance”. Among those invited to the casting was Maria Leonidova, who studied at the textile institute. The director's assistant really liked this girl, whom he met by chance on the street, and he invited her to audition for a movie. Vitaly Solomin did not manage to get into this project, but he really liked the girl. So in 1970, his personal life completely changed - the young people got married. In 1973, a daughter, Anastasia, was born into the family, and in 1984, another daughter, Elizaveta. Lisa continued her father's work and became an actress and producer. Married to director Gleb Orlov.

Solomin was a reserved and serious person, but sometimes he could arrange a real celebration of the soul, especially in the middle of ordinary weekdays. One day he came up with the idea of ​​organizing New Year's holidays in the midst of spring.

Cause of death

Vitaly Solomin complained of hypertension for many years. An exacerbation of the disease occurred on April 24, 2002, during the production of “Krechinsky’s Wedding.” From the very morning, the actor felt something was wrong; he was very dizzy and had absolutely no strength. But he was a real actor, and had no idea what could cause the performance to be cancelled. He managed to hold out only the first act, and lost consciousness. The actor had to be carried away in his arms. Doctors made a disappointing diagnosis - a stroke, and began to fight for his life. For a month, doctors tried to improve the actor’s condition, but almost all the time he was in a coma.

Solomin often repeated that he would like to die like Moliere or, that is, like real artists, on stage. Probably somewhere in the heavenly office his words were heard, because he never returned to the stage. Vitaly Solomin passed away on May 27, 2002. The capital’s Vagankovskoe cemetery became the place of eternal rest.

“One of the brightest childhood memories is the windows in our house. Between the double frames they put cotton wool, decorated with fragments of Christmas tree decorations. The windows are not Siberian-sized - after all, the frost there is terrible! If you go for water, God forbid you spill it and step in a puddle. Leg he’ll freeze right away,” recalled Vitaly Methodievich. The wooden house in Chita, where the Solomin family lived, was built for a doctor who came to treat the exiled Decembrists.

Vitaly's parents dreamed of seeing Vitaly as a pianist. The boy drummed on the keys for five years. One day, approaching the threshold of a music school, he could not open the door, which was simply jammed from the cold. Happy Vitaly returned and announced that the school was closed. Over time, the parents, realizing that their son would not make Richter, allowed Vitaly to manage his time at his own discretion. And Solomin took up sports diligently. He attended volleyball and basketball sections, and was involved in gymnastics, athletics and boxing. Although Solomin preferred to practice punches on a punching bag rather than in the ring, for which he received criticism from the coach.

It was generally very difficult for Vitaly, with his intelligent upbringing, to hit a person. Only once, much later, did Solomin have a serious reason to use his boxing skills, when Vitaly Methodievich’s best friend, surgeon Evgeny Matyakin, was insulted by one of the Moscow artists. The offender turned out to be the first person to try the power of Solomin’s blow.

Vitaly Solomin’s graduation from school coincided with the arrival in Chita of a commission from Moscow from the Shchepkinsky School, which recruited a course from the youth of Siberia. The commission was headed by V. A. Smirnov. Vitaly decided to try his hand and appeared before the commission. As a result, they made an unequivocal decision: to go to Moscow and enter school, especially since by this time their older brother Yuri had graduated from it. In addition, Vitaly’s father really wanted his youngest son to become an actor.

In 1959, Vitaly was admitted to the school. Shchepkina to the class of People's Artist of the USSR N.A. Annenkov. Boris Markovich Kazansky became his teacher throughout his studies.

The sixties brought actor Vitaly Solomin real popularity. He became famous even faster than Yuri - the films “Women” and “Elder Sister” were released earlier than “His Excellency’s Adjutant”.

It was Solomina who wanted to see as her partner in the film “City Romance” the aspiring actress, twenty-year-old student of the textile institute Maria Leonidova, whom director Pyotr Todorovsky’s assistant saw on the street and offered to audition for Todorovsky, who liked Leonidova so much that he allowed her to choose her own partner .

Twenty-eight-year-old Solomin was charming, impressive and self-confident.

Masha liked him, and the acting duet promised to be very successful. But Todorovsky had doubts and decided to replace Solomin with Kindinov - this was the first and last time Vitaly was removed from the role. Masha was worried and afraid to appear in front of Solomin. The film's sound engineer came to the rescue - when he met Vitaly, he said: “Why don’t you call Leonidova? She’s waiting!” Solomin called, and the first thing he heard from her was: “When will we meet?!” “What an amazing girl! I may have lost the role, but I won’t miss her,” he decided.

Vitaly, who did not intend to get married in the next ten years due to an unsuccessful first marriage with actress Natalya Rudnaya, having met Masha, decided: “I’ll have to get married now. I’ll never meet someone like her again.”

Solomin courted Maria on a grand scale - there were flowers, restaurants, noisy companies and trips to the Maly Theater. “I have never seen such a talented, worldly, witty and generous person as Vitasha at that time,” said Marya Antonovna. “True, a year later we got married, and then everything changed. Vitaly turned out to be quite withdrawn, sometimes he was silent for weeks and thought about something different. Noisy companies and restaurants also stopped.” But self-absorbed and focused - she liked him even more.

The first year of Maria and Vitaly’s family life was spent traveling between Moscow and Leningrad, where Masha lived. Then she moved to her husband - to his room in the Maly Theater dorm. But here she had to face all the delights of collective living. In one neighboring room, one of the actors kept a motorcycle and started it in the evenings. In the other lived a janitor - a terrible foul-mouthed woman. Home girl Masha found herself in such an environment for the first time. Moreover, Solomin, having barely placed his wife’s suitcase in his home, went on tour to Yerevan.

Maria needed Vitaly’s advice and support in everything. But soon the actor’s wife became so adept at organizing everyday life that she developed a real mania for regularly changing her place of residence and rebuilding apartments. Vitaly Methodievich barely had time to fill out the necessary papers allowing him to break the wall or move it, when Masha was again seized by wanderlust...

Having married Masha, Vitaly set a condition for her: “No cinema!” The arguments were as follows: “If you start filming, you will need to go somewhere. There are few women on trains, and men are annoying. No one will buy an entire compartment for an actress, which means that for me to be calm, I will have to pay extra for three seats from my own money. Next - they’ll put you up in a hotel. You can’t go out anywhere in the evening - a beautiful woman, alone. And there would be something to film for - they pay pennies, but you have to give your best.”

Maria refused directorial offers for several years. Only in one of the episodes of “Sherlock Holmes” based on the story “The Speckled Ribbon” did Solomin allow her to appear. Since they went to the shooting in the same compartment, and they took place in Leningrad, where they could live with Masha’s parents.

It is useless to argue with Vitaly Methodievich. “A stone flower,” Andron Konchalovsky, who directed Solomin in “Sibiriad,” said about him.

Solomin was distinguished by rare categoricalness. He considered the most terrible drawback to be optional. For the organizers of theatrical tours, Solomin was a real punishment. If there were any discrepancies or delays with the fee, he could refuse to go on stage, and further cooperation was out of the question.

Vitaly Solomin was completely different from his famous character from “Winter Cherry” - a weak-willed, indecisive person prone to compromise. Although the actor himself believed that they had something in common. “Loving two women at once is not that abnormal, it’s just very difficult.” But his own family life successfully avoided these problems. Masha turned out to be an extremely understanding wife: “Anything can happen in the life of a male actor. A creative person should always be in a state of love - and those who believe that this is love for something abstract are very mistaken. Actors fall in love with their stage partner, and not at all into the landscape outside the window. And in the end, all this only strengthens the marriage, if, of course, we are talking about true love,” says Marya Antonovna. “Living with Vitasha is real happiness.” wrote a poem for me! Although he had never composed anything before. And there was something very real in this poem - this feeling of the present is in everything he does."

From the 2nd year, Vitaly began to be invited to rehearse and play roles in performances of the Maly Theater. But not all performances saw the light of day. So, when Vitaly Solomin was already a 4th year student, A. Efros invited a whole group of students to his play “Dancing on the Highway”. The plot of the play consisted of a conflict between fathers and children. In those years, this topic was more than controversial, almost political, and officials were afraid of discussion and accusations about it. At the last stage of preparation, the performance was closed.

At that time, the Maly Theater was directed by E.R. Simonov. He invited the entire group of students who participated in the play to work in Maly. Together with Vitaly in this group there were Y. Baryshev, M. Fomina, T. Ryzhova, M. Kononov, V. Pavlov. Work began in the theater. Vitaly had to play different roles, but the role in the play “Your Uncle Misha” by G. Mdivani was especially dear to him. In this production he played two roles at once together with actor V. Khokhryakov, with whom he later became friends.

Then there were different periods in theatrical life, there were breaks, even for several years. Directors and theater management changed. Working in cinema saved me. The first film in which Vitaly made his debut was the film “Elder Sister”. In it he played with Mikhail Zharov and Tatyana Doronina. This was followed by the film "Women", in which Vitaly played the main role - Zhenya. The film was a huge success with audiences. Vitaly often and successfully filmed.

Of Solomin’s theatrical works in the late 60s, the audience remembered his favorite role of Hippolyte in the play staged by V. Khokhryakov and director Yunnikov “It’s not all Maslenitsa for the cat.”

The new artistic director of the Maly Theater, Mikhail Tsarev, seeing Vitaly in this role, began preparing him for the role of Chatsky in the play “Woe from Wit.” There was a competition inside the theater for its performer, but Tsarev immediately decided that Solomin would play Chatsky. Moreover, Vitaly was given complete freedom in interpreting the image. Tsarev even allowed Chatsky’s entrance to be unusual: he seemed to have slipped and fell as he entered the stage. It was implied that the hero was young, foolish and full of mischief. Tsarev said about the play: “We read it very well, but I would like us to play it.” For many years, the performance was the hallmark of the theater; it began the theater season.

Subsequently, Solomin had several collaborations with Nelly Kornienko - the performances “The Fiesco Conspiracy in Genoa” and “The Living Corpse”. From a young, promising actor, Vitaly became an artist who could be staged in performances. Director L.E. Kheifits did this with several performances.

In 1973, Solomin had a daughter, Anastasia. Later, in 1984, a second daughter was born, who was named Elizabeth.

After some time, Vitaly himself decided to take up directing. The theater did not release one of his performances, but in 1994 Solomin staged “The Living Corpse,” in which Vitaly himself played the role of Protasov. Solomin reworked the production many times, rehearsed it, and finally released it on the stage of the Maly Theater branch. The performance ran for several years. Vitaly received many letters from viewers in support of the performance. Later, he had several more directorial works, among which in 1979 he staged Vasily Livanov’s play “My Favorite Clown.”

After some time, Solomin went to the Mossovet Theater. The period of work in this theater lasted two years from 1987 to 1989. Here Solomin played in the play based on V. Astafiev's play "The Sad Detective".

After reading the play “Siren and Victoria” by Alexander Galin, Vitaly Solomin staged the play “for three actors.” He persuaded film actress Larisa Udovichenko to appear on the theater stage for the first time in her life and secured the consent of Irina Rozanova. He himself came in third. “Sirena” attracted sold-out audiences on a tour across Russia and in Moscow.

When Yuri Solomin became the artistic director of the Maly Theater in 1990, Vitaly succumbed to his brother’s persuasion and returned to his native stage. Returning “home”, in 1991 he staged a play based on Ostrovsky’s play “The Savage”, in which he played Ashmetyev.

After a successful production, Solomin was offered to stage “Krechinsky’s Wedding” based on Sukhovo-Kobylin. He willingly accepted this offer. The result was a musical performance. Before this, after returning to the theater, he played Astrov in the play "Uncle Vanya" directed by Sergei Solovyov.

On the stage of the Maly Theater, Solomin staged an enterprise based on Max Frisch’s play “Biography: A Game.” The premiere, however, had to be postponed - the artist Evgeny Dvorzhetsky died untimely, and the troupe had to urgently look for a replacement. Ivar Kalnins was invited to play the role.

Vitaly Solomin believed that entrepreneurial work is not just a way to make money. In them, an artist can realize himself in interesting works, when artists go on stage without prior rehearsal. Which, however, in his opinion, does not prevent the audience from fully perceiving the play. In addition, he believed that enterprise is what the viewer needs.

In addition to the theater, Vitaly Solomin continued to work a lot in cinema. His favorite role is Dr. Watson in the Sherlock Holmes series. During the filming, the actor met and became lifelong friends with Vasily Livanov.

Among the numerous pairs of Holmes and Watson, of which there have been several dozen in the history of world cinema, the British themselves recognized only their own and Russians. Vasily Livanov and Vitaly Solomin seemed like “one of their own” to the residents of Foggy Albion.

IN Moscow, on Smolenskaya embankment oh, the sculptural composition “Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson” was installed.

The film "Winter Cherry" brought Solomin great success. Subsequently, the same director invited him to play in “The Queen of Spades.” Solomin’s work in the film “Dauria” was very dear to him, since the action of the novel takes place in Siberia. He took great pleasure in starring in the musical films “Silva” and “Die Fledermaus”, as he loved music since childhood.

In 1995, Solomin tried himself as a film director, directing the feature film “The Hunt.”

In his free time, Solomin enjoyed reading the classics. Among his contemporaries, he admired the work of the writer Vladimir Orlov. I really loved the music of Paul Maria, the songs of Demis Roussos and Engelbert Humperdinck. I was interested in listening to Italian classical opera.

Vitaly Solomin did not go to festivals, did not attend film events, and rarely appeared on the TV screen. But he could often be seen in the restaurant of the House of Journalists. Waiters worked there, with whom the actor was well acquainted. When Maria Antonovna was admitted to the hospital, it was these waiters who prepared lunches for her from several options of dishes to choose from. And on the eve of his fiftieth anniversary, they took Solomin to the chef, asking him to pay more attention to the order. And the cook pleased the guests with chicken. This rather complex dish, which looks like a cake, consists of pancakes with a variety of fillings - from chicken to dried apricots. When someone later asked to repeat this culinary masterpiece, the chef even became indignant: “What are you saying, this is only done once in a lifetime!”

Solomin himself appreciated the good attitude of his friends and relatives. He said: “Holidays are a whole ritual. There is no need for any deliberate luxury. The main thing is that everything should be sincere, with love, with imagination. It is very important in what mood you are treated. I once asked my eldest daughter what life is She answered: “This is our circle on Earth.” This is very accurate. My loved ones are all my circle on Earth. And those places where I am greeted with love are also my circle.”

At the Maly Theater Solomin was famous for his ability to celebrate. Everyone awaits the premiere of his performances - not only for the performances themselves, but also for the banquets. Vitaly Methodievich always came up with something - either eight people would bring a giant sturgeon into the dining room, or fireworks would start. So that the taste of life would not be lost, at the end of the season the theater held a New Year with the Christmas tree, Father Frost and the Snow Maiden, despite the fact that it was April.

Solomina really loved spending time at the dacha. He bought an old house with huge apple trees in the garden, birch trees, raspberry, currant and bird cherry thickets. He said: “There are some nooks and crannies, old benches, barns, and in them there are antique lamps, typewriters from the late 19th century, wicker bottles. Beautiful creations of human hands. In all this there is a feeling of the presence of people. A dense atmosphere.”

To teach his grandson Kirill to feel this atmosphere, Vitaly Methodievich worked a lot on arranging a shed with tools and a workbench. In order for his grandson to understand what land is and how something grows on it, Vitaly Methodievich, who had previously been completely indifferent to gardening and gardening, set up a greenhouse for cucumbers. And he dug up the ground together with his grandson.

On April 24, 2002, Vitaly Solomin was taken to the hospital with a diagnosis of stroke. The actor felt bad before the performance, but still went on stage. He played in the play "Krechinsky's Wedding". Solomin was able to complete only the first act, after which he was carried backstage in his arms. He was placed in intensive care with a diagnosis of cerebral hemorrhage. Solomin spent almost a month in the hospital and remained unconscious for a long time. For some time he came to his senses, despite the fact that doctors assessed his condition as critical.

He was buried at the Vagankovskoye cemetery.

Leonid Filatov prepared a program about Vitaly Solomin from the series “To Be Remembered.”

Materials used:

Materials from the site www.rusactors.ru

Die Hard (1967)

The Incident Nobody Noticed (1967)

Pacer's Run (1968)

The Day Ahead (1970)

Salute, Maria! (1970)

Dauria (1971)

Tell Me About Yourself (1971)

At our factory (1972)

This is my village (1972)

The Last Days of Pompeii (1973)

Discovery (Manuscript by Academician Yuryshev) (1973)

Jump from the Roof (1977)

Apartment for rent with a child (1978)

Sibiriada (1978)

The Bat (1979)

Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson (1979)

Who will pay for good luck? (1980)

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson (1981-86)

Silva (1981)

Queen of Spades (1982)

Desire Limit (1982)

The Man Who Shut Down the City (1982)

Hot Streak (1983)

Return from Orbit (1984)

The Limit of Possibility (1984)

Winter Cherry (1985)

Sincerely yours... (1985)

55 Degrees Below Zero (1986)

He, She and the Children (1986)

Svetik (1989)

Winter Cherry-2 (1990)

Cuckold (1991)

Black Square (1992)

Prisoners of Fortune (1993)

Winter Cherry (1995)

Interview with Hitler (1995)

Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (2000)

Casus Belli (prod.)

Staged films:

Hunt (1994)

Wrote scripts for films:

Hunt (1994)

Vitaly Methodievich Solomin(December 12, 1941, Chita - May 27, 2002, Moscow) - Soviet and Russian theater and film actor. People's Artist of the RSFSR (1992), laureate of the Moscow Prize (1998), member of the Union of Theater Workers and the Union of Cinematographers of Russia. Younger brother of Yuri Solomin.

He gained the greatest fame as the performer of the role of Doctor Watson in the Soviet television series about Sherlock Holmes.

Biography

Vitaly Solomin was born in Chita into the family of music teachers Zinaida Ananyevna Ryabtseva (1910-1992) and Methodius Viktorovich Solomin (1905-1960). Since childhood, he was fond of music and studied piano under the guidance of his parents.

After graduating from the Chita school in 1959, he went to Moscow and entered the Higher Theater School named after M. S. Shchepkin, which by that time Vitaly’s older brother, Yuri Solomin, had already graduated from. In Nikolai Annenkov’s class, Vitaly’s teacher for a number of years was B. M. Kazansky, and Oleg Dal, Mikhail Kononov and Viktor Pavlov studied in the same course with him.

Already from his second year, Solomin participated in performances of the Maly Theater, including G. Mdivani’s play “Your Uncle Misha”; After graduating from college, he was accepted into the troupe of this theater. Among the roles played by the actor are Chatsky in “Woe from Wit”, Khlestakov, Protasov in “The Living Corpse”, Astrov in “Uncle Vanya”. Since the 1970s, Solomin has been directing, directing, in particular, “The Living Corpse” by L. Tolstoy and the play “My Favorite Clown” based on the story by Vasily Livanov.

In September 1986, the actor moved to the Mossovet Theater, where he played in the play based on V. Astafiev’s play “The Sad Detective”. In December 1988, he returned to the Maly Theater, staged “The Savage” by A. N. Ostrovsky (1991), playing Ashmetyev in it, the musical by A. Kolker based on the comedy by A. V. Sukhovo-Kobylin “Krechinsky’s Wedding” (1997) and Chekhov's "Ivanov", in which he played the title role.

In cinema, Vitaly Solomin first starred at the age of 20 in Marlen Khutsiev’s film “Ilyich’s Outpost”, appearing on screen for only a few seconds (a graduate in a striped tie throwing a bottle into the Moscow River with the words “... it will end up in the Black Sea, and then - ocean"), however, due to problems with censorship, the film was released only at the end of 1964. Therefore, the first appearance on the screen took place in 1963 in a small episode of the film “Newton Street, Building 1”. The actor’s role as Zhenya in Pavel Lyubimov’s popular film “Women” brought him wide fame. The fate of the roles played by Solomin in the films of director Igor Maslennikov was especially successful; The most famous of these works was Dr. Watson in the Sherlock Holmes series (1979-1986). The film also received recognition in A. Conan Doyle’s homeland; On April 27, 2007, in Moscow, on Smolenskaya Embankment, opposite the British Embassy, ​​a monument to Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, and in fact to the heroes of Maslennikov’s film, played by Vasily Livanov and Vitaly Solomin, was unveiled. The actor’s work in the film “Winter Cherry” was also successful; a little earlier he played Tomsky in Maslennikov’s The Queen of Spades.

One of Solomin’s last acting works was Lech Krzyzanowski in the serial film “Sink or Lost.” Participated in the filming of the TV show “Marquise”.

Family

Vitaly Solomin's first marriage was to actress Natalya Rudnaya. The marriage soon broke up. His second wife was actress Maria Solomina. The future wife, Maria Leonidova, was a student at the textile institute. Director Todorovsky's assistant noticed her on the street and offered to participate in auditions for a role in the film "City Romance". Solomin also took part in these auditions, and that’s how they met. On October 28, 1970, their wedding took place. In 1974, their daughter Anastasia was born, and in May 1984, their daughter Elizaveta, now an actress, producer, wife of director Gleb Orlov.

Illness and death

Vitaly Solomin suffered from hypertension. On April 24, 2002, he played in the play “Krechinsky’s Wedding”; Despite feeling unwell, the actor went on stage. He was only able to play the first act; he was carried off the stage in their arms. Solomin was taken to the hospital, where doctors diagnosed a stroke. The actor was in the hospital for about a month, was in a coma for a long time, sometimes coming out of it. He died on May 27, 2002 at 18:30.