Alexander Belyavsky

Alexander Borisovich Belyavsky (; 6 May 1932 – 8 September 2012) was a Soviet/Russian actor who appeared in more than one hundred films. Belyavsky was also the first presenter of the popular TV Show The 13 Chairs Tavern. In 1988, he was designated a Meritorious Artist of Russia; in 2003, he was named a People's Artist of Russia.

Biography Alexander Belyavsky was born in Moscow, to Boris Moiseyevich Belyavsky and his wife Lyubov Alexandrovna. He was the family's eldest child, with two younger siblings. After finishing school in 1949, he enrolled in the Geological research faculty of the Moscow's Gold and Non-ferrous Metals Institute where he studied up until 1955, making frequent trips to the Central Asian Soviet republics for professional practice. After graduation, Belyavsky spent several years in Irkutsk, working for the East-Siberian Geological department. He made his debut as an actor at the Irkutsk Drama Theatre, playing Molchalin in Alexander Griboyedov's Woe from Wit. Back in Moscow, Belyavsky continued working as a geology engineer, occasionally taking part in amateur theatrical productions staged by The Teachers' House. He decided then to quit his regular job, enrolled into the Boris Shchukin Theatre Institute, and joined Vladimir Etush's class at the Vakhtangov Theatre. In the summer of 1957, Belyavsky made his debut on screen in Tales About Lenin (as a young worker Kolya). Three years later, still a student, he appeared in the Kiev Studio's film Save Our Souls (1960). While working in Warsaw, Belyavsky learned the Polish language and later appeared in five more Polish films, including the popular TV wartime thriller series The Four Tankmen and a Dog (as a Soviet captain Pavlov). In 1964, he left the Satire Theatre but never severed ties with its troupe, having become the co-director (with Georgy Zelinsky) and the first presenter of the popular TV series Pub "13 Chairs". It was Belyavsky who came up with the idea of staging a satirical TV series ridiculing a good-for-nothing 'firm' (apparently based in Poland), members of which meet at the tavern to discuss their (highly ridiculous) problems and perform Polish (later West European) pop songs in a karaoke-style. In the 1990s, Belyavsky hosted several TV shows; he played Leonid Brezhnev in Igor Gostev's Grey Wolves (1993). In 1999, he returned to the theatre and in 2003 was awarded the title of The People's Artist of Russia.

In December 2003, Alexander Belyavsky suffered a stroke which left him incapacitated. On September 8, 2012, he was found on the ground by the house where he lived, having fallen, apparently, from the staircase window between the 5th and the 6th floor of the house he lived in. The initial police reports implied it was suicide; later it was suggested the fall might have been accidental. Alexander Belyavsky was buried in Kuzminskoye Cemetery in Moscow. After Boris's death, they adopted another son, who committed suicide after being told by neighbors that Alexandr and Lyudmila are not his biological parents.

Selected filmography

Stories About Lenin (Рассказы о Ленине, 1958) - electrician Nikolai Spasite nashi dushi (1960) - Yuriy Tsymbalyuk Quite Seriously (Совершенно серьёзно, 1961) - journalist (segment "Inostrantsy") Noch bez miloserdiya (1962) - Henry Davis It Happened in the Police (Это случилось в милиции, 1963) - Lieutenant Ganin Yolanta (1963) - Duke Robert Przerwany lot (1964) - Wowa Going Inside a Storm (Иду на грозу, 1966) - Sergei Krylov Czterej pancerni i pies (Четыре танкиста и собака, 1966, TV Series) - Captain Ivan Pavlov Ikh znali tolko v litso (1967) Net i da (1967) - Stronskiy July Rain (1967) - Volodya The Mysterious Monk (Таинственный монах, 1968) - Stronski 24-25 ne vozvrashchaetsya (1969) - Imant Herbert Glavnyy svidetel (1969) - Matvey Novozhilov Dzień oczyszczenia (1970) - partyzant Sasza Tsena bystrykh sekund (1971) - Oleg Vorobyov Talanty i poklonniki (1973) - Grigoriy Antonych Bakin Failure of Engineer Garin (Крах инженера Гарина, 1973, TV Mini-Series) - Vasili Shelga (1974) - Rzhaviy (1974) - Kondrashin (1975) (1975) - Prokofyev The Irony of Fate (Ирония судьбы, или С лёгким паром!, 1975, TV Mini-Series) - Sasha Ocalic miasto (1976) - Cpt. Syemyonov 100 gramm dlya khrabrosti (1977) - Nachalnik laboratorii Rallijs (1978) - Man with a mouthpiece (1978) - Bit-Part Father Sergius (Отец Сергий, 1979) - master of the ferry Test pilota Pirxa (1979) - (uncredited) The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed (Место встречи изменить нельзя, 1979, TV Mini-Series) - Yevgeniy Fox (1980) The Youth of Peter the Great (Юность Петра, 1980) - Lev Naryshkin At the Beginning of Glorious Days (В начале славных дел, 1980) - Lev Naryshkin Na Granatovykh ostrovakh (1981) Say a Word for the Poor Hussar (О бедном гусаре замолвите слово, 1981, TV Movie) - governor Anxious Sunday (Тревожное воскресенье, 1983) - Istomin (1984) (1984) (1985) One Second for a Feat (1985) - Chistyakov Povod (1986) - otets Kosti Golova Gorgony (1987) Tsyganka Aza (1987) - (voice) Proisshestviye v Utinoozyorske (1988) Interdevochka (1989) - (voice) Právo na minulost (1989) Entrance to the Labyrinth (Вход в лабиринт, 1989, TV Mini-Series) - Mayor of Naousen Private Detective, or Operation Cooperation (Частный детектив, или Операция "Кооперация", 1990) - Major Cronin Nevozvrashchenets (1991) Ocharovatelnye prisheltsy (1991) Promised Heaven (Небеса обетованные, 1991) - Mirov Tractor Drivers 2 (1992) - Nazar Duma Three Days in August (1992) (1992) (1993) - Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev (1993) - Edmund Edmontowicz (1993) (1993) - Sergey Marquis de Sade (1996) - Judge de Bory Demobbed (ДМБ, 2000) - Rear Admiral (2000) - Boris Ivanovich Przedwiosnie (2001) - Jastrun The Sum of All Fears (2002) - Admiral Ivanov Antikiller (Антикиллер, 2002) - King (2003) - Chlen Politbyuro #1 Moscow Heat (Московская жара, 2004) - Vlad's grandfather The Irony of Fate 2 (Ирония Судьбы. Продолжение, 2007) - Dyadya Sasha Kiss not for the press (Поцелуй не для прессы, 2008) - governor (final film role)