Anatoli Papanov

Anatoli Dmitriyevich Papanov (; 31 October 1922 – 5 August 1987) was a Soviet and Russian actor, drama teacher, and theatre director at the Moscow Satire Theatre where he served for almost 40 years. A prominent character actor, Papanov is mostly remembered for his comedy roles in a duo with his friend Andrei Mironov, although he had many dramatic roles as well. As a voice actor, he contributed to over one hundred cartoons. He was named People's Artist of the USSR in 1973 and awarded the USSR State Prize posthumously.

Early and war years Anatoli Papanov was born in Vyazma, Smolensk Governorate (modern-day Smolensk Oblast, Russia) into a mixed Russian-Polish family. His father Dmitry Filippovich Papanov (1897–1982) was a retired soldier who served as a railway guard and an amateur actor at the local theatre founded by Nikolai Plotnikov, where Anatoli and his sister also performed as children. His mother Yelena Boleslavovna Roskovskaya (1901–1973) was a Belarus-born Polish milliner who secretly converted from Roman Catholicism to Russian Orthodoxy. Anatoli himself was raised in Orthodox traditions.

Career Theatre In 1946, after graduating from the State Institute, Papanov left for Klaipėda, Lithuanian SSR, along with other students. There, they founded the Klaipėda Russian Drama Theatre, where he performed for several years. In 1948, Andrey Goncharov suggested he join the Moscow Satire Theatre, where he continued to act up until his death, performing in about 50 plays.

Among his popular roles were Alexander Koreiko in The Little Golden Calf (1958), Kisa Vorobyaninov in The Twelve Chairs (1960, both based on the novels by Ilf and Petrov), Vasily Tyorkin in Aleksandr Tvardovsky's Tyorkin in the Other World (1966), Anton Antonovich in Nikolai Gogol's The Government Inspector (1972), Nikolai Shubin in Grigori Gorin's and Arkady Arkanov's Little Comedies of the Big House (1973), Pavel Famusov in Alexander Griboyedov's Woe from Wit (1976), Roman Khludov in Mikhail Bulgakov's Flight (1977), Leonid Gayev in Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard (1984), and others.

Apart from performing, Papanov also taught acting at the Russian Institute of Theatre Arts, and in 1986 he staged his first and last play, The Last Ones by Maxim Gorky. Being a devout Christian, Papanov wanted to end the play with a prayer. To avoid possible censorship, he used a radio record of Feodor Chaliapin performing a prayer.

Papanov became very famous, however, after his work as General Serpilin in Aleksandr Stolper's war drama The Living and the Dead (1964). For this role he was awarded the Vasilyev Brothers State Prize of the RSFSR and the main prize at the First All-Union Film Festival, and Konstantin Simonov personally lauded his work.

In 1966, Eldar Ryazanov released Beware of the Car, in which Papanov appeared alongside his friend Andrei Mironov, with Mironov as a modern-day black marketeer, and Papanov as his father-in-law, a war veteran who mocks him all the way through. Its popularity led Leonid Gaidai to cast them in his 1968 comedy The Diamond Arm as the main antagonists, a pair of smugglers who tried to get their hands on the hero's "diamond arm". The film was seen by 76.7 million people in the year of release, becoming the third most popular Soviet movie of all time. In 1971, Gaidai also considered casting both actors for the leading parts in his adaptation of The Twelve Chairs, but decided otherwise. In 1976, Mark Zakharov directed his own TV adaptation of the book and eventually cast both actors in the leading roles, reuniting them for the last time.

Papanov was also highly sought after by animation directors. His distinguishing growling voice suited all kinds of beasts such as Shere Khan from Adventures of Mowgli (1967), a Soviet adaptation of The Jungle Book. His most popular characters, though, were wolves, especially after he voiced the Wolf character in the top-rated animated series Well, Just You Wait! (1969—1986), which has been considered his best role, overshadowing all of his other work, to his great displeasure.

Death

Papanov passed away on August 5, 1987, at the age of 64 in Moscow, USSR. After performing his last role, The Cold Summer of 1953. He suffered a myocardial infarction in his bathtub filled with cold water. Nadezhda Karatayeva found his body 2 days later when she was in Riga. His funeral took place on August 11, 1987, in Novodevichy Cemetery. He was survived by his wife, actress Nadezhda Karatayeva, who also performed at the Moscow Satire Theatre, and their daughter Yelena Papanova, a theatre and film actress.

One of the streets in Mikhaylovsk, Stavropol Krai is named after the actor.

Selected filmography Movies

Lenin in October (1937) as sailor (uncredited) The Foundling (1939) as passerby (uncredited) Minin and Pozharsky (1939) as peasant boy (uncredited) Composer Glinka (1952) as aide-de-camp The Inspector-General (1952) as official (uncredited) How Robinson Was Created (almanac "Absolutely Seriously", 1961) as chief editor Man Follows the Sun (1961) as super The Cossacks (1961) as cornet The Man from Nowhere (1961) as Arkady Krokhalyov / tribal chief / theatre actor / bully A Trip Without a Load (1962) as Akim Sevastyanovich Come Tomorrow, Please... (1962) as Nikolay Vasilievich (voiced by Yevgeny Tashkov) The Living and the Dead (1964) as major general Fyodor Serpilin The Green Flame (1964) as Boris Zhmurkin Children of Don Quixote (1965) as Pyotr Bondarenko Our House (1965) as father Give me a complaints book (1965) as a maître d'hôtel Vasily Kutaytsev Going Inside a Storm (1965) as Anykeyev, the head of the lab Beware of the Car (1966) as Sokol-Kruzhkin, Semitsvetov's father-in-law Retribution (1967) as major general Fyodor Serpilin Seven Old Men and a Girl (1968) as legal adviser Two Comrades Were Serving (1968) as regimental commander The Diamond Arm (1968) as Lyolik the smuggler The Golden Calf (1968) as Vasisualy Lokhankin (deleted scene) The Adjutant of His Excellency (1969) as Yevgeny Angel Belorussian station (1970) as Nikolai Dubinsky All The King's Men (1971) as Burden Sr. Gentlemen of Fortune (1971) as chess player in a hotel The Bad Good Man (1973) as Samoilenko the doctor Eleven Hopes (1975) as Vorontsov The Twelve Chairs (1976) as Kisa Vorobianinov Mama, I'm Alive (1977) as Lopatkin the home owner Incognito from St. Petersburg (1977) as mayor Anton Antonovich Skvoznik-Dmuhanovsky Domestic Circumstances (1977) as male nanny Engineer Graftio (1979) as Genrikh Graftio Comic Lover, or Love Escapades of Sir John Falstaff (1983) as Falstaff The Cold Summer of 1953 (1987) as Nikolai "Kopalych" Starobogatov (voiced by Igor Yefimov)

Animation The Key (1961) as Zmei Gorynich's third head A Little Frog Is looking for His Father (1964) as Crocodile Fitil (1964—1984) as various roles Rikki-Tikki-Tavi (1965) as Nag Adventures of Mowgli (1967—1971) as Shere Khan The Little Mermaid (1968) as guide Well, Just You Wait! (1969—1994, 18 episodes) as Wolf (voice samples in episodes 17—18) Happy Merry-Go-Round № 5 (1973) as Nikodim Sack of Apples (1974) as Wolf Ded Moroz And a Gray Wolf (1978) as Wolf A Flying Ship (1979) as Vodyanoy The Three on Island (1986) as pirate The Hare and the Leader (2021 workprint) as Wolf the Leader (hero)