Leonid Gaidai

Leonid Iovich Gaidai (30 January 192319 November 1993) was a Soviet and Russian comedy film director, screenwriter, and actor who enjoyed immense popularity and broad public recognition in the former Soviet Union. His films broke theatre attendance records and were some of the top-selling DVDs in Russia. He has been described as "the king of Soviet comedy".

Early life and first success Gaidai was born on 30 January 1923 in Svobodny, Amur Oblast, where he is commemorated by a statue. His father, Iov Isidorovich Gaidai, came from a Ukrainian family of serfs of the Poltava Governorate. At the age of 22, he was sentenced to several years of katorga for revolutionary activity and sent to the Far East to work at the railway.

Leonid was the third child in the family. His elder brother Aleksandr (1919–1994) was a well-known poet and a war correspondent. Leonid took part in amateur dramatics from a young age. He graduated from school on 20 June 1941. Just two days after, the Great Patriotic War started.

In February 1942, he was enrolled in the Red Army. On 20 March 1943, he was heavily injured after stepping on a land mine. He spent nine months in military hospitals. In January 1944, he was sent home as war-disabled. In 1945, he joined the Communist Party. He married the actress Nina Grebeshkova, who played minor roles in his future films. He subsequently avoided overtly political themes.

Genre brilliance Between 1961 and 1975, Gaidai directed a number of top-selling films, each one a huge financial success and becoming wildly popular in the Soviet Union. During these years, he filmed new adventures of the mischievous trio in Moonshiners (1961), a film adaptation of O. Henry's short stories, Strictly Business (1962), Operation Y and Shurik's Other Adventures (1965), and Kidnapping, Caucasian Style (1966). At $8 per ticket (regular fare in an American movie theatre in 2005), it would have generated revenue comparable to the US box office champion Titanic. In a 1995 survey by RTR, it was voted the best comedy ever made.

On 30 January 2013 Google celebrated his 90th birthday with a Google Doodle.

Style Gaidai's comedies have a very visual style of comedy, utilizing slapstick and physical humor, with dialogue that has been described as "pithy, aphoristic, or nonsensical". He was a master of fast-paced comedy, his style and rhythm somewhat similar to Stanley Kramer's It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. While his films on the surface portray socialist ideals, there are subversive elements and satire. and the Grand Prix Wawel Silver Dragon at the Kraków Film Festival (Poland) in 1965 for the segment "Déjà vu" in the film Operation Y and Shurik's Other Adventures.

Filmography Year Title Original title Director Screenwriter Notes 1955 Lyana Ляна Actor (Alyosha) 1956 A Weary Road Долгий путь 1958 The Wind Ветер Actor (Naumenko the Red comissar) A Groom from the Other World Жених с того света 1960 Thrice Resurrected Трижды воскресший Cameo (inventor) On the Way В пути Actor (Tolya) 1961 Dog Barbos and Unusual Cross Пёс Барбос и необычный кросс Actor (bear in a tent, deleted scene) Moonshiners Самогонщики Actor (Pro's wife, deleted scene) 1962 Strictly Business Деловые люди 1965 Operation Y and Shurik's Other Adventures Операция «Ы» и другие приключения Шурика 1966 Kidnapping, Caucasian Style Кавказская пленница, или Новые приключения Шурика 1969 The Diamond Arm Бриллиантовая рука Cameo (drunkard / Gorbunkov's arm in Kozodoyev's dream) 1971 The Twelve Chairs 12 стульев Actor (Varfolomey Korobeinikov) 1972 My God, Ilya! Боже мой, Илья! Cameo (member of crowd) 1973 Ivan Vasilievich: Back to the Future Иван Васильевич меняет профессию Yakin's light assistant 1975 It Can't Be! Не может быть! 1977 Incognito from St. Petersburg Инкогнито из Петербурга Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained Риск — благородное дело Cameo (film director) 1978 Along the Streets a Commode Was Led По улицам комод водили Creative director 1980 Borrowing Matchsticks За спичками Soviet-Finnish co-production 1981–1988 Fitil Фитиль A total of 14 shorts 1982 Sportloto-82 Спортлото-82 1985 Dangerous for Your Life! Опасно для жизни! 1989 Private Detective, or Operation Cooperation Частный детектив, или Операция «Кооперация» 1992 Weather Is Good on Deribasovskaya, It Rains Again on Brighton Beach На Дерибасовской хорошая погода, или На Брайтон-Бич опять идут дожди Cameo (mad gambler); Russian-American co-production

Awards and honors

Medal "For Battle Merit" (1942) Honored Art Worker of the RSFSR (1969) Vasilyev Brothers State Prize of the RSFSR (1970) People's Artist of the RSFSR (1974) Order of the Patriotic War, 1st class (1985) People's Artist of the USSR (1989) Jubilee Medal "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin" Jubilee Medal "Twenty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" Jubilee Medal "Thirty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" Jubilee Medal "Forty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" Jubilee Medal "50 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR" Jubilee Medal "60 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR" Jubilee Medal "70 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR" Medal "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" Medal "Veteran of Labour"