Tikhonov Vyacheslav Vasilyevich
Vyacheslav Vasilyevich Tikhonov was a Soviet and Russian film, voice acting, and dubbing actor; a People’s Artist of the USSR, who became famous for his roles as Prince Andrei Bolkonsky in *War and Peace* and as Stierlitz in *Seventeen Moments of Spring*.
Biography
He was born on February 8, 1928, in Pavlovsky Posad (Moscow Oblast). The actor spent his childhood and youth at 66 Volodarskogo Street. The house was built by his maternal grandfather, Vyacheslav Vasilyevich Alekseev, who was a railway employee. At that time, this profession was prestigious and honorable. Vyacheslav Tikhonov’s father, Vasily Romanovich Tikhonov (born in 1906), worked as a mechanic at a weaving factory and during the war years headed a vocational school. His mother, Valentina Vyacheslavovna, was a kindergarten teacher.
Vyacheslav Tikhonov studied at School No. 1. Now it has been transformed into Lyceum No. 2 named after V. Tikhonov. It is known that he did well at school; his favorite subjects were mathematics, physics, and history. However, he did not take part in school activities because he was shy. Relatives and former classmates would never have thought that the modest and reserved Slava would grow up to be the talented actor Vyacheslav Tikhonov.
At the age of 13, with the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, he went to a vocational school, learned the trade of a turner, and worked at a military factory. While working, he nearly lost his sight (he got metal shavings in his eyes), but doctors helped restore it. In his youth, he often went to the cinema — this sparked his dream of becoming an actor. His parents, however, saw their son as an engineer or an agronomist. In 1944, he enrolled in the zero‑year course at the Automobile and Mechanical Institute, but soon withdrew his documents. When Vyacheslav Tikhonov announced at home that he wanted to become an actor, he said, and that he would be applying to the Institute of Cinematography, a stir broke out. His parents thought it wasn’t serious. With their tacit consent, Vyacheslav began taking the entrance exams for VGIK.”
The future 17‑year‑old celebrity didn’t get into the institute. At first, Vyacheslav Tikhonov was admitted to VGIK for one trial semester. From the second semester, he became a full‑fledged VGIK student after successfully passing his exams. In 1950, Vyacheslav Tikhonov graduated with honors from VGIK, the workshop of outstanding teachers B. V. Bibikov and O. I. Pyzhova, and was enrolled in the Film Actor’s Studio Theatre.
From 1950, he worked at the Film Actor’s Studio Theatre, and from 1957 — at the M. Gorky Film Studio.
He died on December 4, 2009, in Moscow.
Creative path
His film debut took place while he was still studying: in 1948, he played Volodya Osmukhin in Sergei Gerasimov’s film *The Young Guard*. However, after that, he was not offered any interesting film roles for several years — directors more often took advantage of his striking appearance rather than his acting potential. On the other hand, he was actively working in the theatre: for example, in 1956 he played the Bear in the play *An Ordinary Miracle* (this was the first production of Evgeny Schwartz’s play, and Tikhonov became the first actor to perform this role).
The breakthrough came in the late 1950s. His role as tractor driver Matvey Morozov in Stanislav Rostotsky’s film “It Happened in Penkovo” (1957) earned him audience recognition. Later, Rostotsky became an important creative collaborator for the actor. Among other notable works from that period are “Ch. P. — An Extraordinary Incident” (1958), “Midshipman Panin” (1960), “Two Lives” (1961), and “Optimistic Tragedy” (1963).
One of the most epoch‑making roles was that of Prince Andrei Bolkonsky in Sergei Bondarchuk’s film epic “War and Peace” (1967). The process was difficult: Bondarchuk initially envisioned another actor in this role, and Tikhonov himself worried that he didn’t live up to the character. After the filming, he even considered leaving the film industry, but Rostotsky provided support — he offered him the role of teacher Ilya Melnikov in the drama “We’ll Live Until Monday” (1968), and this work literally saved the actor from a creative crisis.
However, the most iconic role in history was that of the Soviet intelligence officer Maxim Isaev (Stierlitz) in Tatyana Lioznova’s multi‑episode film *Seventeen Moments of Spring* (1973). Tikhonov’s restrained acting style was perfectly suited to this character. The actor sought to portray the hero not only as a “steel‑willed intelligence officer” but also as a living, human person. For example, it was he who suggested adding a scene to the film showing Stierlitz meeting his wife in a café — this story was told to him by an acquaintance, the Soviet illegal agent Konon Molody. By the way, because of the “Slava” tattoo on his arm, which Tikhonov got in his youth, an assistant’s hand was sometimes used for close‑ups of Stierlitz’s hands.
Other notable works include: *White Bim Black Ear* (1977, the role of writer Ivan Ivanovich), *TASS Is Authorized to Declare…* (1984, the role of a KGB general), and *Burnt by the Sun* (1994, a supporting but memorable role). In the 1990s, the actor appeared in fewer films. Tikhonov did not accept some of the changes of the 1990s and did not want to play roles that he considered unworthy (for example, deputies or drunken generals). From 1989 to 2009, he was the artistic director of the Film Actor Training Center.
Awards and titles
People’s Artist of the USSR (1974).
Hero of Socialist Labour (1982).
Laureate of the Lenin Prize (1980), the USSR State Prize (1970), the RSFSR State Prize named after the Vasilyev brothers (1976), the Lenin Komsomol Prize (1979), and the National Prize of Ukraine named after Taras Shevchenko (1980).
Cavalier of the Order of Lenin (1982).
Also received the Nika Award in the “For Honor and Dignity” category.
Personal life
In 1947, he married the actress Nonna Mordyukova (they studied together and starred in “The Young Guard”). In 1950, their son Vladimir was born; he also became an actor. The marriage lasted 16 years and ended in 1963.
In 1967, he married for the second time — to Tamara Ivanovna (she took her husband’s surname), a French‑to‑English translator. In this marriage, a daughter, Anna, was born; she became an actress and producer.
Heritage
Iconic film characters (Stierlitz, Prince Andrei Bolkonsky, Ilya Melnikov), a benchmark for restrained acting. V.V. Tikhonov’s filmography includes about 60 films.
Memorial sites and projects in his honor: a house‑museum and a monument in Pavlovsky Posad, the “17 Moments” film festival, streets and memorial plaques commemorating the actor’s connection to his native places.
A marine vessel for geophysical exploration is named after the actor.