Rolan Bykov

Soviet and Russian actor, theater director, film director, screenwriter. People's Artist of the USSR. Rolan's fighting character reminded him of his father, and inherited his craving for art from his mother. The name Bykov was given in honor of the French writer Romain Rolland, although the artist’s mother did not understand that Rolland is a surname. Since 1939, he worked for some time in the theater studio Rodnik under the direction of Olga Larina. In 1947, the future actor graduated from school and applied simultaneously to VGIK, to GITIS and to the Moscow Art Theater School. He was not accepted anywhere, there remained the Shchukin Theater School at the Vakhtangov Theater. There they took. After graduating from college, in 1951, he joined the troupe of the Theater of the Young Spectator. Then he was an actor of the Leningrad Komsomol Theater. In 1957–1959, he headed the Moscow State University student theater. He played a huge number of bright memorable roles in the films, including “Beware, Grandmother!”, “I walk across Moscow”, “The Balzaminov's Marriage”, “Aibolit-66”, “The Adventures of Buratino”, “12 Chairs”, “About Red Hood” " other. Rolan Bykov was very fascinated by the work in films for children. He was the creator and director of the International Fund for the Development of Film and Television for Children and Youth (Rolan Bykov Foundation). I tried myself as a director. After the successful release of his first directorial work, Seven Nurses, Bykov completed the comedy Lost Summer for another director, and the film received one of the main prizes at the Cannes Film Festival youth competition. It was the hardest for Rolan Antonovich to work on the Scarecrow, pressure from critics and officials was not easy to endure. Also, Bykov was engaged in business and politics. At the State Duma elections in 1995, he headed (together with Irina Khakamada and Vladimir Dzhanibekov) the “Common Cause” election bloc. He headed the non-partisan socio-political "Movement 95" - the Union of social organizations of workers of culture, science, education and ecology. He was president of the bank "Help". The artist was married twice: the first wife - actress Lydia Knyazev, the second - actress Elena Sanaeva (adopted son - writer Pavel Sanayev). Rolan Bykov died on October 6, 1998 in Moscow from lung cancer. He was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery (station number 10).