Georgy Vitsin

Georgy Mikhailovich Vitsin (Russian: Георгий Михайлович Вицин; 18 April 1917 – 22 October 2001[1]) was a Soviet and Russian stage and film actor.[2] People's Artist of the USSR (1990).[3]

Georgy Vitsin
Born
Georgy Mikhailovich Vitsyn

(1917-04-18)18 April 1917
Terijoki, Vyborg Governorate, Grand Duchy of Finland, Russian Empire
Died22 October 2001(2001-10-22) (aged 84)
Moscow, Russia
Resting placeVagankovo Cemetery
OccupationActor
TitlePeople's Artist of the USSR (1990)

Biography

Vitsin was born in Terijoki, former Finland, now Zelenogorsk, Saint Petersburg in 1917 (Soviet documents list him as having been born in Petrograd — now Saint Petersburg). He enjoyed a long acting career and continued performing until close to the end of his life. Apart from playing with Yuri Nikulin and Yevgeny Morgunov, he appeared in dozens of films that earned him the adoration of millions.[4]

Modest and sympathetic characters played by Vitsin evoked kindly feelings of viewers. At the same time the actor played in detective, historical and lyrical feature films.[5]

His first film roles date to the 1940s.[6] He gained nationwide popularity in the former Soviet Union with the emergence of a series of 1960s comedies by director Leonid Gaidai.[6] He played the role of the Coward among a trio of colorful, scheming characters in such Gaidai movies as Bootleggers (1962), Operation Y and Shurik's Other Adventures (1965), and Kidnapping, Caucasian Style (1967). The last two subsequently beat the Soviet all-time record of ticket sales. The trio of actors, including the late Yuri Nikulin and Yevgeny Morgunov, was "the most popular ensemble in the history of the national cinema."[6] In 1990, he was awarded the top artistic title of the Soviet era, that of People's Artist of the USSR.[6]

In spite of the plenty of his characters Vitsin's talent deserved something greater and he never played the major role of his life. “Vitsin is awfully gifted and both of us together are not worth his finger”, his partners Nikulin and Morgunov said about him.[7]

According to film director Nikita Mikhalkov, Vitsin "was one of those rare people and actors whom upon meeting, you immediately feel as if they must know just as much about you as you know about them."[4] According to Mikhalkov, Vitsin was also rare in that his popularity did not affect his personality. He was modest to the point that even in the years leading up to his death, when his financial circumstances were abysmal, he never asked for help.[4] Russian media reported that Vitsin had declined into alcoholism and vagrancy but these reports were false.[8]

During the last seven years of his life Georgy Vitsin did not act in films and appeared only in comic concerts of the Theatre of Film Actor.

He died on 22 October 2001 at 4:30 p.m. He was buried at Vagankovo Cemetery, Moscow.[9]

A monument to Georgy Vitsin was established in Zelenogorsk in 2008 marking the town's 460th jubilee and the 90th anniversary since the actor's birthday.

Monument to Vitsin in Zelenogorsk

Selected filmography

Film
  1. 1937: Bespridannitsa
  2. 1944: Ivan the Terrible — oprichnik
  3. 1945: Hello Moscow! — railwayman
  4. 1946: The Great Glinka — spectator
  5. 1952: Composer Glinka — Nikolai Gogol
  6. 1953: Belinsky — Nikolai Gogol
  7. 1954: The Boys from Leningrad — Vasia Vesnushkin
  8. 1955: Twelfth Night — sir Andrew
  9. 1956: Maxim Perepelitsa — grandpa Musiy
  10. 1956: The Mexican — Billy Carthey
  11. 1956: Murder on Dante Street — Pitu
  12. 1957: Poet — (uncredited)
  13. 1957: Don Quixote — Sanson Carrasco
  14. 1957: She Loves You — Kostya Kanareykin
  15. 1957: Wrestler and a clown — Enrico
  16. 1958: New attraction — Semion Iljich
  17. 1958: A Groom from the Other World — Pyotr Petrovich Fikusov
  18. 1958: A Girl with a Guitar
  19. 1959: Ottsy i deti — Sitnikov
  20. 1959: I Was a Satellite of the Sun — Uchyonyy
  21. 1959: Vasily Surikov — Ilya Repin
  22. 1959: Kak possorilis Ivan Ivanovich s Ivanom Nikiforovichem — Gogol
  23. 1960: Tri rasskaza Chekhova — Degtyaryov (segment "A Vengeance")
  24. 1961: Dog Barbos and Unusual Cross (Short) — Coward
  25. 1961: End of old Beryozovka — Geometry teacher
  26. 1961: Bootleggers — Coward (segment "Pyos Barbos i neobychainy kross")
  27. 1962: Artist from Kokhanivka — Grandfather Kuzma
  28. 1962: The Way to the pier — intellectual in the sobering-up station
  29. 1962: Colleagues
  30. 1963: Molchat tolko statui — Jacques Meslier
  31. 1963: Strictly Business — avantyurist Sam (segment "The Ransom of Red Chief")
  32. 1963: Kain XVIII — Freelance Hangman
  33. 1963: The first trolleybus — drunk man
  34. 1963: Blind Bird — train passenger
  35. 1963: Short stories
  36. 1964: A Tale of Lost Times — evil wizard Andrew
  37. 1964: Spring chores — uncle Pudya
  38. 1965: Balzaminov's Marriage — Misha Balzaminov
  39. 1965: Give Me a Book of Complaints — Zaveduyushchiy otdelom
  40. 1965: Zaychik — assistant director
  41. 1965: Operation Y and Other Adventures of Shurik — The Coward (segment "Operatsiya Y")
  42. 1965: Road to the sea
  43. 1966: Byvayet i tak
  44. 1966: Udivitelnaya istoriya, pokhozhaya na skazki
  45. 1966: Podi tuda, ne znayu kuda — Narrator
  46. 1966: Who invented the wheel? — Uncle
  47. 1966: The Formula of the Rainbow — Director of the toy factory
  48. 1966: Kidnapping, Caucasian Style — Coward
  49. 1967: Seven Old Men and One Girl — Coward
  50. 1968: Tatyanin den — Man Offering New Chronology
  51. 1968: Save the drowning — Militia Precinct Chief
  52. 1968: An Old, Old Tale — Dobryy Bolshebnik
  53. 1969: The Diamond Arm — Drunk Man
  54. 1969: Golfstrim — Igor's Father
  55. 1969: In the thirteenth hour of the night — Ovinny
  56. 1969: Kabacjok "13 chairs" (TV Series) — pan Cypa
  57. 1970: Step off the roof — englishman
  58. 1970: Guardian — Tebenkov
  59. 1970: As we were looking Tishka — Petty Officer Stepanov
  60. 1971: Kak my iskali Tishku
  61. 1971: The Twelve Chairs — fitter Mechnikov
  62. 1971: The Shadow — doctor
  63. 1971: Gentlemen of Fortune — Gavrila Sheremetev (Sad Sack)
  64. 1971: Spring tale (TV Movie) — Tsar Berendey
  65. 1972: The mortal enemy — Yegor
  66. 1972: Tobacco Captain (TV Movie) — cook
  67. 1973: Incorrigible Liar — Alexei Ivanovich Tyutyurin
  68. 1973: The Sannikov Land — Ignaty
  69. 1973: Chipollino — lawer Vetch
  70. 1973: Have you ever loved?
  71. 1974: Tsarevich Prosha — «King Katorz IX»
  72. 1974: North Rhapsody — seller
  73. 1974: Honey boy — Macintosh
  74. 1974: My destiny (Short) — drunk man
  75. 1975: Car, Violin and the Dog Klyaksa — Banjo / Guitar
  76. 1975: The big attraction — Gankin
  77. 1975: It Can't Be! — Papanya nevesty
  78. 1975: Finist, the brave Falcon — Agafon
  79. 1975: Puzyrki
  80. 1975: Shag navstrechu — people at the buffet
  81. 1976: The Blue Bird — Sugar
  82. 1976: Shag navstrechu — Man
  83. 1976: Au-u! — Learning
  84. 1976: Shepherd Yanka — Prince Kukimor
  85. 1976: Merry dreams or Laughter and Tears (TV Movie) — Krivello
  86. 1977: Twelve Chairs (TV Mini-Series) — Bezenchuk
  87. 1977: The sun, the sun again
  88. 1977: Until the clock strikes — Grandfather / The Great Gardener
  89. 1977: Marinka, Yanka and the secrets of the royal castle — Prince Kukimor
  90. 1978: Istoriya s metranpazhem — Semyon Kaloshin
  91. 1980: Borrowing Matchsticks — Tahvo Kenonen, tailor
  92. 1980: Comedy of bygone days — Coward
  93. 1981: Ruki vverkh!
  94. 1982: Love by Request — Hapless Boyfriend-artist (voice, uncredited)
  95. 1982: Sorcerers (TV Movie) — cat (voice)
  96. 1983: The Pokrovsky Gate — Savelich (voice)
  97. 1985: Rivals — old man
  98. 1985: Dangerous for Your Life! — Alexander Chokolov
  99. 1986: Travel Pan Klyaksa
  100. 1986: I counselor outpost
  101. 1992: Shot in a coffin — Colonel Zakusnyak
  102. 1992: Gospoda Artisty — Nil Palych
  103. 1993: Brave guys — Maj. Vasily Griboyedov
  104. 1994: A Few Love Stories — Fornari
  105. 1994: Lord actors — Nil Palych
  106. 1994: Hagi-Tragger — Genrikh Yanovich

Cartoons
  1. 1947: The Humpbacked Horse — the chamberlain (voice, uncredited)
  2. 1955: The Enchanted Boy — Rozenbaum (voice)
  3. 1956: The Twelve Months — Raven / Herald / Parrot / February (voice, uncredited)
  4. 1959: Beloved Beauty — Trukha (voice)
  5. 1960: The Adventures of Buratino — Giuseppe / Clown / Crow (voice)
  6. 1960: It Was I Who Drew the Little Man — the Confectioner / Poet (voice)
  7. 1961: The Key — (voice)
  8. 1968: Film, Film, Film (Short) — Film director (voice)
  9. 1976: Konyok-gorbunok — Spalnik (voice)
  10. 1981: Maria, Mirabela — Caterpillar King (Soviet dub voice)
  11. 1991: Priklyucheniya volshebnogo globusa, ili prodelki vedmy — The Little Signor (voice)
  12. 1992: Oy, rebyata, ta-ra-ra (voice)
  13. 1993: Dreamers from the Village of Ugory — Koschei the Immortal

References
  1. Умер Георгий Вицин
  2. Peter Rollberg (2009). Historical Dictionary of Russian and Soviet Cinema. US: Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 738–740. ISBN 978-0-8108-6072-8.
  3. "Георгий Вицин. Отшельник. Документальный фильм ТВ-Центр". Archived from the original on 2021-12-19. Retrieved 2013-05-17.
  4. In Brief: Beloved Comic Actor Vitsin Dies. Valeria Korchagina. The Moscow Times. p. 4. October 24, 2001.
  5. Вицин, Георгий Михайлович — RuData.ru
  6. Obituaries; Passings; Georgy Vitsin, 83; Russian Movie, Theater Actor. Los Angeles Times. California; Part 2; Metro Desk; p. 15. October 25, 2001.
  7. Вицин Георгий Михайлович
  8. Георгий Вицин, или как Трус погубил Гамлета // pravda.ru
  9. "Легендарные кинокомедии". Документальное кино. Первый канал (официальный сайт). Archived from the original on 2013-05-16. Retrieved 2013-06-02.
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