Yarmolnik remembered student feasts and the last meeting with Abdulov

The star of Russian cinema, theater and television, Leonid Yarmolnik, in an interview with an MK correspondent, recalled his friendship with Alexander Abdulov, student tricks and the last meeting two days before the death of the great actor, who could have turned 70 on May 29.

It’s hard for me to say, because we’ve been friends all our lives. And I, probably, the most “ancient”, since we were friends from our student years, he studied in the second year of GITIS, and I entered Shchukinskoye – the hostel was then joint, on the street. Trifonovskaya, 45b. We lived on different floors, but we immediately met and somehow approached each other. At the level of communal relationships, we had common interests: we knew how to spend time together, figured out how to find money when there was none, we handed over bottles with suitcases, arranged student feasts for 8-10 rubles. In those days it was a lot of money! We had one tape recorder for several rooms – we passed it to each other when we needed music. The most popular at that time was the musical “Jesus Christ Superstar” – it was listened to on the reel-to-reel tape recorder “Yauza-6”. We played some games, ran over the fence to Mosfilm, looked into the rooms where the film crews sat, and asked if talented young artists were needed. We were driven from everywhere. But then the time came when Sasha was invited to the play “Not on the Lists” by Mark Anatolyevich Zakharov. From this began his great biography. Then there were many films, and the corresponding generation knows and loves Sasha Abdulov, his work. And for young people – those who are now 20, 17, 15 years old, I advise you to watch Zakharov’s films with the participation of Alexander Abdulov (he participated in almost all): “An Ordinary Miracle”, “The Same Munchausen”, “Formula of Love”, “Kill the Dragon “. Today it is not difficult – you just need to press a button on your iPhone.

– What was he like in communication, in everyday life?

– He was a very cheerful person who did not spare himself, who belonged entirely to friends and family. All people have 24 hours in a day, and Sasha probably had 36 – and he lacked them.

He was so energetically charged that we jokingly called him the man who distributes the sun. He gave him only positive emotions. Where Sasha was, it was always incredibly fun and interesting – this applied to filming, and rehearsals of performances, and time spent outside of work.

– Can he be called a person created for the frame or for the stage?

– Professions of an artist in the cinema and in the theater, to be honest, are completely different.

There are artists who know how to work both on stage and in the frame – and there are those who do not know how. Sasha knew how to do both.

At the time, he was a sex symbol. He was adored by all women, the whole country. First and foremost, he was a hero-lover. That he was an amazing comedic actor is also quite obvious. But first of all, a favorite of women. They adored him. He was loved.

Were the other actors jealous of his success with female audiences?

– This is such a profession. Naturally, colleagues always envy success. Someone white envy, someone black. These are those who, perhaps, if it were not for Sasha, got one of his roles.

– You definitely won’t suspect you of black envy, but can you be white?

– No, you don’t need to wear white either. Sasha’s successes were our common joy. And we, by definition, could not claim the same roles with him – we did not have these problems in life.

– Tell us about your last meeting with Alexander Gavrilovich.

– When a person leaves after a serious illness, there are still some days, some meetings. The last time we saw each other two days before he died, in the Chazovsky center, at Yuri Buziashvili’s, with whom he was lying. Nobody allowed him, but he went to meet the New Year at the dacha to his mother and close relatives. The doctors were categorically against it, but Sasha could not be stopped, although this was not literally the cause of death. In general, Abdulov died surprisingly: he coughed when he ate some kind of cracker, drinking jelly, which he adored. Coughed up and…

Sasha in my life belongs to the category of people that, waking up in the morning, I think: I need to call Sasha or Sasha will call me. This continues to this day, despite the fact that 15 years have passed since he was gone.