Frunzik Mkrtchyan: a funny and sad person. Biography of Frunzik Mkrtchyan Children of Frunzik Mkrtchyan now

The actor, who brought smiles from the screen, had few reasons for fun in his personal life.

In the film "Don't Cry!" Frunzik Mkrtchyan's hero, sitting in a hole of debt, unexpectedly turns to his fellow sufferer: “Do you want some candy?.. But no!” His own fate played the same way with the “sad, funny Armenian.” He would have turned 88 on July 4th...

Difficult childhood

Frunze Mkrtchyan was born on July 4, 1930 in Leninakan (Gyumri) into a family of Armenian refugees who escaped the Turkish massacre. His life was given to him by the workers of the textile mill: at the enterprise that had just been built by that time, his father Mushegh Mkrtchyan was a timekeeper, and his mother Sanam was a dishwasher in the factory canteen. The Armenian genocide took away all loved ones from Frunzik’s parents. Both parents were raised in an orphanage, and both were picked up on the road at the age of five. Having created their own family, Mushegh and Sanam gave birth to four children (brothers and sisters - equally), whom the father of the family tried to feed by all means. Having received a sentence for stealing several meters of fabric, he felled forest in Nizhny Tagil for ten years, and all worries about the children fell on the mother and eldest son Frunzik. The father of the future national favorite will live only 50 years, and his mother will die at 59...

Ugly pet

The mother did not hide from the children that she loved Frunzik more than others, and with maternal care she bathed him in the bathroom, even when he grew up. There was simply no one else to feel sorry for her ugly son. Relatives and neighbors recalled that since childhood, everyone laughed at the touchingly helpless Frunzik - and not only during home performances that he staged in a communal apartment. He had two names: the official Frunze (in honor of the hero civil war Mikhail Frunze) and Mger (that’s what the family called their son), but those around him only called the colorful boy by his nickname - Nose.

Only over time, the owner of the “proud profile” learned to treat the recognizable shortcoming of his own appearance philosophically: instead of a passport, he showed his long hook-shaped nose with a hump to border guards at airports and made fun of himself in jokes. When they trust him on stage main role in Cyrano de Bergerac, the artist will joke that the theater decided to save money on a make-up artist. At the premiere, Frunzik, by the way, greatly shortened the main monologue of his hero, explaining this to his friend Vakhtang Kikabidze in his characteristic manner: “Bubajan, when you talk about your nose for a long time, it’s unpleasant for Armenians.”

Comedian without a smile

But the biggest nose will not hide the sad eyes and sadness-crooked eyebrows of the artist, whom his colleagues characterized as “a comedian without a smile.”

For his expressive face, the assistant projectionist at the factory club was first accepted into the amateur drama club at the textile mill, then into the studio and troupe of the Leninakan Theater, the Yerevan Theater and Art Institute and the Armenian Theater in Yerevan. And Mkrtchyan was invited to act in films while still studying - the first film with his participation was released in 1955 (“In Search of the Addressee”). During his short life by Caucasian standards (63 years), the artist played in 56 films, creating everyone’s favorite images in “Don’t Cry” and “Mimino,” “Prisoner of the Caucasus” and “Vanity of Vanities.” His creative arsenal includes the First Prize for the best acting work in the film “Soldier and Elephant” at the All-Union Film Festival in Yerevan and the USSR State Prize for his work in “Mimino”.

The People's Artist of the USSR was truly loved by the people: Mkrtchyan was invited to his house by everyone he met, he was allowed in everywhere without tickets or money, and at his performances he was applauded for simply going on stage. In the New York Times, for example, there was an article “Five minutes of silence for Mher Mkrtchyan.” In the USA, the artist came out to an audience that did not understand either Armenian or Russian, and simply silently looked into the audience, which burst into laughter. Frunzik calmly stood in front of the audience, giving vent to their feelings, and then bowed and left.

Personal grief

He was “one of us” everywhere, never boasted of fame and did not talk in interviews about the personal tragedies that began as a student, when the parents of his beloved Juliet refused the young man the hand of their beautiful daughter. Out of frustration, Mkrtchyan married a classmate, but the marriage with Knara broke up a year later. Within the walls theater institute Frunzik also met his second wife, course star Donara Pilosyan. Friends dissuaded him from marrying a talented but impulsive actress with unpredictable behavior and frequent mood swings that alarmed everyone. Later, Frunzik's wife was diagnosed with a severe hereditary mental illness, which will destroy the life of her unfortunate husband.

Whenever Mkrtchyan was approved for a role, Donara insisted on filming together. It was only thanks to her husband that she starred in an episode of “Prisoner of the Caucasus,” where she played the wife of Dzhabrail, Mkrtchyan’s hero. Creative jealousy was mixed with female jealousy, and the wife, who could not control herself, became hysterical and fought not only at home, but also in public: she created scandals in the theater when her husband simply greeted the actresses.

Having given birth to her second child, Donara stopped caring for children altogether, the care of which fell on Frunzik Mkrtchyan. The son was only 2 years old and the daughter was 12 when their mother became depressed. The artist had to be torn between work and home, because there was no one to feed and wash the children.

When his wife was diagnosed with schizophrenia, Frunzik collected all the money and sent Donara to France for treatment. After foreign doctors, their Armenian colleagues tried to treat her, but no one could give hope for recovery. Until the end of her days, the woman remained under the supervision of doctors in psychiatric hospitals: first in Yerevan, and for the last 25 years of her life in Sevan.

The truth is in the wine

With his third marriage, Frunzik married the daughter of the chairman of the Union of Writers of Armenia, Hrachya Oganesyan, Tamara. When one of his friends jokingly asked if he frequented the registry office, Frunzik answered humorously: “Chaplin married eight times. Why am I worse?

But this step of her father was not approved by her daughter Nune, who emigrated to Argentina after her marriage. Unfortunately, the family did not work out, and Frunzik had only one joy left - his son Vazgen. Alas, his behavior soon began to give cause for concern. The examination confirmed that the boy had the same disease as his mother.

The depressed Mkrtchyan sent his son to the very clinic where his wife was treated. When the doctors showed Vazgen to Donara, mother and son did not recognize each other...

Frunzik forgot his misfortunes in his work and glass. He drank as much as he acted. Each shooting day ended for the artist in a restaurant. While working on the film “Mimino,” filming was even canceled several times due to Mkrtchyan’s binges. Georgy Danelia offered his favorite actor a choice: a role or alcohol. After staying without alcohol for several days, sad Frunzik shared sad thoughts with the director: “I understood why the world is ruled by mediocrity: they don’t drink and that’s it free time spend on a career.”

"I'm not alone"

Once Frunzik was asked why he was wandering around the city at night alone. The artist was surprised: “Why am I alone? Dogs walk, cats - I’m not alone...”
When Soviet cinema collapsed, Mkrtchyan began creating his own theater in Yerevan and, as a theater director, staged performances in Armenia and abroad. But his life was already running out.
Frunzik did not attach any importance to the fact that he was in a pre-infarction state. A heart attack struck him on December 29, 1993. This is the kind of death God gives good people: The actor stopped breathing in his sleep.

“Frunzik self-destructed because he did not enjoy life,” said the artist’s brother and director of his theater, Albert Mkrtchyan. “He did not spare himself consciously because he suffered due to the illness of his son and wife.”
The brother adopted Vazgen’s nephew, but at the age of 33, Mkrtchyan’s son died of cirrhosis of the liver. She did not survive father and daughter for long: Nuna, who had been operated on for a tumor, died five years later - during the recovery period, a blood clot was blocked (the 34-year-old granddaughter of the artist Gayane Terteryan remained to live in Buenos Aires). Frunzik’s brother, screenwriter and director Albert Mkrtchyan, also died this year.

The Yerevan Artistic Theater created by the actor, named after Frunze Mkrtchyan, remains, and his works are in film and stone: monuments to his heroes stand in Moscow, Tbilisi, Yerevan and Dilijan.
In Armenia, Frunzik Mkrtchyan is a national hero. A museum named after him has been opened in his homeland in Gyumri, and a monument to his talented fellow countryman has been erected in front of the local drama theater. His portraits hang in Armenian homes and offices, and on the artist’s grave in the pantheon of the park. Komitas in Yerevan all year round- Natural flowers…

Center" - " Frunzik Mkrtchyan. Tragedy funny man "(13.30), and "Russia K" - films" Men" (15.20) and " Sad story the last clown. Frunze Mkrtchyan" (16.30).

Frunzik Mkrtchyan born in Armenia, in the city of Leninakan (now called Gyumri). His parents - father Mushegh and mother Sanam - worked in a textile factory. Frunzik has been an excellent drawer since childhood. His father wanted him to become an artist, but the boy suddenly fell ill with the theater. He hung a blanket on the staircase (the apartment was on the second floor) and staged performances, which were attended by both children and adult neighbors.

His parents named him Frunzik, recalled the actor’s younger brother Albert Mkrtchyan, in honor of the Soviet military leader Mikhail Frunze. In the 30s, Armenians were accused of nationalism, so they began to give children strange names. And when, many years later, the Sundukyan Theater, where his brother worked, toured Lebanon, local Armenians called it Mher. This biblical name, which translated means “Sun,” really attracted his brother.

sunny Boy

Frunzik was actually bright, sunny child– gentle, trusting and very kind. He loved to joke and play mischief. True, already in childhood he amazed everyone with his sad eyes. It seemed that even then he knew his whole life in advance - difficult, tragic. Who knows if he had not associated himself with acting profession, maybe everything would have turned out differently?

As a child, Frunzik was helpless, everyone laughed at him, he was thin, with a big nose. And suddenly it turned out that God gave him enormous acting talent,” said Albert Mkrtchyan.

Little Frunzik loved Charlie Chaplin and often compared himself to him.

Chaplin for me is like Bach in music - a teacher of humanity,” said the actor. - Just as life is full of surprises, Chaplin never ceased to surprise me. One day Moscow television made a documentary about me. It began with shots where a little boy watches a film with Chaplin in the cinema and is eager to act in a movie. It was pure truth. I became a comedian because I dreamed of it since childhood.

When the war began, Frunzik's father went to the front, his mother worked as a dishwasher, and Frunzik sat all day long in the projectionist's booth in the factory House of Culture. Before that, having left school at thirteen, he had been both a shoemaker's apprentice and puppet affairs a master, and even a clothing cutter. The projectionist took the boy to theater studio, they took him. And soon he appeared on the stage of an amateur theater. In his first performance, Frunzik had to say: “You have a letter from the prince!” But as soon as he appeared on stage, the audience began to laugh. Frunzik looked into the hall and said: “You know, hand over this letter to the prince yourself - I have no time, I have business.” He said - and ran backstage, where there was also deafening laughter. Frunzik was upset, but years later he realized that laughter in auditorium- a sign of a good game. And then, leaving the House of Culture, he realized something else for himself: he could no longer live without the theater.

“I was laughing so hard!”

In 1956, Mkrtchyan graduated from the Yerevan Theater and Art Institute and was immediately accepted into Academic theater named after Sundukyan in Yerevan. At the same time, he played his first role in the film " Looking for the addressee».

Frunzik’s theatrical triumph began from his very first roles, said Albert Mkrtchyan. - As a second-year student at the theater institute, he received an invitation to the Theater. Sundukyan for the role of Aesop, which he was supposed to play together with his teacher. After the first performance, the teacher approached Frunzik, kissed him and gave up the role.

Then there were the films: “ 33 » Georgiy Danelia,

« Aibolit-66» Rollan Bykov,

« Caucasian captive, or Shurik's New Adventures» Leonid Gaidai.

But Mkrtchyan’s real popularity came from the role of driver Khachikyan in the film Danelia “ Mimino».

The phrases of the hero Mkrtchyan from “Mimino” have become popular: “Why don’t you eat kefir? What, don’t you like it?”, “Thank you, I’ll stand on foot!”, “Valiko-jan, I’ll tell you one smart thing, just don’t be offended!”, “I laughed so hard here,” “What are these Zhiguli cars thinking about?” ?... The actor came up with them all himself.

Danelia gave him the opportunity to completely improvise. So, for example, Frunzik persuaded the director to film an episode in which his Khachikyan and the hero Kikabidze are riding in an elevator along with two completely identical Japanese men. In the video, one Japanese man said to another: “How similar these Russians are to each other!” But, unfortunately, for censorship reasons this scene was not included in the film.

By the way, for this role the only actor from the Mimino film group received State Prize THE USSR.

While working on this film, the actor began to drink and break down due to problems in the family. Danelia endured it for a long time, and then gave an ultimatum - if you drink, I won’t take it off! For about a week, Frunzik came to the set sober. And somehow he approached Danelia and said with sadness: “I understood why the world is ruled by mediocrity. They don’t drink and start working on their careers from the very morning.”
A few days after this, one of the scenes of “Mimino” was filmed in the restaurant of the Rossiya Hotel. The heroes of Kikabidze and Mkrtchyan are trying to out-dance each other. Frunzik came to this shooting a little drunk, but despite this, he danced beautifully. However, he could not do the splits and pick up the handkerchief that was lying on the floor. One take, a second, a fifth... Everyone was already tired of laughing, and it was a pity that Mkrtchyan was red from the tension. Then Danelia called Kikabidze and asked him to snatch the handkerchief from under Mkrtchyan’s feet. Vakhtang Konstantinovich coped with the task brilliantly, and Mkrtchyan, realizing that he had been tricked, raised his head and looked at everyone with such an offended look that film set Laughter broke out again.

Donarin prisoner

Legend has it that Mkrtchyan had two passports: one in the name “Frunzik Mkrtchyan”, and the second in the name “Mher Mkrtchyan”. True, according to rumors, he managed to lose them and lived well without documents. After all, the actor had phenomenal popularity; he was loved in every corner of the Soviet Union.

However, despite universal adoration, Mkrtchyan’s personal life did not work out. His first marriage was very short-lived. Then he met beautiful girl by name Donara, fell in love. When they met, he was over thirty, she was eighteen. He was a famous actor, she was a student at a theater school. Soon Donara became his wife, and she was destined to play a fatal role in Mkrtchyan’s life.

At first everything went well. Donara played with her husband in " Captive of the Caucasus" (In the film she played the role of the wife of Comrade Saakhov’s driver, who bitterly tells the hero Yuri Nikulin about local customs - bride kidnapping.)

And then the couple had a son, Vazgen, and a daughter, Nune. Frunzik idolized children and showered them with toys, which, by the way, he also loved.
“He was interested in everything,” said Albert Mkrtchyan, “how, for example, toy pigeons work, which fly into the sky and then return to your hands.” Frunzik took them apart, trying to understand the mechanism. And, of course, then I couldn’t put it back together.

Over the years, oddities began to appear in the behavior of Mkrtchyan’s wife. Donara tried not to let her husband go one step further. She became pathologically jealous and made terrible scenes of jealousy for her husband. Friends advised Frunzik to show her to a psychiatrist, who made a disappointing diagnosis - schizophrenia. After treatment in Armenia, he transported his wife to one of the French psychiatric clinics. But all efforts were in vain, Donara died. Frunzik started drinking.

When he was 54, he married again. His chosen one was the daughter of the chairman of the Writers' Union of Armenia Tamara Oganesyan- a prominent girl, 25 years younger than Mkrtchyan.

According to the recollections of friends, when someone asked him what kind of marriage you had, the actor jokingly replied: “Chaplin actually got married eight times. Am I worse?
Unfortunately, this marriage did not make Mkrtchyan’s life happier (Tamara resembled her former wife in character and temperament), and it soon broke up.
Frunzik, who was always among people, now fell in love with loneliness.

Once he was asked why he walked the streets at night alone, Frunzik was surprised: “Why alone? Cats are walking, dogs are walking. So I’m not alone,” his younger brother recalled. - He was amazingly thin and kind person. Even too kind. Everyone had complaints against him, but he had none against anyone. Frunzik was real people's deputy, unofficial, of course. Helped thousands of people. Nobody could refuse him...

Children also did not become a joy for Frunzik. After marriage, the actor's daughter Nune moved to Argentina. And Vazgen’s son, like his mother, began to experience strange things. Frunzik took him to the best psychiatrists, but they all gave his son the same diagnosis as his wife. Alas, schizophrenia is inherited - it is impossible to get rid of it.

Death Wish

IN last years Frunzik refused film roles. “At my age they don’t play anymore,” he noted bitterly. He dreamed of his own theater and spent all his energy on its creation. However, he did not have time to fully enjoy his brainchild...

We sat and talked about art. Then I put him to bed and went home for a few hours. It was five in the evening. When I got home, I immediately started calling Frunzika - I had some kind of bad feeling. Frunzik's phone was faulty. And at seven in the evening they called me and said that he was no longer there. He became ill, and the ambulance could no longer do anything. Heart attack...

Frunzik Mkrtchyan was 63 years old...

He wished for death, he longed for it, he dreamed about it, cruelly extinguishing his life instincts, said his younger brother. - It was not time that destroyed him, nor his addiction to wine and tobacco... No, he deliberately walked towards his death, not having the strength to survive the illness of his son and wife - a huge family grief.

He was buried under New Year, December 31, at the Pantheon of Heroes of the Armenian Spirit in Yerevan.
Why did the brilliant actor have to endure so many trials and tribulations? What is it - fate hanging over his fate, or payment for incredible talent?

Frunzik's daughter Nune died five years after her father's death, then his son Vazgen died. And two years ago his younger brother Albert, who before last day was artistic director Mher (Frunzik) Mkrtchyan Theater...

Dmitry Sergeev

The actor, who almost always brought a smile to the audience, saddened the audience only once when he died on December 29, 1993. Frunzik Mushegovich Mkrtchyan was buried on New Year's Eve.

Later, the authors of a documentary film about the fate of the Armenian actor will emphasize in sync: New Year's Eve The Armenians drank the first glass without clinking and in silence. The time was difficult, almost a siege, there was no electricity supplied to houses, and it seemed to everyone that the usual normal life ended. Amateur footage of the funeral was superimposed on the sound of the national wind instrument: the soul bursts into tears when you hear the “lamentation” of the duduki - a paraphrase of folk melodies - and see in the frame the tear-stained faces of thousands and thousands of Yerevan residents applauding the actor in last time...You can't compile such footage.

Nowadays, the actor is most often remembered in the role of chauffeur Khachikyan in the film “Mimino,” and Mkrtchyan is familiar to biased viewers from an episode in the film “Don’t Cry!” Remember how two people who had committed a fine are sitting in a debt hole and Mkrtchyan’s character suddenly asks his counterpart: “Do you want some candy?” And then he answers himself: “No!”

Many called him "sad cheerful man" Still, there is a tragic beginning in the comic. Journalists also called the world-famous clown Yengibarov a clown “with autumn in his heart”...

The media claimed that during the filming of Mimino, Frunzik Mkrtchyan began to drink heavily. Filming even had to be canceled several times. As a result, director Danelia set a strict condition for the actor - either alcohol or a role. Mkrtchyan did not touch alcohol for several days. And then, they write, he came to the director and sadly said: “I understood why the world is ruled by mediocrity. They don’t drink and start working on their careers from the very morning.” AND best scene Mkrtchyan masterfully improvised the interrogation of witness Khachikyan in court.

It would seem that then, during life in the Soviet Union, universal adoration was a passport to a happy and prosperous life. For example, passport control at airports famous actor passed without documents: he simply showed his famous profile. A big nose, sad eyes, eyebrows wrinkled in sadness... He was called a comedian without a smile, like the great Max Linder. The actor’s relatives said that even as a child, Frunzik was helpless, “everyone laughed at him.” The little actor turned the site of a communal apartment into theater stage. He performed one-man performances on it, saying “whatever came into his head.” And the neighboring spectators laughed...

Legend has it that the actor himself treated his massive nose with humor and even composed jokes about himself. Vakhtang Kikabidze told the following story in an interview: “Archil Gomiashvili and I went to the premiere of the play Cyrano de Bergerac, in which Frunz played the role of Cyrano. In this performance there is a very long monologue by Cyrano, where he talks about his huge nose. For Frunz, this monologue turned out to be very short, it didn’t even last a minute. When we were driving in the car after the performance, I said to him: “Listen, Frunz, why did you shorten this long monologue so much? Still classic...” And he answers: “Buba jan, when you talk about your nose for a long time, it’s unpleasant for Armenians.”

The actor’s brother Albert Mkrtchyan recalled an incident in the USA. “I have an article from the New York Times. “Five minutes of silence of Mher Mkrtchyan” is called. The fact is that at one of his performances in America, more than half of the audience were Americans who spoke neither Russian nor Armenian. Then the brother came to the front of the stage and stood silently for five minutes and looked into the hall. The audience fell from their chairs to the floor laughing. And Frunzik looked at them once again, bowed and left.”

They say that even today in many offices in Yerevan there are portraits of the talented fellow countryman Frunzik Mkrtchyan.

Personal life The actor was secretive and complex. As it turned out later, she was terribly unhappy. Unlike the life of a star of the Soviet screen.

Due to tragic coincidences, neither the son, nor the daughter, nor the actor’s wife survived to this day. Frunzik Mkrtchyan had three marriages; they met actress Damira, his second wife, while still at the institute. They gave birth to two children. In professional circles they said that the death of his daughter finally finished off Frunzik Mkrtchyan’s heart, but in fact, Nune died five years after the actor passed away. His brother Albert spoke about this: Nune, who had undergone a complex operation, was sitting in the ward with her husband, and a blood clot came loose from her... By the way, after the death of Frunzik, his adult mentally ill son Vazgen was also adopted by him... Vazgen died at the age of 33 from cirrhosis of the liver . This happened quite recently.

Events developed and “finished off” Frunzik Mushegovich increasingly: life in the house after a while became unbearable due to scenes of Damira’s jealousy. As was said in the same documentary film, after performances or filming, the artist did not even want to return home. The wife's hysterics and scandals were inexplicable and became more frequent. The birth of a second child, a son, did not change anything. This continued until famous artist did not go to the doctors. The verdict is schizophrenia.

And at first they life together she even accompanied her husband on the set... For example, in “Prisoner of the Caucasus,” Damira was given an episode: she played the wife of Comrade Saakhov’s driver. Remember beautiful woman, who sadly tells the hero of Yuri Nikulin at the gate about local customs - bride kidnapping? In a word, when the efforts of local specialists were powerless, Damira was sent to psychiatric clinic in France.

Later, Frunzik married again to a charming woman - the daughter of the chairman of the Union of Writers of Armenia Oganesyan. They say that when the actor once again went to the registry office, one of his friends scolded him, asking if he frequented this institution. To which Frunzik replied with his characteristic humor: “Chaplin actually married eight times. Am I worse? Alas, this marriage also broke up. “Was he a reserved person? - says Albert Mushegovich. - No, he lived among people. And at the same time he lived alone. Once, when he was asked why he walked the streets at night alone, Frunzik was surprised: “Why alone? Cats are walking, dogs are walking. So I'm not alone."

After failures in his personal life, Frunzik focused his attention on children and theater. Everything seemed to be getting better. Nune's daughter got married and left with her husband for Argentina. The meaning of Frunzik’s life was his son Vazgen. However, the young man’s behavior also began to worry his father. Vazgen was consulted by the best psychiatrists, who, alas, were powerless in this case. The boy was inherited mental illness mother. They say that when Vazgen was placed for some time in the same French clinic where Damira was, they did not even recognize each other. Tragedy...

In the last years of his life, Frunzik abandoned cinema, concentrating all his efforts on creating his own theater. Colleagues at the Yerevan Sundukyan Theater call him an actor from start to finish. Frunzik Mkrtchyan conquered all the roles: tragedian, comedian, classical, contemporary... And everything should have worked out for the famous and beloved actor... And the theater could and should have been... He didn’t have time. Or tired?

He died instantly in his sleep. Heart attack. People's Artist of the USSR, laureate of the USSR State Prize, laureate of the State Prize of the Armenian SSR Frunzik Mkrtchyan was only 63 years old.

Albert Mkrtchyan once expressed his version of his brother’s death: “Frunz wanted death, he was eager for it, he dreamed about it, cruelly extinguishing his life instincts. It was not time that destroyed him, nor his addiction to wine and tobacco... No, he deliberately walked towards his death, not having the strength to survive the illness of his son and wife - a huge family grief.”

People's Artist of the USSR Frunzik Mkrtchyan, whose causes of death are not known to everyone, was a famous Soviet and Armenian theater and film actor and theater director.

Frunzik was born in 1930 in Leninakan (now Gyumri), in Armenia. His father was a timekeeper at a factory, and his mother was a dishwasher in a factory canteen. Ros Mkrtchyan grew up with his brother Albert and two sisters - Ruzanna and Klara.

Even as a child, Frunzik began to show acting abilities. After graduating from school, he got a job at a club at a textile mill, where he was an assistant projectionist. At that time, he had already started playing in a local drama club, and then he would enter the studio at Leninakansky drama theater. In 1947, Mkrtchyan was enrolled in the theater troupe of this theater.

In 1956, the artist graduated from the Yerevan Theater University and became an actor at the Sandukyan Theater. In the same year he made his film debut. It was a cameo role in the film “The Secret of Lake Sevan.” It is noteworthy that after editing, only Mkrtchyan’s leg was left in the film. But in the theater things went much better for him. He became a recognizable actor, many began to go to the theater specifically to see Frunzik.

Mkrtchyan had a more significant role in the 1960 film “Music Team Guys.” In it he played a musician named Arsen. For the next 5 years, the actor did not act anywhere, but in 1965 he played in Danelia’s famous comedy “Thirty-three.” However, at first the picture was banned by the authorities.

A year later, Mkrtchyan played one of his most famous roles- Uncle Dzhabrail in the comedy “Prisoner of the Caucasus” by Gaidai. After this role, Frunzik began to be recognized throughout the USSR. In the same year he played big role in the film “Aibolit-66” by Bykov.

In the 70s, Frunzik’s wife fell ill, and he had to give up various roles. But already in the second half of the 70s the comedy “Mimino” was released, where Mkrtchyan played one of the main roles along with Kikabidze. Many of his phrases have become catchphrases and are still quoted today, and the picture is repeated on TV channels every year.

Many also remember Mkrtchyan’s role in the drama “The Soldier and the Elephant.” For this role he was awarded the first prize for best acting at the All-Union Film Festival in Yerevan. Then Frunzik starred in “Vanity of Vanities,” where he played the main role. In 1978, the artist was awarded the USSR State Prize, and in 1984 - the title of People's Artist of the USSR.

In the 80s, Mkrtchyan stopped acting. He refused all roles, but continued to sometimes play in the theater. In the 90s he stopped appearing there too. They say that the reason for Mkrtchyan’s departure from the theater was that not him, but another person was appointed chief director.

Frunzik was married 3 times. His first wife was his classmate Knara, but he was not married to her for long. The artist married Donara Pilosyan for the second time in the mid-50s. She bore him a daughter, Nune, and then a son, Vazgen. After some time, Donara fell ill with an incurable mental illness, which was inherited from her. As a result, the woman was hospitalized in a mental hospital in France, where she remained. Frunzik raised two children alone. Later, his son Vazgen was found to have the same disease as his mother. He was admitted to the same hospital as his mother. They say that soon they even stopped recognizing each other.

Mkrtchyan’s third wife was the daughter of the chairman of the Writers’ Union of Armenia, Tamara Hovhannisyan. But the couple quickly divorced due to the fact that Frunzik began to abuse alcohol.

The artist passed away in December 1993. He died in his Yerevan apartment. Official reason death was called a heart attack. On December 31, the actor’s funeral took place. Thousands of people visited them.

Everyone's favorite of the audience Frunzik Mkrtchyan is outstanding Soviet actor, who played in the films later called Soviet classics, People's Artist of the USSR and laureate of the USSR State Prize. The actor played many characters, whose words quickly became aphorisms and became firmly established in the speech of television viewers.

Mkrtchyan Frunzik Mushegovich was born in Armenia, in the city of Gyumri (then Leninakan), in 1930. Full name artist - Frunze (Mher) Mushegovich Mkrtchyan: Mkrtchyan had two names. At home he was called Mher (translated from Armenian as “bright”), and officially – Frunze.

The artist’s father Mushegh Mkrtchyan worked as a timekeeper at a factory, and his mother Sanam Mkrtchyan worked as a dishwasher in a factory canteen. In addition to his brother Albert (now working as artistic director of the Yerevan Mkrtchyan Theater), Frunze had sisters Ruzanna and Klara.

Frunzik Mkrtchyan with youth showed acting talents. After graduating from school in 1945, Frunze immediately went to work. At first he worked in a club at a textile mill, acting as an assistant projectionist. During this period, he enjoyed playing in the local drama club. Then, for a year, Mkrtchyan studied in the studio at the Leninakan Drama Theater. In 1947, the aspiring artist was enrolled in a theater troupe.

Movies

In 1956, after graduating from the Yerevan Theater University, Mkrtchyan became an actor in the Sandukyan Theater troupe. The same year was the year of the aspiring actor’s debut in cinema. He starred in a tiny role in the film “The Secret of Lake Sevan.” As a result of the editing, only Frunzik’s leg appeared in the frame. But if Mkrtchyan’s film career was just beginning, then in the theater he was doing brilliantly. At that time, spectators went to performances specifically “Mkrtchyan”.

The artist’s full-fledged film debut happened in 1960 in the film “The Music Team Guys,” in which Frunzik played Arsen, a cheerful musician. Then there was a five-year break, when the artist did not act at all. In 1965, Frunze starred in the comedy “Thirty Three”. Mkrtchyan did an excellent job with the role, but “at the top” the film was banned as ideologically harmful.

But fame was already on the artist’s doorstep. A year later, the legendary comedy film “Prisoner of the Caucasus” appeared on the big screens of the country. Viewers remember Frunze very well in the role of uncle main character- Dzhabraila. It is interesting that the role of Dzhabrail’s wife was then played by the artist’s second wife, Donara.

The same year, 1966, gave Mkrtchyan another wonderful role, which brought the actor additional fame. Frunze played one of three handsome bandits in the film “Aibolit-66”. Now Frunze Mkrtchyan was famous throughout the country and was considered the best comedian in the country.

The first half of the 70s was not the best in the artist’s career. Due to his wife's illness, Frunze refused many good roles. But the second half of the 70s pleased admirers of Frunzik’s talent. Came to the screens new comedy Danelia "Mimino". Wonderful, bright and bright picture, where Mkrtchyan and he played in a duet. Many phrases from the film become catchphrases, and the film itself draws huge queues outside cinema halls. The romantic artist with comedic talent and sad eyes was loved by everyone without exception. He was also adored by his colleagues.

The actor’s biography was also expanded with the poignant and largely metaphorical film “The Soldier and the Elephant.” The plot of the film is based on real events and talks about how Soviet soldiers, during the fighting, already on German territory, found an elephant that had been stolen to Germany. The decision was made to return the animal to the Yerevan Zoo, so the soldier ordered to deliver the animal and the elephant set off on a long journey through war-torn cities and villages. A simple road plot became a way to show a lot: the horrors of war, the humane side of soldiers, the heroism of Soviet soldiers, mercy towards people and animals. The film participated in the All-Union Film Festival in Yerevan, Frunzik Mkrtchyan received the first prize for best acting.

In the late 70s, another iconic film by the actor was released. Mkrtchyan starred in Alla Surikova’s drama “Vanity of Vanities.” Like many films of that period, “Vanity of Vanities” showed an ordinary family faced with everyday problems that gradually drove love out of marriage. Main character, whose role was played by Frunzik Mkrtchyan, left his wife, whom she played, but the seemingly simple adventures that began after that convinced him that he was losing too much by leaving his family.

In 1978, Frunze Mkrtchyan received the USSR State Prize, and in 1984 he became People's Artist THE USSR.

In the mid-80s, Frunze Mkrtchyan no longer acted. They offer him good roles, but he invariably refuses, jokingly arguing that at his age they no longer act in films.

And in the early 90s, Frunzik Mkrtchyan left his beloved theater. He was offended by the decision of the team, which chose Khoren Abrahamyan as the main director, not him, who had given 35 years of his life to this theater. The artist set about creating his own theater, but fate did not give him many years until the last act.

Personal life

The personal life of Frunzik Mkrtchyan was tragic. All three marriages ended sadly. The actor’s first wife was his classmate Knara, but the marriage broke up almost immediately.

Mkrtchyan met his second wife Donara Pilosyan in the mid-50s. The girl came to enter the Leninakan Theater University. The young artists got married and began working together. Their first daughter was Nune, and soon their son Vazgen was born. And when it seemed that everything was working out for the young family and they could live and work happily, Donara fell ill. Doctors discovered that she had an incurable mental illness that was inherited.

Frunze showed his wife to eminent specialists, but they could not help. The wife began to be terribly jealous of Mkrtchyan, she imagined that he had mistresses everywhere, and he was leaving not on tour, but from his family. The actor's personal life turned into hell. These problems at some point affected the actor’s career - he had a major break in significant roles And major projects.

Donara's condition gradually worsened. Mkrtchyan had to agree to hospitalize his wife in a psychiatric hospital in France without the right to leave. Mkrtchyan was left alone with two children. Soon the daughter left for Argentina, and doctors discovered the same disease in her son as in her mother. All Mkrtchyan’s efforts to cure Vazgen were in vain. The son was hospitalized in the same clinic as his mother. They said that when they met in the corridor, they never recognized each other.

The personal life of Frunzik Mkrtchyan briefly sparkled light colors when he married for the third time. His wife was the daughter of the chairman of the Writers' Union of Armenia, Tamara Hovhannisyan, but this marriage soon broke up. It was during this period that the artist, according to press reports, began to abuse alcohol. First he left the cinema, and then the theater.

Death

The illnesses of those closest to him and major problems at work crippled the artist. Alcohol, which, according to rumors, the actor turned to for solace, most likely caused the death of Frunzik Mkrtchyan. Because of alcohol, the actor has already had one clinical death, but the doctors managed to pull him out of the other world. But the press version about alcohol addiction Members of Mkrtchyan’s family do not confirm the actor’s identity, although they mention his addiction “to wine and tobacco.”

Subsequently, brother Albert began to look after the actor, who became worried when he learned that he was not in touch. Albert later recalled that Frunzik’s phone was broken, you could only make calls from it, but not receive calls, but some kind of bad feeling did not allow his brother to calm down. When Albert came to check on his brother, he found him dead.

Frunzik Mkrtchyan passed away on December 29, 1993, when he turned 63 years old. The official cause of death was given as a heart attack. It was a real tragedy, many believed that the actor could have played many more star roles. The whole of Yerevan gathered for the funeral of the beloved artist on December 31, despite the holiday; thousands of people followed the artist’s coffin to the grave in the Pantheon of Geniuses of the Armenian Spirit in Yerevan. We grieved for our beloved artist not only in Armenia, but throughout former Union. He really was loved by everyone.

Frunzik's daughter Nune Mkrtchyan died of cancer in 1998, outliving her father by only a few years. Granddaughter Gayane (Irene) lives in Argentina. Son Vazgen Mkrtchyan, who brought his father so many sorrowful experiences, died at the age of 33 from cirrhosis.

Now a total of five monuments are dedicated to the actor - four of them as part of compositions based on cult films with the participation of Frunzik Mkrtchyan, and one personal one. In Gyumri, on small homeland Mkrtchyan, a museum named after him was opened. In 2006, a postage stamp dedicated to the actor was issued in Armenia.

Filmography

• Captive of the Caucasus, or Shurik's New Adventures
• Aibolit-66
• Adam and Heva
• Triangle
• Yesterday, today and always
• Mimino
• Vanity
• In front of a closed door
• Song of days gone by
• Singles are provided with a hostel
• Soldier and elephant