Pavel Luspekayev
Encyclopedia
Luhansk
Luhansk also known as Lugansk is a city in southeastern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Luhansk Oblast . The city itself is also designated as its own separate municipality within the oblast...
- April 17, 1970, Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
) was a Ukrainian-Russian-Armenian actor who is best known for his role of Vereschagin in the classic Russian movie White Sun of the Desert
White Sun of the Desert
White Sun of the Desert , a classic 'Eastern' or Ostern film of the Soviet Union.The film is one of the most popular Russian films of all time. Its blend of action, comedy, music and drama has made it wildly successful and it has since achieved the status of a cult film in Soviet and Russian...
.
Pavel Luspekayev was born in Lugansk, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
in 1927. He was 14 when the German-Soviet War started in 1941. Young Pavel joined the Soviet partisans
Soviet partisans
The Soviet partisans were members of a resistance movement which fought a guerrilla war against the Axis occupation of the Soviet Union during World War II....
unit where he was later wounded. In 1946, after the end of the war, Luspekayev became student in the Moscow's Schepkin theatre school. After finishing the school in 1950 he performed in Tbilisi's Griboedov Russian Drama Theatre, in 1956 in Kiev's Lesya Ukrainka National Academic Theater of Russian Drama
Lesya Ukrainka National Academic Theater of Russian Drama
Lesya Ukrainka National Academic Theater of Russian Drama is a theater in Kiev, Ukraine.Founded in 1926, the theater produces many important plays of Russian and Ukrainian dramatic art. Its repertoire consists of plays by famous playwrights such as Fyodor Dostoevsky, Mikhail Bulgakov and others...
. In 1959 he joined Leningrad's Bolshoi Drama Theatre where he performed in plays under director Georgy Tovstonogov
Georgy Tovstonogov
Georgy Alexandrovich Tovstonogov was a Russian theatre director, the leader of Saint Petersburg Bolshoi Academic Theatre of Drama , which now bears his name.-Biography:...
. In 1965 Luspekayev was awarded the title of Meritorious Artist
Meritorious Artist
Meritorious Artist , also translated as Merited Artist, Deserved Artist or Distinguished Artist or Honorary Artist or Honorable Actor) is an honorary title in the Soviet Union, Russian Federation, Union republics, and Autonomous republics, also in some other Eastern bloc states, as well as in a...
(Zasluzhenny actor) of RSFSR.
Due to his wound, Luspekayev developed peripheral vascular disease
Peripheral artery occlusive disease
Peripheral vascular disease , commonly referred to as peripheral arterial disease or peripheral artery occlusive disease , refers to the obstruction of large arteries not within the coronary, aortic arch vasculature, or brain. PVD can result from atherosclerosis, inflammatory processes leading to...
in his legs when he was 26. The illness progressed, and later his feet were amputated. Nevertheless, he continued to perform on prosthesis, even though he was suffering from pain. During filming of White Sun of the Desert
White Sun of the Desert
White Sun of the Desert , a classic 'Eastern' or Ostern film of the Soviet Union.The film is one of the most popular Russian films of all time. Its blend of action, comedy, music and drama has made it wildly successful and it has since achieved the status of a cult film in Soviet and Russian...
in 1969, Luspekayev's condition worsened, and he could barely walk. His wife was carrying a small folding chair, and Luspekayev had to take a rest every 20 steps. In the original script, the role of Vereschagin was a minor one, but during filming, the role began to expand, with some of the scenes being improvised in place. The connection between the actor and the role he was playing became so strong, that the crew began to call Vereschagin by name Pavel (Pasha), even though in the script his name was Alexander.
Shortly after the White Sun of the Desert was released, Pavel Luspekayev died because of his illness.
Selected filmography
- Secret of two oceans (Тайна двух океанов) 1956
- Baltic Sky (Балтийское небо) 1961
- Three Fat Men (Три толстяка) 1966
- Republic SHKID (Республика ШКИД) 1966
- White Sun of the Desert (Белое солнце пустыни) 1969