Arkady Raikin
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Arkady Isaakovich Raikin
(1911 - 1987), stage entertainer, director, film actor.
Arkady Raikin ranks as one of the most popular and acclaimed stage entertainers of the Soviet era. He was particularly well known for his uncanny ability to alter his appearance through the use of makeup, and his witty, satirical monologues and one - man sketches endeared him to several generations of fans. As a young man Raikin worked for a short time as a lab assistant in a chemical factory, but his real passion was acting. He enrolled in the Leningrad Theater Institute, and upon his graduation in 1935 he found employment with the Leningrad Theater of Working-Class Youth (TRAM). He also found his way into the movies, and in 1938 he starred in The Fiery Years and Doctor Kaliuzhnyi. He also appeared in films later in his life and wrote and directed the 1974 television film People and Mannequins.
But Raikin devoted the bulk of his creative energies to entertaining on the stage. In 1939 he joined the prestigious Leningrad Theater of Stage Entertainment and Short Plays (Leningradsky teatr estrady i miniatyur), and in 1942 he became artistic director of the theater. He remained affiliated with this theater for the remainder of his career, even after it moved to Moscow in 1982, where it was renamed the State Theater of Short Plays. Raikin also found success as master of ceremonies for stage shows that allowed him to entertain audiences.
His many awards included People's Artist of the USSR (1968), Lenin Prize (1980), and Hero of Socialist Labor (1981). In 1991 the Russian government honored him by issuing a postage stamp in his name, and the Satyricon Theater (formerly the State Theater of Short Plays) was named in Raikin's honor in 1991.
Bibliography
Beilin, Adolf Moiseevich. (1960). Arkadii Raikin. Leningrad: Iskusstvo.
Uvarova, E. (1986). Arkadii Raikin. Moscow: Iskusstvo.
—ROBERT WEINBERG
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Arkady Raikin
| Arkady Raikin | |
|---|---|
 Young Arkady Raikin |
|
| Born | October 24 [O.S. October 10] 1911 Riga, Latvia, Russian Empire |
| Died | December 17, 1987 (aged 76) Moscow, USSR |
| Medium | Stand-up, theater, radio, television, film |
| Nationality | USSR |
| Years active | 1930s–1980s |
| Genres | Observational comedy, improvisational comedy, satire, musical comedy |
Arkady Isaakovich Raikin (Latvian: Arkādijs Raikins; Russian: Аркадий Исаакович Райкин) (October 24 [O.S. October 10] 1911, Riga, Latvia, Russian Empire – December 17, 1987, Moscow, USSR) was a Soviet stand-up comedian. He led the school of Soviet and Russian humorists for about half a century.
Raikin was born into a Jewish family in Riga (today's Latvia), then part of the Russian Empire.[1] He graduated from the Leningrad Theatrical Technicum in 1935 and worked in both state theatres and variety shows. In 1939, he founded his own theatre in Leningrad, where he used skits and impersonations to ridicule the inefficiency of Communist bureaucracy and the Soviet way of life. In the Stalinist police state this was prone to danger, as it was not uncommon to get purged not only for telling a casual joke, but even for not reporting it to the authorities.
Raikin was the creator of a whole array of unforgettable satirical characters, and a living legend of his time and his country.[citation needed] Some of the brilliant satirical and lyrical images created by Raikin acquired their second life in the serial TV film People and Mannequins.
His fame in the Soviet Union, and throughout Central and Eastern Europe, was such that he was invited to participate in the opening night of BBC Two television in 1964, although the broadcast had to be postponed for one day due to a power failure. He also appeared in several comedies during and after the Great Patriotic War. His trip to London for the BBC broadcast—during which he was reunited with his British cousin, distinguished pianist Bruno Raikin—marked the first of only two times when the Soviet government permitted him to perform in the West.
Three years before his death, Raikin finally moved to Moscow, where he opened the Satyricon Theatre, now run by his son Konstantin Raikin, also an acclaimed actor. His wife, Roma, played a major role in guiding his career, and his daughter, Ekaterina, also had a successful career as a Moscow actress. For a month during the summer before his death, Raikin hosted his American cousin, Washington D.C. attorney Steven Raikin, as a guest at his family's Moscow flat. Shortly thereafter, the Soviet Ministry of Culture finally permitted Raikin to visit the United States, where, with his son and daughter, he gave emotional farewell performances in several cities to adoring audiences of Russian émigrés. [Washington Post, "Love & Glasnost; An East-West Romance With Comic Relief." September 5, 1987, p. C1. by Elizabeth Kastor.]
- ^ Charny, Vitaly. "Arkady Raikin, 1911-1987". JewishGen. December 2004. Retrieved 27 October 2009.
Raikin was awarded the title of People's Artist of the USSR in 1968, the Lenin Prize in 1980, and the Hero of Socialist Labour award in 1981.
Filmography
- Actor[1]
- 1938 — "Огненные годы" (Fiery Years)
- 1939 — "Доктор Калюжный" (Doctor Kalyuzhny)
- 1954 — "Мы с Вами где-то встречались" (We Have Met Somewhere)
- 1964 — "Когда песня не кончается" (When the Song Does Not End)
- 1970 — "Волшебная сила искусства" (Magic Power of Art)
- 1974 — "Люди и манекены" (People and Mannequins)
- Director and screenplay
- 1974 — "Люди и манекены" (People and Mannequins)
References
- ^ (Russian) РАЙКИН Аркадий Исаакович (akter.kulichki.net)
2. (Russian)http://ru.wikipedia.org/Райкин Аркадий Исаакович -- entry in Russian wikipedia
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