Oleg Dal - a brilliant Soviet actor and an ambiguous personality - did not find his place in life. He did not have time to realize his huge talent: the conflicting nature, alcoholism and a weak heart, became the reason for his departure at 39 years old.
Oleg Dal was born in the Moscow Region on May 25, 1941, in the family of a major railway engineer Ivan Zinovievich (his father did not fight because he received the reservation) and a school teacher Praskovya Petrovna. In addition to the son, the parents had the eldest daughter Ira. Like all boys of the post-war years, Oleg dreamed of becoming a pilot or a sailor, but already in his teens, doctors discovered he had heart problems. I had to forget about a military career.
In 1959, Dahl entered the Theater School. Shchepkina on the course of Nikolai Annenkov. Among his fellow students were Mikhail Kononov, Vitaly Solomin, Victor Pavlov. After graduation, Dahl was invited to the troupe of the Sovremennik Theater, which was considered a great honor for the young actor.
How did Dahl's theatrical career
Unfortunately, here his career will not be very successful - there will be few main roles, but there are more than enough conflicts with the management and partners on the stage. And the quarrels did not always happen because of Oleg’s complex nature (although, in fairness, it should be said that he was a hot-tempered man, sharp-tongued and abused alcohol from his youth).
How did the actor's movie career begin?
Like most actors, Dahl became famous thanks to the cinema. His film debut took place in the film “My Younger Brother” (1962), when Oleg was still a student in “Sliver”. The role did not become an event, but the young actor attracted the attention of the directors.
And fame came to him after the screening in 1967 of the military melodrama directed by Vladimir Motyl “Zhenya, Zhenechka and Katyusha,” where Dahl played the main role of the soldier Zhenya Kolyshkin. True, the film was only seen on the periphery, because officials for some reason decided not to release it in wide distribution.
Dahl became famous as the charming shooter-radio operator Yevgeny Sobolevsky in the war film directed by Naum Birman “Chronicle of a Dive Bomber”, released in the same 1967. This picture was released on a widescreen, so Oleg was recognized and loved by the whole country.
Since then, he will have many wonderful roles: a soldier in “Old, Old Tale”, where the actor starred with young debutante Marina Neyelova, a jester in “King Lear” (originally the role was intended for Alice Freindlich, but she refused because of pregnancy) , an officer-adventurer Krestovsky in “Sannikov Land” (here Dahl played instead of Vladimir Vysotsky, whom the leadership of “Mosfilm” did not approve of the role), actor Barygin-Amursky in the short story “It can't be!” based on stories by Zoshchenko and many others. And Dahl considered the role of engineer Zilov in the drama “Vacation in September” to be his best work, possibly because in the image of a hero dissatisfied with life and confused in his personal relationships, he saw himself. Unfortunately, the picture for the show was banned. She was released only in 1987 when the actor was no longer alive.
Why Dahl refused star roles
More than once, Dahl refused the offers of famous filmmakers if the role was not close to him or did not like the script. As Edward Radzinsky once said of an actor, "he was sick with a mania of perfection." Oleg did not play Zhenya Lukashin in The Irony of Fate, Teacher Miroy in The Nameless Star, Flight Engineer Skvortsov in The Crew - the roles that made Andrey Myagkov, Igor Kostolevsky and Leonid Filatov famous (although according to some sources, in the Crew Dahl started acting, and left because he got sick).
The last work of the actor in the cinema was the picture of the director Leonid Maryagin “An Uninvited Friend” (1980), where Dahl played the role of a scientist. Maryagin managed to get his approval with great difficulty: the leadership of Mosfilm, annoyed by the actor’s refusal to shoot, decided not to shoot it at all.
Last year, cause of death
In the summer of 1980, Vladimir Vysotsky died. His death shocked Oleg. At the funeral, the actor uttered the phrase, which was often recalled by the present colleagues: “The next is me!” By this time, Dahl’s health was already alarming. Conflicts with the leadership of Mosfilm, the bans of officials on the release of paintings with Oleg’s participation on the screen (even the harmless “Prince Florizel” were kept on the shelf for more than a year), seriously undermined his physical and moral condition.
In the last days of February 1981, the actor left for Kiev to shoot - he was offered the main role in the melodrama "Apple in the palm of your hand." March 3, 1981, Oleg died in a hotel room "Studio" from a heart attack. The widow of the actor denied rumors that the cause was alcohol. Dahl was only 39 years old. On March 7, Oleg Ivanovich was buried at the Vagankovsky cemetery in Moscow.