Vladimir Soshalsky is a famous Soviet theater and film actor with an eventful biography. He lived a life brightly and with pleasure, doing what he loved and conquering the hearts of the first beauties of the country.
Vladimir was born on June 14, 1929, in Leningrad in a creative family: his parents - Varvara Soshalskaya and Boris Feodosiev - were quite famous actors at that time. Mother often took the boy with him on tour, so the desire to become an actor appeared in him from early childhood. At the age of 6, Volodya had a funny “debut” in the play based on Ibsen’s play “The Ghost”: a bored child in a dressing room went to wander around the theater and accidentally stepped on stage, even with a wooden leg tied to his own leg. At the time when the main character Oswald spoke his tragic monologue, a little boy appeared from behind the curtains and limped in the background of the stage on a huge wooden leg ... The walls of the theater shuddered with the laughter of the audience. Of course, Volodya got a lot from her mother and she did not leave her son unattended.
The beginning of a theatrical career and the first star role
In high school (which, by the way, he never finished), Volodya entered the studio at the Leningrad Youth Theater. In the 48th year, after graduating, 3 years worked in the same theater. The 17-year-old actor became widely known for his debut role as Romeo in the Shakespearean play “Romeo and Juliet,” directed by Pavel Weisbram. Fans literally did not give the young man an aisle, actors from other theaters came to his performance, and published a photo of him in Ogonyok (a highly respected magazine at that time). When the time came for conscription, Soshalsky was sent through the military enlistment office for military service to the Moscow theater of the Soviet Army (subsequently, the Russian), which was then practiced with all the young actors. In this theater, Vladimir served almost until the last days and performed many bright, diverse roles.
Cinema
The path to the cinema began at Soshalsky in the 49th year with pass-through roles not indicated in the credits.
Unfortunately, Vladimir was almost not offered the main roles, but he was a sought-after actor in Soviet cinema. Among his most successful works are the roles of Lieutenant Cassio in Othello (dir. Sergei Yutkevich, 1955), the servants of Tranio in the film play “The Taming of the Shrew” (dir. Sergei Kolosov, 1961), the skipper of Planet in the picture “June 31” (dir. Leonid Kvinikhidze, 1978), Carlos in “Duenier” (dir. Mikhail Grigoriev, 1978) and many others. In the 64th year, he received the title of Honored Artist of the RSFSR, and in the late 80s - People's Artist of the RSFSR.
In 1993, Soshalsky participated in the famous international project - “Alaska Kid”, a 13-episode film adaptation of the works of Jack London. Many famous actors took part in the Russian side: Alexander Kuznetsov, Igor Dmitriev, Galina Polsky, Ingeborg Dapkunaite, Vera Sotnikova, Baadur Tsuladze, Alexander Belyavsky. Unfortunately, for Soshalsky after these shootings the years of lack of demand came: in the 90s, Russian cinema was in a deep crisis.
His last work in cinema was a small role in the children's adventure detective "Detective with a bad character" (2001) (This picture was also parting for the famous actress Lyubov Sokolova).
The last years of the actor, the cause of death
In old age, the actor felt happy. He believed that fate gave him everything that a person needs and even more. But the state of health began to deteriorate. When the diagnosis was established - prostate cancer - Soshalsky could no longer help. The last time he appeared on the stage of his native theater in April 2007 ... While it was possible, the actor was looked after by his wife and daughter Ekaterina, but when mental disorders added to cancer, they transferred Vladimir Borisovich to the Moscow hospice, where he was staying with August and until the day of his death, which occurred on October 10, 2007. On October 12, the actor was buried in the Troekurovsky cemetery near the grave of his mother.