Study at VGIK
Immediately after graduating from school, Yura went to conquer Moscow. Entered the prestigious VGIK. That year the competition was especially difficult - more than two hundred people per place! But the charm of the young genius was impossible not to notice. Izolda Izvitskaya, Nadezhda Rumyantseva, Tatyana Konyukhova and others studied with him on the course.
Classmates recall: when they were afraid that the teacher would now start questioning them, they asked Yura for help. He could talk to the venerable professor so much that he simply forgot what he wanted to ask. And so the couple went by: Belova joked, the teacher listened, sometimes trying to interrupt the presumptuous student (however, unsuccessfully), and everyone else literally rolled under the tables laughing.
Yuri Belov graduated from the university in 1955, was immediately enrolled in the Film Actor Theater and played several episodic roles in films.
Unhappy love
Yuri Belov was already a third-year student at VGIK when Nadezhda Rumyantseva . Later, the actress recalled that it was Belov’s dazzling smile that became her first impression of the course. The romance began to spin quickly. It seemed that Rumyantseva and Belov were simply made for each other. Many envied them. And the directors then invited this bright duo to the films “The Unyielding” and “Queen of the Gas Station.”
True, in the movies the actors were together, but in life they were already apart. The romance lasted only a year. Nadezhda became interested in another colleague, Vladimir Shurupov , and even got married. But the marriage turned out to be fragile. Yuri harbored a grudge against all women and was afraid of new relationships. And, although he still remained a merry fellow and a joker, during a conversation he could unexpectedly withdraw and withdraw into himself. Some believed that this was the first sign of his “strangeness.”
Yuri Belov in the film “The Unyielding” (1959). Still from the film
This is interesting: Ivan Zhvakin - biography, personal life, photo of the actor
Star roles
But all-Union fame came to him after Eldar Ryazanov’s film “Carnival Night”. The actor got the role of Grisha Koltsov almost immediately, from the first audition - he fit into the character so organically.
This picture was followed by others - “A Man Is Born”, “Girl Without an Address”, “Spring on Zarechnaya Street”. Most often, Belov played supporting roles. The role of a merry joker was assigned to him, he became an eternal friend of the main characters. However, this did not stop the artist from being fantastically popular - postcards with his image were immediately sold out, and people flocked to see films with him. Yuri became a kind of talisman for directors - after all, his films were sure to be successful.
With Lyudmila Gurchenko in the film “Carnival Night”
After “Carnival Night” there were few leading roles - Tolya Grachkin in the comedy “Unyielding”, Slava Kosheva in the comedy “Queen of the Gas Station”.
In the early 1960s, Yuri was still young - he had just reached the age of thirty. Everything was still ahead; one could hope that the roles of charming friends would give way to others, more interesting ones. But a fatal accident cut short the artist’s rapid rise...
Movies
Yuri Belov never stopped receiving invitations to act. Among his most famous works: “Spring on Zarechnaya Street”, “Girl without an Address”, “Come Tomorrow”, “Queen of the Gas Station”, “Carnival Night” and many others. But his entire acting biography can be divided into “before” and “after” the event, which crossed out a lot.
One day, Yuri Belov was walking down the street with his friend and suddenly nodded at a gloomy yellow building with bars on the windows: “Do you see this house? This is a mental hospital. I spent six months here...” There are several versions of how this could happen to the famous Soviet actor. But the fact remains a fact.
Only his closest friends could attest to the actor’s split personality. Outwardly, he was a cheerful and cheerful fellow. But alone with himself, Yuri Belov fell into severe depression. He was prone to endless soul-searching, philosophical reasoning, and the search for the meaning of life. And he suffered greatly from loneliness. Once he tried to commit suicide, but the neighbors arrived in time and called an ambulance. The actor was pumped out and sent for compulsory treatment in a psychiatric clinic.
According to other acquaintances, the reason for Yuri Andreevich’s imprisonment in the clinic was a thoughtless joke. Once, at a party at the House of Cinema, a tipsy Belov said that Khrushchev would soon be removed. Among the “friends” there were kind people who brought it to the right place. Yuri was not called in for questioning.
Already sober, the actor not only confirmed everything said in the denunciation, but added a lot more. Belov was facing a real prison sentence. But among the investigators who handled his case, there were fans of Yuri. He was labeled as having lost his mind and sent for treatment. He thought - for a month, but it turned out - for six months... By the way, Khrushchev was actually removed soon.
After treatment, the actor began to suffer from short-term memory loss. This was immediately noticed on the set. The actor tried to return to the frame, but for two whole years - not a single offer. There was no official order; all directors were given a hint: not to film Belov.
“Wait, you were the one who played in Carnival Night?!” - a passenger who plopped down in the back seat of an old Moskvich suddenly recognized a familiar, but very aged and noticeably battered face in the driver’s mirror. Belov nodded silently. Now he was engaged in private driving. Passengers sometimes recognized him, sometimes not. But he was not going to answer their endless questions.
A carelessly spoken word or...
Even during the course, Yuri Belov was called strange. They said that he seemed to be out of this world. On the one hand, he is sociable and cheerful, and on the other hand, he is thoughtful, vulnerable and withdrawn, keeping to himself.
In 1964, at one of the festive banquets, the actor either jokingly or seriously said: Khrushchev will not be in power for long, he will soon be removed. Literally the next day, red-faced orderlies showed up at the apartment and tied up the celebrity. Yuri was kept in a psychiatric hospital for six months. Coming out of there, he instantly received the stigma of being “unreliable.” Some directors did not want to get involved with him because of his political stain, while others were afraid that he would let him down - and suddenly
really crazy. From now on, Belov played quite rarely and mainly in episodes. This state of affairs could not but affect his well-being: the artist began to drink...
By the way, there is an alternative version of the reason why Yuri ended up in a hospital: he was haunted by thoughts of suicide, and he repeatedly tried to commit suicide. This may seem strange, but close acquaintances assured that the cheerful and cheerful fellow on the screen, in life Belov was prone to depression and mood swings. After treatment, the situation did not completely level out, side effects arose - lethargy, increased fatigue: on the set he could forget the text, did not answer questions asked... And the version of the persecution of Khrushchev was most likely invented by Yuri himself - subsequently, in order to avoid unwanted questions.
Mental hospital
Despite the fact that Yuri was a cheerful fellow and a jokester, as they say, “the life of the party,” those around him noticed that he could not always behave adequately. Sometimes, during fun, he could become silent and withdraw into himself for a long time. In the mid-60s he was admitted to a psychiatric hospital. According to one version, he tried to commit suicide, but his neighbors saved him, after which he was sent for compulsory treatment. The second version says that Belov allowed himself an impartial statement about the then head of state N.S. Khrushchev . It’s as if after that he was put in a “psychiatric hospital.” To be honest, the second version looks implausible.
New hopes and their collapse
However, it would be wrong to say that Belov did not have any worthy offers after that fateful episode. At the beginning, at the Film Actor Theater of the 1970s, he was entrusted with the role of Miloslavsky in the play “Ivan Vasilyevich”, based on Bulgakov. Subsequently, the famous comedy by Leonid Gaidai will be based on this play. The actor grabbed this opportunity like a drowning man at a straw and played to the limit of his capabilities: it was rumored that Elena Sergeevna herself, the writer’s widow, having visited the theater, declared that Yuri Belov’s interpretation was closest to her husband’s plan.
In 1972, the artist got the main role in the film “Train Stop – Two Minutes.” He played an eccentric little man, Vasily Nazarovich, who, however, was capable of performing real miracles. Belov's acting work in the film deserves admiration, but the film itself was completely passable. The actor had no more notable roles.
In order to somehow stay afloat, the artist began working as a taxi driver - driving his own Moskvich, bought during the years of his former glory... However, passengers, of course, recognized the star of the 1950s-1960s. Questions poured in - how could this be, and why... All this, of course, drove Yuri into even greater depression.
He felt insecure, and at the same time tried to prove to everyone - and first of all to himself - his worth as an artist. Therefore, during rehearsals at the Film Actor's Theater, Yuri could spend hours repeating his role, honing it, asking his colleagues to stay late to run it again. Naturally, they didn’t like all this, the actors began to be indignant. As a result, Belov left the theater, not wanting to be a burden.
Yuri Belov in the film “These Are Such Miracles” 1982
Sudden fall
Over ten years, he starred in almost 30 films. Other honored and popular people could not boast of such a professional piggy bank. Belov had no titles or awards. It wasn't very often that directors spoiled him with leading roles. And the audience remembered the actor from any episode - there was some kind of spark in him. A bright character could be created from “nothing”...
The many faces of Eldar Ryazanov. Friends and colleagues - about the master of Russian cinema
Everything collapsed in one moment. At some banquet, Yuri inadvertently said that Khrushchev would soon be removed... The actor was sent to a mental hospital. After which, probably stuffed with heavy drugs, he could no longer memorize long texts. And the directors now shunned him. In five years - only three small roles. In films that did not leave a noticeable mark in the history of Soviet cinema. And they did not bring the famous performer either much money or moral satisfaction.
Personal life
Despite his far from standard appearance, women have always liked Yuri - thanks to his charm and talent. His first love was actress Nadezhda Rumyantseva. It seemed like they were an ideal couple - after all, they were so similar to each other: both cheerful, jokers. The young people dated for a whole year, but then the girl became interested in something else. Friendly relations between the actors were preserved, but Belov still harbored a grudge - and withdrew even more into himself, began to be distrustful of women...
Nadezhda Rumyantseva
That is why I got married late - in my forties. His wife, actress Svetlana Shvaiko, was nine years younger than her husband.
Family life went well at first: Belov even perked up - he exchanged his Moskvich for a motorcycle with a sidecar and took his young wife on a honeymoon. In 1976, the couple had a son, Svyatoslav. The child was sickly and, in order to toughen him up, his parents often put him to sleep on the balcony, jokingly calling him “Balconsky.”
Svetlana Shvaiko
However, the actor’s failures in his career could not help but affect his personal life: Yuri began to drink more and more often, which, of course, did not suit Svetlana. And there was little money. Soon the couple separated, although the divorce was not officially filed. Sveta went to see her family, but came to her husband once a week to cook and clean the apartment.
Belov’s ex-wife tried not to waste time - she wanted to live decently and earn money. Together with her friend, also an episodic actress Alla Budnitskaya, she opened the restaurant “At Grandma’s”. At first, things were going well, but in the mid-1990s, competitors set fire to it, and it all ended...
Death
On December 31, 1991, Yuri Andreevich, as usual, sat in front of the TV screen, waiting for “Carnival Night” to be shown. He loved this film - while watching it, he remembered his youth, felt nostalgic... Then everything was still ahead and life seemed so cheerful, joyful, cloudless...
But the artist was not destined to see the film. When his wife Svetlana came to the apartment in the evening to congratulate her husband, cook food and clean, she found him lifeless on the sofa. An ambulance was called and confirmed his instant death - the actor had had heart problems for a long time.
There was no elevator in the house, and the orderlies initially refused to carry the dead man. When they found out who it was, they fell silent in shame...
Yuri Belov was buried at the Kuntsevo cemetery in Moscow. During his lifetime he did not have a single official title - he was not even given “Honored Artist of the RSFSR”. But the memory and people's love remained...
Yuri Belov's grave
Son Svyatoslav Belov
Belov's son was only 15 years old when his father died. From adolescence, the boy was left to his own devices. His parents had no time for him: they were sorting things out among themselves. Yuri Andreevich was constantly in deep depression, Svetlana was engaged in her own business. The guy fell into bad company and became addicted to drugs. Having reached the age of eighteen, he tried to work as a cook, an assistant cameraman, and for some time collaborated with Rolan Bykov, organizing children’s film festivals. At some point, because of drugs, he almost ended up in prison - this was avoided only thanks to Bykov. But after the death of Svetoslav’s patron and mother, Svyatoslav’s life went downhill - he was sent to prison for hooliganism for two and a half years.
Having learned about the plight of the famous artist’s son, Svetlana Shvaiko’s friend Alla Budnitskaya came to the rescue. She took care of the guy in every possible way, essentially becoming his second mother. But, despite his participation, Svyatoslav again ends up in prison.
When the young man was released a second time, a friend strongly advised him to go to a monastery - they would help him free himself from his addiction. Slava obeyed and became a novice at the Anthony-Siysky Monastery. Life there turned out to be difficult - the guy ran away from there several times, but always returned - he had nowhere to go, and his addiction was still making itself felt. After four years of struggle, my addiction to drugs subsided.
In 2012, Svyatoslav Belov took part in the program “Let Them Talk.” After the broadcast, many letters began to arrive with warm words and expressions of sympathy. One girl also wrote and invited me to visit her in Arkhangelsk. Slava decided to go and ended up getting married. His wife gave birth to a child - the grandson of the legendary Yuri Belov.
