Vyacheslav Nevinny

Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Nevinny was born on 30 November 1934 in Tula. After graduating in 1954 from high school Vyacheslav tried to join the school-studio of Moscow Arts Theater, but failed the examinations. After failure, he did not leave a dream to become an actor. Instead, he got employed in the Tula Theatre for Young Spectators as a supporting actor.

In 1955, Nevinny again takes an examination in the school-studio of Moscow Arts Theater. At this time the attempt was successful. After graduation in 1959 (Viktor Stanitsyn's course), Vyacheslav became an actor. He participated in many performances, such as:

• The Government Inspector (as Khlestakov),
• Ivanov (as Borkin),
• The Seagull (as Shamraev),
• Uncle Vanya (as Telegin),
• The Cherry Orchard (as Epikhodov),
• Woe from Wit (as Famusov), etc.

In 1960, Nevinny made his debut in cinema as a policeman in the movie Probation. After his first role, Nevinny played in several other movies, The Chairman (as Pavel Markushev) and Ruslan and Ludmila (as Farlaf). Vyacheslav Nevinny also played in famous comedies The Garage (Garazh) (1980) and It Can't Be! (Ne mozhet byt'!) (1975).

In 1984, Nevinny played the role of Sobakevich in Dead Souls. In the same year, he took part in the popular children sci-fi TV-series Guest from the Future as space pirate Veselchak U (lit. Jolly Man U).

Yevgeni Gerasimov’s comedy Do Not Marry, Girls (Ne khodite, devki, zamuzh) (1985), in which Nevinny played one of the leads, was very popular with the viewers, as well as his roles in Eldar Ryazanov’s comedy Beware of the Car (Beregis avtomobilya) (1966) and Promised Heaven (Nebesa obetovannye) (1991). One of Nevinny's last remarkable film roles was the remake of the famous Italian film Cops and Robbers (Politseiskiye i vory) (1997) by director Nikolai Dostal. Lots of popular Russian animation characters speak in Nevinny's voice. For many years, Nevinny suffered from diabetes, which grew worse and worse. In 2003 he was taken to a hospital and had to spend a whole year there.

In 2005, Nevinny underwent major surgery. Nevinny's left foot was amputated because of gangrene. In 2006, his second foot was amputated, as the illness progressed.

Nevinny died at the age of 74 on 31 May 2009. Pres. Dmitry Medvedev expressed his condolences to relatives and friends of the actor. Nevinny was buried on 3 June 2009 in Moscow's Troyekurovskoye Cemetery.

Actor

• Probation (Испытательный срок, 1960) as Sergei Zaitsev, police officer
• Thirty Three (Тридцать три, 1965) as Vasili
• Beware of the Car (Берегись автомобиля, 1966) as car mechanic
• Ruslan and Ludmila (Руслан и Людмила, 1972) as Farlaf
• It Can't Be! (Не может быть!, 1975) as Gorbushkin's brother-in-law, beer seller
• Incognito from St. Petersburg (Инкогнито из Петербурга, 1977) as Zemlyanika
• The Garage (Гараж, 1979) as Karpukhin
• The Old New Year (Старый Новый год, 1980) as Petr Sebeykin, toy factory worker
• Borrowing Matchsticks (За спичками, 1980) as Jussi Vatanen
• Crazy Day of Engineer Barkasov (Безумный день инженера Баркасова, 1983) as Kobylin
• Dead Souls (Мёртвые души, 1984) as Sobakevich
• Guest from the Future (Гостья из будущего, 1984) as Veselchak U, space pirate
• Do Not Marry, Girls (Не ходите, девки, замуж, 1985) as Ivan Savelievich Malkov, chairman of a collective farm
• Lilac Ball (Лиловый шар, 1987) as Gromozeka, alien archaeologist
• Don't Leave... (Не покидай..., 1989) as King Theodore
• Promised Heaven (Небеса обетованные, 1991) as Stepan, bum
• Cops and Robbers (Полицейские и воры, 1997)

Voice

• Hedgehog in the Fog (Ёжик в тумане, 1975) as Bear cub
• The Adventures of Lolo the Penguin (Приключения пингвинёнка Лоло, 1986) as Pigo, grandfather
• The Kitten from Lizyukov street (Котёнок с улицы Лизюкова, 1988) as Vasiliy the Cat

• Honoured Artist of the RSFSR (1967)
• People's Artist of the RSFSR (1977)
• People's Artist of the USSR (1986)
• Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 4th class (23 October 1998), 3rd class (24 June 2005)
• Order of Friendship of Peoples (28 October 1994)

• Vyacheslav Nevinny on IMDb
• Вячеслав Невинный (in Russian)
• Biography of Vyacheslav Nevinny (in English)