The battles of the Great Patriotic War have long died out, but this does not mean that we should not remember about it. Our peaceful sky overhead is the merit of the soldiers who fought for our Motherland. Among the favorite Soviet actors, there were also real heroes who did not boast of their orders and titles. We decided to make a list with photos of famous actors who fought, participated in the Great Patriotic War, served in intelligence, and talk about their exploits.
Vladimir Basov
- "For family reasons", "The Adventures of Buratino", "About Little Red Riding Hood"
Outstanding Russian actor and director Vladimir Basov left to fight in 1942 after graduating from an artillery school. He refused the invitation from the Theater of the Red Army because he could not understand how you can be in the rear when you are needed on the front line. Basov managed to create an amateur ensemble in order to maintain the fighting spirit of the soldiers, but this was not the artist's goal - he dreamed of victory. On February 23, 1945, the actor was wounded during the capture of a strongpoint by German troops. The actor had the Order of the Red Star. Basov recalled the war as a time that bared the moral qualities of every person.
Zinovy Gerdt
- "Three men in a boat, not counting a dog", "The meeting place cannot be changed", "Walking in agony"
Zinovy Gerdt is one of those celebrities who are said to be “out of time”, but besides that, he also showed himself as a brave fighter and patriot of his country. Gerdt volunteered in the early days of the war. As a senior lieutenant in command of a sapper company, he was seriously wounded. In a battle near Belgorod, Gerdt was wounded in the leg, which could have resulted in amputation. After eleven operations, the leg was saved, but the actor limped until his death - the diseased leg was eight centimeters shorter than the healthy one.
Yury Nikulin
- "The Diamond Arm", "Prisoner of the Caucasus, or Shurik's New Adventures", "They Fought for the Motherland"
Yuri Nikulin is the star of the Soviet screen, but long before his cinematic fame, he received medals "For the Defense of Leningrad", "For Courage" and "For Victory over Germany." The actor was finishing his compulsory military service when the war broke out. He was one of the soldiers of the anti-aircraft batteries that defended Leningrad from raids. Nikulin suffered a concussion and reached the Baltic with the Soviet troops. He did not like to talk about the war and confessed that it was scary, and it is impossible to forget the first soldier killed in your presence.
Anatoly Papanov
- "Cold summer of the fifty-third ...", "12 chairs", "Belorussky station"
One of the most beloved Soviet artists appeared at the front at the age of 19. Dreams of stage and acting career were relegated to the background when the war broke out. He was a senior sergeant in an anti-aircraft artillery platoon when he was seriously wounded in a battle near Kharkov. After 6 months in the hospital, he became disabled and could no longer be on the front lines.
In order for the actor to survive, doctors amputated 2 of his toes. Over time, the actor managed to get rid of his lameness and move around without a cane. He is rightfully included in our list with photos of famous actors who fought, participated in the Great Patriotic War, served in intelligence, and tell about their exploits.
Alexey Smirnov
- "Finist - Clear Falcon", "Only" old men "are going into battle," Officers "
For a long time, Alexei Smirnov managed to hide his military past from colleagues and spectators. Natural modesty and dislike of stories about the war have always distinguished "parasite Fedya" from "Operation Y". But he was a real hero - he participated in reconnaissance operations and shot three German soldiers on his own during one of the raids, Smirnov once captured seven fascists with his own hand. The number of exploits of Alexei Smirnov is difficult to enumerate, but he always believed that he had not done anything special - he was just fighting for the Motherland.
Innokenty Smoktunovsky
- "Beware of the Car", "Dandelion Wine", "Midshipmen, Go"
The military life of the future actor began not in hot spots, but in the Krasnoyarsk hospital, where the seventeen-year-old Smoktunovsky worked as a paramedic. In the summer of 1943, he was at the front near Kursk. With his division, he reached Kiev, where he was captured.
Together with other prisoners of war, Smoktunovsky was supposed to be hijacked to Germany, but the actor managed to escape. The exhausted soldier was able to escape thanks to the brave Ukrainian family, who hid him in their house for a month, despite the threat of being shot. After that, Innokenty Smoktunovsky joined the partisans before the arrival of regular troops. The actor went with the Soviet army to Germany and said that courage in war is to defeat the animal horror of what is happening and go forward.
Vladimir Etush
- "Eye of God", "Do not wake the sleeping dog", "June 31"
Soviet actor Vladimir Etush could not remain in the rear, despite the fact that he officially had the right to do so. He volunteered for the front in the fall of 1941. He could have become a scout in the Nazi rear, thanks to his perfect knowledge of the German language, but in the end it was decided to appoint him as a translator for the regimental intelligence. Together with his regiment Etush passed half of the Soviet Union, but after a very serious injury in the Ukrainian Zaporozhye he was discharged in 1943. For courage and military exploits, Vladimir Etush received the Order of the Red Star and numerous medals.
Elina Bystritskaya
- "Quiet Don", "Volunteers", "Everything remains for people"
The beautiful Elina Bystritskaya is also among the artists who went through the Great Patriotic War. It is she who continues our list with photos of famous actors who fought, participated in the Great Patriotic War, served in intelligence, and tell about their exploits. From the very beginning of the war, the future actress served as a nurse in a mobile evacuation hospital. Together with her unit she traveled from Aktyubinsk to Odessa. For military merits, Elina was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War of the II degree and the medal "For Victory over Germany."
Boris Sichkin
- "Elusive Avengers", "Poor Sasha", "Barbarian Beauty, Long Braid"
Boris Sichkin is among the Soviet artists who have gone through the war. A week before the war, a talented young man received a military uniform for performances - a 19-year-old boy became one of the members of the Kiev Song and Dance Ensemble. Sichkin did not want to remain just a dancer when the war was around, and fled to the front. He managed to serve for several days as a machine gunner near Kursk, after which it became known about his escape - the actor was threatened with a military tribunal. However, Boris agreed to return to the ensemble supporting the front-line soldiers, and everything was resolved peacefully. As an artist, he went along with the troops all the way to Berlin.
Pavel Luspekaev
- "White Sun of the Desert", "Three Fat Men", "Dead Souls"
The famous Vereshchagin from "White Sun of the Desert" also belongs to the artists who fought for the liberation of our Motherland. And only he knows what strength his most famous role cost him. The fact is that the future actor at the age of 15 volunteered for the front. As a partisan, he received severe frostbite of his legs - Luspekaev lay in the snow for several hours on one of the assignments, and after that he was seriously wounded in the arm. Throughout his life, the actor suffered from terrible pain both during filming and in ordinary life. After years of torture, his legs were amputated.
Mikhail Pugovkin
- "Visit to the Minotaur", "They sat on the golden porch", "Ah, vaudeville, vaudeville ..."
The colorful actor Mikhail Pugovkin is also on the honorary list of front-line soldiers. He volunteered for the front in the early days of the war, although he did not even reach adulthood. He was a scout, and in 1942 he was seriously wounded in the leg. The actor literally begged for a leg from doctors who were going to amputate a limb. Fortunately, everything worked out, and Pugovkin got off with only a limp, with which he lived his whole life.
Georgy Yumatov
- "TASS is authorized to declare ...", "Destiny", "The sailors have no questions"
Our list with photos of famous actors who fought, participated in the Great Patriotic War, served in intelligence, and Georgy Yumatov concludes our list with photos of their exploits. He served as a cabin boy on the "Brave" (the famous torpedo boat) and took part in the liberation of Budapest and Bucharest. The actor also took part in the famous hand-to-hand combat at the Vienna Bridge. He was one of the few survivors of this bloody battle, in which about 2 thousand Soviet soldiers died bravely.