They fought for the Motherland: 7 favorite actors at the front

Among those who passed the Great Patriotic war, Vladimir Etush, Yuri Nikulin, Anatoli Papanov, and other legends of the Soviet cinema.

To the 73 anniversary of the Victory in the great Patriotic war portal 7days.ru remembers the soldiers who after the war became the stars of Russian cinema.

Vladimir Etush

Photo: from the family album

6 may 2018 Vladimir Etush, heroically
defending the Motherland from fascist invaders in 1941-1943
gg, celebrated the 96th birthday (although the passport actor 95 — the birth mother changed his birth year from 1922 to 1923, to the son went into the army later — Approx. ed.). To the front are a novice artist came right out of “Pike”, where he was enrolled as a volunteer in 1940.

Despite a reservation, which was all the students of the school, 16 October 1941, Richter went to the recruiting office and wrote a statement asking
send it to volunteer for the front. “Youth
impulse, which I never regretted,” — says Vladimir Abramovich.

Thanks to a good knowledge of the German language nineteen-year-old Vladimir graduated from
four courses of military interpreters and began preparing for service in
intelligence. However, to throw valuable fighter in the enemy’s rear he changed his mind, and Richter got
in the infantry regiment, where he served first as a translator in the regimental intelligence, and then
became the operational assistant to the chief of staff.

Vladimir Abramovich
took part in the fighting in Ossetia, in the Caucasus mountains, participated in
the defense of the Ingush city of Malgobek and in the liberation of Rostov-on-don
Ukraine. In 1943 during the battle near the Ukrainian town of Tokmak Etush was
seriously wounded. After the hospital, he received second disability group and was
reserve. A year later, the actor returned to the fourth year of the Shchukin school.

In his life he almost starred in films about the war. “I guess
because there I experienced the most terrible days, — said Vladimir Abramovich. —
No the show is not able to convey the horror of that time. We were starving,
was dragging the wounded, a night without sleep was stalking the enemy. By the way, near Rostov
I realized that the resources of the human body is infinite… How many times do I have
was at the front to die, is not transmitted to the calculus”.

The actor said that the war often dream of him now. And admits that of all the other military distinctions, the most expensive is order
Red Star — the reward received for military merit.