Mykola Yakovchenko
Born: 1900-05-03 in Pryluky, USSR
Died: 1974-09-11
Known For: Acting
Biography
Mykola Fedorovych Yakovchenko (April 20 (May 3), 1900, Pryluky — September 11, 1974, Kyiv) was an outstanding Soviet Ukrainian theater and film actor who played character roles. He was named a People's Artist of the Ukrainian SSR in 1970. He was born in Pryluky (now Chernihiv Oblast, Ukraine, then Poltava Governorate, Russian Empire) into the family of an assistant manager of the Astrakhan fishing industry. His mother had four other children besides him. His family had its origins in the Don Cossacks — the family moved to the Poltava province from Rostov-on-Don and had a patriarchal structure, where a penchant for art was not particularly encouraged. In 1912, he enrolled in the Second Prilutsk Higher Primary School named after Kislov. In 1916, he enrolled in the city Jewish gymnasium, where he became interested in amateur art, performing his first roles in the gymnasium theater. At the same time, he thoroughly studied the Greek language. During the revolutionary events, he went to the front. His grandson, Mykola Bohonko-Yakovchenko, said, "It is not known for certain on whose side he fought — for the Reds or the Whites. According to documents, he spent the entire war on a Red Army medical train. However, over time, he became enthusiastic about talking about General Shkuro's cavalry; he once obtained two well-hidden St. George's Crosses." In 1918, he made his debut on the amateur stage in Pryluky. From the amateur group, he moved to the troupe of Pylyp Khmara's theater, which was Russian at the time, and from 1919 — Ukrainian, then Soviet. At this time, he played in plays by Leonid Andreyev — Tyukha in Savva and Second Lieutenant Grigory Mironov in Days of Our Lives. From 1920 to 1927, he worked in theaters in Lubny, Pryluky, Simferopol, Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Dnipro, and Kharkiv. From 1927, he was an actor at the Frank Ukrainian Academic Theater in Kyiv (with breaks).
Filmography
2003
- The Great Actor M. F. Yakovchenko as Self (archive footage)
1973
- Cheerful Frogscreamers as Watchman
- Here We Live
- The Grandfather of the Left Winger as Trokhym Ivanovych Besarab
1972
- Zakhar Berkut as Tukholets
- Trust as посетитель в приемной
1971
- Party Secretary as godfather
- Where are you, Knights? as Kovalchuk's Neighbour
- Lada from the Berendeyev Country as король
- Adventures of Tarapunka and Shtepsel
1970
- Varka's Land
- Варькина земля as дед Евген
- That Very Night
1969
- Malevolent Fate as Matchmaker
- Димка-велогонщик as заведующий тиром
1968
1967
- Viy as Spirid
1965
- The Month of May as komendant obshchezhitiya
- The Star of the Ballet as watchman
1963
- A Great Road Ahead as peasant on a cart
- Gas Station Queen
1961
- Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka as Пацюк (озв. Яков Беленький)
- Chasing Two Hares as Prokip Sirko
- Carrot Head
1960
1959
1958
- The Kyiv Resident as Горовенко - рабочий завода «Арсенал»
- Years of Young
1957
1955
- Maksim Perepelitsa as Kondrat Perepelitsa
- Nesterka
1954
1953
1952
- Stolen Happiness as Reeve
- In The Ukrainian Steppe
1939
- Shors as Soldier (uncredited)