Andrey Mironov

Many actors openly admit (and this is rare in the acting industry) that Andrei Mironov was the best of them. Over the years this has become more and more obvious. Thanks to films and the memories of friends, he became a kind of collective image of the ideal type of artist, who was subject to all genres in cinema and theater. He was witty without vulgarity, he was capable of deep dramatic emotions without false pathos. Andrei Mironov was an amazingly bright person on stage and on screen...

Andrei Mironov was born into an acting family. His father, Alexander Menaker, began his artistic career with musical feuilletons, then began to combine performing with directing. Mother - Maria Mironova - graduated from the Lunacharsky Theater College and performed first at the Theater of Modern Miniature, then at the 2nd Moscow Art Theater and at the Moscow State Music Hall.

Menaker and Mironova met at the State Variety and Miniature Theater, which had just been created in Moscow, where they both became actors. In those years, their famous pop duet was born.

[media=https://www.youtube.com/v/Mn5dSY4pcTc]

And three years after this meeting, a boy was born, who was named Andrei. Moreover, he was born, one might say, in the theater. Until the last day of her pregnancy, Mironova went on stage, and her prenatal contractions began precisely during one of these performances. They managed to take the woman in labor to the Grauerman maternity hospital on Arbat, where she soon happily gave birth.

In the photo - Maria Mironova and Alexander Menaker 1957 New Year's light

Actually, Andrei was born on March 7, but his parents decided: “We’ll sign it up on the 8th. There will be a gift for women." He really became one - rarely any representative of the fairer sex could resist Mironov’s enormous charm. But more on that later, but for now...

War

A few months after Andrei’s birth, war broke out. The miniature theater was evacuated to Tashkent. There little Andryusha became seriously ill. Doctors suspected he had tropical dysentery. Maria Mironova recalled: “Those were sleepless nights when I listened to whether he was breathing or not, and it seemed to me that he was no longer breathing. He lay on the floor, on newspapers, and could no longer even cry. His eyes wouldn't close. I lived by selling everything from myself.” The wife of the famous pilot M. Gromov helped, who got medicine for the sick boy.
Failed film debut

Andryusha with his father

In 1948, Andrei, then still bearing his father’s last name, Menaker, went to first grade. Two years later, the so-called “Doctors’ Case” broke out in the country, and the good people from the Moscow City Council advised the parents to change the boy’s surname. So he became Andrei Mironov.

The childhood of the future actor was quite typical for most teenagers of that time: he loved ice cream, ran to watch movies, collected badges and played football. In the class he was the leader and ringleader, he studied smoothly, but did not like exact sciences: mathematics, physics, chemistry.

But what distinguished Andrei from other boys was his natural cleanliness, which, by the way, remained black in his character for the rest of his life. By the way, it was because of her that Andrei’s film debut did not take place at the age of eleven. Here is how it was…

In 1952, director A. Ptushko came to Pestov to shoot the fairy tale film “Sadko”. For filming in the crowd, he chose several children who were vacationing there, including Andryusha Mironov. The boy had to play a beggar, for which he was given torn sackcloth as clothing. However, Andrey, due to his natural cleanliness, did not dare to put it on his naked body. When the director saw a fashionable T-shirt with a zipper showing through from under the sackcloth, he raised a terrible cry (Ptushko was generally very loud on the set). The boy was immediately grabbed by the elbows and literally carried out of the playground. The film debut was disrupted...
Actors of course!

From an early age, the theater was especially loved by Andrei Mironov. Almost every summer the boy and his parents vacationed in Pestov, where the Art Theater Holiday House was located. He was lucky to see the famous Moscow Art Theater students A. Ktorov, V. Stanitsyn, A. Gribov, K. Elanskaya, O. Androvskaya, M. Yanshin and many others. And at school, Andrei enjoyed studying in the theater studio, which was organized by their class teacher Nadezhda Georgievna Panfilova. By the way, the boy’s first role on the school stage was, neither more nor less, Khlestakov from The Inspector General.

In 1958, Andrei graduated from school and applied to the Shchukin Theater School. Surprisingly, the admissions committee didn’t know that he was an actor’s son. The first audition with the legendary Mansurova was unsuccessful. As soon as Mironov entered the audience, blood gushed from his nose. And yet, Andrei passed the exams (excellently!), after which he was enrolled in the first year, which was led by actor, teacher and director Joseph Matveevich Rapoport.

A diligent, polite young man, well-fed and pimply, he did not at all shine with talent - there were other leaders on the course. But Andrey tried very hard. His dream was to receive a red diploma. If he received a B in any exam, he immediately went to retake it. His classmate Mikhail Vorontsov recalls: “I will never forget the first general education exam. We prepared together, we prepared at his home. He taught honestly, I honestly wrote cheat sheets. “Old man,” he told me, “you’ll fall down, remember.” But I remained calm, since I had already accumulated considerable experience in this area. An eternal injustice occurred during the exam: Andryusha, who studied honestly, for some reason received a B, and I, having copied everything from the cheat sheet, naturally received an A. Oh, how he was worried, my dear Andryusha, he just couldn’t find a place for himself. And I couldn’t understand why he was so upset. After all, he still did not receive a scholarship as the son of wealthy parents. The next day he went to see a teacher in this subject and late in the evening he called me and almost shouted: “Old man, I retook the test with an A.” I didn't understand this. My mother, after listening to my story, looked at me carefully and said: “Remember, Misha, you will never be a real artist, but he will be.” "And why is that?" - I was indignant. “Because,” said my mother, “you have no vanity.”

Among his classmates, Andrei stood out for his obsessive neatness - always wearing perfectly ironed clothes, smelling of good cologne. Mironov returned home from school exclusively by taxi, although for this he often had to borrow money.
Film debut

Despite the fact that the management of the school categorically forbade students to act in films (Tatyana Samoilova was even expelled for this), many still, by hook or by crook, strived to get into any film extras. Only Mironov avoided this. He once auditioned for a role in Yakov Segel’s film “Farewell, Doves,” but was not approved. Perhaps this influenced his cool attitude towards cinema, or perhaps unpleasant memories of an unsuccessful film debut in childhood remained in his memory.

And yet, in his fourth year, Mironov finally starred in a movie. Moreover, the management of the school reacted favorably to this - Andrei was in good standing with them, and besides, the intercession of influential parents helped.

The director who revealed it to the viewer was Yuliy Raizman. The film was called “What if this is love?” This is what Mironov himself recalled about his work in it: “Although my role was very small, Yuliy Yakovlevich immediately asked me to come up with a biography for my hero. I plunged into the wonderful and very serious atmosphere of filming, which always accompanies the work of this wonderful director. The text of the role was small, and I tried to compensate for this in the breaks between filming: I made jokes, entertained the film crew as best I could - I tried my best. Once, after one of my jokes, Yuliy Yakovlevich came up and quietly said: “An artist should talk much less in life. Something needs to be left for the stage and the screen. Don’t waste yourself on nonsense!”
Theater of Satire

In 1962, Mironov graduated from the Shchukin Theater School. After graduation, Andrei dreamed of joining the troupe of the Vakhtangov Theater. However, they did not take him, which greatly upset the young man. For a long time Andrey could not decide which theater to choose. Everything was decided by chance. At one of the evenings in the house of playwright A. Arbuzov, where Andrei was with his parents, he met the director of the Satire Theater Valentin Pluchek. Having learned that Andrei had not yet chosen a place of work, Pluchek invited him to his place.

Although Andrei Mironov did not have the best opinion about this theater, he still showed up for the screening on the appointed day, and the management immediately liked it. Soon Mironov made his debut with the role of Garik in the play “24 Hours a Day”. Then came the roles of Tolstoy in The Sword of Damocles, TV director in Lev Gurych Sinichkin, Sylvester in The Tricks of Scapin, Prisypkin in The Bedbug. But Mironov’s real theatrical popularity began with the role of Jerboa in the play “The Convent” (1964).

Movie. 1971-1973

By this time, Andrei Mironov managed to star in one more film - in the film story “My Younger Brother” by Alexander Zarkhi. This was the actor's first serious film role. And soon the comedy “Three Plus Two” by Henrikh Oganisyan was released, in which Mironov played one of three friends, the veterinarian Roman.

And in the future, the actor’s cinematic fate developed well. Although he filmed not very often, he did so regularly. In 1965, Eldar Ryazanov invited him to appear in his film. Mironov got the role of the scoundrel Dima Semitsvetov in the comedy “Beware of the Car.” The film was a huge success, and Mironov's role was recognized by critics as one of the best in the film. But according to the director himself, this role in the script was written out in a very monochromatic manner, and it was the talent of our hero that made it possible to make a real masterpiece out of it.

In the same year, Mironov had an excellent opportunity to play another notable film role - in Marlen Khutsiev’s film “July Rain”. Unfortunately, the actor was not approved. Nevertheless, Mironov's popularity grew. Film roles followed one after another, and in each of them Mironov appeared in a completely different role. In the historical and biographical film by Grigory Roshal “A Year Like Life” (1966) he appeared before the audience in the image of Friedrich Engels, in Irina Povolotskaya’s ironic phantasmagoria “The Mysterious Wall” (1967) he played Sergeant Karpukhin, in the comedy by Alexei Korenev “Literature Lesson” (1968) ) - Felix and, finally, in the famous comedy by Leonid Gaidai “The Diamond Arm” - the swindler Gennady Kazadoev, nicknamed Count.

Surprisingly, it was the role of Kozodoev that made Mironov a favorite of the public. The actor played the role of this scoundrel so charmingly that no one could remain indifferent. Later, Mironov spoke about this role in the following way: “It is very bitter and difficult for me to come to terms with the idea that for the audience, I know this, my highest achievement in cinema is the film “The Diamond Arm.” It really hurts me a lot."

By the way, it was in “The Diamond Arm” that Mironov made his debut as a singer. He performed the song “Island of Bad Luck”. It is worth noting that Leonid Gaidai did not intend to include her in the film. He changed his mind only thanks to the advice of Yuri Nikulin, and for good reason - the song instantly became unusually popular, and Mironov, starting with this film, began to often perform songs, both in films and during creative evenings.

First marriage

In 1971, Andrei Mironov got married. His wife was the actress of the Satire Theater, 24-year-old Ekaterina Gradova, who played the role of radio operator Kat in the famous TV series “Seventeen Moments of Spring.”

Ekaterina Gradova recalled: “Our marriage was concluded out of great love. It was short, but not everything that is short does not have its traces and continuation. It happens that one moment grows into eternity, but dozens of years lived remain on earth. Our marriage was immortalized by the birth of our daughter Masha.

Daughter of actor Andrei Mironov and actress Ekaterina Gradova.

Andrey was very conservative in marriage. Brought up in the best traditions of the “family business,” he did not allow me to put on makeup, did not like a glass of wine or a cigarette in my hands, said that I should be “beautiful like the morning,” and the most my fingers should smell like were berries and perfume. He taught me to wash, cook and clean the way his mother did. He was a gentle husband and a handsome, funny father. Andrei was afraid to be alone with little Manechka. When I asked why, he answered: “I get lost when a woman cries.” I was very afraid to feed Masha porridge. He asked how to put a spoon in his mouth: “What, stick it like that?” And then he asked: “It’s better for you, and I’ll stand next to her and admire her...”

The marriage of Andrei Mironov and Ekaterina Gradova was short-lived. Already in 1974 they separated, and in 1976 they officially filed for divorce. Ekaterina Gradova admits: “Due to our youth, underestimation of certain values, and outside influences, we were unable to save the family. I only blame myself, because a woman should be stronger. The pride inherent in lack of spirituality prevented me from seeing the situation wisely, explaining some of the difficulties of family life with the special talent of my husband, his youth.”

Popularity

By the early 70s, Andrei Mironov’s popularity was incredible, and the actor continued to remain unusually modest and intelligent. Ekaterina Gradova recalls: “Andrei knew how to respect people, even when he encountered a drunken gentleman resting on the ground on the street, he had several kind words for him, with friendly humor. There is no arrogance or contempt; it seems to me that he could not overcome these colors on stage. And one more unique quality with his “stardom” is that he always doubted himself. There wasn’t a single role (in my life together) that, while rehearsing, he wouldn’t say: I’ll be cast. And he said this absolutely sincerely. And when I asked him: “You? Who can replace you?”, in response, he began to list the names of his theater comrades, sincerely believing that this could be a different interpretation, but he had already become boring and overplayed. This quality amazed me.

Andrey never said a bad word about a single person. Andrey had it in his blood: he was literally offended when gossip started. “Don’t take part in this, don’t discuss, don’t judge!”... We had such a case with him. In the theater they gave titles - Honored Artists, People's Artists. Andrey, who played the main repertoire, did not receive any title! I burned with anger and burst into a monologue, saying that many people got it, and your partner in many performances, Natasha Zashchipina, did too, but you didn’t! He looked up at me with his tender eyes and said: “Katenka! Natasha Zashchipina is a wonderful actress, I love and appreciate her very much and I will not allow you to offend her and drive a wedge between us!”

Movie. 1971-1973
Marquis

Since the early 70s, Andrei Mironov has been in great demand among film directors. In 1971, several films with his participation were released, including the heroic adventure film by Vladimir Bychkov “Property of the Republic”. In this film, he played one of his most romantic roles - a former court fencing teacher nicknamed the Marquis. Here Mironov was able to express practically himself - beautiful, kind and chaotic, passionate and secretly tender, a maximalist at heart, who does not recognize half-hearted deeds and feelings. And it is no coincidence that his hero instantly became the idol of the boys of that time. How masterfully he wielded a sword, how well he fought and shot! And his “Song about the Sword” instantly became a hit, came out on minion and sounded from almost every window.

In the same year, Mironov starred in Eldar Ryazanov’s comedy “Old Robbers.” The role of the thieves' henchman was episodic, but thanks to the actor's talent, it was played vividly and was remembered by the audience. And two years later, Ryazanov again invited Mironov to his comedy. Now for the main role. In the film “The Incredible Adventures of Italians and Russia” he played a lieutenant of the criminal investigation department

Acting works:

What if this is love? [1961]
My Little Brother [1962]
Three Plus Two [1963]
A Year Like Life [1965]
Beware of the Car [1966]
Three poplars on Plyushchikha [1967]
Mysterious Wall [1967]
Literature Lesson [1968]
Loving... [1968]
Diamond Arm [1969]
The Avenger [1969]
Two Smiles [1970]
Tricks [1970]
Grandma and the Circus [1970]
Hold on to the Clouds [1971]
Property of the Republic [1971]
Old Robbers [1971]
The Kid and Carlson, who lives on the roof [1971]
Shadow [1972]
The Incredible Adventures of Italians in Russia [1973]
Crazy Day, or The Marriage of Figaro [1973]
Lev Gurych Sinichkin [1974]
Straw Hat [1975]
Sky Swallows [1976]
Twelve chairs - M. Zakharov [1976]
Re-wedding [1976]
A step towards (several stories, funny and sad...) [1976]
An Ordinary Miracle [1977]
No special signs [1978]
Three in a Boat, Not Counting the Dog [1979]
The Collapse of Operation Terror [1980]
Be My Husband [1981]
Be My Husband... [1981]
A Tale of Wanderings [1982]
Faryatiev's Fantasies [1982]
Somewhere in the provincial garden [Something from provincial life] [1983]
I'm returning your portrait [1983]
Blonde Around the Corner [1984]
My friend Ivan Lapshin [1984]
Victory [1984]
The Man from the Boulevard des Capucines [1987]
Pathfinder [1987]

It is worth noting that in this film Andrei Mironov performed all the risky stunts himself, without an understudy. The Italian actors who starred in the film were shocked when they saw what the “crazy Russian” was doing. Mironov climbed out of the cab of the fire truck, moving at a speed of 60 km per hour, climbed along the emergency ladder to the roof of the Zhiguli driving under the stairs and climbed into the interior of the car. Even for a seasoned stuntman this was a difficult stunt.

No less complex and dangerous were other episodes in which Mironov had to participate during filming. He came down from a window on the 6th floor of the Astoria Hotel in Leningrad, holding the carpet with his hands, hanging over the Neva, grabbing the edges of a raised bridge at the height of a twenty-story building, and a steamer was floating below him...

The film “The Incredible Adventures of Italians in Russia” was released on the screens of the country in 1974 and instantly became one of the leaders at the box office - it took 4th place, attracting 49.2 million viewers at its sessions. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the public mainly went to Mironov. Therefore, it is no coincidence that on October 16 of the same year he was awarded the title of Honored Artist of the RSFSR.

After “The Italians,” Ryazanov began filming the comedy “The Irony of Fate, or Enjoy Your Bath!” Mironov was planned for the role of Ippolit, but the actor, after reading the script, suddenly refused this role and asked to play Zhenya Lukashin. Ryazanov could not refuse him. However, as soon as the auditions began, the director realized that this role was not for Mironov. At the auditions, the actor, hiding his eyes, shyly said: “I have never been successful with women... since school... We had a girl, Ira. I fell in love with her in the eighth grade... Then she married Pavel.” It was absolutely impossible to believe that some Ira could neglect such a guy as Mironov. As a result, the role went to Myagkov.

Second marriage

Andrei Mironov met Larisa Golubkina, an actress of the Central Theater of the Soviet Army, known throughout the country for her role as Shurochka Azarova in the film “The Hussar Ballad” in 1974. By that time, he had already left his first family, although the divorce had not yet been formalized. Golubkina also got married and gave birth to a daughter, by the way, also Maria.

Larisa Golubkina recalls: “Andrey gave me baskets of flowers while still at the institute. He proposed to me four times over ten years. And I said: “No!” Because I didn't want to get married. I told him: “Why are we getting married? I don’t love you and you don’t love me.” He said: “Then we will love. Let's get married and fall in love." And he achieved his goal... I married Andryusha when I was already over thirty, but I believe that this is my first marriage. Everything that happened before was simply not serious. And the shadow of Andrei’s first wife did not hover over us... Katya and I did not have any special friendship, but there were no special discords, thank you, Lord.”

Mironov adopted her daughter and thereby became the father of two Mashas: Masha Mironova and Masha Golubkina. Both of them later became famous actresses and prominent representatives of the capital's elite.
Andrei Mironov at his mother’s 75th birthday with his wife Larisa Golubkina and daughter Masha

Hostage of the image
In the 70s, Andrei Mironov acted in films especially a lot. Following “The Italians”, he starred in Alexander Balinsky’s television vaudeville “Lev Gurych Sinichkin”, Leonid Kvinikhidze’s musical comedies “Straw Hat” and “Sky Swallows”, in Mark Zakharov’s films “The Twelve Chairs” and “An Ordinary Miracle”, and in the films of Naum Birman "Step forward" and "Three in a boat, not counting the dog." All of them were well received by the audience, and still remain among the most beloved films.

However, as you can see, Mironov was offered mainly comedic roles, mostly musical ones. Many songs from these films performed by the actor immediately became hits, such as: “I’m getting married”, “My sail is turning white, so lonely”, “Butterfly with wings, blah blah blah”, etc. By the way, during the performance of songs Mironov often demonstrated the wonders of plasticity . How he danced during the performance of the song “Island of Bad Luck” in “The Diamond Arm”! And while performing the no less famous song about a butterfly in “An Ordinary Miracle,” he, sitting and crossing his legs, jumped up four times on his fifth point. Pearl of lightness! Even trained people know that it is not so simple.

It would seem – popularity, the adoration of the audience – what else does an actor need. But Mironov felt that the directors were not using his true potential. Ever since the films “Beware of the Car” and “The Diamond Arm” people have become accustomed to seeing him in the image of a frivolous adventurer. Directors ruthlessly exploited this image from picture to picture.

Occasionally there were roles of a different kind, for example, in “The Shadow” (1972) and “The Re-Wedding” (1976), but they were rather exceptions, and they can hardly be called great successes. Mironov said about his work in Georgy Nathanson’s melodrama “Re-Wedding”: “The audience is accustomed to the fact that I get mainly comedic roles. But in the film “Re-Wedding” I played a dramatic role. My hero leaves the family, then, in the finale, he returns back. And the woman with whom he hoped to find happiness commits suicide. Heroes of this kind are most often portrayed as crystal negative. Cynical, indifferent - in short, scoundrels. That's what happened in this film. Although, to be honest, I was striving for something else. After all, you can’t see only black or white in a person, you can’t be so categorical in assessing his actions... I tried to show that there is good in my hero. But when the shooting ended and the film was edited, I saw another person on the screen, I didn’t even believe it: all my efforts were in vain - as a result of the balance of power in the film, my hero, alas, looked like an incorrigible person.”

The lack of serious film roles weighed on Mironov. He dreamed of starring in Andrei Tarkovsky, but the director did not see “his” actor in him. Nikita Mikhalkov and other “serious” directors did not invite him. The actor himself, in an interview in the mid-70s, assessed his position in cinema as follows: “From the point of view of discovering new possibilities in myself, cinema gave me little... In the theater I am used in a variety of ways. In cinema it’s still very one-dimensional.”

Disease

The first serious signs of the disease in Mironov appeared in the late 70s. Once, during a tour in Bulgaria, a fortune teller in a restaurant told him: “You have achieved a lot, but this is not the limit. You will do a lot more that will surprise everyone. But remember, you are in very poor health. You must take care of it." Unfortunately, Mironov did not take this seriously (or maybe he simply could not - he was so obsessed with his work and creativity). In the fall of 1978, during a tour in Tashkent, he suffered his first cerebral hemorrhage. He was admitted to the hospital, where doctors made a sudden diagnosis of meningitis. In December, Mironov appeared on stage again in the role of Chatsky, and when this happened, the audience literally threw flowers at him. Fresh flowers in December!

In the early 80s, Mironov suddenly developed terrible boils all over his body. The illness was so severe that it was difficult for the actor to move. Mikhail Derzhavin said: “In “The Inspector General,” when he fell, Shura Shirvindt and I tried to contrive and catch him so as not to touch the sore spots under the knees and under the armpits. He suffered terribly. Expensive perfume drowned out the pharmaceutical smell of various ointments with which he saved himself. He was given a blood transfusion and autohemotherapy. But nothing helped..."

Andrei Mironov turned to the help of the famous Juna, but her abilities were not enough to cure the disease. In the end, Mironov decided on the most severe operation - lymphadenectomy: under general anesthesia, he had the lymph nodes removed in places where there was a chronic infection. The operation was difficult, but he endured it courageously. After it he felt a little better.

Cinema and theater in the 80s

The 80s were the most difficult years in the actor’s life. Despite his serious illness, he continued to work actively in cinema and theater, toured extensively throughout the country, collecting sold-out crowds everywhere.

Unfortunately, not all works of the 80s can be considered successful. Among the successful ones are roles filled with real lyricism in the films “Be My Husband”, “The Tale of Wanderings”, “My Friend Ivan Lapshin” and “The Man from the Boulevard des Capuchins”. In Alla Surikova’s comedy “Be My Husband,” he appeared in the role of a sensitive and tactful children’s doctor, Victor, who, while relaxing at the seaside, meets his love. In Alexander Mitta’s romantic parable “The Tale of Wanderings,” Mironov played Orlando, a cheerful and kind doctor, poet and philosopher who helps the girl Martha find her brother.

It’s worth mentioning separately about Alexei German’s film story “My Friend Ivan Lapshin.” A. Vislova wrote: “Mironov surprised many, although the innovative aesthetics of the film itself somewhat pushed into the background the impression of the actor’s role... Mironov entered this film very organically. So much so that the audience of the first viewings least of all thought that there was a popular actor on the screen among others. This was his victory, won in a duel with himself, with his own image in the cinema and with the audience, committed to frozen stereotypes of perception. The role of the writer Khanin, which was not immediately noted, in fact turned out to be perhaps his best film role.”

Andrei Mironov’s last film work was the role of Mr. Fest in Alla Surikova’s film “The Man from the Boulevard des Capucines. Moreover, the director took on this film only after she secured Mironov’s firm promise to star in the title role.

Composer Gennady Gladkov recalled how his filming went: “Andrey was sad, tired, often nervous, and dissatisfied with the filming. He was afraid to watch the footage and asked me: “Are you going to watch the material? Let’s agree: if you like it, call, and if not, then don’t call.” I was worried and tormented by a role with a pre-programmed ending. That’s why I played my role in this film seriously and with great mental pain.”

The film “The Man from Boulevard des Capucines” was released across the country in 1987 and became one of the box office leaders (2nd place, 39.8 million viewers). Such a widespread success for a film in which Mironov starred has not happened since The Diamond Arm. However, the actor himself never lived to see the peak of this success...

Last days

In the last year of his life, Mironov’s relationship with the main director of the Satire Theater, Valentin Nikolaevich Pluchek, worsened. Mironov at that time began staging the play “Shadow” at the theater, which greatly irritated Pluchek. This could not but affect Mironov’s peace of mind, and ultimately his health. On March 18, 1987, the long-awaited premiere took place, but, according to people who saw the performance, Mironov in the role of Klaverov was thoughtful and sad.

On August 5, Anatoly Papanov, with whom Mironov was friends and played many roles in theater and cinema, passed away.

The Satire Theater was on tour in Riga at that time. They were not allowed to interrupt the tour, and friends on stage could not see Papanov off on his last journey.

On August 14, Mironov played on the stage of the Riga Opera House in the play “The Marriage of Figaro.” The performance began without delay and moved smoothly until the 3rd act, 5th scene, the last phenomenon. Then the unexpected happened.

Alexander Shirvindt says: “Figaro: Yes! I know that a certain nobleman at one time was not indifferent to her, but either because he stopped loving her, or because she likes me more, today she prefers me...” These were the last words of Figaro, which he managed to say... After which, neglecting the logic of the relationship with the count, Figaro began to step back, leaned his hand on the twisted pattern of the gazebo and slowly, slowly began to weaken... The count, contrary to logic, hugged him and, in the aching silence of the auditorium, surprised fascinated by this “interpretation” of this scene, he carried Figaro backstage, managing to shout “Curtain!” “Shura, my head hurts,” these were the last words of Andrei Mironov, spoken by him on the stage of the Opera House in Riga and in life in general...”

The actors immediately called an ambulance. The unconscious artist was placed on a stretcher and taken to a city clinic. For two days, doctors fought for Mironov’s life, but medicine was powerless. On the morning of August 16, Mironov died as a result of a massive cerebral hemorrhage (he had a congenital cerebral aneurysm).

Mironov's funeral took place a few days later in Moscow. The theater management, again, as in the case of Papanov, did not cancel the tour and did not release the actors to the funeral.
Conclusion

Many actors openly admit (and this is rare in the acting industry) that Andrei Mironov was the best of them. Over the years this has become more and more obvious. Thanks to films and the memories of friends, he became a kind of collective image of the ideal type of artist, who was subject to all genres in cinema and theater. He was witty without vulgarity, he was capable of deep dramatic emotions without false pathos. Andrei Mironov was an amazingly bright person on stage and on screen...