The voices behind famous Soviet movie characters (45 photos)

Thanks to the brilliant actors who played roles in Soviet films, we all know the voices of many movie characters. But would it surprise you to learn that many of these characters were voiced by completely different people? Sometimes, voices were changed at the behest of the director, which often resulted in real scandals, and sometimes, by fate and chance.







"Kidnapping, Caucasian Style, or Shurik's New Adventures," 1967, directed by Leonid Gaidai. Nina by Natalya Varley. Voiced by Nadezhda Rumyantseva.





“The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn”, 1981, directed by Stanislav Govorukhin. Injun Joe - Talgat Nigmatulin. Voiced by Nikolai Karachentsov.



“Scarlet Sails”, 1961, director Alexander Ptushko. Assol - Anastasia Vertinskaya. Voiced by Nina Gulyaeva.

Nastya was 15 years old and couldn't voice her character professionally. So the director invited me to do the voiceover," said actress Nina Gulyaeva. "I worked closely with Ptushko and helped many young actresses!"



"The Elusive Avengers," 1966, directed by Edmond Keosayan. Sidor Lyuty played by Vladimir Treshchalov. Voiced by Evgeny Vesnik.



“Anna Pavlova”, 1983, directed by Emil Loteanu. Anna Pavlova - Galina Belyaeva. Voiced by Elena Proklova.



“The Irony of Fate, or Enjoy Your Bath!”, 1975, director Eldar Ryazanov. Nadya Sheveleva - Barbara Brylska. Voiced by Valentina Talyzina.



"The Diamond Arm," 1968, directed by Leonid Gaidai. Anna Sergeyevna – Svetlana Svetlichnaya. Voiced by Zoya Tolbuzina.

Gaidai made this decision because he felt Svetlichnaya's voice didn't suit the character. He wanted to make Anna Sergeyevna's voice sexier and more mysterious. Svetlichnaya had an open, simple pronunciation, and in those days, Svetlichnaya slightly drew out her vowels and had a distinct accent. What was needed was the voice of a vamp. And that's exactly what they found.



"A Hero of Our Time," 1965-1966, directed by Stanislav Rostotsky. Grigory Pechorin played by Vladimir Ivashov. Voiced by Vyacheslav Tikhonov.

The film was completed in late autumn, and Ivashov had to do numerous takes, falling from a boat into icy water. The actor caught a cold and lost his voice. To avoid disrupting the film's release schedule, Rostotsky, with Ivashov's permission, approached Tikhonov. Thus, Pechorin spoke with the voice of the future Stirlitz.



"King Lear", 1970, director Grigory Kozintsev. Lear, King of Britain - Yuri Yarvet. Voiced by Zinovy ​​Gerdt.



“Pokrovsky Gate”, 1982, director Mikhail Kozakov. Savelich, the grandfather of the little violinist, is Emmanuel Geller. Voiced by Georgy Vitsin.



“Come Tomorrow”, 1962, director Evgeny Tashkov. Nikolai Vasilievich - Anatoly Papanov. Voiced by Evgeny Tashkov.



“The Tale of Wanderings”, 1982, directed by Alexander Mitta. Martha - Tatyana Aksyuta. Voiced by Marina Neyolova.



"Pathfinder," 1987, directed by Pavel Lyubimov. Portrayed by Andrei Mironov. Voiced by Alexei Neklyudov.

Unfortunately, Andrei Mironov did not have time to finish filming and dubbing his role in "Pathfinder."



"Dog in the Manger," 1977, directed by Jan Frid. Ottavio, the majordomo, played by Fyodor Nikitin. Voiced by Alexander Demyanenko.



"Solaris," 1972, directed by Andrei Tarkovsky. Chris Kelvin played by Donatas Banionis. Voiced by Vladimir Zamansky.



"The Cook," 1965, directed by Edmond Keosayan. Andrei Pchyolka played by Vladimir Vysotsky. Voiced by Edmond Keosayan.



“The Trust That Broke,” 1982, directed by Alexander Pavlovsky. Andy Tucker - Regimantas Adomaitis. Voiced by Alexander Demyanenko.



“Amphibian Man”, 1961, directors Vladimir Chebotarev, Gennady Kazansky. Ichthyander Salvator - Vladimir Korenev. Voiced by Yuri Rodionov.



“12 Chairs”, 1971, directed by Leonid Gaidai. Ostap Bender - Archil Gomiashvili. Voiced by Yuri Sarantsev.

Archil Gomiashvili missed the film's dubbing due to illness. Archil Gomiashvili was completely displeased with Yuri Sarantsev's voice acting for Ostap Bender. During a meeting, Gomiashvili once told Leonid Gaidai that he would never have starred in his film had he known about the director's intentions. Leonid Gaidai immediately replied that if he had known such a conflict would arise, he would never have cast him in the lead role. After this scandal, they didn't speak for quite some time.



"Cruel Romance," 1983, directed by Eldar Ryazanov. Larisa Ogudalova played by Larisa Guzeeva. Voiced by Anna Kamenkova.

Ryazanov was simply afraid to entrust the voice acting to a young and inexperienced actress, Guzeeva, with whom he was already dissatisfied. He was actually afraid that Guzeeva wouldn't cope and would ruin the role. Kamenkova, in a way, fixed everything.



"The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson," 1980, directed by Igor Maslennikov. Professor Moriarty is played by Viktor Evgrafov. Voiced by Oleg Dal.

Viktor Evgrafov is a stuntman by profession. He played the role brilliantly. However, due to his lack of experience, Igor Maslennikov invited Oleg Dal to voice him.



“Formula of Love”, 1984, director Mark Zakharov. Count Cagliostro - Nodar Mgaloblishvili. Voiced by Armen Dzhigarkhanyan.



“The meeting place cannot be changed,” 1979, director Stanislav Govorukhin. Varya Sinichkina - Natalya Danilova. Voiced by Natalya Rychagova.

Natalya Danilova is still upset with Stanislav Govorukhin for casting actress Natalya Rychagova, the star of the film "Officers," to voice Sergeant Sinichkina in the film "The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed." But the director's reluctance is understandable: the actress's low, sexy voice was completely unsuited to the heroine's romantic image.



"Seventeen Moments of Spring," 1973, directed by Tatyana Lioznova. Martin Borman played by Yuri Vizbor. Voiced by Anatoly Solovyov.

Because Vizbor's voice was soft and gentle, he had to be dubbed by another actor in the film—Soloviev from the Film Actor's Theater.



"Seventeen Moments of Spring," 1973, directed by Tatyana Lioznova. Helmut Kalder played Otto Melis. Voiced by Evgeny Zharikov.



"D'Artagnan and the Three Musketeers," 1979, directed by Georgy Yungvald-Khilkevich. Irina Alferova as Constance. Voiced by Anastasia Vertinskaya.

Nastya Vertinskaya voiced Bonacieux. And she did it simply superbly. With such a trembling voice. Because she herself was in love. At the time, she was having an affair with Misha Kozakov, who voiced the cardinal. They didn't hide their feelings. I feel guilty towards Irina Alferova also because I tailored the role to her voice. Nastya Vertinskaya's timbre, that sound, so high and ringing, perfectly suited the character of Bonacieux. Only her appearance remained Alferova's. But you can't do that. Directorial dictatorship is dangerous for cinema.



"D'Artagnan and the Three Musketeers," 1979, directed by Georgy Yungvald-Khilkevich. Aramis - Igor Starygin. Voiced by Igor Yasulovich.

One of the actors recommended Starygin to me for the role of Aramis. True, it wasn't he who voiced the part, but Igor Yasulovich. We re-dubbed it with Starygin's permission. Starygin has a slight speech impediment, even pleasant in real life, but it shouldn't have been in the film. After all, Aramis is perfection, "rafiné." He and Yasulovich had a conversation. And their voices were almost identical during the dubbing. Yasulovich deliberately imitated Igor. And that's how the character came about.



"D'Artagnan and the Three Musketeers," 1979, directed by Georgy Yungvald-Khilkevich. Cardinal Richelieu by Alexander Trofimov. Voiced by Mikhail Kozakov.

Trofimov had a heavy voice, a drawling manner of speech. But what was needed here was a man of the world, irritable and self-sufficient. Trofimov stutters a bit in real life. In voice-over work, as in singing, such people usually stop stuttering. But Trofimov lacked this social impudence. Misha Kozakov, however, carried all this off brilliantly with his voice. It was important to me that this tall, dark figure speak exactly like that.



"D'Artagnan and the Three Musketeers," 1979, directed by Georgy Yungvald-Khilkevich. The Abbess – Valentina Klimenko. Voiced by Liya Akhedzhakova.

Akhedzhakova's voice has a naiveté that was exactly what I needed. It's present in all her roles. And that's what gave her character so much charm. Before "The Three Musketeers," she voiced a fourteen-year-old girl in the film "Petka in Space," the main character, Mayka. We've had an old friendship. She wasn't so famous back then. But by the time we were filming "The Three Musketeers," she had already achieved fame. And yet, she still didn't refuse me the opportunity to voice her. It's a shame it wasn't mentioned in the credits earlier. Akhedzhakova was a superb voice actress.



"TASS is Authorized to Announce," 1984, directed by Vladimir Fokin. John Glabb as Vakhtang Kikabidze. Voiced by Konstantin Stepankov.



"Midshipmen, Forward!", 1987, directed by Svetlana Druzhinina. Alexander Belov as Sergei Zhigunov. Voiced by Oleg Menshikov.



"At Home Among Strangers, a Stranger Among Home," 1974, directed by Nikita Mikhalkov. Nikolai Kungurov as Alexander Porokhovshchikov. Voiced by Igor Kvasha.



“Sky Swallows”, 1976, director Leonid Kvinikhidze. Fernand Champlatray - Sergei Zakharov. Voiced by Oleg Basilashvili.



“They Fought for the Motherland”, 1975, director Sergei Bondarchuk. Pyotr Fedotovich Lopakhin - Vasily Shukshin. Voiced by Igor Efimov.

Vasily Shukshin, as is well known, died during the filming of "They Fought for Their Country." Since he only managed to appear in a few scenes, director Sergei Bondarchuk tried to find actors who could complete the film without cutting Shukshin's scenes. Yuri Solovyov, an actor from the Pushkin Theater, finished filming for Shukshin. He even wore the same tunic Shukshin wore on set. Igor Efimov voiced the entire role for Shukshin.



"The Cold Summer of '53...", 1987, directed by Alexander Proshkin. Nikolai Pavlovich Starobogatov, "Kopalych" - Anatoly Papanov. Voiced by Igor Efimov.

In 1987, Anatoly Papanov, who played Kopalych in "The Cold Summer of '53," died before finishing the film. Efimov's voiceover for the role was so accurate that it was impossible to distinguish between the actors' voices.



"The Dog in the Manger," 1977, directed by Yan Frid. Tristan - Armen Dzhigarkhanyan. Voiced by Igor Efimov.



"The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson," 1979-1986, directed by Igor Maslennikov. Inspector Lestrade: Borislav Brondukov. Voiced by Igor Efimov.

I was faced with the task of finding a comedic, funny actor for the role of Lestrade, because that's exactly how he was portrayed in the script. It turned out that all our comedians are very idiosyncratic, and finding an "Englishman" was quite a challenge. Typologically, they seem okay, but as soon as they start acting, they immediately become un-English. But Brondukov was both a comedic character and, as I thought, an international one. We met, but he immediately said, "What kind of Englishman am I? I have a Ukrainian accent!" I said we could re-dub. Even back then, there was an ethical norm that you couldn't re-dub the performer's voice without the performer's permission. Then Borya said, "It would be wonderful if it was Igor Yefimov." Besides Lestrade, Yefimov voiced Marker, Major Sholto, Dr. Grimsby Roylott, and the charioteer Perkins in these films.



"Solaris," 1972, directed by Andrei Tarkovsky. Snaut – Yuri Yarvet. Voiced by Vladimir Tatosov.



“Stalker”, 1978, directed by Andrei Tarkovsky. Professor - Nikolai Grinko. Voiced by Sergei Yakovlev.



"A Man Is Born," 1956, directed by Vasily Ordynsky. Nadya Smirnova played by Olga Bgan. Voiced by Lyudmila Gurchenko.

Lyudmila Gurchenko auditioned for the role of Nadya Smirnova, but the artistic council rejected her. Gurchenko then convinced director Vasily Ordynsky to let her voice the role.



"The Invisible Man," 1984, directed by Alexander Zakharov. Camp voiced by Romualdas Ramanauskas. Voiced by Sergei Malishevsky.



“Above the Rainbow”, 1986, directed by Georgy Yungvald-Khilkevich. Alik Raduga - Dmitry Maryanov. Voiced by Dmitry Kharatyan.



"The Adventures of Electronics", 1979, directed by Konstantin Bromeberg. Syroezhkin - Yuri Torsuev. Voiced by Irina Grishina.



"The Adventures of Electronics", 1979, directed by Konstantin Bromeberg. Electronics - Vladimir Torsuev. Voiced by Nadezhda Podyapolskaya.



“The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn”, 1981, directed by Stanislav Govorukhin. Huckleberry Finn - Vladislav Galkin. Voiced by Alexandra Nazarova.