How Actor Yuri Yakovlev Lived in Ufa as a Courier

Russians have an unwritten tradition of rewatching Leonid Gaidai«s legendary film »Ivan Vasilyevich Changes Profession« before New Year. For decades, the charisma of the main character, played by Yuri Yakovlev, has captivated everyone. However, few know that the maestro lived in Ufa, worked here as a courier, and walked in shoes worn almost to dust — all information from the film actor»s memoirs and Sergei Sinenko«s book »Deep Rear.«

Yuri Yakovlev was born in 1928 in Moscow to lawyer Vasily, who had health disabilities, and nurse Olga Yakovlev. When the boy was four, his parents separated but did not start new families, continuing to meet only with each other. As he grew up, Yuri realized that this was done as a cover. The family background was enviable — his father was simply trying to protect his dearest people from repression: his paternal grandfather was a well-known shoe manufacturer in Voronezh, and his maternal grandfather owned a butter factory in Taganrog.

Yuri experienced World War II at the age of 13 — his family was evacuated to Bashkiria, to the village of Tolbazy. They worked in the fields, tending to the kok-saghyz plant — at that time, rubber was made from it.

«It resembled a dandelion,» Yuri Yakovlev recalled, «and we were like cotton pickers: we collected the flowers by hand and put them in a sack. We didn»t meet the quota out of habit, but nevertheless, we had some earnings in the form of food.«

Despite the hardships, little Yura did not become hardened or hate the place of forced stay — he was amazed by the nature of the unfamiliar region: in those days, our republic was called the «Bashkir Switzerland.»

«We sailed on a steamboat up the Ufimka River, and I remember my childhood impressions of the completely amazing beauties on both banks of the river. There was such a state that all hardships were forgotten, and we marveled at the nature,» the actor recalled.

Later, the family moved to Ufa and rented a small room on Vokzalnaya Gora — in the Antonov Street area, which offers a beautiful view of the railway station. His father got a job as a legal consultant, and his mother as a nurse in a hospital, while Yuri sold his belongings, such as tin soldiers, for «seven or eight good potatoes.»

«Had to Walk Around the City Barefoot»

Later, the boy joined his mother at the hospital, but he treated, as they say, not physical wounds but spiritual ones — he read poetry for a hospital ration and helped wash bandages. The salary wasn«t enough, so the boy took on work as a courier — delivering documents to institutions. »Messenger of Bashkombank,« the actor called himself. He worked so much that his boots quickly wore out, »only the canvas upper remained,« he had to throw the pair away, and there was no money for new ones.

«I had cloth shoes… From constant wear, the sole was so worn that, one could say, I walked barefoot. In rainy weather, in the bank on the parquet and on the beautiful cast-iron steps, I left my footprints. One worker saw this and gave me shoes — wooden clogs. They were very sturdy but uncomfortable, I couldn»t get used to them. And so I delivered state documents barefoot,« the actor recalls years later in his autobiography.

In 1943, the family returned to Moscow, but 52 years later, the artist found himself in Ufa again, now on tour, as a very famous actor.

«Anxiously, I blurted out that this city sheltered us in the difficult war years. The hospitable hosts instantly provided me with a car, kindly allowed me to take my theater colleague, Vasily Semyonovich Lanovoy, with me, and accompanied by two correspondents from the republican newspaper, sent me on a journey to my memorable places,» Yuri Yakovlev recalled in his memoirs.

The city, according to him, had changed greatly — not at all like the Ufa of the war years. But then a familiar house, a square, an alley flashed by, and the actor immersed himself in memories. He told his colleague about everything, who listened with great interest. Yuri Vasilyevich even saw the bank where he once worked as a messenger. Then the team presented him with… shoes, fashionable ones, Italian. In response, years later, the actor gifted his autobiographical book «Album of My Fate.» On the title page is the author«s handwritten signature:

«To the dear team of the National Bank from a colleague of 1942. I wish you success and happiness!»

The actor died on November 30, 2013, from heart failure. But every year, films with his participation, namely «Ivan Vasilyevich Changes Profession» and «The Irony of Fate…,» are rewatched before New Year.

Do you remember the film «Ivan Vasilyevich Changes Profession» well? Take a quiz of 10 questions and test your knowledge.

Speaking of the film: that very Shurik, or rather, Alexander Demyanenko, was born in neighboring Sverdlovsk. Our colleagues from E1.RU learned about the life of an ordinary student before the start of a brilliant acting future, even found his file in the university archives from which he was expelled.