Ivan Mozjukhin’s fame was similar to that of Charlie Chaplin or John Barrymore. He was a great actor of the “great mute.” Ivan Ilyich Mozjukhin was born on September 26, 1889 in the small village of Kondol, in the Saratov province, and later his family moved to Penza, where Ivan from childhood acted in amateur performances - his relatives were very artistic. After the gymnasium, the young man becomes a student of the law faculty of Moscow University. After graduating from the second year of university,
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Ivan Mozjukhin’s fame was similar to that of Charlie Chaplin or John Barrymore. He was a great actor of the “great mute.”
Ivan Ilyich Mozjukhin was born on September 26, 1889 in the small village of Kondol, in the Saratov province, and later his family moved to Penza, where Ivan from childhood acted in amateur performances - his relatives were very artistic.
After the gymnasium, the young man becomes a student of the law faculty of Moscow University. After graduating from the second year of university, Ivan goes “to actors”. His debut took place on the stages of provincial theaters, and then Ivan was accepted into the troupe of the Moscow Vvedensky People’s House.
Admirers of Mozjukhin’s talent spoke about the extraordinary power of his look – with his help he could express any feeling, easily changing the role of the hero-lover to the hero-villain, or the hero-comedian. Apparently, this explains the extraordinary success of Ivan Ilyich as an actor of silent cinema. On the set, the actor made his debut in 1911, starring in the paintings of Khanzhonkov’s company. This period includes his roles as violinist Trukhachevsky in Kreutzer Sonata (1911), Admiral Kornilov in Defense of Sevastopol (1911), Mavrushka in House in Kolomna (1913), Dr. Reno in Life in Death (1914).
Then he goes to the film studio of I. Ermolyev, where in tandem with Yakov Protazanov creates paintings that today are considered classics of silent cinema. Here he played the role of Herman in
"The Queen of Spades" (1916) and Prince Kasatsky in Father Sergius (1918). Known and his work in the theater Korsh and in the Free theater.
After the October Revolution, Mozjukhin, along with other actors of the film company “Association of I. Yermolyev”, left for France on the sea ship “Panther”. Here in the vicinity of Paris, in the town of Montroyer, the studio Albatross was formed, the leading actor of which was Ivan Mozjukhin. Together with him worked Alexander Volkov, Yakov Protazanov, Victor Turzhansky and Natalia Kovanko. In 1923, Mozjukhin made his debut as a director and screenwriter, directing the films Carnival Child and Keen. These light comedies were very liked by the French public. Then he played the main roles in the films “Lion of Mughals”, “The Late Matthias Pascal”, “Mikhail Strogov”, “Casanova”.
In 1926, Universal Pictures invited Mozjukhin to Hollywood, but this move did not bring success to the legendary actor. The producers forced him to change his name to Moskin and undergo plastic surgery, but the American public never accepted him.
After the appearance of sound cinema, the success of Mozjukhin completely declined. The only sound film to feature him was Sergeant X (1932). Ivan Mozjukhin died of consumption on January 17, 1939. His grave is located in the cemetery of Saint-Geneviève-de-Bois.