Mark Bernes - history of the Soviet artist

Mark Bernes is known as an outstanding actor, as well as a legend of the USSR pop scene! The winner of the Stalin Prize of the first degree, the favourite idol of the Soviet public and just a talented chansonnier - this outstanding man is the author of timeless song classics of bygone years... Each of his works is full of sincerity and life... Bernes' songs warmed the heart of soldiers in the war, giving strength and inspiring faith....

The beginning of the journey

Mark Bernes (born Neiman) was born in the autumn of 1911 in the city of Nezhin in the Russian Empire. The Neiman family was practical, and therefore the son had high hopes... Having moved to Kharkov, Mark was given to the trade and industrial school. However, even then the boy's soul belonged to the stage...

To get at least one step closer to his dream, 16-year-old Mark worked part-time as a poster boy. To his great surprise, it was not long before he had the honour of building a theatrical career! The young star made his debut in 1928 at the Mussoorie Theatre.

Mark changed his surname closer to the 1930s. After graduating from theatre courses, the guy went to conquer Moscow... At first he had to spend the night right at the Kursk railway station... It is not known how many more nights the guy would have had to sleep in such conditions, if not for the porter who directed Mark to the Maly Theatre! At first, the Soviet pop star lived in a dressing room....

Career: Film, stage...

Bernes made his debut in cinema in the mid-30s, in the film "Prisoners". On the set he got not by chance, but by acquaintance with Mikhail Astangov. Actually, thanks to his comrade Mark performed the role of the spy Krasovsky in the film "Miners" and the Red Army in the film "Man with a Gun". Thus, the image of a boy with a harpoon and machine-gun ribbons made the 26-year-old Bernes famous throughout the Soviet Union! A little later, Bernes' success was consolidated in the film "The Fighters", where he performed "To a distant land a comrade flies away"....

"Mark was the only one on set who worked with both the poet and the composer! There were days when he would say, 'This needs to be changed'. And his comments were always useful... He had such a fine sense of music..." - Eduard Kolmanovsky recalled.

It should be emphasised that Bernes with great responsibility approached the embodiment of each of his new role. For example, for the film "Two Fighters" he specially learnt a unique speech! It did not do without an inexperienced hairdresser, who horribly cut the actor ... However, such a reincarnation is very pleased with the director Leonid Lukov! And the audience too... And the song "Dark Night", which sounded in the film, touched the viewer to the core, was written literally on the fly - at night, before filming the episode "Zemlyanka"! Later they told how the studio staff cried when they heard this piece for the first time....

"Yay, Bernays!"

- This was the name of the club founded by Mark's female fans in the 60s... By the way: during his long career, Bernes starred in almost 40 films! He started performing legendary compositions on stage in the first half of the 1940s. In the capital about Mark Bernes spoke only after the end of the war. Continuing his film acting activity, Mark helped to create 80 (at least) songs that became all-union favourite hit singers!

Vladimir Vysotsky himself once said:

"What he has been pulling off on stage is the ideal I dream of as a performer..."

However... like many geniuses, Bernes had a rather difficult character, which even earned him the title of "finicky Mark". But no one could resist his unique style of performance: neither composers, nor directors, nor the audience... "I love you, life" - after Bernes, these timeless melodies were sung by the whole Soviet Union!

It's not all smooth sailing...

However, Bernes' career did not go as smoothly as it may seem today... On the threshold of the 60s, the artist was accused of writing "vulgar" music! And breaking traffic rules was seen as "behaviour unworthy of a Soviet artist". Fortunately for the singer's fans, the disgrace lasted only a few years! Already in the early 60's, the phenomenal voice with a recognisable hoarseness sounded again throughout the USSR!

"He sang not with his voice, but with his heart..." - The novel Carmen.

During the same period, Bernes gave his fans the famous "The Enemies Burned the Motherland" in a new version. The tragic story shocked the listeners... Actually, it could not be otherwise, when the melody from the artist's repertoire was just beginning to sound... "Do Russians Want War", "I Work a Magician", "Where the Motherland Begins", "Cranes" - each of these works became an anthem for the Soviet listener.

"He did not complicate the simple, and he did not simplify the complex... He united the moment with eternity..." - said Rasul Gamzatov.

The legendary composition "It seems to me sometimes that soldiers, / From the bloody fields that have not come..." became the last in Bernays' repertoire...

Personal life

Despite his dizzying success, throughout his life Bernes remained a modest man. He also proved himself a reliable head of the family. By the way: the artist had only two official marriages. Unfortunately, his first wife - Polina Linetskaya - died very young. The girl left Mark a three-year-old daughter Natalia ...

When the girl went to the first grade, Mark met Lilia Bodrova, who eventually became his second wife. The couple met at school, as Lilia's son, Jean, was a classmate of Natalia... It is worth noting that at that time the woman was married. However, true love knows no barriers! So... very soon after meeting Lilia told Lucien, her husband, that she was leaving him and going to Bernays. Lilia's husband was a well-to-do man, plus - a real "womaniser" as they say. Bodrova did not want to put up with it, and taking her son - immediately moved to live with Mark. Subsequently, the couple signed. All his life, the artist perceived Jean as a native son....

The lovers never parted even when they were on tour! The woman always accompanied the star husband... Once Bernes went on tour to Poland without Lilia. And whether it was a coincidence, but soon he became seriously ill... Then Bodrova was immediately summoned to Poland!

The last years of his life...

Celebrating his 50th Jubilee, the artist continued to create, regularly replenishing his repertoire with new works... And, it would seem, nothing seemed to portend trouble, as suddenly...

At the end of the concert Bernays became ill. The artist went backstage and... fell unconscious. He was promptly taken to the hospital, where a terrible diagnosis was made: lung cancer....

Shortly before his death, the artist managed to write the legendary hit "Cranes", to the verses of Rasul Gamzatov. The composition was dedicated to all those soldiers who did not return from the war...

Mark Bernays died in August 1969. It was as if the artist had a premonition of his own death, because of which he gave an order in advance about his funeral. Bernes asked to refrain from farewell speeches and funeral marches... The singer insisted that only his best hits be played at the farewell ceremony....

After the death of her husband, Lilia was left alone, with two 16-year-old teenagers in her arms... She never settled her personal life. When Jean and Natalia grew up, they went their separate ways... The woman was left alone. In 2006 her ...

Conclusion...

It is very difficult, if not impossible, to assess the contribution of this man to the development of Soviet pop music... However, it is even more difficult to put into words the love and devotion of his fans, who expected new songs and roles from him... During his lifetime Bernays was never awarded the title of People's Artist of the USSR... Although... what does it matter now, if he became a native for millions of people? A historical great personality, whose voice led soldiers to victory and ordinary people to new achievements!