Vladimir Korenev (1940-2021)

Last Saturday, 2 January 2021, Russian film and theatre actor Vladimir Korenev (1940) passed away. In the 1960s, the handsome Korenev became a sex symbol in the Soviet Union when he played the lead role of Ichthyander in the film Chelovek-Amfibiya/The Amphibian Man (1962). Korenev was awarded People's Artist of Russia (1998). The 80-year-old Korenev died of complications from COVID-19.


Russian postcard, no 6216. Photo: G. Vajlja.

The Stanislavsky Electrotheatre

Vladimir Borisovich Korenev (Russian: Влади́мир Бори́сович Ко́ренев) was born in 1940, in Sevastopol, in the family of Rear Admiral Boris Leonidovich Korenev.

He lived in Izmail until his family moved to Tallinn, where he became interested in literature and theatre. Classmate Larisa Luzhina led Vladimir to the drama club, directed by Ivan Danilovich Rossomahin. The circle also engaged Vitali Konyayev, Igor Yasulovich, and Lillian Malkina.

In 1957 he enrolled in GITIS in the studio of Gregory Konskiy and Olga Androvskaya. In 1961, Mikhail Yanshin, leader of the Stanislavsky Electrotheatre (Moscow Drama Theatre) invited him to join the troupe of the theatre.

Korenev became famous when he played the lead role of Ichthyander opposite Anastasiya Vertinskaya in the Science-Fiction romance Chelovek-Amfibiya/The Amphibian Man (Vladimir Chebotaryov, Gennadi Kazansky, 1961). The film sold up to 100 million admissions and the handsome Korenev became known as a sex symbol in the Soviet Union.

He also appeared in such films as the romance Svet dalyokoy zvezdy/The Light of a Distant Star (Ivan Pyrev, 1965), the comedy Deti Don-Kikhota/Children of Don Quixote (Yevgeny Karelovm 1966) and the war film Osvobozhdenie/Liberation (Yuri Ozerov, 1970).

He also played in the romantic comedy Mnogo shuma iz nichego/Much Ado About Nothing (Samson Samsonov, 1973) based on William Shakespeare's play of the same name.


Soviet postcard by Izdanije Byuro Propogandy Sovietskogo Kinoiskusstva, no. A-10226, 1965. This postcard was printed in an edition of 50.000 cards. The price was 8 kop.


Soviet postcard by Izdanije Byuro Propogandy Sovietskogo Kinoiskusstva, no. M-16396, 1964. This postcard was printed in an edition of 150.000 cards. The price was 8 kop.

Dinosaurs of the 20th Century

In the 1980s, he continued to appear in the theatre and cinema, but also on television. In 1988 he appeared in the two-part television crime drama Kriminalnyy talant/Сriminal Talent (Sergey Ashkenazi, 1988), a screen version of the same story by Stanislav Rodionov.

His later films include Dinozavry XX veka/Dinosaurs of the 20th Century (Khabib Faiziyev, 1990), and the war drama Neizvestnye stranitsy iz zhizni razvedchika (Vladimir Chebotaryov, 1991). He also had a role in the 16-part television series Deti Arbata/Children of the Arbat (Julia Damsker, Valentin Chernykh, 2004), based on the 'Children of the Arbat' trilogy by Anatoly Rybakov.

By 2015 Korenev had become the artistic director of the Faculty of Theatre Arts Abbot. In 2020 Korenev was diagnosed positive with COVID-19.

Vladimir Korenev died of complications from COVID-19 on 2 January 2021 in Moscow. Since 1961, he was married to actress Aleftina Konstantinova. Their daughter, Irina Koreneva, followed her father in his footsteps, and she joined the troupe of the Stanislavsky Electrotheatre in 1992. Irina has a son, Egor Korenev, who, with his wife Darya, has a daughter, Mariya (2017).

Vladimir Korenev's last screen appearance as the King in the film Bezumnyy angel Pinokkio/The Crazy Angel Pinocchio (Boris Yukhananov, 2021) will be premiered posthumously.


Soviet postcard by Izdanije Byuro Propogandy Sovietskogo Kinoiskusstva, no. M-14473, 1965. This postcard was printed in an edition of 150.000 cards. The price was 8 kop.


Soviet postcard by Izdanije Byuro Propogandy Sovietskogo Kinoiskusstva. This postcard was printed in an edition of 200.000 cards. The price was 5 kop. Vladimir Korenev in Mnogo shuma iz nichego/Much Ado About Nothing (Samson Samsonov, 1973).

Sources: Wikipedia and IMDb.