Orlenev Pavel Nikolaevich (1869-1932), actor

Categories / Art/Music, Theatre/Personalia
ORLENEV (real last name Orlov) Pavel Nikolaevich (1869-1932), actor, People's Artist of the Republic (1926). He studied at the Moscow Imperial Theatre School (1885-86; undergraduate). In 1886-93, he worked in province and in 1893-95 - in the Theatre of Fedor Korsh in Moscow. He toured in St. Petersburg from 1893. In 1895-1900 he played in the Literary Society of the Theatre. From 1900, he became a touring actor. As such, he performed in the same theatre (1901), the New Theatre of Vera Nemetti (1903 and 1904), the Liteiny Theatre (1909), the Petrograd branch of the Theatre of Konstantin Nezlobin (1917), the Large Hall of Conservatory and the Theatre of Academic Drama (1924), the Teatre Comedia, people's houses and workers' clubs (1926). At first, he was mostly playing vaudeville simpletons, but the Literary Society Theatre gave him an opportunity to succeed in the tragic line of business and play Tsar Fedor Ioanovich in Alexey Tolstoy's play (1898), Raskolnikov in Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment (1899) and Dmitry Karamazov in Karamazov Brothers (1901), and Lorenzo Medici in Alfred de Musset's Lorenzaccio (1900). The above roles kept in his repertoire to the very end of his theatre career. He originated the neurotic type in the Russian theatre and based his playing on his own acute feelings. Too often, psychological naturalism of his role bordered on the verge of clinical psychopathology (for example, Oswald of Henrik Ibsens' Gosts, 1904). Orlenev preferred to play restless, suffering, and tragically divided persons which determined his repertoire at the turn on the 20th century. Orlenev kept this repertoire almost unchanged. Among his other famous roles were Rozhnov in Viktor Krylov's Grief – An Evil Happiness, Arnold Kramer in Hauptmann's Mikael Kramer, Arkashka in Alexander Ostrovsky's Forest, Brand in Ibsen's Brand, Pavel I in Dmitry Merezhkovsky's Pavel I, and Nakhman in Evgeny Chirikov's Jews. He was among first Russian actors to tour Europe and the Northern America (1904-06 and 1911-12). In 1913-15, he played in films: Raskolnikov in Crime and Punishment (1913), Feodor Ioannovich in Tsar Fedor Ioannovich (1914), Oswald in Ghosts and Brand in Brand (1915). He left his memoirs Life and Creation of Actor Pavel Orlenev Described by Himself.

References: Кугель А. Р. Театральные портреты. Л., 1967. С. 243-264; Мацкин А. П. Орленев. М., 1977.

A. A. Kirillov. Chirikov Evgeny Nikolaevich
Dostoevsky Fedor Mikhailovich
Hauptmann Gerhard
Ibsen Henrik
Korsch Fedor Adamovich
Krylov Viktor Alexandrovich
Merezhkovsky Dmitry Sergeevich
Musset Alfred de
Nemetti (Linskaya-Nemetti ) Vera Alexandrovna
Nezlobin Konstantin Nikolaevich
Orlenev (real name Orlov) Pavel Nikolaevich
Ostrovsky Alexander Nikolaevich
Tolstoy Alexey Konstantinovich, Count
Кугель А. Р. П. Н. Орленев // Кугель А. Р. Театральные портреты. Л., 1967
Мацкин А. П. Орленев. М., 1977 Literary and Artistic Society Theatre
Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory
Alexandrinsky Theatre