Yury Tymoshenko

Yury Trochymovych Tymoshenko (Ю́рій Трохи́мович Тимоше́нко; 2 June 1919, Poltava, UNR – 1 December 1986, Uzhgorod, Ukrainian SSR, USSR) was a Ukrainian Soviet actor, film director, screenwriter and spoken word artist. He was winner of the Stalin Prize (1950) and People's Artist of the Ukrainian SSR (1960).

Biography
On stage since 1940. During the Soviet-German war, he performed together with Efim Berezin at the front as part of the song and dance ensemble of the South-Western Front. At first, they performed as cook Galkin (Berezin) and bath attendant Mochalkin (Tymoshenko).

After the war, from 1946 in the Ukrainian Republican stage (from 1959  Ukrkoncert). In 1950, he received the Stalin Prize for the role of soldier Kostyantyn Zaichenko in the film "The Fall of Berlin". For some time, he performed monologues under the nickname Bublyk, until Oleksandr Dovzhenko offered him the nickname of the policeman Tarapunka. The name comes from the Tarapunka River in Poltava, where Tymoshenko spent his childhood. Berezina was offered the pseudonym Shtepsel, because at that time he played the role of an electrician. This duet was popular for 40 years and was also adapted into a movie.

He was married to actresses Olga Kusenko and Yulia Pashkovskaya. He was awarded four orders and medals.

Died of a heart attack while on tour. He was buried in Kyiv at Baikove Cemetery (plot No. 31).

Literature

 * Robert Vickers. Yuri Timoshenko and Efim Berezin. — M.: Art, 1982. —  224 p. —  (Masters of the Soviet stage). — 25,000 copies