Leonid Kanevsky

{{Family name hatnote|Semyonovich|Kanevsky (disambiguation){{!}}Kanevsky|lang=Eastern Slavic}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Leonid Kanevsky

| image = Леонид Каневский (cropped).jpg

| imagesize =

| caption = Leonid Kanevsky in 2023

| native_name = לאוניד קנבסקי

| native_name_lang = he

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1939|5|2}}

| death_date =

| birth_place = Kiev, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union

| death_place =

| birth_name =

| spouse = Anna Berezina

| partner =

| yearsactive = 1961–present

| occupation =

| website =

}}

Leonid Semyonoviсh Kanevski ({{langx|uk|Леонід Семенович Каневський}}, {{langx|ru|Леони́д Семёнович Кане́вский}}, {{Langx|he|לאוניד קנבסקי}}; 2 May 1939, Kyiv, Ukrainian SSR USSR[http://www.kp.ru/daily/24478/636289/ Дмитрий Медведев наградил Леонида Каневского орденом Дружбы]) is a Soviet, Russian and Israeli actor. He became popular with the Soviet audience after starring in The Investigation Is Conducted by ZnaToKi detective series where he appeared as major Tomin.

Biography

Leonid Semyonovich Kanevsky was born on May 2, 1939, in Kyiv, Ukraine, into a Jewish family.{{Cite web |date=2012-05-08 |title=Актеры и режиссеры - Знай Наших - Центральный Еврейский Ресурс |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120508060613/http://www.sem40.ru/famous2/m1569.shtml |access-date=2025-03-11 |website=web.archive.org}}

His mother studied piano at the Kyiv Conservatory, completing two years of coursework before marrying at age 19, leaving the conservatory, and relocating with her husband to the Caucasus, where he worked.

In 1933, his elder brother Alexander was born, followed six years later by Leonid himself.{{Cite web |title=Александр Каневский: «Мы считались очень богатой семьей, поскольку обладали собственным... унитазом» |url=https://fakty.ua/164056-aleksandr-kanevskij-my-schitalis-ochen-bogatoj-semej-poskolku-obladali-sobstvennym-unitazom |access-date=2025-03-11 |website=fakty.ua |language=uk}}

At age 17, Kanevsky moved to Moscow and enrolled in the Shchukin Theatre Institute, studying under Vera Konstantinovna Lvova. From 1960 to 1967, he performed at the Moscow Lenkom Theatre.{{Cite web |title=Каневский, Леонид Семенович |url=https://tass.ru/encyclopedia/person/kanevskiy-leonid-semenovich |access-date=2025-03-11 |website=ТАСС}} He later joined the Moscow Malaya Bronnaya Theatre, where he remained until 1991.

Kanevsky made his film debut with a minor role in Forty Minutes Before Dawn (1963). He gained widespread recognition for his portrayal of police major Alexander Tomin in the TV series The Investigation Is Conducted by Experts, as well as for roles such as the smuggler in the comedy The Diamond Arm and the haberdasher Bonacieux in the miniseries D’Artagnan and Three Musketeers.

In 1991, Kanevsky repatriated to Israel, where he co-founded the Gesher Theatre (Hebrew for "bridge") in Tel Aviv with director Yevgeny Arye. The theater’s troupe initially consisted primarily of Russian actors from Moscow and Leningrad theaters.

In 2003, he hosted the game show Ninth Wave on Israel’s Channel 9. Since January 2006, he has served as the presenter of the documentary series The Investigation Continues... on NTV.

2010s

In 2009, Kanevsky appeared in the TV series Semin and its sequel Semin: Retribution He also voiced the character Finn McMissile, a spy, in the Russian dub of the animated film Cars 2.

Over his decades-long career, Kanevsky has acted in over 50 films and TV series. He is a member of the Russian Union of Cinematographers.

Filmography

1963 — Forty Minutes Before Dawn — Store manager in a village general store
1965 — City of Masters — Head of the secret police
1967 — The Life and Ascension of Yuras Bratchik — A henchman of the cardinal, posing as a blind beggar
1967 — Two Hours Earlier — Ensemble administrator
1968 — Spring on the Oder — Intelligence officer Oganesyan
1968 — Smile to Your Neighbor — House Manager
1968 — The Punisher — Mr. Andreas
1968 — The Diamond Arm — Contrabandist, put in plaster
1969 — The Red Tent — Italian Radio Operator
1969 — Every Evening at Eleven — Saxophonist
1969 — Abduction — Director
1969 — Commandant Lauterburg — Collins
1970 — Amazing Boy — Boxer Uppercut
1971 — 2003 — The Investigation Is Conducted by ZnaToKi — Tomin
1972 — Train Stop — Two Minutes — Krasovsky
1972 — So the Summer Has Passed
1974 — Adventures in a City that does not Exist — Captain Bonaventure
1975 — Countermeasure - Smirnov
1978 — d'Artagnan and Three Musketeers
1982 — Along Unknown Paths — Desyatnik Millionskiy
1983 — Mary Poppins, Goodbye — as Bob Goodetty
1984 — Pippi Longstocking
1990 — Death in the Cinema
2001 — Late Marriage
2005 — Poor Relatives
2008 — Photographer
2009 — Semin
2010 — Between the Lines — Efim (Fima) Melnik
2011 — Semin. Retribution —Boris Petrovich Semin, Police colonel, Head of Department (main role)
2011 — Cars 2 — Finn McMissile (Russian version)
2012 — Welcome and … Our Condolences — as himself (outro gag)
2017 — Purely Moscow Murders —Grigory
2017 — Hotel of Happy Hearts — Aron Moiseevich, Pawnshop Owner
2018 — What Men Talk About. Continuation — Semyon, Lesha's Father
2019 — Women's Version. The Secret of the Party Dacha — Boris Semyonovich Bystrykh, Member of the Central Committee of the CPSU, father of Svetlana

TV

Kanevsky is the host and main person behind the NTV crime documentary series The investigation led by... (2006–). [http://www.mignews.com/news/interview/world/270706_142303_37502.html Леонид Каневский: О другой профессии некогда было думать]