Leonid Bykov was born in the
Znamenske village into a peasant family of Fyodor Ivanovich Bykov and Zinaida Pankratovna Bykova, who shared the same surname. He had an elder sister, Luisa (born 1927). His father was a simple laborer who took part in
World War I and the
Russian Civil War and in 1930 moved his family to
Kramatorsk to work at the local steel mill, and where Leonid finished secondary school. Bykov initially attempted to become a military pilot. He later studied at Kharkiv Theater Institute from 1946 to 1951 and joined the troupe of the Taras Shevchenko Theater in Kharkiv, working on stage until 1960. He received recognition initially with the supporting role of an unsophisticated countryman in ''
Marina's Destiny'' (1953). His other notable performances included Petya Mokin in Aleksandr Ivanovski's and Nadezhda Kosheverova's blockbuster comedy
Tamer of Tigers (1955) and in the title role of
Maksim Perepelitsa (1956). Bykov also appeared as a hopeless romantic in films such as Yuri Egorov's
Volunteers (1958), Stanislav Rostotskii's
May Stars (1961), and Iosif Kheifits's
My Dear Man (1958). As a director, Bykov debuted at Lenfilm Studio in 1962 with the 10-minute satire
However the Rope Is Twisted (co-directed by Gerbert Rappaport), which skewered absurdities of the Soviet economy. The popular comedy
Bunny (1965), in which Bykov also played the lead, portrays an idealistic man who struggles against bureaucracy. His most famous films as director are World War II dramas
Only "Old Men" Are Going Into Battle (1974) and
One-Two, Soldiers Were Going... (1977), in which he also starred. Bykov died in a traffic accident in 1979 on the highway from
Minsk to
Kyiv. In 1994, the
International Astronomical Union named a minor planet after him, (4682) Bykov. ==Selected filmography==