In 1948, Bondarchuk made his film debut in "The Young Guard" directed by Sergei Gerasimov. In 1952, he was awarded the State Prize for the leading role in the film "Taras Shevchenko" At the age of 32, he became the youngest Soviet actor ever to receive the top dignity of People's Artist of the USSR. In 1956, he starred with his future wife Irina Skobtseva in "Othello". In 1959, he made his directorial debut with "Destiny of a Man", based on the Mikhail Sholokhov short story of the same name.