[5] His father, Larion (Illarion) Titovich Shelokhonov, practiced veterinary medicine and was living at a horse farm, where his grandfather, Tito Shelohonovich, was also a farmer.

He then witnessed the fire and destruction of the entire village when the German tanks leveled the remains of his house, then ruined his school and the horse farm.

Petr Shelokhonov was severely wounded in the forehead but he survived and dug a hole in the ground, to hide from Nazi police patrols during the autumn of 1941.

He spoke Polish, Yiddish, Russian, Belarusian, and his native Ukrainian, and he was very lucky to survive until the end of World War II.

[2][3] In 1945, Petr Shelokhonov became a piano student at the Kiev Conservatory of Music, he also played the accordion on stage, albeit his plan was to become an actor in Leningrad.

[citation needed] In 1949, Petr Shelokhonov was conscripted in the Soviet Armed Forces in Leningrad, and then he served in the Red Navy for five years.

Petr began his service as a seaman part of the crew in charge of smoke screen devices on ships of the Baltic Fleet.

In 1952, in Liepāja, he did a great job at the gala concert of the Baltic Fleet delivering exceptional performance and attracting the attention of Admirals Kharlamov and Golovko, and not only them.

Petr Shelokhonov was punished again for telling political jokes and for listening to foreign radio stations, such as the Voice of America and the BBC.

[9] But even after the guardhouse, again and again, as if spellbound, he continued to listen to his favorite music on the radio: Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Glenn Miller, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, and understood that the big world lives a different life, that is full of joy and happiness.

In 1954, Petr Shelokhonov was discharged from the Red Navy and applied to the Leningrad State Institute of Theatre, Music, and Cinema, but the school refused to accept him because of his scarred face and bad anti-soviet record.

[2][3][10] After that, Petr's acting career was limited to Siberia, where he remained under suspicion as did many other survivors who were held by the Nazis in occupied territory during World War II.

Shelokhonov also appeared as Satin in The Lower Depths (На дне) by Maxim Gorky and as Derzhavin in Friends and Years by Leonid Zorin.

In June 1969, the Chief of Soviet State Police (N.A.Shchelokov) wrote: "The Lenfilm studios completed the movie "Amnesty Not Possible" (directed by N. Rozanov, screenwriter A. Romov), which, in our opinion, contains serious political mistakes.

In the role of a foe of the Soviet power, a traitor to the motherland, a resident of foreign intelligence in this film is the chief of the district police department.

The film "Amnesty Not Possible" defames the honor and dignity of police officers, contradicts the requirements of the November resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR about the truthful depiction of internal affairs and the all-round strengthening of their authority among the Soviet people.

The film title was Taming of the Fire (Ukroshcheniye ognya) (Укрощение огня) but Shelokhonov was banned from playing the leading role by Soviet censor.

Soviet military censors watched the secret equipment and rocket science machinery that was disallowed, so several scenes with good acting were deleted and destroyed.

Petr Shelokhonov was critically acclaimed for his performance in the leading roles as Sudakov in Gnezdo Glukharya by Viktor Rozov, as Dmitri Nikolaevich in Theme and Variations by Aleksei Arbuzov, and as Johansson in Antiquariat by Annie Pukkemaa.

[22][23] His most memorable TV performances were such roles as Laptev in Chekhov's Three Years, as Corporal Vaskov in Dawns are quiet here by Boris Vasilyev, and as Batmanov in Far from Moscow (Daleko ot Moskvy) (Далеко от Москвы) by Vasily Azhaev.

Petr Shelokhonov shone in a range of leading and supporting roles such as Cossack Severian Ulybin in 1971 epic film Dauriya and as spy Sotnikov in the 1969 detective drama Razvyazka.

He also portrayed a variety of historical figures, leaders and intellectuals, on stage and in film, such as the Russian composer Mikhail Glinka, Academician Ivan Sechenov, revolutionaries Lenin and Dorogomilov.

In 1974 Shelokhonov played the leading role as industrialist Peresada, opposite another Russian film star Natalia Fateeva, in political drama Countermeasure (Otvetnaya mera) based on real historic events of the Cold War.

In that production, Petr Shelokhonov gave a critically acclaimed performance with the support of an ensemble of his stage acting partners, such as, Yelena Solovey, Roman Gromadsky, Anna Aleksakhina, and other notable Russian actors.

Petr Shelokhonov created an innovative and life-affirming final scene in which the victims of the Nazis are seen emerging from the burning ovens of Auschwitz.

In 1996, Petr Shelokhonov was cast by Marion Dougherty to perform opposite Sophie Marceau, James Fox, and Sean Bean in Anna Karenina (1997 film) by director Bernard Rose.