He debuted as a film actor Marina's Destiny in 1952. The film became popular and attracted viewers’ and film-directors’ attention to the young actor. In 1954 the film directors Alexander Ivanovsky and Nadezhda Kosheverova invited Leonid Bykov to play the role of Petya Mokin in the Tiger Girl. His next role was the lead in Maksim Perepelitsa, which gained him love of the viewers at once. Leonid Bykov's best roles in cinema include Bogatyryov in My dear person, (1958), Akishin in Volunteers (1958), Aleshka in Aleshka’s Love (1961), and Garkusha in On Seven Winds (1962). 

 

After the release of Aleshka’s Love Leonid Bykov moved to Leningrad, where he got an opportunity to try his wings at film direction: his full-length debut was the comedy Little Hare (1965) where Leonid Bykov also played the leading. The film, however, turned to be not very successful. What followed was far from the best stage in his life and creative career: he was not given chances to direct films and was not much into filming as an actor either. Soon he moved back to Ukraine, where the talented actor also failed to find work. Eventually, in 1972 Bykov started shooting the film, which was destined to become one of the best films about the Great Patriotic War in the Soviet cinema – Only Old Men Are Going to Battle. In this film Leonid Bykov played the leading role of a squadron commander Titarenko. In 1977 the film director released one more film about the war – One-Two, Soldiers Were Going......, in which he also played one of roles – that of corporal Svyatkin. After two stunning films about the war Leonid Bykov decided to direct the sci-fi film Alien and started the shooting in 1978.