Who did Ranevskaya live with? Faina Ranevskaya regretted not becoming a mother all her life. last years of life

One of the most talented Soviet actresses of the last century was the eccentric and unforgettable Faina Ranevskaya. She turned any most ordinary role into a bright and memorable one. There were times when the public came to watch an episode with her participation, and then left the theater without finishing watching the production.

The creative biography of Faina Ranevskaya was very difficult, “out of a hundred percent allocated for life, I used only one.” But we know that she put her whole soul and great talent into this percentage.

What was she like, the queen of episodes?

Ranevskaya Faina Georgievna is not the actress’s real name. Fanny Girshevna Feldman was born in Taganrog in 1896. Her parents were rich Jews, natives of Belarus. They owned a paint factory, several houses, a building materials store, and even a steamship. In addition to the girl, three brothers and a sister grew up in the family.

Faina received a good home education, which was customary at that time for girls from rich families. She studied at the gymnasium for some time, but her studies were not easy, and she begged her parents to take her out of school.

As a child, Faya had difficulty getting along with her peers; she was very shy and vulnerable. In addition, she stuttered badly and was ugly. True, this did not stop her from organizing puppet shows with her family, voicing characters in a manner characteristic of each.

At the age of fourteen, a young girl met a famous actress on vacation, after which, upon returning home, she became a frequent visitor to the local drama theater. It was then that she decided to devote herself to the stage. The father was horrified. At that time, an artistic career for a girl from a decent, wealthy family was considered a disgrace. An ultimatum was put forward to my daughter - either the theater or the family. Faina was stubborn and chose the stage.

In 1915, she went to Moscow, where she tried to enter several theater schools, but was not accepted due to a speech impediment. Faina went to study at a private school - the teachers didn’t care as long as they paid the money. And they had to earn it as an extra in summer theaters.

But there was still not enough money, and the mother helped her daughter secretly from the father. One day, leaving the bank, Faina decided to count the bills she had received, but a gust of wind tore them out of her hands. Sighing, the actress said: “Oh, how beautifully they fly!”, after which her companion compared the girl with Chekhov’s heroine from “The Cherry Orchard,” landowner Ranevskaya - she also could not hold anything in her hands. This is how young Faya got her pseudonym.

During the revolution, the entire Feldman family went into exile on their own ship, leaving Faya alone. Only in the mid-fifties was she able to meet her mother and older sister.

Having never finished drama school, Faina began working on the theater stage. She started with provincial small theaters, in each of which she worked for no more than one or two years. First the Moscow region, then Rostov-on-Don, Feodosia, Kerch, Baku, Arkhangelsk, Smolensk, Stalingrad, and only by 1931 Ranevskaya returned to Moscow again.

But even here, the restless actress did not stay in one place. Four years at the Chamber Theater, then the same amount at the Central Theater of the Red Army, six years at the Drama Theater (now named after Mayakovsky), eight at the Theater. Pushkin, and finally settled in the Theater. Mossovet, where she worked until her death.

Faina's first real teacher was Pavel Wulf. She noticed the talent and worked with the girl just like that. Faya literally fell in love with the teacher and practically became a member of her family.

The career started out difficult. Bulky and awkward Ranevskaya with an unattractive appearance and figure at first played only episodic roles, but on stage she transformed and was remembered by the public as one of the most interesting and charismatic actresses.

Most Popular Roles

Faina Ranevskaya in her youth was very vulnerable and shy, but even in adulthood, despite a sharp tongue and a keen sense of humor, she did not tolerate criticism well. But she herself made fun of her appearance and harmful things.

She was forgiven for a lot, because the audience loved her and gladly went to theatrical performances with Faina’s participation.

To the cinema

The first film in Ranevskaya’s career was the silent film “Pyshka,” which was released in 1934. Faina was 38 years old and played Madame Loiseau. In 1937, she got the role of a priest in the children's film “Duma about the Cossack Golota.” And then the triumphant “Foundling,” where Faina plays a powerful and self-confident wife, pushing her husband around.

In total, Faina Georgievna played in twenty-five films. She herself considered the character of the evil stepmother from the film “Cinderella” to be her most successful role.

In general, Ranevskaya did not highly value film work: “The money was eaten up, but the shame remained,” she preferred theatrical roles. But it was through films that she became famous throughout the country and became loved by many.

Back in the late thirties, she played three star roles, three wives in different films: in the film “The Man in a Case” she was the wife of an inspector, in “Engineer Cochin’s Mistake” she was the wife of tailor Gurevich, and of course the most famous role of the wife from “The Foundling” ”, after which she was called Mulya for a long time.

In 1947, the comedy film “Spring” was released, where Ranevskaya played Margarita Lvovna. Her excellent performance, as well as Lyubov Orlova in the title role, made the film a box office hit and very popular.

In the theatre

Ranevskaya considered her most significant role to be the governess Charlotte from The Cherry Orchard; it was with this performance that her theatrical career began. In total, she played more than fifty roles in various productions.

The talented actress often had her own vision of the game, improvised on the spot, and sometimes even rewrote her role without permission. Because of this, conflicts arose with directors, which is why Faina wandered from one theater to another for so long.

In teleplays

In 1963, Ranevskaya took part in the television play “So It Will Be,” and in 1978 in the film-play “Next - Silence...”, where she played one of the main roles. Her stage partners were Rostislav Plyatt and Irina Muravyova. According to critics and viewers, the production was a stunning success thanks to Plyatt and Ranevskaya.

In cartoons

Who among the children has not watched “The Tale of Tsar Saltan”? But few people know that the matchmaker Babarikha was voiced by Faina Ranevskaya.

The most famous voice acting was, of course, Freken Bock from everyone’s favorite cartoon about Carlson. Ranevskaya terribly did not want to voice it, because she believed that the character was drawn ugly. It was difficult to persuade her.

Faina's fans considered her a great actress, but she is also known for her inexhaustible sense of humor. Sharp and apt aphorisms have become a part of our lives; many do not even suspect that their author is Ranevskaya.

One has only to read her slightly rude and cynical, but apt expressions, and the mood immediately improves.

The TOP 12 famous phrases are as follows.

1. Horseradish, based on the opinions of others, ensures a calm and happy life.
2. I've been swimming in the toilet butterfly style my whole life.
3. Health is when you have pain in a different place every day.
4. Under the most beautiful peacock tail hides the most ordinary chicken ass. So less pathos, gentlemen.
5. Do you know what it's like to act in a movie? Imagine that you are washing in a bathhouse, and they take you on a tour there.
6. Sclerosis cannot be cured, but it can be forgotten.
7. When I start writing my memoirs, I can’t get beyond the phrase “I was born into the family of a poor oil industrialist...”.
8. If the patient really wants to live, doctors are powerless.
9. I don't recognize the word "play". You can play cards, horse races, checkers. You need to live on stage.
10. Everything pleasant in this world is either harmful, immoral, or leads to obesity.
11. To help us see how much we are overeating, our stomach is located on the same side as our eyes.
12. It’s better to be a good person who swears than a quiet, well-mannered creature.

Recognition and awards

Faina Ranevskaya has received many awards. We list only the most popular ones.

1. Medal “For Valiant Labor in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945”, Order of the Badge of Honor, medal “In Memory of the 800th Anniversary of Moscow”, two Orders of the Red Banner of Labor and the Order of Lenin.
2. Two Stalin Prizes of the second degree and one of the third.
3. She was an Honored and People's Artist of the RSFSR, and in 1961 she received the title of People's Artist of the USSR.

Unfortunately, Faina did not find happiness in love. Those who liked her did not pay attention to her because of her unattractive appearance. And vice versa, those who sought the favor of the great actress did not like her categorically.

In her youth, young Ranevskaya was in love with one of the actors with whom she played on the same stage, but he caused her considerable psychological trauma. Promising to come to her home, the unlucky hero-lover showed up very drunk, and even with a lady. Not at all embarrassed, he asked Faina to walk for a couple of hours while he had fun.

Ranevskaya's resentment was so strong that she swore off getting married.

Only on stage did Faina Georgievna liberate herself, but in life she was withdrawn and very lonely. She believed that her appearance ruined her personal life, although she was a very charming woman.

There were still men in her life, but it was not the same. Already in adulthood in 1947, she met Fyodor Tolbukhin, who headed the Transcaucasian Military District, and simply glowed with happiness. But two years later he died unexpectedly...

last years of life

Ranevskaya played in the theater almost until her last. She performed her last performance at the age of 86, but she was often ill, so she announced that she was no longer able to “feign health.” She once said: “When I die, bury me and write on the monument: "I died of disgust."

Faina Georgievna died in a Moscow hospital from a heart attack complicated by pneumonia at the age of 87 years.

Interesting facts about Faina Ranevskaya

1. Close friends called Faina – Fufa the Magnificent.
2. When Faya announced to her family that she would be an actress, it caused a great shock, as well as excommunication from her home.
3. Ranevskaya was not destined to become either a wife or a mother.
4. Ranevskaya was so tired of the catchphrase from the film “Foundling” that she went into a rage when she heard it. One day the boys, seeing Faina Georgievna, began chanting: “Mulya, don’t make me nervous!” Then the actress ordered them to line up in pairs and loudly told them to “fuck off!”
5. Ranevskaya kept all her awards and orders in a box with the inscription: “Funeral supplies.”
6. Ranevskaya was a vegetarian. She said: “I can’t eat meat. It walked, loved, looked... Maybe I'm a psychopath? No, I consider myself a normal psychopath. But I can't eat meat. I keep meat for people.”
7. Faina Georgievna did not know how to count “this stupid money”, so she always hired a housewife to run the household.
8. An ordinary mongrel named Boy became a real family for an elderly woman. She doted on her dog and even refused to go to the hospital for treatment. The dog outlived its owner by six years. A figurine of a dog was installed on the actress’s tombstone.
9. Ranevskaya took care of Anna Akhmatova when she was sick with typhus and kept her notebooks with poems. She was familiar with Tsvetaeva, Mayakovsky, Mandelstam.
10. The actress was constantly seen with a cigarette in her mouth, and her favorite words were “shit” and “f*ck” - she constantly used them not only in everyday life, but also on the radio and during interviews. Once she asked to explain why iron ships do not sink. They tried to remind her about Archimedes’ law, but Ranevskaya stated that she never had a vocation for the exact sciences. Then they asked her why, when you sit in the bathtub, water spills out onto the floor. The actress sadly replied: “Because I have a big ass.”
11. Ranevskaya stuttered badly, but when she played, the stuttering disappeared somewhere.
12. One day, on the street, an elderly actress slipped and fell. He lies down and shouts: “People! Lift me up! After all, folk artists don’t lie on the street!”
13. An asteroid discovered in 1986 was named after Ranevskaya.

Conclusion

People like Faina Ranevskaya do not leave without a trace. She remained in the memory of thousands of fans, as well as on old films. A monument was erected to her in Taganrog, and one of the streets bears her name. Great talent, sparkling sarcasm, and the ability to serve art have forever left the mark of the great actress in history.

This wonderful actress, in essence, has always been “married” to the theater and is unhappy in her personal life. Her caustic aphorisms regarding gender relations could fill a separate book.

Theater and nothing else

The personal life of Faina Georgievna (Fanny Girshevna Feldman) is mainly known from her own words, and this is a sarcastic biography. In her book “Fate is a Whore,” consisting of scattered memories, Ranevskaya openly writes about her “clumsiness” and angularity. She was unable to establish relationships even at the dating level - gentlemen chose others, and Faina’s rivals were so insidious that they even happened to throw stones at her.
Faina Georgievna was in love with the theater from a young age, the stage attracted her and soon became the meaning of her life. Being an extra, she once fell so much in love with the main character of the play that she was barely calmed down after the play. As a result, the object of Ranevskaya’s adoration predicted a great acting future for her.

“Take a walk for now”

Faina Ranevskaya was never pretty, and she knew it. Moreover, according to many biographers of the actress, self-doubt associated with appearance constantly haunted Faina Georgievna. She did not allow anyone into her personal life, but, judging by Ranevskaya’s memoirs, the artist repeatedly, but each time unsuccessfully, tried to establish close relationships with representatives of the opposite sex.
One day she invited a young man with whom she was in love to her home, and he... came with his passion and... asked Ranevskaya to take a walk for a while. This love tragedy, according to the recollections of Faina Georgievna herself, seriously hurt the artist’s pride and for a long time discouraged her from flirting with men.

Was she a lesbian

Judging by the autobiographical memoirs of Faina Georgievna and the memoirs of people who knew her closely, Ranevskaya never had serious affairs with men and she did not live in a civil marriage with anyone. The actress’s warm relationship with the fairer sex gave rise to a lot of rumors about Ranevskaya’s unconventional orientation. Faina Georgievna was friends with Akhmatova and Tsvetaeva, for many years she had close contact with the actress Pavla Wulf, until the end of her days Ranevskaya remembered her with tenderness.
There is no documentary evidence of Ranevskaya’s unconventional orientation. Moreover, Faina Georgievna’s biographers convincingly refute this myth, including with the help of the actress herself, who left behind a lot of caustic characteristics of situations in relationships with men, indicating that the opposite sex was not indifferent to her, as a woman.
Ranevskaya herself explained her disorder in her personal life by disharmony: the actress, who did not get along with people, had a sharp tongue, was lonely because she did not like those who looked after her, and those who liked Faina Georgievna, in turn, were indifferent to her.

Ranevskaya Faina Georgievna is the pseudonym of a bright, amazingly talented and beautiful woman who did not have a family or children, but was able to conquer everyone around her. Many people believed that her on-screen heroines really existed, so they worried about their fate, condemned them and believed in the successful resolution of problematic, but sometimes comic situations.

Ranevskaya often said phrases that became aphorisms, especially if it concerned the relationship between women and men. Just look at the legendary phrases: “Mulya, don’t make me nervous!” and “I’m crazy, what a shame!”, which are repeated at every opportunity by entire generations of fans of the actress’s talent.

At the urgent request of a million-strong army of fans, we hasten to report such physical parameters of the legendary actress as her height, weight, age. How old Faina Ranevskaya is is easy to find out if the date of her birth is known.

Faina Ranevskaya: photos in her youth and now prove that the actress is truly a woman without age, since her real age is revealed only by wrinkles and fading sparkles in her eyes. The future actress was born in 1896, and she died suddenly in 1984, so the actress was exactly eighty-seven years old at the time of her death.

It is worth noting that Faina died of a heart attack, which was a complication of pneumonia, she was buried in Moscow’s New Donskoy Cemetery, and on her grave there is a statue of the Boy’s beloved mongrel.

At the same time, the actress’s height during her lifetime was no more than one meter and eighty centimeters, but her weight did not stand still, since Faina tried to adapt to the requirements of a specific role.

Biography of Faina Ranevskaya

The biography of Faina Ranevskaya was simply amazing, since the girl came from a Jewish family, whose members could be repressed or sent to a concentration camp crematorium.

His father, Girsh Feldman, was a wealthy man and owned his own paint factory, several living quarters and even his own steamship.

Mother - Milka Zagovailova - was a housewife and came from Belarus.

His brother, Yakov Feldman, moved to France in 1917, where his trace was lost; most likely, the man had already died.

Brother - Rudolf Feldman - was an officer, supported the White Guards during the Civil War and died.

His brother, Lazar Feldman, died when he was barely three years old.

Sister - Isabella Feldman - was the eldest in the family and the most beautiful, she got married early and moved to Romania, and then to Paris. Bella was widowed early and went to Turkey, and then returned home alone and terminally ill. In 1964, she died suddenly from cancer, which Faina took very hard.

Little Fanny was quiet, modest and not very beautiful; she did not get along well with people. The girl was able to study in a girls' gymnasium for only a few years, but she was bullied, so she was taught by visiting teachers at home. The girl loved to read, draw, learn foreign languages, and sing.

From the age of twelve I went to the cinema and theater, dreamed of becoming an actress, so I was able to pass exams as an external student and enter the Jagiello Theater Studio. Already in 1915, the girl ended up in Moscow and began playing in the crowd of the Malakhovsky Summer Theater. A year later, she ended up in Kerch, where she played coquette girls in the enterprises of Crimean theaters, so she resolutely refused to flee with her family to Turkey after the revolution.

Faina played in the troupe of many theaters, including the First Soviet Theater, the Central Theater of the Red Army, the Drama Theater, the Mossovet Theater, and the Moscow Pushkin Drama Theater.

Filmography: films starring Faina Ranevskaya

The girl’s filmography was constantly replenished with works in the films “Foundling”, “Engineer Cochin’s Mistake”, “Foundling”, “New Adventures of Schweik”, “Wedding”, “Spring”, “Heavenly Slug”, “Easy Life”, “Girl with a Guitar” , "Meeting on the Elbe".

At the same time, Faina Ranevskaya often released quotes and aphorisms about men and women, which were even published in separate collections. Some of them were mentioned by the great actress in her book “Diaries on Scraps”, and by her sister Isabella in the book “My Sister Faina Ranevskaya”.

Personal life of Faina Ranevskaya

Faina Ranevskaya’s personal life has always been turbulent, although the woman was often disappointed in her partners. At the same time, she often said that she hated men, considering them the worst scoundrels. The guy with whom Faina first fell in love was to blame, and he reciprocated her feelings and asked to visit her.

Ranevskaya fluttered with happiness, she prepared a delicious dinner from scarce products, dressed beautifully, and her boyfriend came dead drunk, and even with a young beauty on his arm. The womanizer asked the girl to go for a walk while he was alone with his companion.

It was rumored that the girl met with Tolbukhin, as well as the famous directors Tairov and Mikhoels, but the actress herself said that she just had strong friendships with men, but nothing more.

By the way, many advanced people of that time considered Faina a woman with a non-traditional sexual orientation, but she only laughed at this ridiculous gossip.

Faina Ranevskaya in her youth photo is documentary evidence that the woman was unhappy in love, because she had incredibly sad eyes that screamed about loneliness.

Family of Faina Ranevskaya

Faina Ranevskaya's family was quite large and friendly. The girl adored her little brother Lazar, so she took his death hard, she even began to stutter. At the same time, Faina was not very friendly with her older sister and envied her beauty, tenderness and ability to get along with people.

At birth, the Jewish girl was given the name Fanny Girshevna Feldman, but she became famous and understood how representatives of this nationality were treated in the USSR.

By chance, a friend compared the future actress with the heroine of Chekhov’s play Ranevskaya, and after slightly adjusting her personal details, the girl became Faina Grigorievna. Her father was not happy about this fact; in addition, the quarrel also arose from the fact that the girl refused to leave the country where she had already become famous.

Apart from her older sister, Ranevskaya did not communicate with anyone else until her death. The fact is that the baby from a wealthy family was never loved by her parents, so she was incredibly lonely in a large family.

Children of Faina Ranevskaya

Faina Ranevskaya’s children were never born, so there was no one to pass on her surname and talent to the woman. The most interesting thing is that she considered her favorite mongrel named Boy to be her child. The famous actress picked up the dog on the street; she trusted only her with all her secrets and considered her the most precious creature.

At the same time, Ranevskaya sometimes admitted that she would give everything for the birth of a baby, so she passionately loved other people’s children, considering them her grandchildren. One of them was the grandson of actress and close friend Faina Pavla Wulf, who often gives interviews about his grandmother.

The actress herself brought little Lesha from the maternity hospital, since his mother Irina was weak after giving birth, and her real grandmother looked after her. At the same time, she was afraid of dropping the newborn and, when she carried him home, she almost couldn’t breathe.

With the light hand of the boy, Ranevskaya was given the nickname Fufa, which he repeated when he saw that the room was on fire from an unextinguished cigarette. Only Faina could understand Lesha’s baby talk; she read him poetry and dressed up as a scary man so that the boy wouldn’t be capricious.

The guy grew up and began working in Afghanistan under a contract, and his “grandmother” constantly sent him letters and postcards full of melancholy, which she signed simply “your Fufa.”

Another “son” of the actress was the young journalist Gleb Skorokhodov, who actually betrayed her, because he wrote down everything that Ranevskaya always said unflatteringly about her colleagues, and decided to write a book. At the same time, Faina got the manuscript, and she refused to return it, calling the police.

Faina Ranevskaya's husband

Faina Ranevskaya’s husband never appeared in her life, but the actress herself constantly repeated that she knew true friendship with men. In her life there were kilometers of touching and sincere correspondence with actors, directors and even the Marshal of the USSR. Ranevskaya said that she could go to the ends of the world without hesitation if her dear men needed friendly help.

The fact is that the woman communicated for a long time with Vasily Kachalov, who was a famous actor and teacher of the young actress. He taught the beauty not to play, but to live the life of her characters, and the woman often recalled how she first met the master and fainted.

Then she wrote a letter to Vasily, where she asked, on behalf of the girl who fainted, to invite her to a theatrical performance. The man invited her to the theater, and then began to communicate more often.

Ranevskaya claimed that they got great pleasure from talking and walking together with Kachalov’s dog Jim. Faina, in love, waited a long time for a marriage proposal, and when the man died, she suffered for a long time and kept a photo of her beloved on the table.

Faina Ranevskaya quotes and aphorisms about men and women

Faina Ranevskaya's quotes and aphorisms about men and women have been repeatedly published in separate books and cited in various articles. At the same time, the woman managed to constantly spew pearls, without even thinking that it might offend the person about whom they were written.

Because of these quotes and aphorisms, many considered the woman to be a city madman, since she often spoke out of place. She gave precise descriptions of men and women, for example, “sings like he’s peeing in a basin,” “a man with a vinegar voice,” “not an ass, but a gamer.” At the same time, many people simply said that the famous actress simply does not know how to behave normally.

Ranevskaya said something like this about women: “taking undeserved money from men is like asking for alms on the porch,” “if a woman says that her man is the smartest, then she simply won’t find a second fool,” “they are most inclined to be faithful gray-haired women,” “there are no fat women, but only tight clothes.”

The man also received his aphorisms about how “men reach for their chests from the beginning to the end of their lives”, “the ideal man is the one who remembers his lady’s birthday, but does not know how old she is”, “when I saw a bald man” (Lenin) on an armored car, I realized that huge troubles awaited us.”

Instagram and Wikipedia Faina Ranevskaya

Instagram and Wikipedia of Faina Ranevskaya naturally exist in partial volume, since the woman died in 1984, when there was no trace of social networks. The fact is that a woman with her unconventional sense of humor and caustic aphorisms could easily become an Internet star. However, on Instagram it is possible to find groups dedicated to the creativity and personal life of Faina Grigorievna, but no one will bear responsibility for the materials posted in them.

In the article dedicated to Ranevskaya (Feldman) you can find interesting facts about her childhood, parents, and education. There is quite a bit of information about her personal life, but there is information about her filmography, work in the theater and other areas of activity.

Faina Georgievna Ranevskaya is a legendary Soviet theater and film actress, a supporting star, who in a short episode was able to create the most memorable image in the film. In 1949-1951, Ranevskaya was awarded three Stalin Prizes. In addition, her creative achievements were awarded the “Badge of Honor”, ​​the Order of Lenin and twice the Order of the Red Banner of Labor.

In 1961, Faina received the title of People's Artist of the USSR. And in 1992, the publishers of the British encyclopedia “Who Is Who” included Ranevskaya in the TOP 10 outstanding actresses of the 20th century.

And although the great Faina has not been with us for a long time, we remember her - for her roles, for her charisma and, of course, for her famous wit.

Childhood: Sturm und Drang

Faina Georgievna Feldman (Ranevskaya - a pseudonym that she took from the heroine of Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard" Lyubov Ranevskaya) was born on August 27 (15 - old style) 1896 in Taganrog. By the time baby Fanny was born, her parents Girsh Khaimovich and Milka Rafailovna Feldman were already raising three children - two sons and a daughter.

The Feldman family was wealthy. The father, who owned the steamship "St. Nicholas", apartment buildings and a dry paint factory, increasingly increased the family's wealth. Mother, a diligent and diligent housewife, ran the house with a firm hand, maintaining exemplary order in everything.

Faina, already at a very tender age, showed her unbridled character: she fiercely quarreled with her brothers, who mocked her stuttering, and could not become friends with her sister, envying her beauty. Little Faye was often reminded that she was not pretty. Thoughts about this made her feel self-conscious about her appearance all her life.

In addition to everything, things were not going well with her studies, in which the girl did not have the slightest interest - she only liked studying literature and foreign languages, as well as playing the piano and singing. But it was necessary to know a bunch of other subjects... So little Fanny’s life was not at all cloudless. Nevertheless, the girl knew how to achieve what she wanted.

Subsequently, Ranevskaya said that already at the age of five she considered herself a future actress, and gave the following example: when her little brother died, she cried about him, but from time to time she moved the curtain on the mirror to admire how she looked in tears and suffering .

Faina later used many of her childhood impressions when creating stage images. These memories included mannered ladies squealing and grimacing at a ball in the officers' assembly; the angry geography teacher who kicked the little schoolgirl out of class; maids who sang opera arias while washing window panes in early spring...

The desire to devote herself to the stage strengthened in the girl after two works that shocked her - the silent film “Romeo and Juliet” and the play “The Cherry Orchard”.

All. The purpose of life was determined once and for all.

Starting a career: the path to recognition

Faina, who dreamed of the Moscow Art Theater stage, announced to her loved ones at the age of 17 that she had decided to become a theater actress. Her father first berated her with an insulting “how long has it been since you looked at yourself in the mirror?”, and when he realized that his daughter was serious, he threatened to expel her from the house if she didn’t come to her senses. The girl accepted the challenge of fate and still left for Moscow. She never returned to her father's house.

However, she was not accepted into the studio at the Moscow Art Theater. Retreat was not in Faina’s character: she turned to the teachers of a private theater school. But the money melted like snow... And I didn’t have the chance to finish my studies.

But still, luck was on the side of the young loser and therefore brought her together with the unique Ekaterina Vasilyevna Geltser, a prima ballerina of the Bolshoi Theater who danced in the company of Sergei Diaghilev himself. Ekaterina Vasilievna sheltered the girl in her house and introduced her to Vladimir Mayakovsky, Marina Tsvetaeva, Osip Mandelstam, Vasily Kachalov.

It was thanks to Geltser that Ranevskaya joined the troupe of the Malakhovsky Summer Theater near Moscow, on whose stage such metropolitan celebrities as Alexander Vertinsky, M.M. shone. and V.A. Blumenthal-Tamarins, I.M. Moskvin with his wife A.K. Tarasova, as well as A.N. Nezhdanov.

Ranevskaya’s debut on the stage of the Malakhovsky Summer Theater took place in a production of Leonid Andreev’s play “The One Who Gets Slapped” - of course, so far only in the crowd. However, even in a small role without words, the young actress’s originality manifested itself so clearly that Illarion Pevtsov, the famous dramatic actor, said with conviction: “Remember this young lady! She will become a great actress!” His words turned out to be prophetic...

The next step in Ranevskaya’s career was work in Madame Lavrovskaya’s troupe, where the young actress had to authentically portray coquette heroines. The girl wanted fame, strove for touring activities and got what she wanted: together with this troupe, the actress traveled all over Crimea, tirelessly playing on numerous stages of the peninsula.

Young Ranevskaya spent the years of the revolution and civil war fighting for any role and a more or less tolerable life. Her relatives emigrated abroad at the first signs of the impending historical crisis, so Faina had to rely only on herself. She worked constantly, toured virtually all over the country for 16 years (1915-1931) and diligently gained experience.

She returned to Moscow as a bright actress who could cope with any role with consistent success.

Creative flourishing and fame

Upon returning to the capital, Faina Georgievna joined the troupe of the Chamber Theater, where she soon received the role of the prostitute Zinka in the play “Pathetic Sonata” by Alexander Tairov. The versatility and poignancy of the image created by the actress captivated the audience. All of Moscow was talking about Ranevskaya!

Later she was invited to the Red Army Theater, where she was a leading actress for several years. The beginning of the Great Patriotic War found Faina at the Drama Theater, with whose team she traveled to all fronts and front-line zones, playing the play “Young Guard”. The actress’s fearlessness and dedication during wartime were awarded the medal “For Valiant Labor.”

Faina Ranevskaya “What are you saying?” (“Storm” Speculator Manka)

In the post-war years, Ranevskaya served at the Mossovet Theater, attracting a lot of spectators with her brilliant performance in the performances “Fashion Shop” (Sumburova); “Dawn over Moscow” (Agrippina Solntseva); "Storm" (Speculator Manka); “A Story about Turkey” (old woman Fatma Nurkhan), etc. Faina Georgievna’s talent sparkled even in small episodes. Consider, for example, the role of Manka the Speculator in the play “Storm”!

The actress completely came up with the text for her character herself, and the effective combination of subtle realistic acting with sharp grotesquery ensured an accurate fit into the image, which made it the most noticeable in the play. Therefore, many spectators came specifically to look at Manka-Ranevskaya, after which they left the theater without watching the production to the end. For this reason, director Yuri Zavadsky removed the actress from this role.

Difficult relationships with Yuri Alexandrovich did not give Ranevskaya the opportunity to fully express herself on stage. Known for the mercilessness of her aphoristic statements, the emotional Faina Georgievna drove the main director to white heat and, as a result, was left without roles. Zavadsky deprived her of the right to participate in almost all performances.

Quotes and aphorisms of Faina Ranevskaya

Due to constant squabbles with Yuri Alexandrovich, she even had to move to the Moscow Theater for a while. A.S. Pushkin, where she magnificently played Antonida Vasilievna in “The Gambler”, a grandmother in the play “Trees Die While Standing”, Praskovya Alekseevna in “Obscurantists”.

However, old love does not rust: Zavadsky invited Ranevskaya to return to the Mossovet Theater, and she happily agreed, where she eventually worked until the very end of her theatrical career.

It was here that she masterfully transformed herself, either into Maria Alexandrovna (“Uncle’s Dream”), then into Glafira Firsovna (“The Last Sacrifice”), or into Felitsata (“Truth is good, but happiness is better”). On the stage of this theater, Ranevskaya performed her most famous roles - Mrs. Savage (“The Strange Mrs. Savage”) and Lucy Cooper (“Next - Silence”).

Faina Ranevskaya - “The Great and the Terrible” (Documentary film)

Exorbitantly demanding of herself, the actress worked hard and painfully, because she strived for perfection, but always remained dissatisfied - even when she achieved success.

Faina Ranevskaya – Romance (“Alexander Parkhomenko”, 1942)

Chapter “Cinema” in the book of the actress’s life

Ranevskaya’s career in cinema was also very successful - and it was the films that brought her nationwide fame and recognition.

Faina Georgievna was called the “queen of episodes”, because. Mostly she played supporting characters, but the audience knew all of Ranevskaya’s roles thoroughly. In each of them she put her own understanding of the hero’s personality, surprising and striking with the unexpectedness of her interpretation.

Faina Georgievna’s film debut took place in the role of Madame Loiseau in Mikhail Romm’s film “Pyshka” (1934). Then there were many more roles in other films, including:
rural priesthood in “Duma about the Cossack Golota” (1937);
Lyalya in “The Foundling” (1939) with the famous Mulya;
Rosa Skorokhod in “Dream” (1941);
mother of the bride in The Wedding (1944);
a military doctor in The Heavenly Slug (1945);
stepmother in Cinderella (1947);
Frau Wurst in “They Have a Motherland” (1949; awarded the USSR State Prize);
Zoya Pavlovna Sviristinskaya in “Girl with a Guitar” (1958);
Elena Timofeevna in “Careful, Grandma!” (1960).

Faina Ranevskaya - “I won’t go” (Wick, 1965)

Ranevskaya's joint participation in filming with such outstanding artists as Mikhail Pugovkin, Mikhail Yashin, Lyubov Orlova, Nikolai Cherkasov, Rostislav Plyatt, Rina Zelenaya, Georgy Yumatov, Natalya Zashchipina, helped make all these films incredibly popular and box office.

Personal life of Faina Ranevskaya

Fate presented Faina Ranevskaya with a wonderful gift - friendship with people, each of whom was a genius in their own field of activity. These are actress Pavla Wulf, poetesses Marina Tsvetaeva and Anna Akhmatova, theater director Alexander Tairov and film director Yakov Segel - it’s simply impossible to list them all! They were attracted by her sparkling wit, which cannot be learned - you have to be born with it.

But despite all her professional achievements and all her intellectual brilliance, the famous actress constantly experienced burning dissatisfaction with herself and suffered from self-doubt. Can you believe this, knowing about her harsh, uncompromising character? But here are her words: “How many people applaud me, but I feel so lonely!”

Yes, she was lonely, because even the strongest woman dreams of a reliable man next to her, dreams of children, but Ranevskaya had neither a husband nor children...

Faina Ranevskaya. Beauty is a terrible force

Perhaps Faina Georgievna did not marry because she considered herself terribly ugly, although she recognized her charm. More than once she repeated with bitterness: “My appearance ruined my personal life!” However, it may well be that the reason for the actress’s love failures was hidden in her sad experience of rare hobbies...

In any case, when asked why she was never interested in the status of a married lady, Ranevskaya often answered that not only did she fall in love, but even seeing “these bastards and scoundrels” was sickening. The actress preferred not to talk about her romantic interests. She once admitted: “Everyone who loved me didn’t like me. And those I loved did not love me.”

However, sometimes Faina Georgievna still told, with her characteristic striking sarcasm, the tragicomic stories of her “loves,” which immediately turned into jokes.

An example is the well-known story about how in 1915 Faina had a hussar of the Mariupol regiment as her lover. And supposedly Ranevskaya herself narrated one episode of a fiery romance like this: “...When I was already lying down, he came up to me undressed, and I involuntarily burst out: “Oh, how huge!” The hussar, with a satisfied smile, shook his dignity with his hand and proudly answered: “I feed him oats!”

And yet, according to Alexei Shcheglov (Ranevskaya’s biographer), she really had serious hobbies for men. So, when Faina Georgievna toured Tbilisi in 1947, she developed a close relationship with Fyodor Ivanovich Tolbukhin, who then headed the Transcaucasian Military District. She was glowing with happiness! But in 1949 Tolbukhin unexpectedly died...

Memory

In 2008, a monument was erected in the actress’s small homeland. Ranevskaya is depicted in an image from the film “Foundling”. The building nearby is the house where Fanny Feldman was born. It is planned to open a museum-apartment, but the opening date is postponed over and over again. Among other memorable places in Taganrog there is the cafe “Freken Bok” (as you know, this cartoon character was voiced by Ranevskaya).

Also in Taganrog there is a street named after Faina Ranevskaya, as well as graffiti with the actress’s aphorism: “”

In 2009, Fuad Shabanov’s documentary “Faina Ranevskaya: Beauty is a Terrible Power” was released.

Interview with Faina Ranevskaya

In 2019, 35 years have passed since the death of Faina Ranevskaya.

Loneliness is the real curse of all brilliant people. Faina Georgievna Ranevskaya, despite her all-Union popularity, was incredibly lonely. She philosophically remarked: “The companion of fame is loneliness,” and to numerous bouquets and ovations after performances she said: “There is so much love, but there is no one to go to the pharmacy.” She had never been married, and when asked why this happened, she sadly admitted that she had never experienced mutual feelings in her life. “Everyone who loved me,” Ranevskaya will say one day, “didn’t like me. And those I loved did not love me. Who would know my loneliness? Damn him, this very talent that made me unhappy..."

Recognition of her talent could not replace personal happiness. Dmitry Shostakovich gave her a photo with the inscription: “Faina Ranevskaya - art itself”... She was awarded the title of People's Artist... Spectators went to the theater “on Ranevskaya”... The film with her participation was doomed to success... She there were close friends such as Pavel Wulf, Nina Sukhotskaya, Lyubov Orlova... It seemed that she had everything she needed to be happy, but there was just no happiness.

Ranevskaya did not even try to somehow hide the fact that she was unhappy in her personal life. Yes, she had men. She was pregnant more than once. But the actress ended all her pregnancies with abortion. Ranevskaya’s few close friends, either jokingly or seriously, said that having children was, in principle, contraindicated for her, since she herself was a big child. Big, talented, wise, but... a child. Anna Akhmatova told her: “Faina, you are 11 and will never be 12!” And almost until the end of her days, Ranevskaya’s closest creature remained her dog named Boy. That's how she lived her whole life... with the Boy.

Sometimes she joked about love. In his usual manner, where irony was often mixed with bitterness: “If a woman walks with her head down, she has a lover!” If a woman walks with her head held high, she has a lover! If a woman holds her head straight, she has a lover! And in general - if a woman has a head, then she has a lover!” It seems like nothing sad, but if you think about it...

Sometimes Ranevskaya ridiculed her loneliness: “The union of a stupid man and a stupid woman gives birth to a heroine mother. The union of a stupid woman and a smart man gives birth to a single mother. The union of a smart woman and a stupid man gives rise to an ordinary family. The union of a smart man and a smart woman gives rise to easy flirting.”

Ranevskaya is one of the few actresses in world cinema whose love affairs have remained “behind the scenes” of history and the press. But there are more than enough rumors about Ranevskaya’s personal life. Some supposedly especially knowledgeable persons close to the actress vied with each other to say that Faina Georgievna was breathing unevenly towards Marshal Fyodor Tolbukhin. Her other colleagues said that all this was complete nonsense, and in fact Ranevskaya was not indifferent to the female sex, and the names of Anna Akhmatova and Pavla Wulf were mentioned. Pavla’s grandson Wulf Alexey Shcheglov recalled how Faina Georgievna once told him, now an adult, not to believe any rumors about them. In any case, no matter what they said and no matter what novels were attributed to Ranevskaya, all those who knew her recognized one thing: Faina Georgievna was lonely almost all her life. Tragically lonely.

Hobbies of youth

Faina Georgievna spoke about all her unsuccessful loves with her characteristic sense of humor. This is how she spoke about her first love: “The first date in my early youth was unsuccessful. The high school student who struck my heart had a cap with the school's coat of arms above the visor, and the crown on the sides was lowered and lay over the ears. This magnificence drove me crazy. Arriving on a date, I found a girl at the indicated place, who asked me to leave, as I sat down on the bench where she had a date. Soon the hero appeared, not at all embarrassed at the sight of both of us. The hero sat down between us and began to whistle. And my rival demanded that I leave immediately. To which I reasonably answered: “I have a date at this place, and I’m not going anywhere.” The opponent said that she would not budge. I made the same statement. Each of us defended our rights for a long time. Then the hero and rival whispered. After which my opponent picked up several heavy stones from the ground and began throwing them at me. I cried... I had to give in... Returning to the battlefield, I said: “You’ll see, God will punish you,” and left full of dignity.”

Another incident from her youth, also told by the actress herself. At the age of nineteen, in the troupe of one of the provincial theaters, she managed to fall in love with her first hero-lover. Handsome and... a monster, as Ranevskaya perceived herself then. She followed on his heels, was his shadow. One day he asked to visit her. The happy lover bought wine and food, dressed up, put on make-up... Toward nightfall, he showed up with some girl and asked the mistress of the house... to take a little walk... Ranevskaya never mentioned what she said in response to this request . She only added: “Since then, let alone falling in love, I can’t look at them: bastards and scoundrels!”

Vasily Kachalov

Ironizing herself, Faina Georgievna said that she was born at the end of the last century, at a time when fainting was still in fashion. By her own admission, for a long time she was in love with actor Vasily Ivanovich Kachalov, whom she first saw on the stage of the Moscow Art Theater in her early youth. She was deeply, passionately in love, as she put it - “to the point of stupefaction.” Faina collected his photographs, wrote letters to him, but never sent them, stood guard at the gates of his house, in a word, she did all the things a lover should do. One day, on Stoleshnikov Lane, she saw the object of her adoration very close and fainted. Out of excitement, she fell unsuccessfully and hurt herself quite badly. Compassionate passers-by brought the poor thing into a nearby pastry shop, which then belonged to a French couple. The kind spouses poured the strongest rum into the girl’s mouth, from which she immediately “came to her senses” and... again immediately lost consciousness, this time for real, since the same beloved voice asked her if she was too hurt myself.

Faina Georgievna said about her relationship with Kachalov: “And now I fell in love again and for the rest of my life. I’m not ashamed to admit it, everyone who saw him, and especially knew him, was hopelessly in love with Kachalov. I reviewed all the performances of the Moscow Art Theater; needless to say, several times exactly those in which Vasily Ivanovich played. Finally I decided: I wrote him a letter. I composed for several days, wrote with a trembling hand, after drinking half a bucket of valerian. She impudently recalled how she fell at his feet on Stoleshnikov Lane, said that she was already an aspiring actress, and assured that from now on the main goal in life is to get into the theater where he plays.

I wonder how many bags of letters Kachalov received from such crazy people? No matter how much he received, he answered, and quickly enough. The administrator left tickets in my name! And the signature “Your Kachalov”?! God, for this signature alone it was worth becoming an actress and going to Moscow. I understood that it was not mine and that this was just the king’s politeness, but I kissed the letter to the holes. Since then our friendship began. Vasily Ivanovich is not only an amazing artist, he is an even better person.

By the way, knowing how much I dreamed of playing at the Moscow Art Theater, he arranged a meeting for me with Nemirovich-Danchenko. What have I done? To begin with, she absent-mindedly called Vladimir Ivanovich Nemirovich-Danchenko for some reason Vasily Stepanovich; however, she didn’t faint from this, but, embarrassed, she jumped out of his office like crazy.”

Later, Ranevskaya and Kachalov became close friends; they often went to visit each other. From Ranevskaya’s memories of Kachalov: “I visited V.I. constantly, at first she was timid, worried, not knowing how to talk to him. Soon he tamed me, and even asked me to say “you” to him and call him Vasya. But I didn’t go for it. He served as an example to me in his nobility. I was once present when V.I., returning home from the theater, when asked by his wife how the rehearsal of “Three Sisters” went, where he was supposed to play Vershinin, replied: “Nemirovich took me out of the role and handed it over to Bolduman... "Bolduman is much younger than me, you can fall in love with him, but you can’t fall in love with me." He said that he was not at all offended, that he welcomed this correct decision of the director...”

Marshal Fedor Ivanovich Tolbukhin

In the life of Faina Georgievna, a meeting with Marshal Fyodor Ivanovich Tolbukhin played a big role. She met him in Tbilisi, where she arrived shortly after the end of the war. He was a career military man, who was still a staff captain in the tsarist army, and then made a career under Soviet rule. After the Great Patriotic War, he was the commander-in-chief of the Southern Group of Forces, on the territory of Romania and Bulgaria, but then for some reason fell out of favor and was sent to command the not very significant Transcaucasian Military District. They immediately felt mutual sympathy, and then they found many common interests, and the friendly relationship soon grew into a strong friendship, and maybe not only... Ranevskaya said about him: “I never fell in love with the military, but Fyodor Ivanovich was an officer of that old school...” She soon left Tbilisi, but her relationship with Tolbukhin continued - they met periodically in Moscow and Georgia. In a book dedicated to Faina Ranevskaya, her “ersatz” grandson (as the actress herself called Irina Anisimova-Wulf’s son Alexei Shcheglov) recalled how Faina Georgievna gave him a toy car received from Marshal Tolbukhin. Alas, no matter what the relationship between the actress and the marshal was called and what it was, it did not last long - in 1949, Fyodor Ivanovich Tolbukhin died.

Vasily Merkuryev

According to rumors that circulated at one time in the acting community, Faina Ranevskaya had an affair with the famous actor Vasily Merkuriev. It was he who played the Forester, the father of the main character, in the fairy tale “Cinderella”. The actor was suggested for this role by the scriptwriter Evgeniy Shvarts. They objected to him - how, they say, can an actor who recently starred in the film “Member of the Government”, and before that in the film “The Return of Maxim”, play the Forester? After all, a well-known actor, after appearing on screen in the roles of good heroes, real, as they say, Soviet people, should not play a coward and henpecked man, terribly afraid of his evil and grumpy wife.

Faina Georgievna stood up for Merkuriev, who highly valued his acting talent. Whether there was an affair between Ranevskaya and Merkuryev is not known for sure, but the fact that Faina Georgievna sincerely sympathized with Vasily Vasilyevich can be judged from her memoirs: “The news of the death of Vasily Vasilyevich Merkuryev was a heavy grief for me. We met him at work only once in the film “Cinderella”, where he played my meek, kind husband. Communicating with him as a partner was a great joy. I experienced the same joy when I got to know him as a person. He had everything that is dear to me in people - kindness, modesty, delicacy. I immediately fell in love with him deeply and tenderly. I was upset that I didn’t have to work with him again. I experience deep emotional pain from the fact that an extremely good, great actor has passed away.”

Correspondence with fans

After Ranevskaya’s death, her friend Nina Sukhotskaya wrote: “Most of Ranevskaya’s personal life was correspondence. Letters from her many admirers came from all over the Soviet Union - from people who had lived a long life and were just beginning their lives: schoolchildren, students, young actors. The letters were different: kind, naive, stupid, smart, interesting and empty, and Faina Georgievna certainly answered all of them, even all greeting cards: “It’s impolite not to answer, and how can you offend a person!” I bought hundreds of postcards for her to answer, and there were never enough. After all, often a person who completely unexpectedly received an answer wrote to her again with gratitude, and thus a correspondence arose. It would probably be interesting to publish it; it would tell a lot about people, about time, about Faina Georgievna herself. Maybe someday this will be done: this extensive correspondence is stored in the Central Archive of Literature and Art.

Ranevskaya said about her loneliness: “I often think that people who seek and strive for fame do not understand that in the so-called fame lies the same loneliness that any cleaning lady in the theater does not know. This comes from the fact that a person who enjoys fame is considered happy, satisfied, but in reality the opposite is true. The viewer's love carries with it some kind of cruelty. I remember how I had to play when I was seriously ill, because the audience demanded that I play. When the box office said, “She’s sick,” the public responded, “What do we care? We want to see her and we pay money to see her.” And they wrote me impudent notes: “This is disgraceful! Why are you thinking of being sick when we want to see you so much?” By God, I'm telling the absolute truth. And one day, after a performance, when I was forced to play “at the request of the public” as very sick, I once and for all hated my “fame.”