Ariadna Shengelaya (the audience remembered her for her roles in the films "Garnet Bracelet" and "Shot") was considered one of the most popular actresses of Soviet cinema.
Biography of the actress
Ariadne was born in 1937. A terrible time for our country. Shrink is her maiden name. The girl's father was from an old German family. She was born in Tashkent, as her parents moved to this city so as not to fall under the hammer of repression. But, unfortunately, the father did not escape arrest. This happened upon returning to Moscow. Declared an enemy of the people, he spent more than twenty years in the Magadan camps. Therefore, the life of Ariadne cannot be called simple and easy.
After graduating from school, she enters VGIK (Belokurov's acting workshop). Beautiful, smart and talented - so many people around could say about this girl. Being a second-year student, she gets married. The novice director Eldar Shengelaya became the chosen one of Ariadna.
A year later, Ariadna Shengelaya made her debut in the film "Ekaterina Voronina". From that moment began the rapid development of her career. After graduating from the institute, the actress and her husband moved to Tbilisi. The film studio "Georgia-Film" became her place of work.
First film roles
The actress, who has a bright and conspicuous appearance, of course, was noticed by the directors. In her debut role (we already talked a little about her above), the actress starred in 1957. She played a medical student Irina Ledneva, Lednev's daughter (the psychological melodrama was called "Ekaterina Voronina"). As a student, Ariadna Vsevolodovna performed Tatyana Larina (film-opera "Eugene Onegin"). After that, the young actress played several supporting roles.
Starting to work at the film studio "Georgia-Film", actress Ariadna Shengelaya began to receive many offers from directors. So attractive to them was her oriental appearance. Young girls who entered an independent life, possessing a strong character, able to achieve a goal and understanding that not all means are good for this - such roles were offered to her at that time. Among them is the role of Lena Topilina, the beloved worker of a confectionery factory (M. Ershov's religious drama "I Love You, Life").
In the tragicomedy "Beware, grandma!" (director - Nadezhda Koshevarova) she played a little naive, but serious beyond her age, the main character Lena. The incomparable Faina Ranevskaya also starred in this film. The plot of the picture revolves around the construction of a new House of Culture, bureaucrats, pensioners who are not indifferent to how they spend their time,their offspring who solve love and leadership problems.
All-Union popularity
The 50-60s became very fruitful in Ariadna's creative biography. The directors were subdued by her inner power, idolized her, admired her talent. There were a lot of interesting proposals. Princess Vera Nikolaevna from the love drama "Garnet Bracelet" is the best role of the actress, which helped to fully reveal her lyrical talent, outstanding poetic charm.
Starting with this picture, the actress starred in a string of titled female roles. She starred in the role of Countess Masha Naum Trachtenberg (a drama based on the story of the same name by A. S. Pushkin from the cycle "Belkin's Tales"). Such famous actors as Mikhail Kozakov, Yuri Yakovlev, Oleg Tabakov played here.
In G. Danelia's film "Don't Cry!" Ariadna Shengelaya appeared before the audience in the role of Princess Vakhvari (status, French lightness and cheerfulness are her hallmarks). However, in this picture, the entire cast was brilliant.
Princess Caroline Wittgenstein - this is the role of the actress in the historical and biographical film, which was dedicated to the work of the Hungarian composer Franz Liszt.
The actress also starred with Eldar Shengelaya. She played the beautiful Margaret, the wife of Tryphonius (the tragicomic parable "Eccentrics"). This was followed by a role that is considered one of the best in the creative baggage.actresses, the role of Cassandra, the wife of Dmitry Kantemir (the film was called "Dmitry Kantemir"). In this film, Ariadna Vsevolodovna managed to easily fit into his ensemble of actors. Thanks to her femininity and softness, she helped the actor M. Volonir to appear not only as an imperious Moldavian ruler, but also as a loving husband and father.
Other films
Ariadna Shengelaya did not consider it shameful to appear on the screen and in supporting roles, which turned into real movie masterpieces in her performance. How can one not recall the talkative Emma Konstantinovna (the painting "Before Dinner"), the kind Maria (B. Rychev's fairy tale "The Doctor's Apprentice"), the imperious Anna Fedorovna Sambarskaya (the film "The Head of the Gorgon"), the balanced mother of Sergei (social drama I. Selezneva " Here's a story…"), a spectacular Witch (a joint work of Gennady Vasilyev and Zhang Shiu).
Last movie role
Fans saw a talented actress after a five-year break. At sixty-five years old, she played a rich and powerful woman who is involved in international politics. She comes to her homeland, to Ukraine, in order to visit the graves of loved ones and find the girl who saved her life. "Babi Yar" - this is the name of this film - tells about one of the terrible crimes of the 20th century.
This was the last film the actress starred in. After this work, she firmly decided to leave her profession. She refused to be interviewed, lived a rather secluded life.
Awards and titles
In 1965, readers of the Soviet Screen magazine recognized Ariadna Shengelaya as the best actress. In 1959, she became a laureate of the All-Union Film Festival in the nomination "Award for Actors". In 1979 she was awarded the title of People's Artist of the Georgian SSR, and in 2000 - the title of People's Artist of the Russian Federation.
Personal life of Ariadna Shengelaya
The marriage of actress and director Eldar Nikolaevich Shengelaya lasted twenty-two years. The couple had two daughters - Nato and Katya. According to the recollections of relatives, family life was not without the ebullient temperament of Eldar Shengelaya. The way of family life of the spouses was almost patriarchal. The actress did not resist him, but on the contrary, accepted the Georgian rules of behavior for women in everyday life.
After the divorce (and, according to the recollections of Catherine's daughter, it was not easy), Ariadna Vsevolodovna returned to Moscow and continued to work at the film studio. Gorky.
The second marriage of the actress
Later it became known about her second marriage. The husband of the actress was the theater and dubbing actor Igor Kopchenko. He treated the daughters of Ariadne wonderfully. The couple can be seen together in the painting "Head of the Gorgon". Ariadna Shengelaya had a hard time with the sudden death of her husband. Her cause was a heart attack. Igor Kopchenko was supposed to be fifty-seven in two months. After this sad event, the actress returned to Georgia again and decided to give all her strength to raising her grandchildren. She kept silent about what happened in an interview, and only later spoke about marriage.daughter.
Ariadna Shengelaya (whose biography and personal life is dedicated to our material) celebrated her eightieth birthday in Georgia. Her extended family lives here. After leaving the cinema, the actress for some time was engaged in teaching acting and stage speech. And then she completely concentrated on the family, giving all her strength to the most important roles in the life of any woman - the role of mother and grandmother. Today, the actress's great-grandchildren are already growing up.
