In the Soviet period, it was not customary for public people to flaunt the private life of their family, so few people knew the details of the biography and relationships with relatives of even the brightest movie and pop stars. In particular, only a few knew what a tragedy Gitana Leontenko and Alexei Batalov experienced when they learned about the illness of their only daughter. Nevertheless, they managed to honorably overcome all obstacles throughout the marriage, which lasted more than half a century. This article is dedicated to the biographies of the talented circus actress Gitana Leontenko, her career and family.
Early years
Gitana Arkadievna Leontenko was born in 1935 in a family of circus performers. Her mother was a famous equestrian and dancer, and her father was an aerialist. At the age of nine, Gitana began performing in the Gypsy Circus Group with plastic sketches. Later, with1950, she changed her role and entered the arena with dance numbers on horseback under the stage name of Princess Gitana. They were staged for her by Mikhail Shishkov, who later became a famous actor in the cinema and theater "Romen". From the dashing tricks of Gitana Leontenko, the hearts of the audience sank. At the same time, she was very easy to communicate and did not suffer from star fever.
Fateful Acquaintance
Gitana Leontenko and Alexei Batalov first met in 1953 in Leningrad, when they were still very young people. Their acquaintance took place in the restaurant of the Evropeyskaya Hotel, where they settled a gypsy circus group, which arrived in the city on the Neva on tour. As for Batalov, during this period he was filming in Leningrad in the film "Big Family", in which he played his first significant role. According to the recollections of Alexei Vladimirovich, it was not difficult for him to become his own at the circus, since he was well acquainted with Nikulin and knew Pencil. The young rider was in seventh heaven, because before that she had never had such intelligent and romantic gentlemen.
However, Gitana Leontenko's family was not happy that the girl was carried away by a novice actor, especially since, according to old gypsy traditions, marriages with "strangers" were not encouraged. The Princess's relatives even had a serious talk with the gentleman, but Alexei Batalov turned out to be not timid and made her a secret date.
Ten days of secret happiness
Gitana did not even suspect that Batalov had been married to his daughter since the age of seventeenfamous artist Irina Rotova, who gave birth to his daughter Nadenka. True, very soon after the birth of the baby, relations in the young family began to heat up, as the young woman was constantly left alone with the child, and her husband went to the shooting and was not at home for weeks.
Ten white nights Gitana Leontenko and Alexei, secretly from her relatives, wandered around Leningrad and enjoyed each other's company. However, before leaving for Moscow, Alexey confessed to the beauty that he was married. The girl was horrified by what she heard and told the gentleman that she did not want to see him again.
Successful career
Pain from disappointment in love softened work. In 1953, the actress made her film debut. She was invited to star in the film "Arena of the Brave". The film was a screen version of a circus performance, in which, along with Gitana Leontenko (a biography in his youth is presented above), such stars as Oleg Popov, Boris Vyatkin, Manuela Papyan, Violetta and Alexander Kiss and many others were involved.
Her circus career also developed successfully. The girl toured throughout the Soviet Union and even took part in a long circus tour of France.
Stormy Romance
Despite her professional success, Gitana Leontenko could not achieve harmony in her personal life for a long time.
As soon as she recovered from the blow inflicted on her heart by Alexei Batalov, another handsome man and heartthrob, Sergei Gurzo, loomed on her horizon. The young man was the idol of millions of Soviet girls whom he did not leaveindifferent image of Sergei Tyulenin in the film "Young Guard".
For the role of a herdsman in the film "Brave People" Sergey Gurzo took riding lessons in a circus. During one of the classes with riders from the famous Kantemirov dynasty, the actor saw the charming Gitana and soon a stormy romance broke out between them. This time, the girl decided to forget about the conventions, especially since the actor no longer lived with his wife and two children. They settled in a hostel on Neglinka. For the sake of her beloved man, Gitana interrupted her stellar career and began to accompany him on trips around the country to participate in the filming.
However, this romance did not end in marriage, and after a while the young people broke up, although they always retained warm feelings for each other.
Aleksey Batalov: personal life before the second marriage
Around the same period, Alexey fell in love with the ballerina Olga Zabotkina, who at that time was a soloist of the Kirov Theater. In 1955, she became famous as a film actress, starring in the film "Two Captains" in the role of Katya Tatarinova. Alexey also gained wild popularity in our country, playing the main role in the film "The Cranes Are Flying".
At that time, Batalov was already divorced, so Olga Zabotkina was sure that they would get married very soon. However, the wedding did not take place, as the actor did not think about remarriage and hurried to break off the relationship as soon as he realized that Olga was waiting for serious steps from him. Moreover, Alexei did not even dare to explain himself to her and simply left for Moscow. Only at the end of his life did Batalov repent andadmitted that he acted ugly with a girl who was sincerely in love with him.
Romance with Magomet Magomedov
After breaking up with Sergei Gurzo, circus actress Gitana Leontenko finally fell in love with a man of her profession - tightrope walker Magomed Magomedov. They had a stormy romance. However, Mohammed still did not marry Gitan. Nevertheless, the man kept her photos for many years and sighed for the brave beauty rider.
Second meeting with Alexei Batalov
All these novels did not prevent Gitan Arkadyevna Leontenko from building a stellar career in the circus. In particular, in 1962, the artist got the main role in the circus performance "Carnival in Cuba", which she coped with simply brilliantly. Around the same time, Alexey Batalov found her and made her a marriage proposal.
The decision of the actor to marry Gitana Leontenko, whose biography was full of stormy novels, was met with hostility by his friends and acquaintances, who considered the “circus performer” an unworthy party for the intelligent Batalov.
Among the few who approved the choice of Alexei was the poetess Anna Akhmatova. The actor himself made his choice a long time ago and was not going to change his decision.
Matrimony
Gitana Arkadievna Leontenko and Alexei Batalov got married in 1963. At first, things were not going smoothly for them. The expressive gypsy had bouts of wild jealousy. Alexei had to convince his furious rider for a long time that he was jealousunworthy. Despite all the difficulties, Gitana Leontenko and Batalov made up a friendly and loving couple who were able to withstand the trials that lay ahead of them.
In addition, in the first years after her marriage, the actress's film career went uphill, and she starred in several films, where she played mainly gypsy singers and circus performers.
Daughter
After marriage with Batalov, the only thing that Gitana Leontenko dreamed about was children. Her ardent wish came true in 1968. Five years after the start of their life together, the couple had a daughter, Masha. However, joy turned to grief, as the doctors decided on natural childbirth. It turned out to be erroneous, since Leontenko had strongly developed abdominal muscles. During childbirth, the child could not pass through the birth canal, so forceps were applied. As a result, the baby was pulled out with forceps. She would have been given a terrible diagnosis - cerebral palsy.
If Gitana Leontenko used to work in the circus without sparing herself, then after the birth of her daughter, she ended her career and devoted herself entirely to caring for the child.
Thanks to the care of her father and mother, Maria Batalova was able to achieve great success in her studies. A great merit in this and her grandmother, who was also called Gitana. However, the girl's relatives failed to defeat the disease. When Batalov taught in the USA and Canada in the 90s, he tried to find medicines and doctors who could cure the girl. However, the disease was incurable. At the same time, Masha still managed to learn how to live and even create, despite her physical weakness.
Although it functionswith only one finger, Maria types text on a special keyboard and writes fairy tales, scripts and reviews of theatrical productions, especially since she graduated from the corresponding faculty of VGIK.
The end of half a century of romance
June 15, 2017 Batalov passed away. He was seriously ill for a long time, so Gitana Arkadyevna added the need to take care of her husband to take care of Masha. Before his death, the actor addressed his beloved wife with poems of his own composition. In them, he called his wife “a priceless gift from God.”
Gitana Arkadyevna had a hard time with the loss of her husband. After all, the couple lived together for more than 54 years, and this is a whole life filled with sorrows, joys and love for each other!
Now you know who Gitana Leontenko is and some details of her romance and life together with one of the most famous actors of the Soviet period - Alexei Batalov.
