A tale with a sad ending by Alla Larionova: the other side of the glory of one of the most beautiful Soviet actresses

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

February 19 marks the 90th anniversary of the birth of the famous actress, People's Artist of the RSFSR Alla Larionova. In the 1950s. she was called the most beautiful Soviet actress not only in the USSR, but also abroad. Gerard Philip looked at her with adoration, and Charlie Chaplin invited her to the shooting. However, her beauty played a cruel joke on her: all her life she was surrounded not only by fans, but also by envious people and gossipers, because of which both her career and her marriage to the famous actor Nikolai Rybnikov were threatened more than once. There were many legends about her novels, and it was extremely difficult to separate truth from fiction.

From the very childhood she seemed to be the surrounding real darling of fate. Her parents had nothing to do with theater and cinema, but Alla seemed to be led by the hand by Fortune herself. She could have started acting as a child, but when the assistant director, accidentally seeing her, offered to bring a beautiful girl to audition, the parents refused. The next time they approached her again on the street. She then studied in the 8th grade and, without waiting for her mother's permission, immediately announced that she really wanted to act in films. So the photographs of Alla Larionova appeared in the Mosfilm filing cabinet, and they began to invite her to the crowd.

After school, she firmly decided to enter a theater university. But at the entrance exams at GITIS there was an incident. The commission was headed by the famous director Andrei Goncharov, and the applicant was speechless. Alla Larionova later said: "". Then Alla went to the entrance exams at VGIK. She could not impress Sergei Gerasimov, who called her ugly and non-photogenic, and it was only thanks to the intervention of his wife Tamara Makarova that the girl entered.

Alla was the first to notice her classmate Kolya Rybnikov, but then he did not notice her - he was in love with another girl. But very soon they changed roles: Alla cooled down, and Nikolai lost his head from her and began to seek her. And the girl by that time started an affair with his friend Vadim Zakharchenko, with whom they lived in the same room in the hostel. And he allegedly decided to part with her after Rybnikov almost committed suicide because of unhappy love. However, Zakharchenko told about this when neither Rybnikov nor Larionova was alive anymore, and they could not confirm or deny his words. Be that as it may, the actress did not respond to Rybnikov's attentions for 6 years, and he continued to bombard her with compliments, letters and telegrams with declarations of love.

And during the life of the actress, and especially after her departure, a lot of such stories were told about her - the beauty always had fans who passed off wishful thinking, as well as envious people who immediately spread gossip, often without grounds or greatly exaggerating the scale of events. And there were plenty of reasons for envy. The very first main role in the film "Sadko", which went to Larionova during her studies, brought her recognition not only in the USSR, but also abroad. The film was sent to the Venice Film Festival, and Alla went there as part of the Soviet delegation. The film received the Silver Lion, and the Soviet beauty made a splash in Venice. The newspapers wrote: "". Charlie Chaplin himself invited her to the shooting, but he was told that in the USSR the actress's schedule was scheduled for several years in advance, although this was not the case.

The actress consolidated her triumph with the main role in the film "Anna on the Neck". Her filming partner was Alexander Vertinsky himself, who at first was skeptical about Larionova's candidacy. But when he saw her working on the set - in freezing temperatures, all night long, without a single complaint - he was captivated by her professionalism and showered with compliments. Evil tongues immediately attributed the novel to them, although there was no subtext in the admiration of Vertinsky, known for his gallantry and courtesy. On the set, Larionova made friends with the famous actor Mikhail Zharov, and out of their friendship they immediately inflated a story with hot passions. The actress did not refute the gossip - she said that in relation to such values, it was even flattering to her.

Even more reasons for gossip appeared when the next year the Minister of Culture of the USSR Georgy Alexandrov himself came to the set of "Twelfth Night" and froze as he saw Larionova. During the break, she was introduced to the minister, and in the evening he invited her to dinner, which was attended by other artists. This was the end of the story, but then a real scandal erupted. During this period, Aleksandrov fell out of favor with the country's leadership, and a devastating article was published in the Pravda newspaper, where he was accused of all mortal sins. Allegedly, the minister had a whole harem of artists, and Alla was one of them. Her ill-wishers enthusiastically recounted rumors about how Alexandrov bathed her in a bath of champagne, not embarrassed by the absurdity of these speculations.

They did not understand this slander, the minister was removed from office, and a notification was sent to all film studios, according to which Larionov was prohibited from filming. She immediately lost several major roles. In desperation, the actress decided to write a letter to the new Minister of Culture asking to understand the situation. A week later, she was allowed to go as part of a delegation of Soviet filmmakers to France, and the disgrace was removed.

Abroad, the actress again found herself in the spotlight. Gerard Philip himself, the famous Fanfan-Tulip, courted Larionova in front of everyone. And although it sounded quite fabulous, of course, she was credited with an affair with him. The actress sighed: "".

But in reality, the actress did not start romances with either the highest ranks or with foreign stars. Even during the filming of the film "Sadko" she lost her head from her colleague, actor Ivan Pereverzev. When she was waiting for a marriage proposal from him, she found out that she was pregnant. But then he suddenly disappeared, and then it turned out that he had married another woman who was also expecting a child from him. As soon as Nikolai Rybnikov found out about this terrible situation, who all these years continued to idolize Alla Larionova, he immediately broke off the set and rushed to her. He persuaded her to marry him and promised that he would raise her child as his own. And he kept his promise.

They lived together for 33 years, until the last days of Nikolai Rybnikov. Whatever was said about their marriage - that he loves, and she allows herself to be loved, that the actor is jealous of his wife is not unreasonable, that Alla remained a coquette until old age and did not appreciate her husband. Nevertheless, the facts speak for themselves: this marriage was the only one for both of them, they raised two daughters and were very happy together. Once Alla said: "". It was by these criteria that happiness was measured for her.

Together they went through the most difficult times, when in the era of Perestroika, both were unclaimed in the profession. Alla Larionova practically stopped acting in the late 1970s, and a decade later, the audience almost forgot about her. In 1990, not having lived a month and a half before his 60th birthday, Nikolai Rybnikov passed away. Alla survived him for 10 years, and these years were the most difficult for her. There was almost no livelihood left when in 1992 she was offered a saving role in the theater, and then several roles in the cinema. But there was no trace of the former beauty and glory.

She once confessed to her friend: "". On April 25, 2000, she passed away.

They say that she and Alla Larionova were complete opposites: What was the screen heartthrob Nikolai Rybnikov behind the scenes.