Video: Why actor Bruno Freundlich saw his daughter Alice secretly, and how he dissuaded her from the opera stage
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
December 8 marks the 86th anniversary of the famous actress Alice Freundlich, who could be called People's Artist even if she did not have this title - it is difficult to say which of the actresses can boast of such popularity and so many roles. However, viewers might never see her on screens, because in her youth she dreamed of another profession. Her father, actor Bruno Freundlich, helped her make the right choice. True, they had to see each other in secret, and the actress could meet her sister Irina only years later … And this was not the only secret of the acting dynasty.
Alisa Freundlich calls her childhood years one of the happiest periods in her life, although they were very difficult. The family lived in cramped material conditions: Alice huddled in a two-room apartment with her parents, her grandmother and her father's sisters with their husbands and children. However, Alice was happy, because her parents were still together then. They met at the Leningrad Regional Theater of Working Youth, where both were actors. True, her mother, Ksenia Fedorova, did not receive an acting education - she studied only in the studio at the theater, and when it broke up, she graduated from the workers' school, learned to be an accountant and changed her profession.
In 1934, the couple had a daughter, Alisa (the Russian form of the German name Eliza, Elsa). Before the outbreak of the war, Bruno Freundlich left for Tashkent with the theater. This saved him from the repressions that many hereditary Germans were subjected to then. The Freundlich family was very ancient, it appeared in Russia under Peter the Great, who invited the glassblower Freundlich from Germany, who settled in St. Petersburg and passed on this craft from generation to generation. On Bruno's parents, this tradition was interrupted, and he himself chose the acting profession. In 1942, his brother Arthur with his wife and other relatives were arrested and shot. Bruno's departure saved not only himself, but also his wife and daughter, who remained in Leningrad. Ksenia, although she bore her husband's surname, was Russian by nationality and her daughter also wrote down Russian in her birth certificate. However, having escaped repression, they survived another misfortune - the blockade.
In the evacuation, Bruno Freundlich had another family, and he returned to Leningrad with his new wife and daughter Irina. At the same time, Alice's mother did not interfere with her daughter's communication with her father, but his second wife was categorically opposed to seeing his ex-wife and daughter Alice. Therefore, they had to meet in secret, and these meetings were not long. For the same reason, Alice did not know her sister Irina. They met years later, and they managed not only to find a common language, but also to establish a rather warm relationship.
Alice's parents were not religious, but her grandmother, Charlotte Friedrichovna, secretly baptized the girl in infancy in the Lutheran church and taught her German prayers for her sleep and after meals. The actress still reads them before every stage and flight. At the same time, she always went to the Orthodox Church and has long since converted to the Orthodox faith, having been baptized anew.
In 1946, Alisa's mother married a naval officer who was sent to serve in Estonia, and the family moved to Tallinn. They lived there for 2 years until their mother and stepfather parted. After that, Alisa returned to Leningrad again and began to study in a theater group. They had no boys - after the war they studied separately from girls - and in all the plays Alice got male roles. She was very happy to return to Leningrad, because she again had the opportunity to see her father. Alice went to all of his performances at the Drama Theater named after A. Pushkin.
One of Bruno's sisters was a singer, and even before the war she started making music with Alice and discovered that she had perfect pitch and a good voice. Alice seriously thought about the career of an opera singer and for a long time could not decide whether to enter the conservatory or the theater. Her father helped her make a choice. He then told her: "". This advice played a decisive role in her destiny. So, thanks to Bruno Freundlich, the whole country soon learned about his daughter as one of the most talented actresses of our time. Alice's daughter Varvara later said: "".
At the same time, her father never helped her in her acting career. When he was asked to put in a word for his daughter when she entered the theater, he was indignant: "" Alice did not want this, because she already often heard whispering behind her back - they say that the daughter of a famous artist uses her famous surname. She said: "". And she proved by achieving national glory and love.
Her father has always remained for her the most important mentor and first critic. Alice always listened to his opinion, because he himself was a real master of his craft. "" - she said.
Recognition did not come to Alice Freundlich right away: she began acting in films at the age of 20, but she played her brightest roles after 40. At first, she appeared only in episodes, sometimes her name was not even mentioned in the credits, and her mother, unfortunately, did not saw her success - in 1971 she passed away, 3 years later the film Straw Hat was released, 3 years later - Office Romance, followed by dozens of legendary films with the participation of Alice Freundlich. But the father of the actress watched the rapid rise of his daughter and was proud of her. He himself was primarily a theater actor and began acting in films only at the age of 40, but at the same time he managed to play more than 40 roles. Bruno Freundlich passed away at the age of 92 in 2002.
For both the father and his daughter, the acting profession has become not just a craft, but a lifelong work and a real service. In an interview, Bruno Freundlich admitted: "". Probably, the same words could be said by his daughter, who after 80 years continues to go on stage and act in films. It remains only to congratulate the wonderful actress on her birthday and to thank for the joy that the acting dynasty of Freundlich has been giving viewers for almost 100 years!
Alisa Freundlich's daughter followed in her footsteps: How she coped with the burden of fame of Varvara Vladimirova's parents.
Recommended:
Why did the daughter of director Gaidai and actress Grebeshkova refuse to follow in the footsteps of her parents, and how her life turned out
Children of famous personalities always have a hard time, because those around them often evaluate not their personal qualities and talents, but their compliance with the status of the successor of the dynasty. But many of them manage to achieve success in the same field as their parents. Oksana Gaidai, the daughter of the genius director Leonid Gaidai and his wife, the talented actress Nina Grebeshkova, declared as a child that she did not want to get a creative profession, although she undoubtedly had an acting gift. How was her fate and did not reap
How was the life of Vasily Shukshin's daughter from her second marriage, and why she did not watch her father's films for a long time
He was called a unique phenomenon in Russian culture, noting the multifaceted talent of Vasily Makarovich as an actor, director and writer. Much has already been written and said about his life, and he himself was often defenseless against circumstances and feelings. In his life, in addition to Lydia Fedoseeva, there were three more women, and a daughter was growing up, born in the second marriage of the writer to Victoria Sofronova. How was the life of Vasily Shukshin's eldest daughter, what memory did she keep about her brilliant father?
Because of what Countess Sheremeteva was dissuaded from marrying Prince Dolgoruky, but she was never dissuaded: Female feat of love and selflessness
At first, two families rejoiced at the engagement of Prince Dolgorukov and Countess Sheremeteva. However, less than a month later, relatives began to dissuade the bride from this marriage, and outside her gates a real line of new suitors lined up, confident that Natalia Sheremeteva's engagement would be terminated any minute. But the 15-year-old countess did not even think to leave her fiancé, although she had very serious reasons for this
Why an American photographer has secretly made and photographed dolls for 30 years: Morton Bartlett and his "family"
In 1993, art critic Marion Harris saw at the fair and a half dozen strange dolls and many photos in which these dolls were captured, like living children - they were smiling, playing, fooling around … Harris bought out the entire collection, and after a couple of years the master - and his name was Morton Bartlett - he was posthumously famous throughout America. His dolls were sold at auctions for tens of thousands of dollars, there was no end of visitors at personal exhibitions … But who was this man and why his dolls
Why Gala's daughter did not communicate with her mother, and how her life turned out: "child of surrealism" Cecile Eluard
As you know, Salvador Dali did not have children. But his muse and wife Gala had a daughter, who was born in the first marriage of Elena Dyakonov and Paul Eluard. Cecile Eluard lived for almost a hundred years and throughout her life she diligently avoided publicity. Was the fate of this girl, who received the nickname "child of surrealism", happy, and why did she never give interviews either about her mother or about her shocking husband, the brilliant Salvador Dali?