What Aleftina Evdokimova, one of the most private actresses of the Maly Theater, is silent about

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

The actress was admitted to the troupe of the Maly Theater 57 years ago and since then has played many bright and diverse roles on the renowned stage. She went on stage with legendary actors and was incredibly happy. True, the theater demanded a certain sacrifice from the actress and for the sake of a stage career Aleftina Evdokimova had to give up a very important part of her professional life. But she does not regret anything and diligently avoids uncomfortable questions.

Difficult childhood

Her childhood was hungry and difficult. After Aleftina Evdokimova's father went to the front and disappeared there without a trace, the future actress, together with her mother, had to travel a lot around the world. At the age of five, she almost died of dyspepsia, having eaten after a long fast, and clearly remembered the words of the doctor, who allowed the baby to be given potatoes so that at least she would die well fed …

But Aleftina Evdokimova survived. She still had a lot to endure in her life. While her mother was settling in the Far East, Aleftina worked hard in her grandfather's house, carrying heavy buckets of water for livestock. Fortunately, she went to school in the Far East, where her mother took her as soon as possible.

When her mother was taken to the hospital, the girl spent the night at the doorstep of her neighbors, who let Aleftina into their house so that she would not be so cold and scared. She also earned food for herself, and often she caught it in the garbage. After a week and a half, the girl was finally taken to the hospital, where she was next to her mother in warmth and tried to help and serve everyone.

In the very first grade, Aleftina Evdokimova first came to the theater after watching Ostrovsky's The Snow Maiden. It was then, in complete shock, that the girl decided to become an actress. She knew how to do twine, easily stood on the bridge and once went to a circus that had come on tour in the hope that she would be hired.

And after Alla, as everyone called the girl, began to engage in amateur performances and watch films brought to them, where she cried from an excess of feelings. Then she and her mother moved back to Krasnodar, where grandfather and grandmother lived. Aleftina, after suffering rheumatism, the cold climate was contraindicated and she completed her studies in the Kuban.

At school, the girl herself organized a theater group, where she became even more confident in her desire to become an actress. Moreover, Aleftina began to say that she had talent. She even decided to get acquainted with the artists who came on tour so that they would take her with them to Moscow. Thanks to Nikolai Dostal, who saw a thin girl with burning eyes at the hotel, Alla Evdokimova was actually able to talk with Alla Larionova and Nonna Mordyukova. And Nikolai Dostal himself was always considered her godfather in art. Then he passed by her, and the fate of the Krasnodar schoolgirl could have turned out quite differently.

Married to the theater

At the entrance exams to VGIK Aleftina Evdokimova enthusiastically read Katerina's monologue from The Groza, an excerpt from Mtsyri and a fable. 1700 applicants applied for 20 available places. And Evdokimova was among those lucky ones whose names were on the lists of applicants. She managed to attract the attention of Mikhail Romm, who was gaining a course, and won the sympathy of the entire selection committee. She was even allowed to retake the story, which she ignominiously flunked the first time.

And after she was approved for the main role in the film "Amphibian Man", and the entire film crew came to Mikhail Romm with a request to let the student go to the shooting. But no persuasion worked for the master. He was categorical: Aleftina can go, but after that she will no longer study with him. As a result, Anastasia Vertinskaya became famous in the role of Gutierre. After that, the actress refused any proposals for filming until graduation.

In the year she received her diploma, she starred as a gymnast in Viktor Ivchenko's film "Silver Trainer", instantly becoming famous. On the set, she met Vyacheslav Shalevich, who himself invited the young actress to play along with her during a show at the Maly Theater.

Boris Babochkin immediately decided: Aleftina Evdokimov should be taken. But I heard objections from colleagues, they say, the actress is too beautiful and will constantly be absent from filming. As a result, she was accepted, but on the condition that for the next five years she will not be removed. And she happily agreed. Since then, her fate has been firmly connected with the Maly Theater, where Aleftina Evdokimova played many different roles. Later, of course, she began to accept offers for filming, but she always remained a truly theatrical actress.

Her whole life was spent in the theater. But about what happened to the actress outside of it, she always preferred to be silent. It is known that she was married, gave birth to a daughter and sighed with relief when she filed for a divorce. She had many fans, and she herself fell in love more than once, but Aleftina Nikolaevna prefers not to talk about her personal life.

Only once did she admit: she had a rather long affair with Alexander Porokhovshchikov. The actor simply could not help but pay attention to his beautiful colleague, the actress could not resist the pressure of his charm. True, the actor's mother, with whom he, as you know, had a very warm relationship, was very unhappy with the choice of her son.

However, she was simply jealous of her son for all the women who appeared in his life. In this case, Aleftina Evdokimova was no exception. But they broke up only after the actress found out about her lover's infidelity. And this despite the fact that he more than once arranged scenes of jealousy for her and even accused her of betrayal. According to the actress, even after their breakup, the actor more than once made attempts to get closer, but Aleftina Nikolaevna was not ready to go through the pain she had suffered again. The actress told about this story only after Alexander Porokhovshchikov was gone.

Aleftin Evdokimova never married again, although she never complained about the lack of male attention in her life. But now she admits with a smile: she is married to the theater. For 57 years now.

Aleftina Evdokimova had a chance to work on the same stage with many famous actors. And she remembers Rufina Nifontova with special warmth. In this actress, everything was woven from contradictions, and she herself was an ambiguous figure, and someone even called her life a painful experience, referring to the numerous dramas that the actress had to endure.