Who are the actors Alexei Batalov and Anna Ardova to each other: Family secrets of the famous dynasty

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

Most viewers know the name of only the brightest star of this acting dynasty - Alexei Batalov, but he was not the first and not the only representative of it. Surely many do not know why Alexey Batalov spent more time with the writer Viktor Ardov than with his own father, actor Vladimir Batalov, why he considered Anna Akhmatova to be his grandmother, and also about who he was a popular modern actress, star sketch show "One for All" Anna Ardova.

Nikolay Batalov

The founder of this acting dynasty was Nikolai Batalov, the eldest son in a peasant family, at the beginning of the twentieth century. moved from the Yaroslavl province to Moscow. Since childhood, Nikolai was fond of amateur performances, and later began to study in a theater studio, after which at the age of 17 he got into the Moscow Art Theater to Konstantin Stanislavsky. In the first years of his service in the theater, Nikolai Batalov was involved in 15 performances, and his most striking theatrical work was called the role of Figaro in the comedy "Crazy Day".

At the age of 19, Nikolai Batalov began acting in silent films. His most notable film work of this period was called the role of the Red Army soldier Gusev in the film "Aelita" and the son of the main character in the film "Mother", which in 1958 became the sixth in the list of the best films of all times and peoples. It is interesting that after 29 years the same role in the film of the same name will be performed by his nephew Alexei Batalov. At the age of 32, Nikolai played the main role in the first Soviet sound film "A Way to Life".

In the 1930s. he was a very sought-after and popular actor and would surely have played many more memorable roles, but he had only 37 years to live. In 1935 Nikolai Batalov played his last role in the film Three Comrades. He struggled with tuberculosis for many years, but was never able to defeat the disease.

Vladimir Batalov

Vladimir Batalov became interested in theater and cinema thanks to his older brother Nikolai - after him he came to the Moscow Art Theater, on the stage of which they performed together. Later, Vladimir's son, Alexei Batalov, said in an interview that his parents met thanks to his uncle: "".

Many believed that in acting, the younger brother lost to the older one, and in the theater he got mostly supporting roles. But he became interested in directing and began to stage performances - at first as an assistant to Stanislavsky, and then on his own. And at the end of the 1930s. Vladimir became a director-teacher of the Mosfilm film studio. In order not to be confused with his older brother, he took the pseudonym Atalov. He also acted in films, but much less than his older brother - he still considered directing his main business.

Actress Nina Olshevskaya also got mostly episodic roles in the theater, in cinema she was involved only in 3 films. She managed to better prove herself as a theater director and teacher. Her first marriage with Vladimir Batalov was very short-lived: when their son Alexei was 5 years old, the couple broke up, and soon Nina married the writer Viktor Ardov.

Alexey Batalov

It so happened that Alexei Batalov practically did not remember his own father, because he spent all his childhood with Viktor Ardov. He was a kind, intelligent man with an excellent sense of humor, and with Alexei he managed to immediately become friends and become his main mentor. All the literary elite of those years gathered in their house, Nina Olshevskaya was a close friend of Anna Akhmatova, and she not only often visited them, but even lived with them for a long time. As a child, Alexei even considered her his grandmother, and later, after moving to Leningrad, he lived with Anna Akhmatova.

Of course, being from childhood in such a creative atmosphere, Alexey Batalov could not choose another profession. But his relationship with the Moscow Art Theater developed dramatically, which he later talked about: "". All viewers are well aware of how successfully his creative destiny developed in the future.

Nina Olshevskaya and Viktor Ardov had two more sons - Mikhail and Boris. The elder became a writer and rector of the temple, the younger - an actor and director. Boris's daughter Anna also followed in the footsteps of relatives and became an actress.

Anna Ardova

Anna Ardova in some ways repeated the fate of her famous uncle Alexei Batalov: she became the heiress of several famous acting dynasties at once. Her parents also divorced when she was little. She was not even a year old when her mother left Boris Ardov and married actor Igor Starygin, the famous Aramis. According to a family legend, the girl received her name in honor of Anna Akhmatova.

Of course, it is not easy to be the heiress of such a famous dynasty - Anna Ardova from childhood faced high expectations and triple demand, because after she chose the acting profession, comparisons could not be avoided. She confessed: "". That is why she managed to enter GITIS only on the fifth attempt.

The creative destiny of Anna Ardova was successful: she became the leading actress of the Moscow Academic Theater. V. Mayakovsky, the main actress of the comedy sketch show "One for All", has played about 70 roles in films. In 2018, she was awarded the title of Honored Artist of the Russian Federation.

Alexei Batalov himself also had many secrets in his family life: What the famous actor could not forgive himself until the end of his days.