An unfinished play about the happiness of Elena Mayorova: The tragic denouement of a complex knot of relationships

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

She dreamed of becoming an actress since childhood. And even when she wrapped the pipes with glass wool, Elena Mayorova knew: she would definitely be a brilliant artist. In the theater and during filming, she completely got used to each role, adopting the manners and way of thinking of her heroines. Everything in her was beyond measure: if you laugh, then to hiccups, if you cry, then to hysteria, if you feel feelings, then the brightest.

First tests

Arriving to conquer Moscow from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, she submitted documents to almost all creative universities in the capital. But I didn’t get into any of them. But on the other hand, she entered the vocational school, where the admission announcement read the cherished: "Nonresident dormitories are provided." Of course, Elena Mayorova was not going to become a pipe insulator, but she got used to doing everything that she undertook to do well.

The girl learned to masterly wrap the pipes with glass wool, but in the cold she could not bring herself to put on cotton pants and a sweatshirt. Therefore, at the construction site, where the practice took place, she appeared in old jeans and a short jacket from overalls.

It would be a miracle not to get sick in such a situation. But the payback for wanting to be beautiful turned out to be too cruel. She was picked up by an ambulance, and when 17-year-old Lena regained consciousness after the operation, the doctor said that she would never have children. At the time, it didn't seem like a tragedy to her.

She successfully graduated from college, received a red diploma, and again went to storm theatrical universities. At the competition in GITIS, Oleg Tabakov drew attention to her extraordinary talent. And she was accepted, in spite of the terrible dialect and non-closure of the ligaments.

Fictitious marriage

During the entire first year she stubbornly got rid of speech deficiencies. And on the second, not a trace remained of her light burr, northern dialect and problems with ligaments. Each appearance of Elena Mayorova on the stage, even in educational performances, became an event. The teachers were proud of her, and she diligently absorbed the basics of acting.

It was out of the question for the provincial to enter the service in the capital's theater. Only actors with a Moscow residence permit were admitted to the troupe. Oleg Tabakov advised his graduates to marry Muscovites. Elena took this path.

Her classmate, Vladimir Chaplygin, came to the girl's aid. The young man, who had been in love with Elena for a long time, hoped to win her heart over time. But for Mayorova, this marriage remained fictitious. Three months later, she filed for divorce and moved to a theater hostel.

Cinderella and her prince

Of course, she dreamed of love, big and true. Elena Mayorova was waiting for her prince, and one day he simply knocked on the door of her room. Once Sergei Sherstyuk met her on the street near the theater, tried to get acquainted, but the girl did not leave him her phone number.

Sergei did his best to find out her address. And he appeared on the doorstep at the moment when she theatrically asked her friend where her prince was. As soon as a colleague replied that he was already walking, there was a knock on the door.

The general's son and fashionable artist was once married, but now she has become his only woman, his muse. Elena moved to her husband's spacious apartment. According to the testimony of relatives and friends, they really loved each other. Sergei, like Elena, gave himself up to feelings without a trace. They always quarreled loudly, accusing each other of lack of talent and throwing dishes on the floor. But they reconciled, fervently asking for forgiveness from a loved one and assuring them of eternal love. Every morning they wrote each other touching notes, in which every word spoke of endless tenderness.

She tried to make friends with Sergei's son from her first marriage, but the teenager was not going to trust anyone especially. It was enough for him that he had parents, although not living together.

And then Elena showed Sergei the script of the film "Strange Time", in which she was offered to act. The film was not entirely ordinary for her, it contained a lot of bed scenes, and the opinion of her husband was important to the actress. But Sergei just shrugged, letting her decide whether to act or not. Later, he reproached himself many times for not making Lena give up this job.

The secret of the last love

She again gave herself up to her role. According to the plot, her heroine falls in love with a young guy played by Oleg Vasilkov. The feelings that she played on the set immediately grew into her. She really fell in love.

Sergei was exhausted from jealousy, but he knew for sure: her hobby would pass as soon as the work on the film was completed. And waited patiently.

Whether Oleg Vasilkov was in love with Elena Mayorova remains a mystery. Colleagues argued that the lovers did not hide the relationship, and the actor himself prefers to talk only about business relationships and friendly affection.

But on the last day of her life, she sent pager messages to two people: her husband and Oleg. She prayed for both of them for help and asked them to come. But my husband was at the dacha of relatives, and Oleg was on a business trip. He received messages from Elena when she herself was no longer in this world.

It remained unclear whether Elena Mayorova accidentally spilled kerosene on the dress, or did it on purpose, but at the entrance where the actress went to smoke, the dress on her caught fire, and she instantly turned into a flaming torch. Colleagues, friends and relatives agree that the actress was too cheerful and could not commit suicide.

Sergei Sherstyuk died of cancer 9 months after Elena left, having managed to finish the painting You and Me, painted as an ode to their love.

In one of her interviews, Elena Mayorova said: And this phrase turned out to be a terrible prophecy for her.