Table of contents:
- Zhanna Prokhorenko and Claudia Cardinale
- Lyudmila Savelyeva, Galina Belyaeva and Audrey Hepburn
- Maya Menglet and Sophia Loren
- Lionella Pyryeva and Gina Lollobrigida
Video: Soviet "doubles" of Western stars: Which of the actresses were called our Sophia Loren and Audrey Hepburn
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
It is unlikely that a comparison with anyone in the acting environment would be flattering for someone, especially for women. But when Soviet stars came to international film festivals, they were often compared with foreign film stars. At the same time, the external similarity might not be so obvious, but the style and type were really similar. Which of the Soviet actresses was in no way inferior to Western stars and aroused admiration among foreign viewers - further in the review.
Zhanna Prokhorenko and Claudia Cardinale
While studying at the Moscow Art Theater School, a native of Poltava, Zhanna Prokhorenko made her debut on the stage of the Sovremennik Theater and played her first film role, which became triumphant for her - the war drama by Grigory Chukhrai "The Ballad of a Soldier" was later called one of the best films about the Second World War. This film won several awards at international festivals, including an Oscar nomination and a special jury prize at the Cannes Film Festival.
Zhanna Prokhorenko, together with the director of the film, traveled to many countries, presenting "The Ballad of the Soldier". In America, she made a splash - there the actress was called the Soviet Claudia Cardinale. Their outward resemblance could hardly be called striking, but Prokhorenko really was a beauty and captivated foreign audiences with her natural I washed my face and got rid of the fashionable hairstyle. Nevertheless, the actress managed to make a splash and earn hundreds of admiring reviews. In the film, her heroine was not made up, and in the frame she looked the way she was in life. This is how she was recognized abroad - simple, modest and charming.
Lyudmila Savelyeva, Galina Belyaeva and Audrey Hepburn
The sophisticated and fragile beauty of Audrey Hepburn admired many viewers abroad, and in the USSR the model Leka Mironova and actresses Tatyana Samoilova and Lyudmila Marchenko were compared with this actress, but more often - movie stars Lyudmila Savelyeva and Galina Belyaeva. Comparison of Lyudmila Savelyeva with Audrey Hepburn suggested itself not so much because of the external similarity, but because both actresses played the role of Natasha Rostova from War and Peace in the movie. Hepburn was the first talkie star who embodied this image on the screens, and 10 years later Lyudmila Savelyeva starred in the same role and, of course, did not avoid comparisons with the Hollywood style icon. It is interesting that both of them came to the cinema from ballet and had a unique plasticity and grace.
The Soviet film adaptation of War and Peace was shown in 117 countries around the world and in 1968 won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film. The director of the film was absent from the ceremony, and Lyudmila Savelyeva received the award instead. Later she recalled: "". After that, the name Natasha became popular not only in the USSR, but also in Europe and the United States, and Lyudmila Savelyeva was called the personification of Soviet cinema and the standard of beauty. “, - the actress recalled. - ". She was admired by Federico Fellini and Juliet Mazina, her portrait graced the covers of foreign newspapers and magazines.
Galina Belyaeva, who was also often compared to Audrey Hepburn, began her career as a ballerina. She began acting at the age of 16, when director Emil Loteanu was looking for the main character for his film "My affectionate and gentle animal". He decided in advance how she should look like Audrey Hepburn, Tatyana Samoilova and Lyudmila Savelyeva at the same time. And his assistants found such a girl among the students of choreographic schools. Fragile and graceful Galina Belyaeva really was of the same type as Audrey Hepburn and Lyudmila Savelyeva, and these actresses were compared more than once.
Maya Menglet and Sophia Loren
The similarities between the Soviet actress Maya Menglet and the foreign film star Sophia Loren were so striking that they were even confused at international film festivals. The role in the film "It Was in Penkovo" was for Menglet his debut main role in the cinema, but after the premiere she became a star not only of the all-Union, but also of the world scale. When she first appeared at a film festival abroad, she was immediately called the Soviet Sophia Loren - everyone paid attention to the same slanting eyes, long eyelashes, high cheekbones and thick hair.
Maya Menglet was surprised when they called her a beauty - she herself considered her appearance to be ordinary. But both in the USSR and abroad, the actress made a splash. They say that even Brezhnev reviewed the film "It Was in Penkovo" several times just because he wanted to admire the beauty of the ideal woman - Maya Menglet. And when she hosted the New Year's "Blue Light", Brezhnev invited her to dance.
Lionella Pyryeva and Gina Lollobrigida
The resemblance of Lionella Skirda (married Pyryeva, and then Strizhenova) was first noticed by her classmates at the State Institute of Theater Arts. For a chiseled figure with a wasp waist and a magnificent bust, they nicknamed her Lina Lolloskirdina. This similarity was also noticed by the person whose love she carried through her whole life - the actor Oleg Strizhenov. When Lina graduated from high school, the film crew of the film "Mexican", where Strizhenov was filmed, came to her native Odessa. Noticing the young beauty in the crowd of townspeople watching the work of the metropolitan artists, he approached her and asked: "" From this began the history of their relationship, which ended in marriage.
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