An aristocrat from the people: What was the behind-the-scenes star of "Kuban Cossacks" and "Gypsy" Klara Luchko

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

15 years ago, on March 26, 2005, a wonderful actress, People's Artist of the USSR Klara Luchko, known to the audience for her roles in the films "Kuban Cossacks", "Gypsy" and "Return of Budulai", passed away. In the cinema, she played ordinary women from the people, kind, loyal and honest, she was called the standard of beauty of the Slavic type, and it was simply impossible to imagine Luchko in negative roles. Behind the scenes, she also always remained invariably benevolent and radiant, and no one suspected how deceiving her appearance was, and what was really going on in her soul …

Clara Luchko always looked and behaved as if she were a hereditary noblewoman. But in fact, there were no nobles in her family, she was born in the Ukrainian village of Chutovo. Since her father was the director of a state farm in one district, and her mother was the chairman of a collective farm in another, he had no time to raise his daughter, and the girl was raised by her aunt, an illiterate woman named Kilya.

From childhood, Clara (named after the revolutionary Clara Zetkin) grew up very withdrawn and unsociable, and preferred books to communication with peers. But even at school, she began to study in a drama circle and dreamed of becoming an actress. At school she was teased as a "giraffe" because of her tall stature and awkward figure. In the 6th grade, Klara fell in love with a 9th grade student and, to get his attention, jumped with a parachute from a tower. Although this did not make an impression on her chosen one, the girl did not regret her decision. "" - she said.

She always gave the impression of a very soft, feminine and timid girl, but her appearance was deceiving. Behind this facade was a strong-willed and persistent character. Clara herself said: "". And she could stand up for herself if necessary.

If not for her perseverance and perseverance, viewers would never have seen her on the screens. When Klara Luchko entered VGIK, the competition was held in 3 stages, and only 12 people were allowed to the last. Clara was 13th, but managed to convince the commission to give her a chance. Even her Ukrainian accent did not prevent her from becoming a student at this university, however, the speech technique teacher set her a strict condition: either she gets rid of the accent, or she will be expelled. Klara studied from morning to night, recited poetry, read large passages of prose, and showed a brilliant result in the exams! She graduated from VGIK with honors.

Teachers Sergei Gerasimov and Tamara Makarova, on whose course Klara Luchko studied at VGIK, also drew attention to her character. Once Makarova compared her student with a petunia flower. "", - said Clara.

Perhaps it was precisely because of her character that she looked so convincing in the role of Dasha Shelest in "Kuban Cossacks". This work turned the 25-year-old actress into a State Prize laureate and an all-Union star, the film was watched by more than 40 million viewers, and the real Kuban Cossacks believed her heroine so much that they presented the actress with the Honorary Cossack diploma. In the city of Kurganinsk, a monument was erected to her: a sheaf of wheat, entwined with a film strip with the inscription: "". She herself was extremely surprised by such success - she said that she did not create any character, she just played herself in the proposed circumstances.

She was admired by thousands of spectators both in the USSR and abroad, where she visited in 1953 with the film "The Return of Vasily Bortnikov". At the Cannes Film Festival, the Soviet actress made a splash, the artists Pablo Picasso and Fernand Léger were delighted with her. And she herself again did not feel either pride or delight in this regard: "".

It seemed that until the age of 40 she was Fortune's favorite. But after this milestone, a new, very difficult period began in her life. In the 1960s. after a heart attack, her 54-year-old husband, actor Sergei Lukyanov, passed away. The actress was left alone with her little daughter, moreover, in her career, after a resounding success, there was a long lull. And although she was no longer offered big roles, Klara Luchko took on any job - she believed that the acting profession does not tolerate downtime, and tried not to lose her creative form.

This strategy bore fruit: when the actress was already 54, she played the 40-year-old main character in the film "Gypsy", and 6 years later - in the sequel, "The Return of Budulai." A new round of her popularity began, she did not have such success even in her youth. And 8 years after her husband left, she met journalist and writer Dmitry Mamleev, with whom she regained personal happiness.

Nobody knew what was going on in her soul. She was a reserved, delicate and modest person and considered it unacceptable to complain about her difficulties, worries and illnesses. The actress said that when she was out of sorts, she simply did not leave the house. Therefore, no one has ever seen her in tears, in a bad mood, without a smile on her face. Probably, the state of harmony with herself and the world around her allowed her to always remain so organic both on the screen and behind the scenes.

Until the last days, the actress looked great. In public, she appeared in the same elegant dresses and hats, striking everyone with aristocratic manners, and when asked about the secret of her beauty and youth, she answered that she did everything around the house, washes the floors and cooks, and grows flowers in the country. And she considered the main recipe for beauty that she never envied anyone and did not want evil.

On March 26, 2005, Klara Luchko's heart stopped beating. She left at the age of 80, the doctors called the cause of a detached blood clot. No one knew about her poor health, because she never complained about her health, so her departure was a real shock for many. She left behind dozens of great roles in films and a fond memory of everyone who knew her. Actress Lyudmila Khityaeva said about her: "".

Films with her participation have long become classics of Soviet cinema: "Return of Budulai" 33 years later.