Secrets of the main Soviet Cinderella: Why Stalin disliked Yanina Zheimo, and why the actress wanted to commit suicide

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

33 years ago, on the eve of New Year 1988, an actress who had delighted viewers on the winter holidays for 40 years passed away, even after she stopped acting in films and left the USSR - after all, the film was traditionally repeated on television at that time -the fairy tale "Cinderella" with Yanina Zheimo in the title role. Millions of viewers admired the movie star, unaware of what was behind that smile. The whole country adored her, and the closest person almost brought her to the decision to commit suicide. Yes, and the professional success of the actress at the highest level was not recognized - Stalin crossed out her name from all the award lists.

Janina Zheimo was a real fairytale heroine. Everyone called her Cinderella - for the most famous role, and in life she looked like Thumbelina - her height was only 148 cm, she wore shoes in size 31 and clothes in size 34. They said that Yanina stopped growing at the age of 14 due to severe physical overload and hormonal disruption - she was born into a family of circus artists, from the age of 3 she performed in the arena, performing complex tricks without insurance. Her daughter denied that her mother's diminutiveness was the result of defects in her development: "". But Janina Zheimo herself admitted: "".

When she was 13 years old, her father passed away, and their circus collective broke up. Then the mother and her daughters began performing on the stage with musical numbers. Since her youth, Yanina dreamed of cinema, but her mother was categorically against it, because performances on the stage fed the whole family, and studying in the theater would take all the time from her. But the stubborn Yanina still entered the Leningrad film factory FEKS - the Factory of an eccentric actor, and managed not only to study, but also to perform with her family, so her mother no longer objected to her hobby.

She made her debut in silent films at the age of 16, and played her first leading roles at the age of 24-25. The daughter of the actress, Yanina Kostrichkina, said that her mother burst into tears when she first saw herself on the screen. She was so disappointed by the way she looked that she cried all the way home. The conductor in the tram came up and asked: "" To which Zheimo answered through tears: "" She was sincerely convinced that this was her first and last role, and as an actress she died. Fortunately, Ioannina was wrong.

By the time she was filming Cinderella, Zheimo had starred in 28 films. Because of her diminutiveness, she most often got the roles of boys and teenage girls, and therefore the offer to play 16-year-old Cinderella was not unexpected for her. At first, the heroine's age, a student of a choreographic school, was invited to audition, but the artistic council did not approve of the candidacy of a non-professional actress. They decided that despite the serious age difference with the heroine - Yanina was already 37 years old at that time, she had an unconditional advantage - she was a very gifted actress and could play anything and how she wanted.

Unique photographs from the filming of this film became available to the general public only years later, and in them everyone saw Cinderella as no one had ever imagined her - in the picture Ioannina Zheimo in the costume of her heroine was captured with a cigarette. Only those close to her knew about her little weaknesses. On the screens, she was a brilliant, touching, young, ideal Cinderella, and no one suspected that this fragile woman by that time had survived the blockade of Leningrad and severe depression after parting with her husband, because of which she almost took her own life. A bad habit in those days became for her a way to deal with stress and hunger. And hardly anyone will be able to reproach the actress for not being as perfect and flawless as her Cinderella - after all she experienced, going out on the set and smiling, singing and dancing in the frame was already a feat for her.

Her first husband was the actor Andrei Kostrichkin, whom she met in 1925 on the set. In this marriage, a daughter was born, who was named after her mother. The couple did not live together for long - the husband could not forgive his wife for her success, moreover, he turned out to be an inveterate gambler, and their marriage broke up. The second time Yanina married film director Joseph Kheifits, they had a son, Julius. When the war began, the husband of the actress took the children to evacuation to Alma-Ata, and he himself went to Tashkent to shoot. Yanina could not leave with them - her sister fell ill, and she stayed with her. When the blockade ring closed, the actress was repeatedly offered to take her out by plane, but she refused. During the day, Zheimo performed with the Lenfilm concert crew in hospitals, and at night put out incendiary bombs on the rooftops.

In 1942 Kheifits summoned Zheimo to his place in Tashkent. The train in which she was traveling was bombed. No one knew that Yanina managed to escape - at one of the stations, the fighters invited the actress to the military train, and she moved, thanks to which she survived. Heifitsu was informed that his wife had died. Soon he had another woman. Upon learning that Yanina was alive, he immediately came to her, but she could not forgive him for the betrayal. The actress was so worried about this that she fell into a severe depression, lost her memory for some time and did not recognize her acquaintances. At that moment, she wanted to die - she was going to be gassed. Fortunately, her friends and favorite work did not allow her to do this. It was then that she received an offer to play Cinderella. One can only guess what was going on in her soul when she fluttered around the set.

Everyone called her a reference Cinderella and a real folk actress, although she did not even receive the title of Honored Artist. Documents for conferring this title on Janina Zheimo were submitted several times, but Stalin personally always deleted her from the lists. He liked spectacular, stately, beautiful artists - real film stars, such as Lyubov Orlova. And about Yanina, he was perplexed: "" Therefore, the actress did not receive any titles. However, this did not upset her in the least. She told her daughter: "".

Four generations of women in her family are Ioannina. And the daughter of the actress, and her granddaughter, and great-granddaughter were named after the famous artist. Yanina Kostrichkina explained: "".

Surprisingly, after her kinotriumph, the actress starred in only one film, and later left the country altogether and left the acting profession forever: Why Janina Zeimo left the cinema and emigrated to Poland.