The fading star of Isolde Izvitskaya: from triumph in Cannes to death alone

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

June 21 could have marked the 85th anniversary of the Soviet film actress Isolde Izvitskaya, but in 1971 she passed away. Her death became known only a week later, when the body of the 38-year-old actress was found in her apartment. The newspapers kept silent about the circumstances of the death, or even did not mention it at all. The once famous movie star, who conquered not only Soviet, but also foreign viewers in the film "Forty-first", was long forgotten at that time - they said that under the influence of alcohol addiction she sank to the very bottom. But that was only half the truth.

Izolda Izvitskaya was born in 1932 in Dzerzhinsk. After school, she secretly left her parents for Moscow to submit documents to VGIK. But when they found out that their daughter had entered, they did not object - obviously, they did not consider this hobby as serious. But Isolde not only successfully graduated from the institute, but soon began acting in films.

The first major role became triumphant for Izvitskaya: the film "Forty-first" was appreciated not only by Soviet, but also by foreign viewers. The film crew was invited to the Cannes International Film Festival. True, the trip began with unpleasant moments: in French newspapers they wrote that the Soviet movie star had "the legs of a steppe cavalryman." The fact is that Izvitskaya was not approved for the role of the Red Army Maryutka for a long time due to the fact that the actress was too graceful and graceful. And in order to look like a combat commissar, Izvitskaya learned to waddle around. This played a cruel joke on her in Cannes, although in fact she was not inferior in beauty to foreign film stars.

But when Izvitskaya appeared at the show, she made a splash. The next day, journalists chorus praised her acting skills and outstanding appearance. The film was awarded a special prize "For poetry and original script", Izvitskaya appeared on the covers of magazines, receptions were held in her honor, and the Isolde cafe was opened in Paris.

Upon her return to the USSR, the actress received offers from several directors. In addition, she was made a member of the Association for Cultural Relations with Latin America, which opened up the opportunity for her to travel abroad. In between trips, she starred in films, but the roles were of the same type and, in comparison with "Forty-first", subtle. She got expressionless heroines in production dramas, and in the early 1960s. she had a creative crisis.

Izvitskaya did not receive due attention and support in the family. Her husband, actor Eduard Bredun, was jealous of his wife's successes, but did not take failures seriously. He himself did not reach the same heights in his film career and was angry when he was introduced as "Izvitskaya's husband." All he could offer her was another noisy friendly get-together with a lot of alcohol. Many of their acquaintances said that it was he who addicted his wife to alcohol. However, according to other testimonies, he tried to treat her for addiction and put her in hospitals. Be that as it may, the actress failed to overcome this addiction. The situation was aggravated by the fact that Izvitskaya could not have children.

She appeared on the screen several more times. In 1963, Sergei Kolosov invited her to play the role of Pasha's scout in his film "Calling Fire on Ourselves."Later, the director admitted: "Sometimes on the set, Isolde was not sufficiently collected, looked bad, it felt that she was leading a disorderly family life." During filming, she tried to hold on, but after she returned home, she again broke down. The head of the acting department of "Mosfilm" called her to him, offered to seek help from a narcologist, but the actress refused. Drinking continued in the house, this time with beatings.

Her last film work, 23rd in a row, was the film "Every evening at eleven" in 1969. She was no longer invited to shoot. And soon the husband went to her friend, and she was left all alone. This finally broke Izvitskaya. She almost never left the house, ate only crackers and washed down with vodka. With a severe nervous breakdown, the actress ended up in a psychiatric hospital. And after being discharged she started drinking again.

In February 1971 Izvitskaya disappeared - she stopped appearing in the theater, did not answer calls. Her ex-husband was asked to go and see if she was okay. The door of the apartment was locked from the inside, and when it was broken open, the body of the actress was found on the floor in the corridor, which had been there for at least a week. At the request of Bredun, they did not write about her alcoholism, and the cause of death was indicated "poisoning of the body with unknown poisons, weakness of the cardiovascular system." Isolde Izvitskaya at that time was only 38 years old. Her death was reported only by "Soviet Culture". And in foreign publications they wrote that she died of hunger, thrown out of society and forgotten by everyone.

The same misfortune ruined another famous Soviet actress: tragedy of Valentina Serova