Why the "all-Union grandmother" of Soviet cinema hid her real name: Secrets of Galina Makarova

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

December 27 marks the 101st birthday of the famous Soviet actress, People's Artist of the USSR Galina Makarova. The audience did not know how she looked in her youth, because she began acting in films after 40 years, and popularity came to her only after 60. At the same time, Makarova managed to play more than 70 roles. She got mainly the roles of grandmothers, but the images she created were so vivid that the actress was called the "all-Union grandmother." In fact, no one knew the exact date of her birth, or her real name - the family was forced to destroy all the documents, and the actress herself hid these facts all her life …

The real name of Galina Makarova is Agata (Agafya) Chekhovich. Her grandfather was a priest, and her father was an officer in the tsarist army. During the First World War, he served at the headquarters of the tsar and for his diligence received a silver tray and a tea set from the sovereign himself. Then he fought in Denikin's army, in the Crimea he had the opportunity, together with other White Guards, to go abroad by ship, but he returned to the village of Starobin in Belarus, where his wife and children were waiting for him. In 1921 he was arrested and sent to prison. To avoid reprisals, his relatives were forced to destroy all documents linking them with the name of Klimenty Chekhovich. In the new passport, Agatha indicated the mother's surname - Apanashchik, and wrote down the wrong year of birth. She later calculated that in fact she was not born in 1919, but in 1916.

At the age of 16, Agatha moved to Minsk. There she worked as a housekeeper and nurse, and later her friend's father drew attention to her artistry and advised her to enter a studio at the theater. There she took a pseudonym and performed under the name Galina - according to colleagues, Agafya's name was simple and "too rustic" for an actress. In her youth, she was fond of equestrian sports, javelin throwing and motor sports, at the age of 20 she became the champion of the republic in motocross.

After graduating from the studio, Galina performed on the stage of the First Belarusian Drama Theater. Once the performance with her participation was seen by the officer Ivan Makarov - and fell in love with her at first sight. Soon he proposed to her, and Galina agreed. After marriage, she took her husband's surname. Together they moved to Moscow, in 1941 the couple had a son, Eduard. At the beginning of the war, Ivan Makarov went to the front, and Galina and her son went to evacuation. The husband returned from the war safe and sound, but he did not come alone - he was accompanied by a "field-field wife." He announced that he wanted to divorce Galina and invited her and her son to move to his mother. The betrayal of her husband was a heavy blow for her, she could not forgive him for this. After the divorce, the actress decided to return to Minsk, to her native theater.

Her stage colleague was the actor Pavel Pekur, who began to look after her. Soon they got married, in 1951 their daughter Tatiana was born. Later, she said that her mother respected and appreciated Paul very much, but at the same time she continued to love her first husband all her life. And Makarov never believed that she would be able to achieve such success, and was surprised when she received the title of People's Artist of the USSR. He was offended that the actress never called him when she came to Moscow, and did not even know what was really going on in her soul. His betrayal was not the only blow he dealt to her. When their son was 12 years old, Makarov demanded that he move in with him. Of course, Galina did not want to part with her son, but her ex-husband threatened her that he would reveal the truth about her origin, which could ruin her life. And the actress had to agree. Since then, Eduard lived in Moscow, and during the holidays he came to his mother. He received a good education and built a brilliant career as a personal assistant to Mikhail Gorbachev.

In the theater, Galina Makarova was a real star. Playwright Andrei Makaenok specially wrote for her roles in her plays, which then Galina Makarova brilliantly embodied on stage. Her husband, who always got supporting roles, never felt creative jealousy about this and did not worry about the fact that he was in the shadow of the famous wife - he was sincerely happy for her and was proud of her. They both knew how to prioritize - Galina Makarova did not pursue fame, and both her and Pavel Pekur always had a family and children in the first place.

Galina Makarova's film career began very late, at that time she was already about 40 years old. The first roles did not bring her popularity - these were very small episodes, her name was often not even mentioned in the credits. She got the inconspicuous roles of nannies, cashiers, peasants, watchmen, cleaning ladies and other "women from the people." The actress got her first leading role only at the age of 60 in the film "Widows", after which her first resounding success came to her. Many viewers also remembered other vivid images created by Makarova: grandmother Agasha in the film "Young Wife", ticket collector in the circus from "The Amazing Adventures of Denis Korablev", a veteran in the film "Test by Specialty", Matryona in the drama "White Dew", the main character from "Farewell of a Slav", Praskovya in the film "White Clothes", etc.

Most often, she was offered the role of the grandmothers of the main characters. On the one hand, Makarova rejoiced at the numerous proposals and willingly agreed to them, because it was these images that brought her all-Union fame and the unspoken title of "all-Union grandmother" and "truly popular" actress. On the other hand, she was saddened by the uniformity of the roles played.

Despite her extensive filmography and nationwide recognition, her acting talent was still not fully realized. Her daughter Tatiana said about her: "".

Galina Makarova often joked that if she had not become an actress, she would have been the chairman of the collective farm - she really liked working on the land, and her favorite outlet was a dacha 30 km from Minsk. There she spent all her free time growing flowers. She had more than a hundred bushes of peonies alone! The actress subscribed to the magazine "Floriculture" and sent letters to the addresses found in it with a request to send her seeds of rare plants. She was proud that even edelweiss grew in her country house. There she also spent her last days. In September 1993, she was gone. Her granddaughter Anastasia said wonderful words about her, which could be repeated by moviegoers after her: “”.

Galina Makarova did not consider herself a movie star, her name is unlikely to be remembered by most viewers, but the images she created will forever remain in the memory of many: Behind the scenes of the film "Young Wife".