In memory of the great actor: 7 women who left a bright mark on the fate of Vasily Lanovoy

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

On January 28, 2021, the great artist, popular favorite Vasily Lanovoy passed away. He remained optimistic and cheerful until the last day of his life. On account of his more than 80 works in cinema, about 70 literary and poetry recordings and radio performances, over 60 roles in the theater. The personal life of Vasily Semyonovich was not easy. He found his happiness only on the third attempt, but not only his wives left their mark on the fate of the great actor.

Lydia Satel

At the age of 13, Vasily Lanovoy began to study at the theater studio at the ZIL Palace of Culture, which was directed by Sergei Lvovich Stein. Art reading classes were taught by actress and teacher Lidia Mikhailovna Satel. It was she who instilled in the future actor a love for great literature. She told her students about great writers and poets, immersing the students in the life of the classics, making them feel what they wrote about. If it was about Nikolai Gogol, then Lydia Satel led the students to the monument on Gogolevsky Boulevard, talked about what the sculptor wanted to express by creating a portrait of the writer.

Vasily Lanovoy in his memoirs remembered the teacher with gratitude and confessed: his love for the artistic word began with the lessons of Lydia Mikhailovna Satel. Her lessons for the actor did not go unnoticed. Lydia Satel passed away in 1964 and was buried in Moscow at the Donskoy cemetery.

Galina Ulanova

The future actor met the great ballerina in 1953. Vasily Lanovoy graduated from school with a gold medal, and the head of the theater studio as a gift took the student to the Bolshoi Theater for the ballet Romeo and Juliet with Galina Ulanova in the title role. The performance literally shocked Lanovoy, but the visit to the great ballerina's home on Kotelnicheskaya Embankment turned out to be even more exciting.

Vasily Lanovoy did not immediately recognize Galina Sergeevna in a small woman with a warm scarf on her shoulders. Only after Yuri Zavadsky turned to her, Vasily Lanovoy realized his mistake and was embarrassed for a long time. She slyly looked at the young guest, reassured him, gave him tea with bagels, and made a truly royal gift at parting: white English boots in a beautiful box. The actor wore them until it became impossible to put them on. And after a long time he regretted that the gift of the great ballerina had to be thrown away. Wherever Galina Sergeevna and Vasily Lanovoy met later, Ulanova greeted the actor with invariable warmth. He treated her with boundless love and admiration.

Cecilia Mansurova

The head of the course at the Shchukin School, where Vasily Lanovoy studied, was Cecilia Lvovna Mansurova, a bright and original actress, the pride of the Vakhtangov Theater, a talented teacher. Vasily Semyonovich remembered Cecilia Lvovna, first of all, as an amazing person. She skillfully endeared students to herself, relieved tension and stiffness. The students came to her with all their doubts, joys and worries, and she helped to reveal their talents. The actor remembered the lessons of Cecilia Lvovna all his life.

Tatiana Samoilova

While studying at the B. Shchukin Theater School, Vasily Lanovoy met his future wife Tatyana Samoilova. These were the first serious feelings in the life of two students. They were young and happy and laughed for a long time in front of a department store window, choosing gifts for each other for their wedding day. They both dreamed that their marriage would last a lifetime, but, unfortunately, their dreams were not destined to come true.

Vasily Lanovoy saw Tatyana Samoilova in the role of the keeper of the hearth, she could not imagine her life without cinema. The couple gradually moved away from each other. When Tatyana Samoilova got rid of pregnancy, knowing how passionately her husband wanted to have children, Vasily Lanovoy could not forgive her. The family broke up, and only a few years later the actors were able to communicate normally. Subsequently, Vasily Semyonovich always spoke warmly about his ex-wife, realizing: due to their youth and inexperience, they could not preserve their feelings.

Lyuba Rzhevskaya

Vasily Lanovoy never met this girl, but for a long time he corresponded. The girl signed her first letter: “Komsomolskaya Pravda Lyuba Rzhevskaya”. She told the actor about how she lost her eyesight in the sixth grade, and together with the ability to see, she lost the strength to fight for her life. When, together with her dad, she watched (in fact, listened to) the film "Pavel Korchagin" with Vasily Lanov in the title role, she was ashamed of her cowardice. Lyuba wrote to the actor how his voice made her find support under her feet in the most difficult period of her life.

Vasily Lanovoy answered the girl on the same day when he received her letter, a long correspondence ensued. He supported her, encouraged her, and then rejoiced at the successful operation on her eyes and the fact that the unknown Lyuba Rzhevskaya saw the light again. In the memory of the actor, this girl has forever remained a symbol of the healing power of art.

Tamara Zyablova

For the sake of Tamara Zyablova, his second wife, the actor during the filming of the film "Scarlet Sails" persuaded the captain of the ship to pass with the raised scarlet sails along the Yalta embankment and anchor at the sanatorium where Vasily Lanovoy's wife was resting. Then the whole city was discussing the unusual appearance of the yacht, and it seems that all residents and vacationers gathered on the embankment. The actor believed: every man should give his woman faith in a miracle.

The happiness of Vasily Semyonovich with Tamara Zyablova lasted ten years. The actor's wife was pregnant when there was a car accident that claimed her life. In an instant, Vasily Semyonovich lost both his beloved woman and an unborn child.

Irina Kupchenko

With Irina Kupchenko, the actor lived together for almost half a century. And all these years the couple looked at each other with undisguised tenderness and love. The actor admitted: with Irina Petrovna, he found the long-awaited happiness. The actress gave her husband two sons, became the keeper of their home, a symbol of enduring love and fidelity.

Vasily Lanovoy and Irina Kupchenko touchingly took care of each other and became closer during the days of difficult trials. In 2013, the youngest son of the actors, Sergei, died of a heart attack. And after that Vasily Semyonovich and Irina Petrovna helped raise his daughter Anna, who was born out of wedlock.

Irina Kupchenko was always with the actor when he was sick. She also tried to save her husband this time, when Vasily Lanovoy contracted the coronavirus in early January. Unfortunately, the disease turned out to be stronger.

On January 28, 2021, the actor's heart stopped. But he will forever remain in the memory of grateful viewers thanks to his roles in cinema and theater. And again his voice will sound, healing and inspiring hope …

One of the first works that brought Vasily Lanovoy incredible popularity was the role of Captain Gray in the film "Scarlet Sails". The actor embodied this fairy tale not only on the screen, but also in life, becoming a romantic hero for his wife on a ship with scarlet sails.