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Video: An affair with power: How did the fate of the actors, who were favored by the leaders of the country
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
At all times, proximity to those in power promised numerous benefits and access to benefits. In Soviet times, actors who were sympathetic to the country's leaders were awarded honorary titles and, most importantly, very substantial monetary awards. True, the attitude of colleagues towards them was far from always kind. How did the fate of those to whom the leadership of the Land of Soviets was favorable?
Vera Davydova
She was a real star of the Bolshoi Theater. The stunning performance of the main parts in the operas could not make anyone doubt her talent. But in recent years, her name has been associated with the name of Joseph Stalin, calling Vera Davydova his last love. The reason for this was the book by Leonid Gendlin "Confessions of Stalin's mistress", which was allegedly written entirely from the words of the People's Artist, three times winner of the Stalin Prize.
Vera Davydova actually enjoyed the favor of Stalin, who attended performances with her participation. Huge bouquets of flowers were sent to her on his behalf. On this, according to the relatives and friends of the actress, their relationship ended. Their communication took place within the framework of government receptions, and the only personal meeting ended with Vera Davydova's request to assign the title of People's Artist to her teacher.
Since 1953, the opera singer, together with her husband, Dmitry Mchedlidze, lived and worked in Tbilisi, was engaged in teaching at the conservatory. Her husband died in 1983, she survived him by 10 years.
Nikolay Cherkasov
He became Stalin's favorite film actor, in many of his roles one could trace the leader's rhetoric. Nikolai Cherkasov, during the heyday of his creativity, lived in a good apartment in the regional committee house, he had his own car, as a deputy of the Supreme Soviet, he received people, listened to their requests, invariably helped. It is no secret that all this was facilitated by Stalin's love for the actor. Even on the Order of Alexander Nevsky, they minted the profile not of the commander himself, but of the actor who played him in the film of the same name.
Nikolai Cherkasov not only promoted the ideas of the party, he himself sincerely believed in them. He experienced the death of the leader as his own tragedy, and the debunking of the personality cult was another blow to him. With the departure of Stalin, the decline of his own career began.
The tragedy of Nikolai Cherkasov was that the images of his heroes became inseparable from himself. For him, the fame of a state actor was firmly entrenched, who should not be offered comedic or character roles.
READ ALSO: Born to be great: an actor whose profile is depicted on the Order of Alexander Nevsky >>
Harutyun Hakobyan
Nikita Khrushchev was very cool towards the artists, but Harutyun Hakobyan invariably enjoyed his favor. Nikita Sergeevich especially loved when a magician at government receptions showed his illusions to foreigners, leading the latter to complete amazement. But the love of the leadership and the growing popularity almost cost the illusionist his life. He had long been disliked by magicians and they organized a real attempt on him. By pure chance, the fellow who swung at the magician on the threshold of the house did not calculate the force of the blow and the crowbar got stuck in the opening. While the attacker was trying to pull out the crowbar, Hakobyan's cousin knocked him down on the floor. True, the criminal managed to break free and run away.
After the removal of Khrushchev, the talented magician did not lose the favor of the authorities. Leonid Brezhnev watched with great pleasure the performances of Harutyun Hakobyan, invited him to his own dacha with performances. True, apart from open sympathy and the opportunity to tour around the world, the famous illusionist did not receive any privileges. He was fanatically devoted to his profession, gave himself to her in full and passed this love on to his son.
READ ALSO: The great master of manipulation: how Hmayak Hakobyan's father took the girl away from Beria, and why the general secretaries loved him >>
Anna Shalfeeva
Leonid Brezhnev, as you know, in his youth was handsome and very gallant. He loved women, who, however, answered him in full reciprocity. Even during the Great Patriotic War, he met the singer Anna Shalfeeva, who came to the front with concerts. After the war, they met in Sochi, where the singer lived and worked. Over time, the relationship ended, the former lover of Anna Shalfeeva became the General Secretary.
She reminded him of herself only once, when she wrote a letter asking him to help her get a separate apartment in Sochi, since she lived in a communal apartment. In the envelope, the singer put a photo where they were together: a young, fit Brezhnev and a charming blonde Anna. Ten days later she was informed about the allocation of a two-room apartment in the city center. She died completely alone, and bequeathed the apartment, received in memory of the General Secretary's former love, to her friend, the only close person.
Galina Vishnevskaya
There were many rumors about the love of the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR Nikolai Bulganin for Galina Vishnevskaya. The singer openly called him his mistress, condemning him for having an affair with an influential official with her husband alive, Mstislav Rostropovich. However, Galina Vishnevskaya herself in her book “Galina. Life Story”describes how much the attention of a high-ranking official was painful to her, how many painful minutes she experienced in his company. To protect herself from the claims of Bulganin, she always came to all meetings with him with her husband.
Bulganin called love for the singer his swan song, promised all sorts of blessings. And she diligently refused all the privileges offered. Only once did the acquaintance with Bulganin help the family decide the issue of obtaining a warrant for their cooperative apartment. At the same time, she herself did not ask anything from her influential admirer and sighed with relief when he left her alone, having learned about her pregnancy from her husband.
READ ALSO: Mstislav Rostropovich and Galina Vishnevskaya: love at first sight and for life >>
High position in society, wealth and power have long ceased to be the guarantors of happiness. Marriages with high-ranking statesmen are not always the guarantee of a strong family union. Companions of those who stood at the helm of the state have always been interesting to the general public, but their fates were often tragic: they often took their own lives, were sent into exile, and were subjected to reprisals.
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