Donatas Banionis and Ona Banyonene: A Marriage Out of Pity and 60 Years of Unconditional Happiness

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

After the release of the film "Nobody Wanted to Die" Donatas Banionis became a celebrity, and the role played by the Soviet intelligence officer Konstantin Ladeinikov in "Dead Season" made him a popular favorite. He had many admirers, rumor attributed him to romances with the best actresses of the country, but he remained faithful to his wife Ona Konkulevichiute-Banonen all his life. Although he proposed to her, not based on high feelings, but pitying the girl who was in danger.

Christmas eve

Donatas and Ona worked at the Drama Theater in Panevezys, but did not pay much attention to each other. And the theater director, Juozas Miltinis was categorically against office romances in the acting environment.

At the end of 1947, a young married couple invited Donatas to celebrate Christmas Eve. No matter how hard people lived in the post-war years in Lithuania, Christmas was considered one of the most important holidays. The festive dinner begins when the first star rises in the sky, and among the twelve obligatory dishes should be apples, nuts, herring. However, at that time everyone lived in extreme poverty, and the treat itself did not remain in the actor's memory. But next to him sat She Konkulyavichyute, Onute, as everyone affectionately called her.

The dark-haired young girl then seemed special to him. At dinner, she said that a fortune-teller had predicted the loss of her loved ones a few years ago. Onute did not believe in the prediction, but recently her father and brother were exiled to Vorkuta. The brother died in exile, the second fled overseas, and the third, along with his mother, was hiding from the authorities. Danger loomed over Onuta herself, she was already on the lists of unreliable, from day to day she could also be sent to Siberia.

After that Christmas Eve, Donatas and She began dating, and the young man really wanted to help the girl avoid exile. Donatas called his older sister Danuta, who lived in Kaunas, and she advised him to get married urgently. Their father was the party organizer of the volost, an old famous Bolshevik, changing the name could help the girl.

And Donatas decided: he offered Onya his hand and heart for the sake of salvation. At that moment, there was still no love in their relationship, the young man sincerely pitied the girl. Feelings came to them later, when they were already husband and wife. Young people not only registered their marriage at the registry office, but also got married in a church, which at that time was a rather bold step.

But Donatas never in his life doubted the correctness of his decision. She turned out to be a wonderful faithful wife and mother to their two sons. She was also cheerful, kind and caring. The talented actress stepped into the shadow of her husband so that he could move up.

After the wedding, they tried to recruit the actor into the KGB and he was forced to agree, since Donatas was openly blackmailed by his wife, threatening to send them together to Siberia. He was given a bunch of forms and told to come back with a completed questionnaire in a month. Fortunately for him, the officer who recruited Banionis was transferred to another place, and the potential agent was simply forgotten. The actor himself, many years later, did not hide his joy that he managed to avoid the fate of an informer.

One for life

Since the theater director did not welcome nepotism among the actors, Onute left the stage some time after the wedding, becoming an assistant director. Soon the firstborn was born in the family - Egidijus, and 9 years later, in 1957, the youngest son - Raimundas. On the shoulders of Ona lay the whole burden of care for the family. Danatas worked hard trying to provide for his family. And he was invariably glad that his marriage in fact turned out to be happy and bright.

In the second half of the 1960s, Donatas Banionis became a famous and highly sought-after actor, starred in the most successful films, they began to recognize him on the streets, ask for an autograph. When the actors started talking about their marriages on the set of the film "Red Tent" in 1969, Donatas Banionis was the only one who had been living with one wife for 20 years. All the others managed to get married and divorced more than once. A whole galaxy of stars starred in that film: Sean Connery, Claudia Cardinale, Hardy Kruger, Nikita Mikhalkov.

There were almost no quarrels in the family. No, their life was not smooth, there were disagreements and misunderstandings, but the actor never had a desire to divorce his wife. Conflicts faded away by themselves, but there was always a feeling of warmth and comfort. When the sons grew up, She began to be on the set with her husband.

The tests brought the spouses closer together. At the age of 45, their eldest son Egidius, a talented historian, author of scientific works, candidate of historical sciences and doctor of humanitarian sciences, died of cancer. The youngest son Raimundas graduated from VGIK and became a director, Donatas Banionis even played in one of his productions at the Panevezys Theater.

In 2001, the actor was forced to retire and leave his work in the theater, since, according to Lithuanian law, he had to choose: receive a pension or a salary.

She and Ona traveled a lot, loved to be at the dacha, and in 2008, after the couple celebrated the 60th anniversary of their family, Onute passed away. Donatas survived Onuta for 6 years, remembering her eyes and their long, happy life until the end of her life.

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