Starting from scratch after 45: What kind of strength tests Katty from "The Three Musketeers" had to pass

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

Elena Tsyplakova's star lit up in the second half of the 1970s. Having made her film debut at school age, she became one of the brightest, most beautiful and talented debutantes. All-Union popularity was brought to her by the role of Catty in the film "D'Artagnan and the Three Musketeers", but in the 1980s. directors suddenly stopped offering her new roles. Only years later, the actress talked about what caused this pause in her film career, because of what misfortune her appearance changed beyond recognition, and what a miracle helped her start a new life after 45 years …

Elena had to face difficulties in early childhood. Her father, whose name was October, at the age of 20 returned from the war disabled - he had both legs and lungs shot through. He soon learned that he had developed open tuberculosis. To protect the children, the parents were forced to send them to a boarding school for a while. Elena at that time was only 6 years old, and these years she later recalled with a shudder: the teachers treated children cruelly, often punished them physically. But the girl probably inherited her fortitude and fortitude from her father, who never complained about his ailments and even a few days before his departure, lying in bed, danced a gypsy girl. He taught his daughter one of the most important lessons: in no case give up and not lose faith in the best. Probably, this has hardened her character since childhood and helped in the future to cope with all the difficulties.

Elena grew up in a creative atmosphere - her parents were graphic artists, their apartment looked more like a studio - when they finished work on the next project, their fellow artists stayed in their house for several days. One of them came with his wife, a novice director Dinara Asanova. She was just launching her first project "The Woodpecker Doesn't Have a Headache" and invited her adorable daughter of friends to audition for the main role - a schoolgirl with whom her classmate is in love. So at the age of 16, Elena Tsyplakova first got on the set and, with the light hand of Dinara Asanova, began her film career.

Her film debut turned out to be very successful, after which Tsyplakova began to receive offers from other directors. After 2 years, Dinara Asanova filmed her in another of her films - "The Key without the right to transfer", which also became a success for the young Elena Proklova and Marina Levtova. And a year later, Tsyplakova played the main role in the drama School Waltz, which made the whole country talk about her: the love story of tenth graders was not chaste - the heroine Tsyplakova became pregnant from a classmate, which at that time was too daring for Soviet cinema. The teachers were indignant and accused the filmmakers of immorality, but in cinemas it went with a constant full house.

For the sake of filming in this film, Tsyplakova had to make a difficult choice: the teachers of GITIS, where she studied at that time, were against the students acting in films. The actress left the institute, but she was immediately accepted for the 3rd year of VGIK, in the workshop of Tatyana Lioznova and Lev Kulidzhanov. Later, Elena never regretted that for the sake of filming in the film "School Waltz" she was almost left without a diploma - the impression that this drama made on the audience was much more important and dear to her. For dozens of girls, Zosia's story became an example: having become pregnant at a young age, they decided to act as she did, for which they later thanked the actress in letters: "". Tsyplakova said that thanks to "School Waltz" she had a whole generation of godchildren. The bitter irony of fate was that she herself could not have children, but she was sincerely happy when she learned about such stories.

In 1979, Tsyplakova graduated from the acting department and in the same year made the whole country talk about herself, playing the role of the servant Catty in the film "D'Artagnan and the Three Musketeers." Elena herself did not like this heroine - she seemed to the actress stupid and too frivolous. Later she said: "".

Unfortunately, most directors after that saw in her only a frivolous beauty and offered the same type of role. And soon a misfortune happened, which almost put an end to the film career of Elena Tsyplakova. In 1985, the actress went with a Soviet film delegation to Africa, and although she had received all the necessary vaccinations before that, she contracted malaria. Then not only her career, but also her life was in jeopardy. Doctors miraculously managed to save her, she spent several months in the hospital, she underwent a serious operation. This disease did not pass without consequences - the thyroid gland suffered, and the actress gained weight up to 112 kg, the directors stopped inviting her, and the audience no longer recognized her beloved Catty.

Taught from childhood never to give up under any circumstances, Elena Tsyplakova found the strength to start life anew. She graduated from the directing department of VGIK and began making films and TV series herself. Belief in God helped her to survive all the difficulties, to which she consciously came after 35 years. Since then, Tsyplakova says that the director's profession for her is, first of all, a service, an opportunity to share spiritual experience: "".

The most famous directorial work of Elena Tsyplakova was the 288-episode film Carmelita: Gypsy Passion. The shooting took several years and was very difficult and exhausting. She devoted all her strength to work and as a result again found herself between life and death: her legs refused, doctors diagnosed diabetes mellitus. Tsyplakova was discharged from the hospital, confined to a wheelchair, with the 1st disability group.

The fact that she managed to get back on her feet, even the doctors called a miracle, recording in her anamnesis: "Spontaneous improvement." And this miracle happened thanks to love. The actress and director never talks about her first two marriages, it is only known that her first husband was an actor, a graduate of the Shchukin school, and the second was a dentist, with whom she had been married for 13 years. But Tsyplakova calls her third husband, Pavel Shcherbakov, his fate and his salvation. They met when she was already 46 years old. Later she said that she begged God for this meeting. More than 10 years have passed since their wedding, and since then Elena feels absolutely happy.

Today she says: "".

This film with Elena Tsyplakova in the title role does not lose its popularity today: Non-Soviet relations in the "School Waltz".