Why the personal life of the star "Ballad of a Soldier" did not work out: Happiness and drama of Zhanna Prokhorenko

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

The filmography of the actress has more than 50 works in films and TV series, but the audience remembered and fell in love with Zhanna Prokhorenko, first of all, thanks to her debut film "The Ballad of a Soldier". The whole world remembered the Russian beauty who preferred to wear a classic braid instead of fashionable hairstyles and did not like makeup. In the Soviet Union, Zhanna Prokhorenko was the favorite of millions of viewers, who even married the actress off to her on-screen lover Vladimir Ivashov. But in the life of Zhanna Prokhorenko, a real personal drama unfolded.

First marriage

She was not yet 20 years old when Zhanna Prokhorenko woke up famous. With the film "The Ballad of a Soldier" she has traveled half of the world, her photographs have appeared on the covers of foreign magazines. Once in the USA, where the Soviet delegation arrived with the film "The Ballad of a Soldier", Zhanna Prokhorenko, before some important reception, was brought to a stylist who made the actress a fashionable hairstyle and makeup. Zhanna Prokhorenko ran out of the salon with tears, came to the room, immediately washed and braided her hair, and went to the appointment. That was all she was.

She had many admirers, but even while studying at VGIK, she married the cameraman and film director Yevgeny Vasiliev. He was 13 years older than the actress, impressive and handsome. In 1961, a daughter, Catherine, was born, who would later follow in her mother's footsteps and become an actress.

But Zhanna Prokhorenko's dream of quiet family happiness never came true. They said that Yevgeny Vasiliev was desperately jealous of his wife, more than once arranged scenes of jealousy for her, he was even afraid to let go of the shooting. But Jeanne did not even think about divorce until she met a person without whom she simply could not live.

Forbidden love

Zhanna Prokhorenko on the platform accidentally met Arthur Makarov, a talented writer, adopted son of Tamara Makarova and Sergei Gerasimov. Arthur came to see Andrei Tarkovsky to the festival, and when he saw Jeanne next to his friend, he completely lost his head. But the actress was not at all going to encourage the writer. She was married and it was her rules to have affairs on the side.

For some time they did not see each other, and then collided on the set. And they could not at that moment resist their feelings. After the end of filming, Zhanna Prokhorenko returned home and immediately told her husband about everything.

The divorce was very difficult, Zhanna Prokhorenko and Yevgeny Vasiliev began to be "dismantled" at party meetings of the film studio, and seven-year-old Katya was completely tormented by questions about who she loves more and with whom of her parents she would like to stay. She loved both dad and mom equally, but still stayed with mom.

Only after the divorce proceedings were over, Zhanna Prokhorenko was able to go out with her beloved for the first time without fear. True, the actress could not introduce him to acquaintances, as a spouse. She called him friend and looked with loving eyes.

The difficulty was that Artur Makarov was married. He sincerely wanted to go to Jeanne, but his wife Lyudmila told that she was terminally ill, she did not have long to live, and therefore invited her husband to just be patient for a while. Jeanne then agreed with Arthur, because to leave a seriously ill person would actually be despicable.

Then the whole cinematic environment was vigorously discussing what was happening in this love triangle. But soon everyone calmed down and realized that these were real feelings, and not at all a banal affair. Zhanna Trofimovna resigned herself to the position of an eternal mistress, believed that the stamp in the passport could no longer change anything in their relationship with a loved one, and was glad that Arthur Makarov was good for her daughter Katyusha.

True, Ekaterina Vasilyeva herself had her own view of the situation. Already in adulthood, she will tell that Arthur Makarov was extremely comfortable using the feelings of his mother. He even tried to persuade the actress to give birth to his child, but here Zhanna Prokhorenko was adamant: the child should be born in a normal family, where mom and dad are married.

In the 1990s, when almost no films were filmed, Zhanna spent most of her time at her dacha in the village of Glush in the Pskov region, and Artur Makarov was busy with business in Moscow. At that time, he was promoting his business, and lived in Jeanne's apartment. On October 3, 1995, he was found in this very apartment with a hunting knife in his chest and no signs of life. The crime remained unsolved.

Zhanna Prokhorenko, after the death of a loved one, more and more often left for the wilderness and confessed: she always knew that her love seemed to be cursed by someone. In recent years, Zhanna Trofimovna was very sick, and on August 1, 2011 she passed away. But the memory of the actress lives on today, thanks to her beautiful roles, the love of her daughter Ekaterina Vasilyeva and the granddaughters of Maria Spivak and Ksenia.

One of the most famous works of the actress was "The Ballad of a Soldier", which was released over 60 years ago. She was nominated for an Oscar and was recognized as one of the best films about the war. But before gaining worldwide recognition, the film was criticized at home, and front-line director accused of historical inaccuracies and even slandering the Soviet army …