Steel violet: how life tested Yue Savvin's strength

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

March 2 would have turned 81 years old famous theater and film actress, People's Artist of the USSR Ie Savvina … 6 years ago she passed away after a serious illness. Skin cancer was not the only challenge facing her. The fragile and feminine actress, according to the recollections of friends, colleagues and acquaintances, had the character of a warrior who steadfastly endured all the hardships of life.

Iya's name was so rare that the actress was often asked questions about its meaning. Translated from the ancient Greek Oia, this is "violet", but she herself did not remember this etymology and with a laugh answered the next question about choosing a name: “Mystery. Theater of the absurd. Mom explained brilliantly: “At first I wanted to call you Svetlana. You were very light - eyes, hair … And then I thought: what if it darkens? And I decided that it was better than Iey."

Since childhood, Oya loved to read and dreamed of entering the Faculty of Philology. But when she arrived in Moscow, the reception of medalists for the philological faculty had already ended, and she applied for the journalism faculty. During her studies, she participated in productions of the student theater of Moscow State University. Savvin never received theatrical education - she mastered the basics of the acting profession right on stage and in the process of communicating with great contemporaries - directors Rolan Bykov and Joseph Kheifits, actors Faina Ranevskaya and Alexei Batalov.

Alexey Batalov first saw Iya Savvina on the stage of the student theater. Just at this time, Kheifits was looking for an actress for the role of the main character for his film "The Lady with the Dog". The actor advised him to invite a young artist. This role became for her not only a film debut, but also a real triumph. Savvina's work was awarded a special prize at the Cannes International Film Festival.

At the age of 21, the young actress had to endure an ordeal: she and her husband, geologist Vsevolod Shestakov, had a son with Down syndrome. She was offered to abandon the child and place him in a special boarding school, but she decided to independently engage in his development. Later, Iya Savvina confessed: “Seryozha grew up and studied, and knows hundreds of poems by heart, and speaks English … If he had not been sick, he would have been, I think, a genius, but he also has an extra chromosome full of other healthy people. He knows the whole "Poltava" by heart. … However, I do not want to deceive anyone. It was very difficult for me. But on the other hand, I look at my life without disgust and shame, and this is worth something."

Intelligent, gentle, meek, this actress was presented to many directors in just such a role. But Andrei Konchalovsky offered her an experiment: he invited her to the role of a country girl in the film "The Story of Asya Klyachina, Who Loved, But Did Not Marry." The actress doubted for a long time that she would succeed in the image of a simple girl from the people, but the result exceeded all expectations. Later Savvina said: “It helped me that I am a village, like a mother. So the genes worked for me. " The fate of the film was dramatic - the picture ended up on the shelf, where it lay for many years due to the fact that cultural officials saw in it "a direct mockery of the village." The audience saw this motion picture only twenty years later”.

An experiment for the actress and participation in the dubbing of the cartoon "Winnie the Pooh": Piglet speaks in her voice, however, a little "accelerated". It was her idea to endow her character with Bella Akhmadullina's intonations, which sounded more than funny in Piglet's performance.

Friends appreciated her for her fortitude and courage, unusual for such a fragile and tender woman. Many directors remembered working with her with gratitude, despite the straightforward and rather harsh character of the actress. So, Eldar Ryazanov, with whom Savvina starred in the film "Garage", wrote: “She was smart, like 40 brothers, and very talented. She played in my picture in such a way that there was not a single cliche of a gesture or a look. I even had the impression sometimes that I was making a film, and that this was not an actress, but this woman herself. … Having chosen Savvina quite intuitively, I got an actress who incredibly enriched this role. I think she just created an acting masterpiece in Garage."

With her second husband, actor Anatoly Vasiliev, Iya Savvina lived for more than 30 years without signing. It so happened that she got married two weeks before her death. In recent years, misfortune has beset the actress. In 2008 she was diagnosed with melanoma, then she suffered a stroke, in July 2011 Savvina got into a car accident, and in August of the same year she died.

He left interesting memories not only about Iya Savvina, but also about other famous actors Eldar Ryazanov: "Unsummed results".