How the daughter of Rybnikov and Larionova died: revelations from a friend
The daughter of actor Nikolai Rybnikov died 4 years after her mother. A friend of their family told how it happened.
The most beautiful couple of Soviet film actors, Alla Larionova and Nikolai Rybnikov, were adored by all residents of the Soviet Union. Fans wrote letters, stood in lines at cinemas to see films with their participation... It seemed that the life of the star family knew no dramas, but in fact they, like all people, knew pain and resentment, betrayal and disappointment. But they never showed this to others. A close family friend, Svetlana Pavlova, remembers her friends with tenderness and love.
We met with a friend of the Soviet cinema star Svetlana Arkadyevna in her cozy apartment, where photographs of the famous artist, whom the owner idolized and protected until her very last days, were hung on the walls. Their friendship lasted more than thirty years and would have continued to this day if not for the death of the movie star...
Svetlana Pavlova is the closest friend of the star family / Alfiya Kamilova
– We met Alla in 1968 on the set of the film “The Long Day of Kolka Pavlyukov” directed by Konstantin Bromberg. It was a short film in three parts, where I worked as the director of the film. First we went to Crimea, chose locations, filmed on the Sea of Azov, in Kazantip. The director decided that Nikolai Rybnikov could play the main character perfectly, and intended to invite him to the shooting. And at that time Rybnikov was a very popular actor, constantly busy. And of course, the screen star was not eager to get this role. And yet, Bromberg accepted the offer, however, with the wishes that his wife Alla Larionova would get the female role. The famous actor explained this by saying that he and his wife often star in different projects, rarely see each other and are not at home much, and their daughters are growing up. The eldest daughter Alena should go to third grade, the youngest Arisha will become a first grader. And they really want to spend at least the summer together, as a family. The director and I were happy with everything, and we rented them a simple house on the shore of the Azov Sea. The owners of the house, Ukrainians, were happy that a star family lived with them.
Rybnikov was also pleased that every day he could be close to his beloved girls - daughters Alena, Arisha and Lapusya, as he sometimes called his wife Alla. By the way, she was a wonderful hostess; she had signature dishes: dried mushroom caviar and amazingly tasty cutlets. Kolya was also a real owner, he had a garage with a basement. And there were barrels in which Rybnikov prepared tomatoes and watermelons in September. In November, Kolya and Alla gathered guests, and we opened the tomato season and tried what Kolya had prepared. They were completely devoid of stardom, although they were very famous actors.
Svetlana Pavlova and Alla Larionova / Reproduction by Alfia Kamilova
It was during this shoot in Kazantip that we became friends. I remember how Alla and I raided neighboring villages - it was difficult to find unique things in the city then. And the village people, apparently, did not value foreign clothes. And there, in small shops, you could find something worthwhile. Alla and I bought Finnish coats and foreign dresses. When we were getting ready to go there, Kolya said: “Go buy something red! Otherwise, if you don’t choose all the red ones, you won’t be waiting.” Alla simply adored this color. The cups at her house were red with white polka dots, the saucers were red, and the candlestick was red. It stood on my table for a long time after she died...
For some reason I now remembered how Alla once broke her collarbone. This was the year when Vysotsky died. And then another festival was held in Moscow, Alla went to the rehearsal of her performance at the Oktyabr cinema on Novy Arbat. By the way, Alla and Kolya were very punctual people, it was easy to work with them, they came to rehearsals or filming a few minutes before the appointed time, they were never capricious and, unlike other actors, they were very disciplined. They had no stardom, they were down-to-earth people, ordinary. So Alla came to “October”, went on stage, and then wanted to go down to the auditorium, where they always do a gathering from the benches. Full lighting had not yet been turned on in the hall, but she, confident that there were steps, stepped... into the void...
There were no steps, and Alla fell. The ambulance immediately took her to the hospital. She was put in a plaster cast and given a large, bright room. It was 1980, the Olympic year, and Alla was lying there alone. Kolya never went up to her, he came and asked her to come down to him. Rybnikov was so shy that he was afraid: if he stood up, everyone would look at them and take autographs. This embarrassed him greatly.
Nikolai Rybnikov with his daughters Alena and Arina / Russian Look
Alla was angry: “Kolya, people will think that we are in a quarrel!” But he still waited for her on the street. When Alla was in the hospital, Kolya called me and said: “My joy (that’s what he always called me), let’s go to the market, buy honey mushrooms and roll them up for Alla’s arrival.” Kolya cooked whole pots of borscht and jam. And how we all loved making dumplings together: we’ll get together - Alla, Kolya, me, Nonna Mordyukova, Muse Krepkogorskaya, Oleg Chertov - and make them from three types of meat.
It was not easy to find food at that time, but the deputy director of a grocery store lived next door... And so I, Nonna and Alla got into the car and went to do some shopping. There in the store, behind a secret shield that moved away, we went into the warehouse. And what was there: Finnish sausage, Riga sprats, fresh tomatoes, cucumbers from Bulgaria... Previously, it was almost impossible to get vegetables out of season, but there were even strawberries. We loaded everything into the trunk and drove home. And Nonna once picked up some canned food and said: “I’ll hide everything that I bring, so that when the guests come, Volodya’s son and his girlfriend Natasha won’t put it on the table. I’ll give it to them little by little, not right away!” Kolya also had one friend - the head of the carpet section. And with his help, all the actors bought carpets. Kolya was also an avid chess player, and probably all the famous grandmasters of that time stayed in their house. And he played with them. Guests always gathered in their apartment; they then lived in Maryina Roshcha, and the apartment was large, because they connected it from two, it was very cozy, they even had a fireplace.
Monument to Nikolai Rybnikov / Reproduction by Alfiya Kamilova
– Svetlana Arkadyevna, how did Nikolai Nikolaevich treat his daughters, since the eldest Alena was from the actor Ivan Pereverzev?
– Great, he loved girls very much, and it seems to me that he loved Alena more than his Arisha. Although he didn’t show it, he tried to make sure there were no boundaries - this is his, this is not his. He loved Alena very much. Although Alla’s mother, Valentina Alekseevna, had to raise the girls. “And she was a zealous housewife,” Svetlana Arkadyevna laughed, “the parents will bring elegant dresses for the girls, and she will hide them until the right opportunity, and when she decides to take them out, it turns out that the things are already too small for both Arina and Alena. Alla, of course, scolded my mother for this.
Dad loved Alena more, and mother loved Arisha more. The eldest was tougher, thick-skinned, as Alla called it, and Arisha was kind, sympathetic, and gentle. True, they studied, they both don’t care. In 1975, Alena graduated from school, and in order to have fewer Cs on her certificate, Alla organized a grand graduation party at school. But Alla didn’t know where to send Alena to study next. She decided to take her daughter to the exams at VGIK and told her to learn the fable. But I advised my friend to give Alena an editor’s apprentice, this is a very interesting profession. The director shoots, selects takes, and from them you need to put together a picture. And he does it with the editor. I had weight on television, was a leading specialist and found Alena. But we must give Alena her due; she turned out to be a very diligent and talented student. Alla was able to get her daughter an apartment next to Ostankino so that it would be convenient for her to go to work. And Alena worked in this field for 35 years, everyone there loved her very much for her professionalism and calm character. The announcers and editors all know her! After all, she went from a student to a respected editing director, and retired two years ago. Her personal life has developed; she has a husband, Sasha, but no children. Alena has been tormented by psoriasis all her life, and every year she travels to Thailand, where the sun has a healing effect on her skin.
Svetlana Pavlova and Alla Larionova with daughter Arina / Reproduction by Alfiya Kamilova
– Was Arisha completely different in character?
- Yes, she was different. Her parents gave her an education; she graduated from a printing college. But the trouble is that Arisha is addicted to alcohol; they used to take her to banquets. And she apparently got used to it. When Kolya died, Alla, of course, was very worried, then her mother Valentina Alekseevna died. And she stayed with her daughter in a large apartment, but it was even physically impossible to live with Arina, her daughter did not work and could bring her at any time. Alla couldn’t go anywhere to earn money, couldn’t leave her unattended, but it was the turbulent 90s, no money, no work. There was nothing to live on, everything had collapsed, no films were made. It was very difficult. Alla's heart began to ache. And I had a neighbor who wanted to exchange his two two-room apartments for one larger one, and I advised Alla to think about this offer. Alla and Arina thought about it and decided to leave, my friend became my neighbor, and Arina became the owner of a two-room apartment near the Cosmos cinema. Alla moved her things, but before she had time to sort them out, she went on tour to America and Israel with the play “Cunning, Money, Love.” Vyacheslav Shalevich called her, and she went to earn money. I also built a dacha for her next to mine and began building houses on both plots.
Alla came and left, worked a lot, she didn’t even have time to sort things out, the whole apartment was cluttered. And her heart was already starting to hurt, she called me and said that she felt bad. She lived on the sixth floor, I arrived by elevator and took her to my place, then she lay down on the sofa, and I called an ambulance. And she was taken to Sklif, I, of course, accompanied her. I even had her money in my bundle; she earned it and gave it to me for safekeeping. Then Alla and I did a European-quality renovation in her apartment, connecting a large room with a kitchen. We bought her a bedroom set and wardrobes; she loved the white color in the interior. Alla was already preparing for her housewarming party, and I went on vacation to Egypt. I bought her a gold scarab with turquoise there as a talisman. I returned on the eve of Palm Sunday and found out that Larionova had gone to a performance in Istra and that she had become ill there, the doctors insisted on hospitalization, but Alla had gone home. If I knew! They needed to scare her and not let her leave the hospital.
But she returned home, we met at our mutual friend and neighbor Tatyana, talked, and then went to me. I gave Alla a gift, and she told me that on Tuesday morning she should go to a good doctor. I measured her blood pressure and offered to call an ambulance, but she refused and said she needed to rest. She loved to smoke while sitting in front of the TV. We agreed to call on Tuesday, because Arisha was supposed to come pick her up and accompany her to the doctor. But on Tuesday, instead of Arisha, her partner Volodya came, who also drank and called Alla mom. He knocked and rang the doorbell of Alla’s apartment, but she didn’t open it. I grabbed the keys to Alla’s apartment, I had them, and ran there. But the lock was locked from the inside and the door could not be opened...
Svetlana Pavlova, Alla Larionova and her daughter Alena / Reproduction by Alfiya Kamilova
Alla’s neighbor said that she went out onto the balcony at three in the morning to smoke. But no one answered my phone calls, no one opened the door. We had to call the Ministry of Emergency Situations. The door was opened... - Svetlana Arkadyevna sighed bitterly, as if she had been transported again to that tragic day. “Alla was lying on her right side, her hands under her cheeks, she apparently died in her sleep. She had a cardiac arrest...
– And four years later Arisha died.
– Yes... At that time, Alena was on vacation in Turkey, it seems, and Arisha’s friend, who worked as a painter, called me and used to drink, but she was stitched up. She says to me: “Svetlana Arkadyevna, I just went into Arisha’s apartment, there is a drunken group sitting there and Arisha is lying dead.” I called the police and called Arina’s partner Volodya to find out where she was taken. Having learned everything, I went to the morgue and found out that even the funeral had already been scheduled. I began to find out how this happened. Alena is on vacation, I don’t know anything, neither does my roommate, but someone is already preparing the documents. The nurse showed me a letter that someone was taking over the funeral of Arina Rybnikova. Apparently, these were black realtors, but they did not know that Arina had long ago written a deed of gift for the apartment, bequeathing it to her sister.
After Alla's death, her friends and daughter Alena seemed to be orphans. Kitchen in a star's apartment. / Reproduction by Alfiya Kamilova
While Arisha was alive, someone called and threatened her. And she hedged her bets. I made a fuss. She said that I work on television and the sister of the deceased too, we’ll arrange it for you now, it won’t be enough. I found the realtor’s phone number, called and said: “If in two hours I don’t have Arisha’s passport, I’m going to the prosecutor’s office!” She got scared, came running and brought documents. I scolded her, intimidated her and took Arisha’s passport. I went to the Bauman morgue and canceled everything. Then Alena’s husband Sasha and I went to the Yelokhovskaya Church and ordered a funeral service. Sasha worked as a driver in a bank, he had no money, but I had saved up 19 thousand, and we paid for the flowers, the coffin, and the funeral service.
And two days later Alena arrived from vacation, and we saw off Arisha on his last journey. So all that was left of the Rybnikov family was Alena and the memory of them. You know, I used to like to change earrings, but now I wear the same ones, with turquoise, that Alla gave me. There are now tenants living in Alla’s apartment, I don’t go there anymore.
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