The biography and cause of death of Elena Mayorova were often covered in newspapers in the late nineties. Prima of the Efremov Moscow Art Theater, one of the most sought-after actresses in Russian cinema, the beloved woman of a talented artist - and sudden death. Shocking, creepy and symbolic in a way. The biography of Elena Mayorova ended at the entrance to the theater, where she played her best roles. The actress set herself on fire. There is still much that is unclear in this story today.
The biography and cause of death of actress Elena Mayorova is the topic of today’s article. Let's start the story from the early years of the heroine. Not only because it is so customary, but also in order to understand what prompted a very successful woman to set herself on fire on August 27, 1997.
early years
The biography of Elena Mayorova began in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk in 1958. There were no artists in her family. Elena was born into an ordinary Soviet working-class family. Probably, from an early age she was different from her peers. The biography of Elena Mayorova, like any other famous person, is compiled mainly from the memories of colleagues and relatives.
Those with whom the actress played on the same stage at the Moscow Art Theater or found herself on the same set did not know what she was like as a child. But Konstantin Raikin once said that already in the first minutes of meeting Elena it was clear that this was an extraordinary person with great talent. They met during the entrance exams at GITIS.
After graduating from school, it was no coincidence that Elena went to Moscow to storm the best theater universities. She dreamed of an acting career since childhood. From the third grade she attended a theater studio, and at the age of twelve she visited the capital for the first time. Moscow has conquered a girl from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. This city made the same impression on her that it makes on many young residents of the province. They are heading to Moscow. Some manage to gain a foothold in this big, cruel city. And only a few become famous.
However, the point is not at all about the ability to become famous. Perhaps only her colleagues and inveterate theatergoers who visited the Moscow Art Theater in the 90s know how great Elena Mayorova’s talent was. On the screen, she increasingly appeared in the form of simple, unremarkable women: conductors, police officers, single mothers. And for those who lived far from Moscow, it was difficult to imagine her in the role of a Chekhov heroine. That is why ordinary people liked her. She was close, understandable, natural.
Elena is unhappy. The difficult life and terrible death of Elena Mayorova
Elena Mayorova was born on May 30, 1958 in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk into a working-class family. Fate spoiled her. A simple South Sakhalin girl of proletarian blood enters GITIS, and even takes the course of Oleg Tabakov. In those years, Tabakov, together with students, created a studio in the basement on Chaplygin Street, the future famous “Tabakerka”. Back then, the students lived from hand to mouth, but they made a ton of plans. Therefore, when my mother sent her daughter parcels from Sakhalin with lightly salted fins of salmon and muksun, the whole student family rejoiced at the gifts - Elena always shared the latter with her fellow students.
While still a student, Mayorova played in the films “The Uninvited Friend”, “You Never Even Dreamed of...”, “Our Calling”... After graduating from GITIS, Elena served for a year at Sovremennik, then at the Moscow Art Theater. Gorky. And since 1987 she joined the Moscow Art Theater troupe. Chekhov. She played the main roles - in "Besnovataya" Nastasya Filippovna, in "The Seagull" Nina Zarechnaya, in "Ivanov" Sarah, in "Three Sisters" Masha and others. But, despite the abundance of roles both on the legendary stage and in the cinema - "Forgotten melody for flute”, “Lucky”, “Lost in Siberia”, “Makarov” - the actress’s mood was alarming.
Photo: www.globallookpress.com
“It turned out like this,” Oleg Tabakov recalled in an interview, “that at the Moscow Art Theater she received more and more roles, more and more important. But the most amazing thing is that from time to time, when she was a little drunk and we bumped into each other, she cried, hugged me and asked me to take me ... "
Journalist and now State Duma deputy Elena Yampolskaya told one of the publications that the then head of the Moscow Art Theater named after. Chekhov Oleg Efremov idolized Lena: “I looked at her, and my eyes shone. Mayorova was Efremov’s last love - platonic in form, but very sensual in content.” It was rumored that a year before the terrible death of the actress, Oleg Nikolaevich proposed his hand and heart to Mayorova. She replied: “I love my husband...”
This, of course, hurt the master; he, according to Yampolskaya, then “chased his failed young wife at the rehearsals of “Three Sisters.” Mayorova cried and considered herself untalented... But even this incident did not make Mayorova and Efremov enemies - Oleg Nikolaevich forgave the actress for arguing with him at rehearsals, although others were forbidden to object to the master.
As for her husband, Mayorova really loved him. Shortly before her death, the actress said in a radio interview: “I have a very good husband. Serezhenka Sherstyuk . He's an artist. I'm also an artist in the big sense of the word, so we're both crazy, of course. Sometimes someone is more sober, someone is more intoxicated. But in principle, we are somehow interchangeable, we help each other, we try, what to do.”
Unfortunately, she “tried” and helped more. And I was exhausted. Well, a woman didn’t have so much strength to drag her family, even if she professed in life, even in the most difficult times, the principle “Nothing, we’ll break through!”
Mayorova’s friend Tatyana Dogileva said in an interview: “The problem was not the lack of money, but the responsibility that lay with Lena. She was the only breadwinner in the family. Bills, large and small purchases, the maintenance of Sergei and his mother - all this ended up on her shoulders. She pulled the family on herself. At the same time, Lena had no complaints against Sherstyuk. It was true love! Another thing is that sooner or later a moment comes when a person cannot withstand such a burden of responsibility.”
Mayorova was very complex about the fact that she could not have children - these were the consequences of tuberculosis suffered in childhood. And yet, she tried to joke here too, saying: “Why do I need a child? I already have one adult child – a husband.”
Photo: www.globallookpress.com
She really solved all of Sherstyuk’s problems. One day, while abroad, I received a pager message from my husband saying that his workshop was being taken away from him. “I’ll decide everything,” she responded. Upon returning to Moscow, the first thing she does is go to Efremov, who calls where necessary. In the end, Sherstyuk did not lose his workshop. But there were still no orders, as an artist he was idle. Creative unfulfillment was drowned out by alcohol. Mayorova, wanting to support her husband, drank with him... And became addicted. Alcohol, according to the recollections of colleagues, made the actress “uncontrollable.” She became violent, cried, shouted that she didn’t need to live anymore...
As Dogileva says, Mayorova was incredibly hurt by the fact that, despite all her efforts to provide for her family, she was not taken seriously as an actress at home: “When Sergei’s mother talked about how good Lena was as Masha in Three Sisters, she just shrugged her shoulders. : “What difference does it make to me what kind of actress she is? The main thing is that for Seryozha she is a good wife!”
A week before her terrible death, the actress visited her manager at a sanatorium in Barvikha. We discussed plans for the upcoming theater season. On the night of August 22-23, another drunken quarrel arose between Mayorova and Sherstyuk. In the morning the artist went to the dacha alone.
On August 23, Elena, without stopping, dictated messages to telecom operators on Oleg Efremov’s pager. Everyone had the same text: “Come, I’m dying.” But Oleg Nikolaevich, who had forgotten his pager in his Moscow apartment, was far from the capital. In the evening, he turned on the news and learned that the actress ran out of her house No. 27 on Tverskaya Street, engulfed in fire. Shouting “Help!”, she ran to the Theater. Mossovet, which was next to the house. There she fell unconscious. Mayorova was taken to the Sklifosovsky Research Institute - to the best specialists. But they could not save the actress. When to the hospital at 19.40. The artist’s friend Tatyana Dogileva ran in and was told that Mayorova had just died.
Arriving home and turning on the pager, Efremov received dozens of messages - a plea for help. The death of his beloved woman unsettled the master; it was so difficult for him that the director could not even come to the funeral.
Elena Mayorova and Vladimir Khotinenko. Photo: www.globallookpress.com
The actress's husband later said that he was convinced that it was suicide and not an accident. There had already been suicide attempts, but he managed to prevent them. And she called for help, because the pain “has gone away.” However, the official investigation came to a different conclusion: it was an accident. Mayorova, going out onto the staircase at her entrance, tried to light a cigarette, but the dress she was wearing caught fire. There were probably traces of kerosene on it (according to the then popular theory, the actress was treated by drinking small amounts of kerosene and could well have spilled some of it on her clothes).
Less than a year has passed since Mayorova’s husband, artist Sergei Sherstyuk, died of stomach cancer. Oleg Efremov also survived Mayorova for a short time... As colleagues at the Moscow Art Theater said. Chekhov, this woman with her ebullient energy, sincerity, sacrifice, brightness was for these men not only the woman they loved, but in some ways also a mother. When the “sparkling”, “fiery” “torch” of her life went out, it deprived both of them of the meaning of life.
First try
The Moscow period in the biography of Elena Mayorova began in 1975. It is worth saying that she studied well at school, was everyone’s favorite, and an activist. That is, she is not used to doubting her own abilities. But the capital’s universities upset our heroine a little. She was not accepted into any of them - she did not fit the type. Tall and thin were not required then. Soviet cinema needed girls with ample breasts and thick brown hair. At least, the applicant heard something similar from one of the members of the admissions committee.
Revealing the mystery of the death of actress Elena Mayorova
There are several versions of the drama that occurred. One of them is treating a sore throat. The second explanation was the assumption of taking his own life as a result of unhappy love. However, suicides do not ask for help.
The third version tells about the actress’s desire to attract attention and arouse the pity of others. Constant neuroses and incredible physical and moral stress, they say, were the cause of death. The biographies of Elena Mayorova, whose funeral, by the way, took place according to all the traditions of the Orthodox faith, are thus full of secrets. By the way, the funeral service was held in the church, since the cry for help was regarded by the priest as a desire to live. The grave of Elena Mayorova, whose biography and cause of death were discussed in the review, is located at the Troekurovsky cemetery.
Construction work
The biography of actress Elena Mayorova includes a year of study at a vocational school. This does not mean that after failing to pass the entrance exams, she gave up her dream of becoming an actress and decided to devote herself to the profession of an insulator. Elena needed to somehow stay in Moscow. Having seen an advertisement for the enrollment of students at a vocational school with the note: “dormitory is available for non-residents,” an as yet unknown girl from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, without thinking twice, went to the specified address.
A year later, Elena received a working specialty. I even managed to work a little at a construction site. If you don’t go into details, the biography and personal life of Elena Mayorova may seem quite successful. However, she had no children. There is an assumption that the actress undermined her health in her youth, when she worked at a construction site.
Today you can learn about the key points from the biography and personal life of Elena Mayorova, as already mentioned, on the basis of numerous interviews that her colleagues and friends gave for the press and television. Each of them had their own point of view. Which of them is closest to the truth is unknown.
Nevertheless, the actress’s childlessness is explained by a story provided by a reliable source. Elena, like other vocational school graduates, had to work in any weather. But unlike her colleagues, Mayorova refused a padded jacket and unfeminine cotton pants. She worked in jeans and a short jacket. As a result, she became seriously ill. The girl underwent surgery, and after the doctor said that she would never have children. This is probably the first sad page in the biography of Elena Mayorova.
In the photo below is a still from the film in which the heroine of today’s article made her debut. She managed to enter GITIS in her second year. This time the selection committee did not pay attention to the unsuitable type. The teachers realized that they had real talent in front of them. Among first-year students, Mayorova then became the first to be invited to act in films.
Creativity[edit | edit code]
Roles in the theater[edit | edit code]
- "Amadeus"
- "Tartuffe" - Elmira
- “Woe from Wit” by Griboyedov - Liza
- “Barbarians” by Maxim Gorky - Anna Fedorovna
- “Moscow Choir” - Galya
- "Toastmaster" - Nina
- "Portrait" - Anabella
- "Tragedians and Comedians" - Eleanor
- “Deer and huts” - Lyuba Negnevitskaya
- “Mother-of-pearl Zinaida” - Suzanne
- “Trailer” - Tsypkina
- “Days of the Turbins” by M. A. Bulgakova - Elena Vasilievna
- “Uncle Vanya” by A. P. Chekhov - Elena Andreevna
- "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" - Queen
- "UFO" - Lenka
- "Oresteia" - Athena
- “Demoniac” - Nastasya Filippovna
- “The Seagull” by A. P. Chekhov - Nina Zarechnaya
- “Crazy” - Zinulya
- “Ivanov” by A. P. Chekhov - Sarah
- "Platonov" - Grekova
and
Anna Petrovna
) - "Three Sisters" - Masha
- "Taibele and Her Demon" by Isaac Singer - Taibele
Filmography[edit | edit code]
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Theater
Elena Mayorova graduated from GITIS in 1980. Then she was accepted into the troupe of the Sovremennik Theater. She worked here for only a year, until Oleg Efremov was the main director. Then she followed him to the Moscow Art Theater. Mayorova’s relationship with Efremov did not always go smoothly. And at the beginning of her creative career, she already received quite significant roles. Mayorova played Masha in Chekhov's Three Sisters. At rehearsals, Efremov was dissatisfied with the young actress. However, there is one rather interesting story about the relationship with the famous director.
Oleg Efremov's last love was Elena Mayorova. Their relationship was platonic. Nevertheless, one day the director proposed to his favorite actress. She refused, and after that Efremov took his anger out on her more than once during rehearsals. Perhaps there is fiction in this story. But according to the memoirs of the actress’s friends, the role of Chekhov’s heroine was actually difficult for her. There were moments when Mayorova even doubted that she had chosen the right profession.
Husbands of Elena Mayorova
The future movie star got married for the first time while still a student. Classmate Vladimir Chaplygin was fascinated by the originality of his girlfriend and besieged the girl until she agreed to marry him. However, the passion quickly faded, and three months after the wedding the couple separated. There were rumors that the union was fictitious. The provincial actress needed metropolitan registration.
The artist Sergei Sherstyuk appeared in the actress’s life in a mystical way. Once, while telling fortunes about the calendar in the student dormitory, Elena jokingly asked her friend: “Where is my prince?”, and she also jokingly replied: “Beyond the threshold.” As if by magic, the doors opened and the general’s son appeared on the threshold. The couple was struck by love at first sight. Since then, Elena and Sergei did not part until the actress’s death.
Tuberculosis suffered in childhood deprived Mayorova of the opportunity to become a mother. However, she did not lose heart, considering her Seryozha the most important child in her life. The spouses never tired of leaving sweet morning messages to each other over the years.
After the death of his wife, Sherstyuk lived only nine months. And it is unknown why the talented artist burned out - from sudden oncology or from longing for his beloved.
First marriage
In Soviet times, there was a law on the distribution of university graduates. People from the provinces went to their hometowns after receiving their diploma. Elena Mayorova did not at all dream of playing on the stage of the Yuzhno-Sakhalin theater. She entered into a fictitious marriage with Muscovite Vladimir Chaplygin, which, as it later turned out, was fictitious only for her. The young man loved Elena unrequitedly for a long time.
But there is another version. Elena did not marry Vladimir out of convenience, but later could not find a common language with Chaplygin’s relatives. The newlyweds moved into the hostel. Life was not easy for them. The love boat crashed due to everyday problems that were well known to every inhabitant of a Soviet hostel. The native Muscovite could not get used to such conditions, and soon he returned to his home. Elena, having become a Muscovite, had the opportunity to get a job in any theater in the capital. But, as you know, I didn’t sort through it for a long time. Having entered the Moscow Art Theater troupe, she worked here until the last days of her life.
Fictitious marriage
Elena Mayorova and Anna Gulyarenko while studying at GITIS.
/ Photo: www.eg.ru Throughout her first year, she persistently got rid of her speech impediments. And on the second, not a trace remained of her slight burr, northern dialect and problems with ligaments. Every appearance of Elena Mayorova on stage, even in educational performances, became an event. The teachers were proud of her, and she diligently absorbed the basics of acting.
Elena Mayorova as Nastasya Filippovna in the play “Demented” based on “The Idiot” by F. Dostoevsky.
There could be no question of a provincial girl entering the service of the capital’s theater. Only actors with Moscow registration were accepted into the troupe. Oleg Tabakov advised his graduates to marry Muscovites. Elena took exactly this path.
Elena Mayorova and Lyudmila Krylova in the play “The Passion of Varvara.”
Her classmate, Vladimir Chaplygin, came to the girl’s aid. The young man, who had long been in love with Elena, hoped to eventually win her heart. But for Mayorova this marriage remained fictitious. Three months later, she filed for divorce and moved to a theater dormitory.
The appearance of the prince
The theater career of the GITIS graduate was quite successful. But, of course, this is not enough for women’s happiness. Elena spent her free time in the company of friends. Such parties were accompanied by famous conversations about the prince. Once, while visiting one of her friends, Mayorova complained about her loneliness, asking rhetorical questions: “Where is he? When will I meet him? The friend replied: “Now!” Here he is already coming." Surprisingly, at that moment there was a knock on the door. Within a few seconds, Elena saw the young man who later became her husband.
Sergei Sherstyuk was a general's son and a fashionable artist. He had no end to fans, but when he saw Elena, he fell in love at first sight. Then he found out where she lived and came to visit. This is how Elena Mayorova met her fate.
Cinderella and her prince
Elena Mayorova and Sergei Sherstyuk.
Of course, she dreamed of love, big and real. Elena Mayorova was waiting for her prince, and one day he simply knocked on the door of her room. One day Sergei Sherstyuk met her on the street near the theater and tried to meet her, but the girl did not leave him her phone number. Sergei did everything possible to find out her address. And he appeared on the threshold at the moment when she theatrically asked her friend where her prince was. As soon as the colleague replied that he was already on his way, there was a knock on the door.
Elena Mayorova and Sergei Sherstyuk.
The son of a general and a fashionable artist was once married, but now she has become his only woman, his muse. Elena moved into her husband's spacious apartment. According to relatives and friends, they really loved each other. Sergei, like Elena, gave himself over to feelings without reserve. They always quarreled loudly, accusing each other of lack of talent and throwing dishes on the floor. But they made peace, fervently asking for forgiveness from their loved one and assuring them of eternal love. Every morning they wrote touching notes to each other, in which every word spoke of endless tenderness.
Elena Mayorova and Sergei Sherstyuk.
She tried to make friends with Sergei’s son from his first marriage, but the teenager was not going to particularly trust anyone. It was enough for him that he had parents, although they did not live together. And then Elena showed Sergei the script for the film “Strange Time,” in which she was offered to star. The film was not quite usual for her, it contained many sex scenes, and the actress was important to her husband’s opinion. But Sergei just shrugged his shoulders, allowing her to decide for herself whether to act or not. Later, he reproached himself many times for not forcing Lena to give up this job.
Family happiness
Millions of Soviet women dreamed of marrying a general. Sherstyuk was not a general, but just his son. But that's not bad either. He owned a spacious apartment in the center of Moscow, and was also quite famous in creative circles. And most importantly, he was a loving, caring husband.
For several years, Elena lived in a dorm room, where the bedbugs felt much more comfortable than the hostess. After marriage she moved to the general's apartments. Sherstyuk's paintings sold well abroad in the mid-80s. On his canvases he depicted the realities of Soviet life, and this topic was popular abroad. The artist dreamed of emigrating, but his wife did not support him in this. Outside the acting profession, Mayorova could not exist.
Depression
The strangest moment in the biography of Elena Mayorova is the cause of death. The photo in the article shows the actress with her loving husband, a famous artist in those years. According to the recollections of relatives, there were no disagreements between them. Despite the fact that each of them had affairs on the side from time to time. Nevertheless, Mayorova often suffered from depression, a disease that is well known to many people in the arts. But the point is not only in the excessive impressionability characteristic of actors.
During the perestroika years, Sherstyuk earned good money. After the collapse of the USSR, people abroad lost interest in the topic of Soviet art. They bought less and less paintings. Mayorova regularly acted in films. In the 90s, when many artists left the profession, she was able to play in 5-6 films in just two years. Both in the theater and on the set, she worked with great intensity. She performed even a small role as if the entire plot rested on it. Elena was very tired, and at the same time she was working for two people. Vladimir Sherstyuk was one of those who failed to adapt to the new life.
Fateful roles
One of the last roles played by Mayorova was a female killer in the film adaptation of Leskov’s work. Actors are very superstitious. They believe that the characters played leave an imprint on fate. Every day before filming, Mayorova went to the temple, lit a candle and prayed that this terrible role would not leave its mark on her life. She played many heroines with tragic fates. But the connection between film images and the life of the actress hardly existed. All this is probably speculation that takes place in the acting community. Finally, let's move on to the description of the last day in the biography of Elena Mayorova.
Film career
The debut work in the drama “You Never Even Dreamed of” was followed by bright, characteristic images in the films “The 34th Ambulance”, “Zina-Zinulya”, “Forgotten Melody for Flute”, “Lonely are Provided with a Hostel”, “Alone and Without Weapons”.
“You never dreamed of it.” Excerpt
She was hired for cameos, but she played these small roles as if they glued the whole film together. “She didn’t go out of character. When the shooting day began, she was already in character and lived the entire shooting day, all the days we worked,” recalled director Alexander Mitta.
In 1988, the drama “Fast Train” was released. This picture featured Mayorova's first major role, which instantly made her famous throughout the entire Union. For her portrayal of the waitress Olga Koreneva, she was awarded the prize of the Constellation-89 festival in the category “Best Actress”. Also in 1989, she became an Honored Artist of the RSFSR.
Elena Mayorova in the film "Fast Train"
This was followed by roles in the political drama “Lost in Siberia”, the crime film “Unidentified Person”, and the sad parable film “Makarov”. In 1996, the woman starred in the film “Strange Time,” full of candid scenes of her heroine with the hero of 27-year-old Oleg Vasilkov. Elena Mayorova in the film “Strange Time” During her short film career, the talented actress managed to star in forty films. Mayorova’s latest works seem to have absorbed her increasingly manifest depression and neuroses. In the film “Listen, Isn’t It Raining...” the actress played the harbinger of Death, and in the series “On Knives” she played the demon-possessed female killer Glafira. At the same time, she appeared on the stage of the Moscow Art Theater in the play “Taibele and Her Demon,” where her heroine could not resist the temptations of the demon Alhanon.
Cause of death
A few weeks before her death, Elena Mayorova purchased an antique kerosene lamp abroad. On August 27, 1997, she was alone at home. Why it was necessary to light a kerosene lamp on this day is unknown. But there is a version that, having done this, she accidentally spilled kerosene on her dress. Then she went out onto the landing and lit a cigarette. When it caught fire, she ran out of the entrance towards her home theater. There, at the entrance to the Moscow Art Theater, an ambulance came for her.
Elena Mayorova died in the hospital three hours later. Some believe she set herself on fire intentionally. Others claim it was an accident. What thoughts visited her on this August day? Nobody knew about this. Even my husband, who passed away nine months later.
The mystery of last love
Elena Mayorova, still from the film “Strange Time”.
She again devoted herself entirely to her role. According to the plot, her heroine falls in love with a young guy played by Oleg Vasilkov. The feelings that she played on the set immediately sprouted into her. She seriously fell in love. Sergei was tormented by jealousy, but he knew for sure: her infatuation would go away as soon as work on the film was completed. And he waited patiently.
Oleg Vasilkov, still from the film “Strange Time”.
Whether Oleg Vasilkov was in love with Elena Mayorova remains a mystery. Colleagues claimed that the lovers did not hide their relationship, and the actor himself prefers to talk only about business relationships and friendly affection.
Elena Mayorova.
But on the last day of her life, she sent pager messages to two people: her husband and Oleg. She begged both of them for help and asked them to come. But the husband was at the dacha with relatives, and Oleg was on a business trip. He received messages from Elena when she herself was no longer in this world. It remains unclear whether Elena Mayorova accidentally spilled kerosene on her dress, or did it intentionally, but at the entrance where the actress went out to smoke, her dress caught fire, and she instantly turned into a flaming torch. Colleagues, friends and relatives agree that the actress was too cheerful and could not commit suicide.
Sergey Sherstyuk, “You and Me.”
Sergei Sherstyuk died of cancer 9 months after Elena left, having completed the painting “You and Me,” written as an ode to their love.
