Evgenia Khanaeva: the sad fate of the Soviet actress

Biography

Evgenia Khanaeva went down in the history of Soviet cinema as an unsurpassed performer of supporting roles and episodic roles. And although there are dozens of works in her filmography, the viewer especially remembered the actress from the films “Practice”, “For Family Circumstances”, “Moscow Doesn’t Believe in Tears”. In the latter, Khanaeva embodied the images of loving but domineering mothers. Evgenia Nikandrovna’s talent was awarded the honorary titles of Honored and People’s Artist of the RSFSR. She received the title of People's Artist of the USSR posthumously in 1987.

Childhood and youth

Evgenia Khanaeva was born on January 2, 1921 in the city of Bogorodsk (now Noginsk) in the Moscow region. Mother Iraida Ilyinichna Ryvkina is a housewife, originally from Bogorodsk. Father Nikandr Sergeevich Khanaev, an opera singer, soloist of the Bolshoi Theater, came to Moscow from the Ryazan region.

Evgenia Khanaeva in childhood

The surname Khanaev was considered Tatar. But there is no direct confirmation that the actress belonged to this nationality. Although she was not a deeply religious person, she attended church.

In the year when his only daughter Zhenya was born, his father entered the conservatory, although he was already working at the Bolshoi Theater (the guy was hired because of his unique vocal talent), and soon made a brilliant singing career, later becoming a People's Artist of the USSR.

Evgenia Khanaeva in her youth

The girl spent her childhood and adolescence in a luxurious 5-room apartment on Bryusov Lane, where the Khanaevs moved. Nikandr Sergeevich was a favorite of Joseph Stalin himself and received three Stalin Prizes. Not only the most famous artists, but also the first persons of that time entered the Khanaevs' house. Marshal Zhukov could easily come to the dacha. And the tenor himself often visited the leader’s dacha.

Zhenya lived in abundance and traveled in a car with a driver. But despite all this, she was modest and did not show off her blessings. From an early age she studied music, had good vocal abilities and passionately dreamed of being on stage, which did not make her parents happy.

Evgenia Khanaeva

Therefore, at first, in 1938-1939, Evgenia was a student at the Faculty of Law of Moscow State University. But, finally disappointed in this choice, he left the university and entered the Shchepkin Theater School, and then the Moscow City Theater School.

In 1947, the girl became one of the first graduates of the Moscow Art Theater School (she studied with the great “founders” of the Moscow Art Theater - Moskvin, Kachalov, Knipper-Chekhova) and became an actress on this famous stage.

Youth years

After graduating from school, Evgenia, on the advice of her father, entered the Faculty of Law of Moscow State University. But no one knew that she secretly also applied to the Shchepkinsky Theater School. We learned that our daughter was studying to be an actress quite by accident. My father’s colleague congratulated him on Evgenia’s excellent admission to Shchepkinskoye.

However, there was little time and energy left to study at the theater school. Evgenia studied hard at Moscow State University. They even wanted to expel her from Shchepka for absenteeism, but the girl’s undeniable acting talent prevailed.

Young Evgenia Khanaeva

Of course, this couldn't last long. Sooner or later, I would still have to make a choice between two educational institutions.

The sudden outbreak of war mixed everything up, and then, oddly enough, put it in its place. The girl had to leave Moscow State University and Shchepkinskoye. But in 1943 she learned that a studio school had been organized at the Moscow Art Theater. Of course, she immediately entered there.

Despite three years of study at the Shchepkinsky School, she had to enter the first year and start all over again. Future celebrities studied there with her: Mikhail Pugovkin, Vladimir Troshin and others.

Studying was easy for the girl. After graduating from the studio, she went to work at her favorite Moscow Art Academic Theater. She had long dreamed of getting there, and her dream finally came true.

Theater

Even when Zhenya played in student performances at the Moscow Art Theater, teachers warned her that with such an unattractive appearance she should not expect roles as the main characters. And it was as if they had prophesied. The directors stubbornly refused to notice Khanaeva’s talent. In the theater that she idolized, she was given insignificant, small roles. Evgeniya also did not send her photos to the film studio - why, if she does not have a bright image.

Evgenia Khanaeva in the play “Working Day of V.I. Lenin"

In the 50s, she played Mrs. Khlopins in Charles Dickens's play The Pickwick Club, Justine in Turgenev's The Noble Nest, and Paulina in William Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale. The roles did not fall out of a cornucopia, I had to wait long pauses, but I enjoyed each new job like a child.

In 1962, Khanaeva was replaced by an ill actress, and she brilliantly played Queen Elizabeth in the play “Mary Stuart” based on Schiller’s play. The Moscow Art Theater audience had not heard such applause for a long time, and critics predicted wild success for the new star. However, instead of it, years of inactivity followed again: the behind-the-scenes traditions and intrigues in the theater were too strong.

Evgenia Khanaeva in the play “Institute of Grandmothers”

Khanaeva did not enter into conflicts, she patiently waited for her time - and it came in 1970, when Oleg Efremov took over the leadership of the Moscow Art Theater. He saw charisma and talent in the artist and began to develop them, giving her new roles and images that were missed in her youth. Khanaeva played Anna Romanovna in the play based on the play “Old New Year” by M. Roshchin, Zinaida Lebedeva in Chekhov’s “Ivanov”, etc.

Movies

During the same period, Evgenia Nikandrovna, who had already celebrated her half-century anniversary, began to appear more and more in films. Her debut took place back in 1966 in the film “A Man Without a Passport,” but went unnoticed. And only in 1972 did a wide audience see the artist in Ilya Averbakh’s drama “Monologue”. Another 2 years later, Khanaeva starred in the film “Strange Adults.”

Evgenia Khanaeva in the film “Practice”

And in 1976, her first triumph took place - Evgenia Nikandrovna played in Vladimir Menshov’s film “The Prank”. Her heroine, Maria Vasilyevna Devyatova, is a schoolteacher who is made fun of by ninth-graders.

She comes out of this situation with incredible wisdom, having managed to preserve the main thing - human warmth in the hearts of teenagers. After such a convincing embodiment of the image of a teacher, Khanaeva received letters from parents of teenagers asking for advice on raising children for a long time.

Evgenia Khanaeva and Vladimir Basov in the film “For Family Reasons”

The next striking work in the artist’s filmography was Alexei Korenev’s comedy “For Family Circumstances” (1977). In it, the actress played Isolda Tikhonovna, who is overly protective of her on-screen son Evgeny Evstigneev and prevents him from establishing a new family life with the heroine of Galina Polskikh. The film was a tremendous success and once again confirmed Khanaeva’s incredible talent and high acting status.

In 1979, the pioneer of Evgenia Nikandrovna’s cinematic skills, Vladimir Menshov, invited her to play the role of Rodion Rachkov’s mother in the melodrama “Moscow Doesn’t Believe in Tears.” This work brought the actress wild success not only of all-Union but also international significance, because the film was awarded the Oscar for “Best Foreign Language Film.”

Evgenia Khanaeva in the film “Moscow Doesn’t Believe in Tears”

After this role, Khanaeva became assigned the role of an imperious, harsh, eccentric woman. The actress embodied a similar image in the drama “Old New Year”, playing Anna Romanovna. The artist’s real vocals are also heard in this film: the directors appreciated her excellent singing abilities.

Evgenia Nikandrovna devoted 15 years of her creative biography to cinema. She actively acted until the end of the 80s, playing many roles in children's films (“4:0 in favor of Tanechka”, “Sparrow on Ice”, “Vitya Glushakov - Friend of the Apaches”). One of Khanaeva’s last works was her role in the film “The Blonde Around the Corner” (1984). The actress played the mother of Nikolai (Andrei Mironov), Tatyana Vasilyevna.

Filmography[ | ]

• 1966 - Man without a passport - Klavochka, post office worker
• 1970 —
• 1972 - Day after day - Antonina Grigorievna Mokhaleva
• 1972 - Monologue - Elsa Ivanovna, housekeeper
• 1974 — — Taisiya Petrovna, commandant
• 1974 - Strange adults - Augusta Yakovlevna
• 1976 - Prank - Maria Vasilievna Devyatova
• 1976 - The Life and Death of Ferdinand Luce - Gisella Dornbrock
• 1976 - ...And other officials - Zinaida Petrovna / Ivanov’s mother-in-law
• 1976 — — Anna Zakharovna
• 1976 — — Zatunayskaya
• 1977 - For family reasons - Isolda Tikhonovna, Nikolai’s mother
• 1977 — — Lyudmila Ivanovna
• 1977 - The Magic Voice of Gelsomino - Aunt Corn
• 1979 - Spring Olympics, or Head of the Choir - pioneer leader Inessa Arkadyevna
• 1979 - (k/m) - Director of the Central Park of Culture and Culture
• 1979 - Moscow does not believe in tears - mother of Rodion Rachkov
• 1980 - Old New Year - Anna Romanovna
• 1980 - Sailors have no questions - Anna Evlampievna
• 1980 — — Lidia Pavlovna, grandmother of Valentina Khrupalova
• 1980 - The Last Escape - Evgenia Matveevna, Vitya’s grandmother
• 1980 — — Nemolyaev's mother-in-law
• 1981 - An Ideal Husband - Lady Markby
• 1981 - Thank you everyone! — a museum employee looking for photographs of Oruzheyny Lane
• 1981 - Where did Fomenko disappear? — Vika Romanovna, Fomenko’s mother
• 1982 - 4:0 in favor of Tanechka - Zoya Alexandrovna
• 1982 - Simply terrible! — Antonina Georgievna, grandmother
• 1982 — — Mary Klapkoff
• 1982 - Crazy day of engineer Barkasov - Alisa Yurievna
• 1982 - Take care of men! - representative of a foreign company at the exhibition
• 1982 - Time for reflection - Irina Mikhailovna, Ali’s mother
• 1982 - Mother Mary - Madame Lange
• 1983 - Sparrow on Ice - police captain
• 1983 - Vitya Glushakov - friend of the Apaches - Kira Ivanovna
• 1983 — — Felitsata Antonovna Shablova
• 1983 - Kiss - the general's wife
• 1984 — — grandmother of Nina Grigorievna
• 1984 - Blonde around the corner - school teacher, Tatyana Vasilievna, Nikolai’s mother
• 1984 - Cancan in the English Park - Valeria Sopelyak
• 1985 — — Nina Kharitonovna, Lida's teacher
• 1986 — — Agnes
• 1987 - The investigation begins. Slander. — Ryabikova
• 1987 - The mysterious heir - Glasha
• 1987 — — Vera Afanasyevna

Teleplays[ | ]

• 1965 - Bourgeois (film-play of the Moscow Art Theater) - Tatyana
• 1967 - Kremlin chimes (film-play of the Moscow Art Theater) - Old woman with a child
• 1969 - Egor Bulychov and others (film-play of the Moscow Art Theater) - Varvara
• 1974 - The Seagull (Moscow Art Theater film-play) - Polina Andreevna
• 1977 - (film-play of the Moscow Art Theater) - Dina Pavlovna Milenina
• 1978 - The Captain's Daughter (film-play) - Vasilisa Egorovna
• 1981 - Ivanov (Moscow Art Theater film-play) - Zinaida Savvishna
• 1984 - Institute of Grandmothers - Baba Zina
• 1987 - (film-play of the Moscow Art Theater) - Fotieva

Personal life

The actress’s personal life became her misfortune and joy at the same time: for many years, watching this talented actress play strong-willed, strong and somewhat tough women, the audience had no idea what passions were raging in the soul of Evgenia Khanaeva.

Evgenia Khanaeva and Konstantin Gradopolov

During her years of study at the Moscow Art Theater School, Zhenya met Konstantin Gradopolov. The handsome athlete and aspiring actor won the girl’s heart; the couple had a long affair. But it didn’t come to the wedding. According to some reports, jealousy on Evgenia’s part intervened. But Khanaeva’s son, Vladimir, in an interview with the magazine “Caravan of Stories,” suggested that his mother had lost spiritual interest in her chosen one.

The girl’s new gentleman was Anatoly Uspensky, the son of the Moscow Art Theater chief accountant. The guy, at the invitation of his father, spent New Year's Eve at the theater and met Zhenya there. She was 4 years older than Anatoly and, according to representatives of her close circle, she took the situation into her own hands.

Evgenia Khanaeva, Anatoly Uspensky and their son Vladimir

Soon the couple announced to their parents their desire to get married. This news was met with hostility by both sides. The Khanaevs were indignant that the guy was no match for them, the Uspenskys also stated that they would like to see another daughter-in-law. One way or another, Evgenia was already expecting a child, and the couple got married. After the birth of their son Volodya, Khanaeva’s parents exchanged their large apartment, and the young couple moved to a new one - on Vosstaniya Square.

Lev Ivanov and Evgenia Khanaeva

It would seem that the actress’s family life was strong and measured, but late love happened in Evgenia Nikandrovna’s life. A new actor came to the Moscow Art Theater - 47-year-old handsome Lev Ivanov, who became Khanaeva’s latest passion. The man was also married, but could not leave his mentally ill, bedridden wife. But the actress showed character and left her husband, leaving him with a ninth-grader son.

Mother and son did not communicate for 17 years. The woman called Vladimir and established a relationship with him only on the eve of her operation, after which she never recovered.

Payback for love

Evgenia Khanaeva.
She never shared her experiences with her colleagues; many of them had no idea what was happening in her life. They just noticed how often she spends time with actor Lev Ivanov. Spiteful critics even called the actress’s home and told her 12-year-old son the details of her mother’s life. It was then that Evgenia Nikandrovna decided to divorce. The son stayed with his father.

Evgenia Khanaeva, still from the film “Prank”, 1976.

The actress simply disappeared from their lives. She didn't call or ask for meetings. It seemed that she simply crossed out her family from her life. The son saw his mother only on the screen. Not understanding the reasons why she refused to communicate with him, he watched films with her participation and, of course, was worried. At the same time, the father never said a single bad word about his ex-wife.

Lev Ivanov.

According to colleagues, Evgenia Nikandrovna was a very delicate, noble and decent person. Refusal to communicate with her own child could be the retribution for love that the actress prescribed for herself.

Evgenia Khanaeva and Lev Ivanov in the play “The Seagull”, 1968.

After all, she really loved. And she left the family, ruling out the possibility of leading a double life and lying to loved ones. Lev Ivanov was married and could not leave his sick wife. However, Khanaeva never demanded this. She was simply happy to be next to her beloved, to hear his voice, to hold his hand in hers.

Death

In the mid-80s, Evgenia Nikandrovna, a passionate lover of driving and driving fast, got into a small accident: she braked hard on a red light, causing her head to jerk sharply back. After this accident, the actress began to suffer from severe headaches. It turned out that the damaged vertebra had cut into the base of the skull, which caused the development of a brain tumor.

Graves of Evgenia Khanaeva and her father

In October 1987, Khanaeva decided to undergo a complex operation. Neurosurgeon Eduard Kandel immediately warned the patient that death was possible. But the artist was sure that everything would go well. After spending several days in a coma, Evgenia Khanaeva died without regaining consciousness. Death occurred on November 8, 1987.

The actress never found out that she was awarded the title of People's Artist of the USSR. The artist’s grave is located at the Vvedenskoye Cemetery in Moscow.

Incurable love of Evgenia Khanaeva

The actress’s heartbreak turned into an almost 20-year separation from her son

The actress’s heartbreak turned into an almost 20-year separation from her son

In January, Evgenia Khanaeva would have turned 90 years old. Films with her participation (“Old New Year”, “Moscow Doesn’t Believe in Tears”, “Blonde Around the Corner”, “For Family Reasons”) are still very popular, although the actress has not been with us for 23 years. For the anniversary of the Soviet cinema star, Channel One prepared a documentary from the “Idols” series called “Evgenia Khanaeva. With an intermission for love." On the screen, Evgenia Nikandrovna always looked like a confident and decisive woman, but in life she was modest and quiet. In addition, she experienced a love drama, because of which she left the family and did not communicate with her son Volodya for 19 years.

Evgenia's father, Nikandr Khanaev , was once a leading soloist of the Bolshoi Theater, highly regarded by Joseph Stalin . Zhenya grew up as a very musical child and dreamed of being on stage since childhood. After graduating from the Moscow Art Theater School, where Khanaeva studied with Igor Dmitriev , Irina Skobtseva and Mikhail Pugovkin , she became an actress at the theater of her dreams - the Moscow Art Theater. While still studying, she began an affair with classmate Kostya Gradopolov , the son of a then famous athlete and actor. But as soon as the former students left their alma mater, their love faded away.

Soon,
Tolya Uspensky , the son of the chief accountant of the Moscow Art Theater, appeared in Khanaeva’s life. And when the young people decided to get married, parents on both sides opposed this marriage.

The Uspenskys considered Zhenechka very unattractive, and the Khanaevs admitted that they dreamed of a more worthy match for their daughter. The wedding took place after all. And in the cold summer of ’53, a son, Volodya, was born into a young family.

Fatal passion

Despite the birth of the child, Khanaeva’s relationship with her husband began to deteriorate. In her native theater she was not given new roles for years. Evgenia suffered greatly from her lack of demand as a woman and professionally. Until she again lost her head from passion for her stage partner Lev Ivanov (film buffs know him for his role as Prince Raevsky in “The Star of Captivating Happiness”). The fact that they were both not free weighed heavily on the lovers. Over time, when the whole theater learned about their connection, “well-wishers” appeared who began to inform the other halves of Ivanov and Khanaeva about their relationship. Unable to bear it, Evgenia Nikandrovna filed for divorce, leaving her husband with a 14-year-old son. Although she understood that her lover would never leave his wife, because she was seriously ill. However, Khanaeva did not demand this from Lev Vasilyevich.

In 1970, the Moscow Art Theater was headed by
Oleg Efremov , who recognized the actress’s talent, and Khanaeva got many roles. And two years later she finally began acting in films. Over time, work replaced everything for a woman. After all, she did not communicate with her own child - he could not forgive his mother for leaving the family.

When the actress bought a car, it became a real passion for Khanaeva, which, alas, turned out to be fatal. One day she had an accident.

“As doctors later found out, the damaged vertebra had grown into the trunk of the skull, and against this background a brain tumor began to develop,” says
Olga Derzhavina, . “To escape from wild suffering, the actress used all means: expensive medications, massage, and even turned to psychics. However, nothing helped. But Khanaeva continued to work, overcoming the pain. Shortly before her death, for the first time in 19 years, she decided to call her son, and the very next day Vladimir came to his mother. In October 1987, Evgenia Nikandrovna decided to undergo a complex operation. After its completion, she only briefly regained consciousness. It was during these hours that friends and colleagues tried to congratulate her on being awarded the title of People's Artist. But they couldn’t do this...