Daria Drozdovskaya: mother, wife and actress

Biography of Mikaela Drozdovskaya

Mikaela Drozdovskaya is a Soviet film actress. Her life unfolded like in a fairy tale. A job you love, a caring husband, two wonderful daughters - what else is needed for happiness? But fate, which at first generously bestowed it, prepared a terrible ending for her... Michaela became famous for her role as Tanya in the film “Volunteers”. Maya's subsequent role in the film "Seven Nurses" continued to increase the actress's popularity.

Childhood and youth

Michaela. This unusual name for Soviet times was given to a girl, a Muscovite, born on March 10, 1937 into a family of ordinary Moscow workers. As if justifying her bright name, Mika decided from childhood: she would become an actress! And she immediately began to realize her dream - she went to an acting class, studied with straight A's, and diligently prepared to enter drama school. After school, I entered VGIK on the first try. Through thorns to the stars - this is not about her. She was born to shine on the screen, and already in her first year at the institute she was noticed.

Actor career

Michaela's first role was as saleswoman Yulia Petrova in Samson Samsonov's film “Behind the Department Store Window” (1955). The Soviet audience immediately liked Drozdovskaya’s heroine. Then there were “Volunteers” (1958), where Mikaela played in the “star” cast: her colleagues in the film were Mikhail Ulyanov, Pyotr Shcherbakov, Leonid Bykov and Elina Bystritskaya. The next decade saw the heyday of her career: Maya in “Seven Nannies” by Rolan Bykov (1962), Masha in the film “Give me a complaint book” by Eldar Ryazanov (1965), the milliner in “Run” by Alexander Alov (1970) and dozens of episodic, but no less striking roles.

Mikaela Drozdovskaya transformed with ease. Suffice it to recall the film “A Bad Joke” (1966). It’s hard to believe that the pitiful hunchback is played by one of the first beauties of Soviet cinema. She wanted to play more, try herself in different images, but the directors offered her mostly minor roles. But her voice was well known to viewers from French films, the heroines of which were dubbed by the actress.

Filmography

1955 - Behind the department store window - Yulia Petrova, saleswoman and Komsomol member
1957 - Leningrad Symphony - Irina Bocharova
1958 - Ataman Kodr - Natasha
1958 - Volunteers - Tanya
1959 - I am writing to you
1960 - Heirs - Nadya
1962 - Seven Nannies - Maya
1964 - Give me a book of complaints - Masha
1964 - Goodbye, boys! - a girl dancing with a tinsmith in the restaurant "Poplavok"
1964 - Once upon a time there was an old man and an old woman - episode
1965 - Romeo, my neighbor
1966 - Bad joke - hunchback
1966 - When the harpsichord plays - tie saleswoman
1967 - Die Hard - captured pilot
1967 - Wake up Mukhin! — episode
1969 - Explosion after midnight - Duska
1969 - Ambassador of the Soviet Union
1969 - Shine, burn, my star - the wife of the staff captain
1970 - Running - milliner
1971 - Ilf and Petrov - nurse -
1973 - At my own request - episode
1973 - Nylon 100% - Katya
(credited as Mikaella Drozdovskaya)
1975 - I take over
1975 - The Journey of Mrs. Shelton - Natasha Gai - Gaevskaya
1975 - Solo for elephant with orchestra - mother of two daughters
1976 - The Legend of Tila - the widow of a werewolf killed
1977 - Mimino - Papishvili’s wife

Teleplays

1972 - Buddenbrooks - Gerda Buddenbrook
1976 - Martin Eden - Mrs. Morse

Film dubbing

1965 - Thunder from Heaven - Simone Leboucher
1965 - Strike first, Freddy! — Sonya
1967 - Where is the third king? — Szczęsniak
1967 - Oscar - Jacqueline, Bertrand's illegitimate daughter
1968 - Galileo Galilei
1972 - Old Maid - Maid

Personal life

Michaela always had many fans, but she gave her heart to cardiologist Vadim Smolensky. The couple had two daughters: the eldest Nika and the youngest Dasha. However, they could not keep the actress at home for long: the film set attracted her. Drozdovskaya refused maternity leave and began working almost immediately after giving birth. And worries about his daughters fell on Vadim’s shoulders. And he, a doctor of medical sciences, the head physician of a Moscow hospital, resignedly washed diapers, read fairy tales to his daughters, and put them to bed. When I couldn’t cope on my own, nannies came to help. There were two of them: one for Nika, the other for Dasha.

And then Mikaela came from filming and, with her characteristic passion, plunged into household chores: she threw wonderful birthdays for her daughters, went shopping with them, and saw them off to school.
During the holidays, the whole family went to the dacha and enjoyed each other’s company in the lap of nature. They were truly happy. Mikaela Drozdovskaya was condemned. Evil tongues called her “mother cuckoo,” but for her daughters she was a sorceress who, although she appeared rarely, always brought a holiday with her.

Life was seething in the Smolensky-Drozdovsky house: guests came, relatives came, and after the premiere there were cheerful gatherings. Among the guests were Bella Akhmadulina, Alla Budnitskaya, Elem Klimov, Italian directors Michelangelo Antonioni and Tonino Guerra. But the center of attention was, of course, her - the unique Michaela. And the little daughters watched her with delight until their father took them to bed.

Many wondered: was Vadim oppressed by the eternal carnival that reigns in their lives? Didn't he really want some peace and quiet after a hard day at the hospital? Maybe he was not satisfied with the role of nanny and “guardian of the hearth”? However, the daughter of Vadim and Mikaela, Daria Drozdovskaya, does not think so: “The holiday revolving around mom was part of his life. And my father was happy in her. The delight and admiration with which Nika and I treated our mother came from our father. He loved his Michaela very much."

Drozdovskaya lived greedily, passionately, loved life in all its manifestations. Her house was full of living plants.

One day, Michaela saw a thin fox in a car repair shop, sitting on a leash in front of an empty bowl. The sight of the exhausted animal angered Drozdovskaya: she threw money at the owner of the workshop and took the fox with her, although St. Bernard Dombey and the cat Firs already lived at home.

Another passion of Michaela was icons. She was well versed in Russian icon painting and could distinguish a fake from an original. Drozdovskaya was ready to buy rare specimens for any money - she specially traveled to villages for this. She infected her husband with her passion, and together they collected a large collection. Alas, all of it was lost: when a misfortune happened to Mikaela, the Smolensky-Drozdovsky apartment was soon robbed.

Did not get along

“I learned the details of what happened to my mother much later from her close friend, my godmother Alla Budnitskaya,” recalls Daria Drozdovskaya. For the girls, the death of their mother remained an unreal event for a long time, as if their mother had not died, but had gone away for a long shoot.

Former friends gradually moved away. Only the most faithful remained. And a year after Michaela’s death, Elena appeared - the new wife of Vadim Smolensky. Nobody judged him. He, a middle-aged man, simply needed a family home. And girls need a mother too. But Elena failed to make friends with Smolensky’s daughters. As a result, Nika was taken in by Sofya Davydova, and Dasha moved to Alla Budnitskaya, who replaced her mother.

“Perhaps if Lena were older, more experienced and wiser, everything would have turned out differently. Or maybe not. Well, who could compare with my mother, the fairy-tale princess, whose “month shines under her braid, and a star burns in her forehead”?” - Daria said in one of the interviews.

The daughters of Mikaela Drozdovskaya followed in the footsteps of their parents. Nika continued her father’s work - she also became a doctor, and Daria, like her beloved mother, chose the path of an actress.

Tragedy in the Caucasus

Alla Budnitskaya recalls that Mika once said: “If something happened to me, don’t leave Dasha!” Perhaps Michaela had a presentiment of her end, but for everyone else, the terrible incident that occurred on November 7, 1978 in Ordzhonikidze (now Vladikavkaz, North Ossetia) on the set of another film came as a complete surprise. The film crew was accommodated in unheated houses. To keep warm, filmmakers turned on spotlights in their rooms, which served as heaters.

Death

That day, the film crew went on an excursion to the city.
They also invited Michaela with them, but she refused, citing fatigue. Left alone, Drozdovskaya turned on the spotlights and, comfortably wrapped in a blanket, lay down on the sofa to rest. Apparently, she dozed off, and the blanket slipped onto the hot device. The fabric smoldered for a long time, and when the film crew returned, Michaela had already inhaled carbon monoxide and did not come to her senses. Drozdovskaya’s colleagues knocked down the door, but the air entering the room fanned the fire, which engulfed the actress’s body. When she was taken out of the house that was devoured by fire, she was still alive. Michaela was urgently taken to Moscow. Doctors desperately fought for her life, but in vain. After suffering for a week, the actress died on November 14, 1978. She was only 41 years old.

And a year after Michaela’s death, Elena appeared - the new wife of Vadim Smolensky. Nobody judged him. He, a middle-aged man, simply needed a family home. And girls need a mother too. But Elena failed to make friends with Smolensky’s daughters. As a result, Nika was taken in by Sofya Davydova, and Dasha moved to Alla Budnitskaya, who replaced her mother.

Russian and Soviet actors

Drozdovskaya Daria Vadimovna is a Russian theater and film actress, TV presenter, born on November 23, 1970 in the family of actress Mikaela Drozdovskaya (Tanya in the film “Volunteers”) and professor Vadim Smolensky. She is the goddaughter of actress Alla Budnitskaya, who raised Daria after the death of Michaela.

Daria Drozdovskaya speaks about herself and her family: “I am a late child. When she was born, dad was over fifty, and mom was over thirty years old. Father was both dad and mom to us. Mom was some kind of fairy-tale creature. Firebird, Snow Maiden, unrealistic Phenomenon, Dream... And dad was everything else. He washed diapers, put us to bed, got up to us at night and told us stories.”

The misfortune with Michaela happened on November 7, 1978 while filming in the city of Ordzhonikidze. Actress Alla Budnitskaya recalls: “Mika was left alone in the unheated house where the filmmakers lived. She was tired, decided to lie down, and to warm up, turned on the lighting (small and large spotlights) and fell asleep, covering her head with a blanket. At night, the blanket slipped onto a hot lamp and caught fire. Having been poisoned by carbon monoxide in her sleep, Mika could not escape: her legs were severely burned. When they opened the door and found her, the fire from the draft spread further... Mikaela was urgently sent to Moscow...".

The best doctors fought for her life, but all attempts to help Drozdovskaya were in vain. The actress died on November 14, 1978 in terrible agony.

Alla Budnitskaya: “When Mika’s youngest, Dashka, was born, I became her godmother. (The eldest daughter Nika was baptized by Ulya and Vika Fedorova.) I didn’t have my own children, and I often took little Dasha with me. Sometimes Mika asked about this: “Bulka, will you take Dasha?” As if sensing trouble, Michaela kept forcing Dasha to call me mom: “This is mom! Repeat!" Dasha was getting ready for first grade when trouble happened. As soon as she saw me, she threw herself on my neck and whispered: “My mother died. Now you will be my mother, right?! “Of course, then she didn’t understand anything, we just loved each other.”

A year after Michaela's death, her father moved to live with another woman. Alla came to the girls every day, then Nika was taken in by Michaela’s friend Sonya Davydova, and Dasha moved in with her dad and his wife. She lived with them for about a year, and then ran away to Alla Budnitskaya.

Nika lived with Sonya Davydova until she became independent. She graduated from college, works as a doctor in the Filatov hospital, and got married. And Dasha became an actress and TV presenter.

In 1993, Daria Drozdovskaya graduated from the Shchukin School (workshop of V. Burov).

In 1993-1994 she worked in the laboratory of V. Mirzoev, in 1995-1999 she was the author and presenter of a program about cinema on TV-6, and in 2000-2002 she was the director of the magazine “Who”.

Currently, Daria Drozdovskaya collaborates with the Center for Drama and Directing under the direction of A. Kazantsev, M. Roshchin.

The actress has played more than 30 roles in films since 1987.

Her husband is television producer Alexander Oleinikov.

Theater works:

“Lyubof” (performance created specifically for the “Niti” festival at the B-2 club)

“Galka Motalko” at the Theater “Center for Drama and Directing” under the direction of Alexey Kazantsev and Mikhail Roshchin.

Filmography:

Solo for an elephant with orchestra (1975) role: girl in the circus

Portraits of Men (1987) role: Serebrova, Yuryev’s student

Lord Arthur's Crime (1991) role: Marchioness Susan Judberg

The Adventures of Chichikov (television play) (1992) role: Alcides

The Pied Piper (short) (1992)

To be remembered... (documentary) (1997) film “Mikaela Drozdovskaya” (30th)

Turetsky's March (2nd season) (2001) role: Inna, an employee in the Proskurets company, the film “Subscriber Unavailable” (5th)

Diary of a Killer (2002) role: Jeanette, circus performer

Count Krestovsky (2004) role: Dasha

Walk in Karabakh (2005) role: Marina, photojournalist

Three Half-Graces (2006) main role: Sonya, owner of a travel company

Carrot Love (2006) role: Sonya, Marina’s friend

Love on a Knife's Edge (2007) role: Tanya, editorial employee

Potapov, come to the board! (2007) role: geography teacher

Carrot Love 2 (2008) role: Sonya, Marina’s friend

Native people (Ukraine) (2008) role: Rita

Photographer (2008) role: Inga, episode “Sister from the Other World” (14th)

Cheesecake (2008) role: Natasha's friend

Dirty Work (2009) role: Sonya Herzen, victim of Baranov’s treachery, film “The Antique Dealer’s Case” (6th)

Flock (2009) role: Dasha, Gleb’s wife, drug addict

Love-Carrot 3 (2010) role: Sonya, Marina’s friend

Escape | Prison Escape (2010) role: Natalya, Panin’s ex-wife

Voices (2010) role: Lopatina, episode 6

Everything for you (2010) main role: Maria Teplova, Kuzma’s wife

The Last Minute (2010) role: Irina, episode “The Debt” (6th)

Curious Varvara 2 (2014) role: Tamara Larionova, film “Court and Case” (1st)

My Favorite Mother-in-Law (2016) role: Clara, Veronica's aunt

House on the Edge of the Forest (2016) role: Irina Lagudina, Vera’s aunt

And there was a day (2015) role: Dasha

Unknown (2017) role: Larisa

My favorite mother-in-law 2 (2017) role: Clara, Veronica's aunt

Hotel Eleon (Russia, Ukraine) (2017) role: Albina, Eleanor’s friend, season 2

Pure Moscow Murders (2017) role: Rita

Short Waves (2017)