Mom's successor
Daria Mayorova was born in February 1972 in Moscow, and spent her entire youth on Malaya Bronnaya. From an early age, the girl dreamed of becoming an actress and took an active part in the work of the school theater club. In this endeavor, Daria was supported by her mother, whose path to the stage was blocked by her father.
Daria's grandfather, Valery Pronin, was directly related to the world of cinema, was a venerable director of the pre-war era and sought to isolate his daughter - Dasha's mother - from the bohemian atmosphere of acting circles, which he considered unacceptable for well-bred young ladies.
Be that as it may, the biography of Daria Mayorova followed a different scenario. After graduating from school, she applied to the prestigious Shchukin School, successfully passing the strict examination selection. The girl studied with the best teachers in the country, developed her dramatic talent, actively realizing the unrealized aspirations of her mother.
New feeling
Karen Georgievich refers to time as a good healer who helped him avoid wounds to his heart even after such a loss of his entire family. However, the scar still remained there and bled every time when, already in his third marriage, he was visited by thoughts of parting with his two sons.
Karen Shakhnazarova and Daria Mayorova
The third time Shakhnazarov married actress Daria Mayorova. The spectacular blonde won his heart at first sight. In his new marriage, the director had two sons.
They lived with Daria for ten years, eight of which they were officially married. However, this marriage also came to an end. In the interview, he emphasizes that he never parted with his sons and, in general, after the “American” history, he tried to be closer to them.
Fateful meeting
After completing her first year of study at the Shchukin School, Daria Mayorova visited Vladimir with her father. In this ancient Russian city, she met the famous film director Karen Shakhnazarov. According to the latter, he immediately saw his future wife in the pretty student. The master was not embarrassed by the significant age difference. He was then 38 years old, and Daria was not yet 20.
Daria herself did not immediately submit to the famous filmmaker: according to her, the relationship between them developed gradually, she gradually took a closer look at Shakhnazarov, assessing him as her potential husband.
The famous director had to fight for a long time for the girl’s hand and heart: in order to be with her longer, he invited her to star in his new film. So Daria Mayorova, whose photo appeared on the poster of the new work, became an actress in the psychological-historical film “The Regicide.” Here the girl played the role of Princess Olga, the daughter of the executed Tsar Nicholas the Bloody.
A year later, Daria Mayorova again tries her hand at cinema, starring in the film “Three August Days” by US director Jung. However, after filming was completed, the film was never released on Russian screens, and overseas guests took all the footage with them.
Three marriages of Karen Shakhnazarov
One can talk about the merits of Karen Shakhnazarov for a very long time. First of all, he is known as the director of everyone’s favorite films, such as “Winter Evening in Gagra”, “The Regicide”, “Anna Karenina”.
But this is only a small fraction of the films in which Shakhnazarov proved himself as a director. Films were also released where viewers could appreciate his acting. This man surprises his contemporaries with his talent and versatility.
But, almost always, the more talented a person is in his professional activities, the more unhappy he is in love. The personal life of Karen Shakhnazarov is proof of this.
In search of happiness
Karen Georgievich was married three times. He talks very reluctantly about his personal life. Almost nothing is known about his first wife. They lived in marriage for quite a short time. The director said that their marriage with his first wife could be called happy. They were young and in love, but the wife could not stand the rhythm of her husband’s life.
It was approximately for this reason that he divorced his second wife. The second wife's name was Alena Setunskaya. Later, after her second marriage, she changed her last name to Zander. Alena and Karen broke up quite strangely. The wife simply ran away from the director to America , together with their common daughter Anya, while he was on a business trip.
Moving to a foreign country, especially with a child, was not an easy task. Karen Shakhnazarov’s second wife did not leave him any coordinates.
For a long time he was looking for his ex-wife and daughter, but it was not an easy task. Just a few years ago, the director met with his former family. His daughter grew up and formed her own views on life. After several meetings, Shakhnazarov failed to improve relations with Anna. They remain quite tense.
Unexpected love
Karen Georgievich met his third wife by chance. He was filming in Vladimir. A young girl, a student at the Shchukin School, Daria Mayorova, came there with her father. For Karen it was love at first sight. Seeing the girl, he immediately decided that she would be his wife.
The director did not make much of an impression on Daria. The age difference between them was about 20 years. Nineteen-year-old Dasha dreamed of acting in films and had little interest in romantic relationships at that time. The famous director had to spend a lot of time to win the girl’s hand and heart.
For Daria, the acting environment was not alien or unfamiliar. Her grandfather was a famous sound engineer who worked on over 150 films. Since childhood, Dasha wanted to become an actress, and her mother supported the girl in this. But, not surprisingly, the grandfather was against his granddaughter acting in films.
After graduating from school, the girl was faced with a difficult choice: to enter the Faculty of Journalism at Moscow State University or choose the acting department. Still, the childhood dream took over. Dasha became a student at the Shchukin School.
Daria’s acquaintance with Karen Shakhnazarov was significant in all respects. This was her ticket to big cinema. While in her second year at school, she had already been cast in the lead role in the film The Kingslayer . This film can be called the finest hour in the career of Daria Mayorova.
A year later, she starred in another film called “Three Days of August.” Directors from three countries worked on this film. It showed the events of the coup in Moscow. But the film was mainly released in a number of European countries and did not gain popularity at home.
Then there were several more roles in the series and episodic appearances in feature films. In one of her interviews, Daria said that one day she realized that she no longer wanted to act in films and that theater was not for her either.
Family life
After getting married, Daria Mayorova was never able to become an exemplary housewife. Together with Karen Shakhnazarov they are raising two sons, but this does not prevent Dasha from growing professionally.
Immediately after graduating from the Shchukin School, she was invited to host the morning program “Mood.” After the girl tried herself in cinema and theater, she happily took on a new project. She really enjoyed being the host of the morning channel.
Also, thanks to the birth of children, Daria developed many hobbies. Karen Shakhnazarov's wife enjoys cooking for the whole family. She learned to embroider and loves to play solitaire. According to her, all these hobbies help her in her work.
Despite the fact that Daria devoted herself to her family and practically never acts , viewers love her for her charm and sincerity. You can find many reviews online that express admiration for her optimism and ability to charge her with a good mood for the whole day.
Unfortunately, optimism and sincerity could not save the marriage of Daria and Karen. The couple broke up. But this was done so quietly and correctly that even their own children thought for a long time that their parents were living together.
Now Karen Georgievich is single. He is disappointed in love and believes that his profession is to blame for all his failures in love relationships.
Housewife
Soon after graduating from college, Daria married Karen Shakhnazarov. This marriage turned out to be a happy one, the couple lived amicably, Mayorova gave birth to her husband two sons - Ivan and Vasily. Focusing on family life, the director's wife retired from active work in theater and cinema.
Soon Daria got bored with the role of a housewife and wanted to get out of the four walls of her home. However, work in the theater did not appeal to her, and she could not return to cinema for mysterious reasons. I had to look for another way out of the situation.
Personal life
Olga Sidorova’s personal life could have turned out differently if she had not been forced to leave the theater school and become a model. At the age of 18, the girl met her first husband. The young model's chosen one was clothing designer and businessman Alexander Elpatievsky.
Olga Sidorova and first husband Alexander Elpatievsky
After two years of marriage, Olga gave birth to a daughter from him, whom the couple named Vasilisa. The husband was 13 years older than Sidorova and ran a business in Germany. Olga lived in abundance, took care of her child and education. The family broke up after Alexander lost his business, and Sidorova returned to work as a model.
Now their daughter Vasilisa is already an adult girl, she has followed in her mother’s footsteps and is studying at the MSI. Derzhavin at the acting department. Olga’s daughter dreamed of becoming a singer since childhood; in 2012, she recorded the musical composition “You Are Mine,” for which Sidorova shot a video using her directorial skills.
Olga Sidorova with her daughter
Olga had fans, but the public became interested in the actress’s personal life because of her relationship with the famous director Karen Shakhnazarov. The acquaintance took place on the set of the film “Full Moon Day,” which was released in 1997. But at that moment Olga was still married to a fashion designer.
At one time, the actress denied this connection, calling the director of Mosfilm a good friend. Karen Shakhnazarov is 24 years older than Sidorova, but the age difference did not prevent them from finding a common language.
Olga Sidorova and Karen Shakhnazarov
Rumors spread in the press that the actress even gave birth to a son for the director, but speculation about Olga and Karen having common children was not confirmed. And at Mosfilm they whispered about the actress’s new romance with State Duma deputy Konstantin Zatulin.
Olga later admitted in an interview with Kino Park magazine in 2007 that Karen became a close person to her who could listen and support in difficult times. In the later period of her relationship with Shakhnazarov, Sidorova honestly said that she wanted her own house, in which her husband and children would be next to her, she was frank about her dream of becoming a mother again, but the couple never reached the registry office.
Now Olga Sidorova is happily married. Her life partner's name is Igor. Joint photos appear on the actress’s personal profile on Instagram.
A television
Salvation for Mayorova came from television. The TVC channel invited her to the role of presenter for the morning channel “Mood”. The talented girl quickly got used to her new role and soon became a real star of the morning broadcast.
The skills she acquired as a housewife came in very handy. She mastered cooking, handicrafts, and many other things and could easily “cook” the most delicious programs for her regular viewers.
In 2005, Daria Mayorova once again showed activity as an actress, starring in three episodes of the series “Private Investigation Lover Daria Vasilyeva.” However, after filming was completed, she was not eager to resume her film career and returned to her favorite television.
Karen Shakhnazarov will limit the showing of Mosfilm hits on TV channels
General Director of Mosfilm Karen Shakhnazarov spoke in an exclusive interview with Sobesednik.ru about the new TV channel Mosfilm. Golden Collection”, where films produced by the legendary studio will be broadcast.
"The Irony of Fate" is not for everyone
The other day it became known that Mosfilm, together with the All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company (VGTRK), will launch its own television channel on September 1. True, Karen Georgievich admits that now he is not entirely sure of the broadcast start date.
“With this current situation throughout the world... I don’t know how much we will be able to meet the deadline,” Shakhnazarov told a Sobesednik.ru correspondent.
– Karen Georgievich, why do you need your own TV channel? Pictures from the Mosfilm studio are often shown on television.
– Having such a collection, it would be a sin not to open your own channel. We are doing a lot of work on the restoration of films that we will show here. In the future, we hope that this channel will develop, and not only on old films.
By the way, nine years ago we became the first film studio in the world to open its own channel on YouTube. And he became very successful. I was also asked at one time: why are you doing this? And we have more than 300 million views a year! This, by the way, is six times more than the number of spectators who come to cinemas in the Russian Federation. Moreover, our audience is not only from Russia, but also from all over the world. Views from America: 150 thousand per week. After all, many of our films are equipped with English subtitles. Unfortunately, not everything is there yet. Because we do this with our own money, we do not have government support for this area...
And having your own TV channel is a good idea, I like it. Of course, VGTRK will help us, because we don’t have such experience yet. I hope it will be interesting.
– Does this mean that Mosfilm’s film masterpieces – “The Irony of Fate”, “Office Romance”, “Love and Doves” will not be shown simultaneously on other channels?
– Of course, maybe we won’t show it on some channels, for example, cable ones, we’ll leave them on the central ones...
still from the film “Love and Doves” / Mosfilm
In fact, the central channels do not show our films en masse; they choose the so-called “cream”. They broadcast 20-30 films. And we just want all the films to be shown, including those that, unfortunately, are now forgotten. Moreover, they are of very good quality. So we wanted true movie lovers to watch different films here, and not just hits.
The package of films is divided between Channel One and VGTRK
– For several years now, Dom Kino has been operating in the networks of cable and satellite operators, which positions itself as the main film channel in the country and shows old Soviet films all day long. Including those produced by the Mosfilm studio. Will you fight with him for the viewer?
– Naturally, in this situation we will refuse to provide them with our films. We collaborated with them for a long time, successfully. But in this situation...
If we start our own channel, then, of course, we will have the main content. But I think we will find opportunities for cooperation with them.
– It turns out that now “First” and VGTRK compete through thematic film channels: “House of Cinema” opened “Channel One. World Wide Web" and "Mosfilm. Golden Collection" is your joint project with VGTRK...
– I don’t know what competition there could be. We don’t hand ourselves over to VGTRK. Yes, they help us because we have no experience. I don't see any undercurrents here.
We have always tried not to interfere in the relationships of TV channels and provide them with films evenly. We even have a package of movie hits divided in half between these television companies. So there were no priorities on our part. Sometimes we even missed our own interests, because we understood: these are two channels that provide the basic concept of the country.
– Do you plan to show any programs, talk shows or just films on the Mosfilm channel?
- Good idea. Let's see. If the channel develops well, we may expand the range. It's too early to talk about this.
Why aren't actors paid to show hits?
– Karen Georgievich, are there plans to make any financial contributions to the authors of the films?
– Mosfilm is the only studio in Russia that makes royalties to authors. There is no copyright law in cinema in our country! He was never accepted. And we do this, to a certain extent, violating the law. From screenings on central channels, we pay a percentage to directors, screenwriters and other creators of the film. But we do this exclusively on a voluntary basis.
– That is, for example, the widow of director Leonid Gaidai, whose films are still popular, receives such royalties?
– No, the widow does not receive it, because she is not part of the film’s author’s group at all. But believe me, we are helping the widow of Leonid Iovich.
– So the actors don’t receive royalties?
– And they are not included in the author’s group anywhere in the world. There are very few countries where this exists. An actor, as a rule, enters into a contract when filming. And there they and the producer can write down a share of the income for themselves. This happens in America; actors can refuse part of their fees and then receive a percentage of the income. And he can get good money. Unless, of course, the film is a success with the viewer, but you can’t predict that. Therefore, this is rare. But in our cinema this was not the case.
- Karen Shakhnazarov: Putin is too proud to stay forever
Karachentsov's widow: Some get rich, others work
- Yes, this is not right! The artist is the spokesman for the thoughts of the screenwriter and director. Well, how can Gaidai’s films exist without, for example, Andrei Mironov or Anatoly Papanov?! - Lyudmila Porgina, the widow of Nikolai Karachentsov, who starred in many films of the Mosfilm studio, is indignant at the lack of royalties to actors for showing films with their participation. – It turns out that someone is getting rich, and someone is working endlessly, working! Many of those who starred in Mosfilm films are now elderly people who are practically no longer able to work. And much fewer films are being made now than in Soviet times. I talk to young people, but they don’t even know that we have our own cinema. It is very sad!
Andrey Mironov / still from the film “The Diamond Arm” / Mosfilm
If we talk about royalties from screenings, I believe that at least the performers of the main characters of the films should be taken into account. If these artists passed away, then their families remained, who also need help. And now the time is very difficult - the economy is falling catastrophically. Some were left without work altogether. It seems to me that a creative person should think not only about himself, but also about those who are left in trouble. We cannot compare the income of Hollywood artists with the rates of our actors. There, you act once and you can live on that money for the rest of your life. And with us: he starred in a hundred films - and this does not mean that your life is secure! Our legislation does not protect creative workers; we have no rights. When I watch our actors die in poverty... What can I talk about?!
- Karachentsova's widow told who she will meet in old age with
Ex-wife of Karen Shakhnazarov - Elena
During his student years, the popular film director fell in love for the first time. His lover was a girl who studied at Moscow State University. In one of his interviews, Karen revealed only the girl’s name. Her name was Elena. Soon after they met, a magnificent wedding took place according to Armenian and Russian traditions. But after a few months the couple decided to divorce. Shakhnazarov calls the reason for this youthful maximalism and inability to give in to each other.
The ex-wife of Karen Shakhnazarov, Elena, became a historian. She married for the second time in the late 80s of the last century. The marriage produced three children.
The former spouses did not communicate for a large number of years. They thought it was unnecessary. But 15 years after the divorce, they began to call each other sometimes.
Family and children of Karen Shakhnazarov
The family and children of Karen Shakhnazarov are a source of special pride for our hero. The filmmaker actively tells a lot about them, trying not to hide anything.
The man has ancient Armenian roots. His family was very ancient. It dates back to the Middle Ages. The director’s father said, as Karen Georgievich said in one of his interviews, that already in antiquity there is a trace of his ancestors. They actively developed Armenia in the 5th century AD.
The popular film director tried to start a family three times. But all attempts failed. Karen Georgievich blames his significant capacity for work, which became an obstacle to a strong and happy union.
Our hero calls his three children his family, with whom he communicates quite often. The daughter lives in America, and the sons live in Russia.
The father was Armenian. He did everything to make the family happy. The man worked during the years of Brezhny, Andropov and Gorbachev. He did a lot for the economic development of the Soviet Union. At the beginning of the new millennium, Georgiy Khosroevich passed away. He is buried in one of the capital's cemeteries.
The director's mother took care of the house. She supported her husband in everything. The woman currently lives with her son. She never misses the premiere of any of his films. He considers “We are from Jazz” to be his favorite movie.
Karen Shakhnazarov now
Full-length film “Anna Karenina. The Story of Vronsky” by Karen Shakhnazarov, released in 2020, became one of his brightest films. The director invited Elizaveta Boyarskaya and Maxim Matveev to play the main roles. At the same time, a television version of the film called “Anna Karenina” was released, which became the first series created by Karen Shakhnazarov. In the film, the director tried not only to convey the plot told by Leo Tolstoy, but also tried to answer the question: why did this woman commit such a tragic act.
Trailer for the film “Anna Karenina. History of Vronsky"
Since the plot of the film was announced as a free interpretation of the novel by Leo Tolstoy, critical statements about the director and the cast appeared in the press. The audience found the lead actress not convincing enough, and the script itself was one-sided, not revealing the relationship between Levin and Kitty. In turn, Karen Shakhnazarov defended Elizaveta Boyarskaya, calling her an actress of deep talent who coped well with the role of the Countess.
After working on the film adaptation, the director took a creative break, devoting more energy to organizational issues related to the work of the Mosfilm film studio. In 2020, Fyodor Dunaevsky, the leading actor in the 1986 film “Courier,” announced that he was ready to begin filming a continuation of the famous story. Karen Shakhnazarov stated that he would provide the copyright for the project to Fedor, but he himself would not participate in the filming.
