Biography
Lyudmila Makarova is known primarily as a theater actress. In an interview, she admitted that her “romance with cinema” never worked out. There were many difficult moments in her biography - war, blockade, death of loved ones, but, despite everything, she managed to preserve and reveal her creative gift, becoming a favorite of the Soviet public.
Lyudmila Makarova in her youth
Lyudmila Iosifovna Makarova, Russian by nationality, was born in Petrograd (St. Petersburg) on October 20, 1921. As a child, the girl dreamed of being a ballerina, but was unable to become one due to a leg disease (which would later torment the artist for the rest of her life).
To distract her daughter from her unfulfilled dream of dancing, her mother took her to a drama club, where little Lyuda delightedly discovered the alluring and vibrant world of theater. Teachers noticed undoubted talent in the girl, and in 1938 she moved to the studio at the Leningrad Gorky Drama Theater.
Colleagues: “Makarova did not leave as an old woman, she was not even eighty”
That's fate. On the one hand, 92 years is a more than worthy age; God grant, as they say, that everyone lives to reach such years at least somehow. On the other hand, Lyudmila Makarova was so young at heart that it never occurred to anyone that the actress would leave right now.
“I remember her young, cheerful,” BDT actor Georgy Shtil, who worked with Lyudmila Makarova for 53 years on the same stage, told Komsomolskaya Pravda. - She was always young! Call her, like I called recently, just to find out how her health is - her voice is like that of a girl. Well, you will never give her eighty years in her life! She is always cheerful. And she died, as we say, not an old woman, but a young woman. Of course, her departure is a blow to us, to the theater. And this is a huge loss for the country, not only for St. Petersburg. It's a shame that she left. She was always an optimist. Cheerful! Always cheerful! And the partner is wonderful. It was easy with her, she always helped any actor who was next to her. He will always ask in such a way that you involuntarily answer as needed.
Lyudmila Iosifovna, colleagues say, was, in addition to being a great actress, also a good person, and these are not stock words.
Georgy Tovstonogov treated Lyudmila Makarova and her husband Efim Kopelyan differently than many others, he understood what diamonds he got.
Makarova's husband was the first to leave. Back in 1975, at 63 years old. Too early. I had a heart attack and was in a sanatorium. I seemed to be on the mend, but fate decreed otherwise. Lyudmila Makarova experienced the loss of her husband very hard. And she never tied the knot again. Son Kirill, also an actor, passed away - he was not yet sixty. And nine years later, Lyudmila Makarova also passed away.
Actor Georgy Shtil (left) worked with Makarova for 53 years on the same stage. Photo: Anatoly ZAYONCHKOVSKY
In six months she was supposed to celebrate her 93rd birthday...
“She hasn’t played in recent years,” says a colleague. “I didn’t want to go on stage with a stick.” She could easily have done that, but the wand embarrassed her.
The actress had something wrong with her knee, the operation was not very successful, so she had to lean on her third leg.
The last time Lyudmila Makarova appeared on stage was on May 8, 2011. It was a performance of the Bolshoi Drama Theater "Cat and Mouse", but it was performed on the stage of the Komissarzhevskaya Theater. Everyone who attended that performance saw a wonderful actress at work that time. Surely those impressions will remain in your memory for the rest of your life.
In the fall, the actress was in the theater at the presentation of a book by BDT artist Eduard Kochergin. The building on Fontanka had already been renovated by that time; some details remained.
“She was given her word as a veteran of our theater,” Shtil continues. “Her words caught my attention. She looked at the ceiling and said: “I hear their voices.” Personally, I understood what she was talking about. so she felt absolutely normal. But these words... Apparently, some kind of premonition... And after a while she had a stroke.
In winter, the actress suffered from a heart disease. Time passed, and she seemed to be getting better. She was looked after by friends who have known the Makarova family for many years and have been very supportive of the actress in recent years. But the miracle did not happen.
On the morning of May 30, the actress passed away.
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Georgy Shtil: “At 92 years old, Lyudmila Makarova was young.” Shooting - Anatoly ZAYONCHKOVSKYAnatoly ZAYONCHKOVSKY
REFERENCE "KP" Lyudmila Iosifovna Makarova was born in Petrograd on October 20, 1921. As a child, I dreamed of becoming a ballerina. She studied in the drama club at the Teacher's House. In 1938 she entered the studio at the Leningrad Bolshoi Drama Theater. She made her stage debut in the episodic role of the Boy in the play “Kubans”, directed by Boris Babochkin. In 1941, Makarova was accepted into the BDT troupe. In May 1941 she married Yefim Kopelyan. During the war, the theater was evacuated to Kirov, Kopelyan volunteered for the people's militia, Makarova remained in Leningrad. From 1941 until the end of the war, she served in the Baltic Fleet Theater and performed at the front in propaganda brigades. In 1945 she returned to the BDT and worked here until the end of her life. He has the Order of the Patriotic War, II degree, the medal “For the Defense of Leningrad,” the medal “For Valiant Labor in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945,” the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, IV degree, and the Order of Honor. She was awarded the “Golden Mask” prize in the category “For Honor and Dignity” and the “Golden Sofit” special prize for creative longevity and unique contribution to theatrical culture.” She played dozens of roles in theater and cinema. Her role as matchmaker Hanuma in the play and television film of the same name, directed by Georgy Tovstonogov, brought her national fame. People's Artist of Russia.
HELP "KP"
Lyudmila Iosifovna Makarova was born in Petrograd on October 20, 1921. As a child, I dreamed of becoming a ballerina. She studied in the drama club at the Teacher's House. In 1938 she entered the studio at the Leningrad Bolshoi Drama Theater. She made her stage debut in the episodic role of the Boy in the play “Kubans”, directed by Boris Babochkin. In 1941, Makarova was accepted into the BDT troupe. In May 1941 she married Yefim Kopelyan. During the war, the theater was evacuated to Kirov, Kopelyan volunteered for the people's militia, Makarova remained in Leningrad. From 1941 until the end of the war, she served in the Baltic Fleet Theater and performed at the front in propaganda brigades.
In 1945 she returned to the BDT and worked here until the end of her life.
He has the Order of the Patriotic War, II degree, the medal “For the Defense of Leningrad,” the medal “For Valiant Labor in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945,” the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, IV degree, and the Order of Honor.
She was awarded the “Golden Mask” prize in the category “For Honor and Dignity” and the “Golden Sofit” special prize for creative longevity and unique contribution to theatrical culture.”
She played dozens of roles in theater and cinema. Her role as matchmaker Hanuma in the play and television film of the same name, directed by Georgy Tovstonogov, brought her national fame.
People's Artist of Russia.
Theater
Lyudmila was included in the second cast, and in the same 1938, the young artist made her debut in a cameo role in the play “Kubans”. After 3 years, Makarova, having finished studying at the studio, moved to serve at the Bolshoi Drama Theater named after G. A. Tovstonogov and became a full-fledged actress of the main cast. There she managed to play only one serious role - Anya in the production of “The Cherry Orchard”.
Lyudmila Makarova in the theater
The war prevented the implementation of creative plans. The BDT was evacuated to Kirov, but Makarova refused to go with the troupe and remained in Leningrad, where she entered temporary service in the theater of the Baltic Fleet. Together with other actors, they staged performances in ports, on ships, and once even on a submarine. They did not stop working even during the siege, performing in the Vyborgsky Palace of Culture, and after the liberation of the city they continued to perform as part of front-line brigades.
Lyudmila Makarova's creativity flourished in the post-war years. In 1945, she returned to her native BDT. The actress readily tried on different images - caring mothers, frivolous lovers, heroines of labor and war - it seemed that there were no roles that she could not cope with. It was not easy to get a ticket for the performances with her participation - “Three Sisters”, “Bourgeois”, “The Inspector General”, “Irkutsk Story”.
Lyudmila Makarova in the play “Khanuma”
Makarova’s most brilliant work was her role in the play “Khanuma”, which thanks to her became a kind of theatrical bestseller. Tovstonogov’s production ran for a long time at the BDT theater, and the television version filmed later made the actress famous throughout the country. The sharp-tongued matchmaker, trying to arrange the happiness of the newlyweds, won the hearts of the audience.
Years of war
Lyudmila Makarova is an actress whose life can hardly be called cloudless. At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, her beloved husband volunteered to go to the front. The troupe of the BDT theater was transported to Kirov, but Lyuda did not join her team, because she did not want to leave the city in which she was born.
Lyudmila, unable to imagine life without a stage, temporarily got a job at the Baltic Front Theater, whose performances raised the morale of the inhabitants of Leningrad. The actress played in this theater until the end of hostilities, then the BDT entered her life again. Her husband Efim returned from the front, life began to improve.
It is interesting that it was during the difficult post-war years that the peak of the popularity of the talented actress occurred. It was not easy to get to the performances in which Makarova played because of the huge number of people who wanted to see her. Lyudmila easily changed the images embodied on stage. A caring mother, a frivolous lover, a war heroine - there were no roles that she could not cope with.
Movies
The actress made her film debut in 1953. It was the film-play “Lyubov Yarovaya”, in which she got the episodic role of a military girl. In general, Makarova’s filmography included almost 4 dozen films, but these were mostly small roles. She didn’t like cinema and simply rejected most of the directors’ proposals.
Lyudmila Makarova in the film “The Secret of the Snow Queen”
The only film in which Lyudmila Iosifovna liked to act (she noted this in all interviews) was “Stepan Kolchugin” directed by Tamara Rodionova. The public also knows and loves her heroine Atamansha in “The Secret of the Snow Queen,” Nikolai Alexandrovich’s New Year’s film, and her maid Hendricke in the film-play “Rembrandt.”
Filming
Which film gave national recognition to such a wonderful actress as Lyudmila Makarova. The biography of the prima donna says that fame fell on her after the release of the television play “Khanuma”, in which a woman was assigned one of the central roles. Lyudmila looked inimitable in the image of a sharp-tongued matchmaker who is trying to arrange the happiness of the lovers. Few people know that before filming the teleplay, the actress had practically no makeup.
View gallery
A theater actress - this is how Lyudmila Makarova positioned herself throughout her life. The films in which she occasionally played small roles were practically not remembered by the star. Nevertheless, the diva is always about, which she really enjoyed filming. She simply rejected most of the directors' proposals. But fans got the opportunity to see the star in such films as “The Secret of the Snow Queen”, “The Street is Full of Surprises”, “Fathers and Sons”, “Two Captains”.
Personal life
Lyudmila Iosifovna’s husband was her BDT stage partner Efim Kopelyan. In the actress’s personal life, this was the only marriage. After the first meeting, they felt sympathy for each other, but got married only 2 years later. The artist loved to remember how Efim proposed to her - he simply ordered her to take his passport and drive up to the registry office on Fontanka, where she became his wife. The wedding took place in May 1941, and a month later the young couple were separated by the war.
Lyudmila Makarova and Efim Kopelyan
Kopelyan volunteered to join the people's militia, and Lyudmila was waiting for him in Leningrad. Although his front passed near the city, the spouses rarely saw each other. Despite this, Efim found the opportunity to give his wife part of his rations and touching letters of encouragement. The relationship between the spouses was always warm and trusting; neither jealousy nor the hardships of life spoiled them, and a sense of humor helped both of them cope with difficulties.
After the victory, the family was reunited. In 1948, their son Kirill was born, who later followed in the footsteps of his parents and chose the acting profession. Makarova outlived both close people.
Lyudmila Makarova with family
Her husband died in 1957, and her son died in 2005. Kopelyan suffered from heart disease and died at the age of 62 from a massive heart attack. Kirill was seriously ill - after a serious incident related to a fight, he became disabled of the 1st group. He never married, and all worries about him fell on the shoulders of his elderly mother. Makarova’s son died before reaching the age of 50.
Her favorite job helped the artist survive her grief - until recent years she appeared on the theater stage. In the play "Cat and Mouse" she played after amputation of her leg, sitting in a wheelchair.
First love
Efim Kopelyan became the first man with whom such a wonderful actress as Lyudmila Makarova was destined to fall in love. The young people met at the BDT theater, where both performed. The very first meeting helped them understand that they were literally born for each other. Nevertheless, over the next two years, Lyuda and Efim simply dated.
One of Makarova’s favorite memories was always how original Kopelyan asked her to marry him. One day, the actor simply ordered his beloved to take her passport and drive up to the registry office located on Fontanka. The wedding took place in May 1941. In 1948, Lyuda and Efim had a long-awaited child; the parents chose the name for their son even before his birth - Kirill. Interestingly, he has also achieved success in the acting profession.
Death
Lyudmila Makarova died in her native St. Petersburg on May 30, 2014. The exact cause of death is not mentioned in the media; at the time of her death, the artist was 92 years old.
Grave of Lyudmila Makarova
The management of the theater in which she served turned to the city administration with a request to allocate a place for her burial on the Literary Bridge of the Volkovsky Cemetery. That’s where the actress’s grave is located – very close to the grave of her husband Efim Kopelyan. Instead of a photo, the monument is decorated with a sculptural bas-relief portrait, and next to it is a carved image of a theater column.
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