The fate of Lyudmila Marchenko and the reasons for her death: career and men in the life of the actress

Childhood and youth

She was truly born an actress. Having barely learned to pronounce words, the girl declared that she would be an artist. Nobody doubted this. At school No. 135 in the capital, where Luda studied, she was the prima of an amateur theater.

Lyudmila Marchenko in her youth

Therefore, after receiving her school certificate, she, as planned, went to the best Moscow theater universities. I went to all the famous ones: VGIK, Shchepkinsky and Shchukinsky schools. But she was advised to opt for VGIK. Marchenko listened and was not mistaken.

Lyudmila was incredibly lucky. She studied with Mikhail Romm himself. Together with her in his workshop, Andrei Konchalovsky and Vladimir Ivashov learned the secrets of cinema. In 1963, when the young artist was awarded her diploma, she was already a celebrity.

Fate is merciless to those who are generously gifted by nature

Real talented actors do not die - they continue to live in their roles, in the images they created... Lyudmila Marchenko was just such an actress - virtually forgotten and known only to a small circle of film lovers. Modern young people are unlikely to have heard such a name. However, Lyudmila Marchenko (June 20, 1940 - January 23, 1997) left a big and bright mark on the history of Soviet cinema, and also forever remained in the memory of those who knew her as a sweet and gentle girl. It is no coincidence that the name Lyudmila means “dear to people.” This is exactly how Luda Marchenko is remembered.

On January 23, 1997, she passed away. Only a few people came to the funeral of the once famous actress. The Union of Cinematographers allocated only 200 rubles. Lyudmila Vasilievna Marchenko, undeservedly forgotten, is certainly worthy of admiration. Marchenko is a man of a very complex and tragic fate. Her first role in Lev Kulidzhanov’s film “Father’s House” made her a famous and beloved actress. The second, in the film adaptation of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s story “White Nights,” forever inscribed her name in the golden fund of Russian cinema. And, unfortunately, it became fatal for her...

The beginning was promising: a young student of VGIK Lyudmila Marchenko was approved for the main role in the film “Father's House” (1959). This film was directed by the young director L. Kulidzhanov, who himself had recently made his debut in cinema, but had already established himself as one of the leading representatives of that young director whose search was carried out under the motto: “Poetry is in truth!” The viewer should see pictures about “how he, his roommate, his comrade at the Father’s House” - the same age as the actress - will live and fight, love and hate. Tanya, a Moscow student who grew up in artificially favorable, greenhouse conditions, is faced with the life of a collective farm village - with natural, real life, with all its difficulties, problems, troubles, difficult life, everyday work, complex human destinies and discreet, but great spiritual beauty these people.

The heroine of the film was entering real life. She had a process of comprehending it, searching and determining her place. And the path to great art, with big, topical issues, opened up for the actress. A topic was outlined.

The stormy meetings of the artistic council have already been left behind, where the director, finding himself in a clear minority, stubbornly defended her candidacy, his decisive: “You will act!”, thrown there, in the corridor of Mosfilm, to the tear-stained, hopeless debutante. On the screen is a comfortably lived-in, prosperous Moscow apartment, the everyday life of the professorial family that raised Tanya.

The family is getting ready for breakfast - and the camera, as if jumping around the apartment, then runs into the father’s office, busily collecting a briefcase, then into the kitchen, and then into the dining room, accompanying the mother, who is setting the table, then stops in front of a large mirror: a girl lazily combing her hair; the purebred dog perched at her feet seems to be admiring its owner, whose fragility and slenderness are emphasized by elegant skinny trousers and a tight-fitting sweater.

The image in the mirror gets closer. The girl has black eyes with a sparkle, disgustingly downturned corners of her thin lips, capriciously raised eyebrows in surprise, which gives her face a coldly offended expression.

This is how the heroine Marchenko appeared on the screen.

After the film was released, not only the yard boys began to run after 19-year-old Lyudmila Marchenko; among her fans was also People’s Artist of the USSR, Chairman of the Union of Cinematographers, Director of Mosfilm, Deputy of the Supreme Council Ivan Pyryev. The loving director, without any tests, approved Luda for the role of Nastenka in White Nights (1959). He thought that after this the young actress would agree to everything...

The 58-year-old director in those years was one of the pillars of Russian cinema. Caressed by the official authorities and popular love, he, in his own words, was among the first in line for communism. And this man, who does not need anything, fell in love with a 19-year-old girl with a slightly upturned nose and a wasp-like waist, like the last boy...

For Ivan Alexandrovich this was an unexpected and terrible blow. Thousands of actresses would like to be in her place. But what did he care about them when there was the only one in the world - Lyunechka, as Pyryev affectionately called her.

He emerged victorious from the Central Committee. But Lyudmila Marchenko’s attitude towards him has not changed. Having refused Pyryev, Lyudmila began an affair with Oleg Strizhenov. With this 31-year-old handsome actor, the idol of millions of women, she starred together in White Nights. The couple in love tried not to advertise their relationship, since Oleg was married to actress Marina Strizhenova.

The wonderful actor Oleg Strizhenov has a reputation as a good family man. Meanwhile, in his youth, he broke more than one woman’s fate. One of his victims was the beloved girl of the famous director Ivan Pyryev.

Oleg assured Luda that he was not happy living together with his wife, and promised to get a divorce. The inexperienced fool believed him. And then it turned out that she was pregnant. Lyudmila really wanted a child. Oleg was cowardly stalling for time, avoiding a heart-to-heart conversation. In the end, he convinced Luda that it was too early for her to give birth, they say, the baby would ruin her career. Lyudochka decided to have an abortion.

The doctors did not undertake to perform the operation - it was too late. Then Luda found her grandmother, who saved her from pregnancy. The clandestine abortion caused complications: she could never become a mother. But the handsome actor was not tormented by remorse; he quickly acquired another passion.

When she returned and tried to timidly declare that she would complain, he told her: “You can only complain about me to DOSAAF!” He wanted the disobedient girl to feel as much pain as he did. But the more he hurt her, the more he suffered.

And then suddenly they stopped inviting her. Stung, Pyryev simply forbade all directors to film her... No, he did not want to ruin the career of the young actress. He just hoped that she would submit and come to him, but the proud girl stood her ground.

This was the actress's last big role.

Valentin stopped only when Lyudmila’s face began to look like one continuous bloody mess. The sister recalls that there was a piece of lip lying on the floor in a pool of blood. That's when he got terribly scared. Valentin persuaded Lyudmila to tell the authorities that she had been in an accident. No one believed it, but the woman stubbornly stood her ground, and he escaped punishment. This happened in 1966.

And 2 years later, in 1968, Ivan Pyryev died. Three months before his death, Pyryev married again. Although it would be more correct to say that he was married to 30-year-old actress Lionella Skirda, who had been seeking this for a long time. Having become the wife of a famous director, she tried to take full advantage of her new position. And Pyryev continued to love Lyunechka. The coinage with her snub-nosed profile hung over his desk until his death.

Soon after the death of her husband, Lionella Pyryeva (she now bore this last name) married Oleg Strizhenov. Yes, yes, that same Strizhenov...

In 1968, Lyudmila Marchenko unexpectedly learned that Valentin had another woman and a child on his side. Lyudmila, who forgave the fanaticism against herself, could not forgive the betrayal. She collected his things and asked him to leave...

Lyudmila Marchenko's situation was becoming simply catastrophic. No one needed an actress with such a face. Gradually she was completely forgotten.

But “sympathizers” appeared, ready to come with a bottle at any moment. It was during this difficult period that a man appeared in her life who tried to save her. Vitaly Voitenko, the administrator of Mosconcert, quickly dispersed the “warm” company. Moreover, he tried to bring the actress back to life. At that time, plastic surgery did not exist in our country. But Vitaly managed to find a surgeon for a lot of money who agreed to risk performing the operation. The result was disastrous. After the operation, Lyudmila's face became even more disfigured. Vitaly did not lose heart. It was thanks to his persistence that Lyudmila Marchenko began touring around the country. This went on for several years. Spectators everywhere warmly greeted the former star, but then the actress realized that she could no longer live on past merits and did not want to. In 1975, Lyudmila and Vitaly broke up.

“It seems to me that marriage to graphic designer Sokolov became for her a refuge from human evil. “She hid behind him, like behind a stone wall,” reflects Svetlana Lebedyanskaya. “When they asked me how actress Lyudmila Marchenko was doing, I always answered that she was now the wife of an artist.”

“I think that Luda was not completely happy. Sometimes a shepherd wanders into our village for a light, and we’ll look and Lyudmila is playing in front of him again,” says Galina. - Of course, Sergei loved her madly. And she was grateful to him for everything. She felt comfortable in this last role of hers, she threw it over her shoulders like a warm shawl...

At the end of July 1996, artist Sergei Sokolov died suddenly of a heart attack. This death caused Lyudmila Marchenko extreme stress. She again began to look for peace in alcohol. “Strange” people appeared again, things began to disappear from the apartment, but she no longer cared. Actress Lyudmila Marchenko outlived her husband by exactly six months. She died in Moscow from a banal flu. She forbade her relatives from coming to visit so that they would not get infected, and reassured them that everything was fine. And she herself did not call a doctor and did not take medications. She just didn't want to live alone. After all, her life had already lost its meaning.

A bell rang in Lusina's apartment. My nephew answered the phone. A male voice asked Lyuda, Lyudmila Vasilievna. - She's not there. She died...” said Sasha. The other end fell silent. Then they said, barely audibly: “I’ll be there tomorrow...” Now Galina Vasilyevna picked up the phone. It was a call from distant youth. Zhenya called, cadet Zhenya Peshkov. She remembered him, of course. Now a colonel, who served in Afghanistan, a fighting friend of General Gromov, married, with two children... - Where is Lyusya? - he asked unexpectedly. Galina Vasilyevna explained how to find her grave on Vagankovo. But he didn't find it. I called again. She explained again. Then Galya understood why he couldn’t find Lucy: her photograph had faded beyond recognition in the sun. But Zhenya didn’t call again, and when he did, she, not hoping for a successful search, immediately blurted out: “I’ll definitely replace the photo.” “No need,” he answered. “No, no, definitely,” she insisted, rather making a promise to herself. Galina Vasilievna.- I’ve already done everything... I ordered a marble monument, a shadow portrait... I have a lot of photographs of her... I just didn’t have time to see how they installed it... I’m calling from the hospital. Galina Vasilievna went to the cemetery. There was a luxurious obelisk at my sister’s grave. Of course, she couldn't afford one like that. And a few days later Evgeniy called again. He said that he and his wife also liked the monument. He just kept silent about the fact that his wife bought a luxurious bouquet of flowers and gave it to Lucy, the girl whom her husband once loved so much.

Lyudmila Marchenko died on January 21, 1997, and was buried in Moscow at the Vagankovskoye cemetery (25th school).

Zlata Oranovskaya

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Movies

Immediately after graduating from VGIK, Lyudmila Marchenko was accepted into “Ektemim” - the Experimental Theater-Studio of Pantomime, directed by Alexander Rumnev. Looking ahead, let's say that the artist appeared on the Ektemim stage for only 2 years. From 1965 to 1984 she worked at the Film Actor's Studio Theatre. Marchenko was always closer to cinema than to the theater stage.

Lyudmila Marchenko in the film “Volunteers”

The cinematic biography of Lyudmila Marchenko began quite early. Already in the 2nd year of VGIK, Grigory Kozintsev noticed a charming girl with an upturned nose. He offered her a small role in his epoch-making film “Volunteers,” which thundered throughout the country. Lyuda got the image of a fiery Komsomol member, a metro construction worker.

A year later, in 1959, the third-year student was offered a starring role in Lev Kulidzhanov’s film “Father’s House.” Overnight Lyudmila Marchenko turned into a star. The director made the right decision. The young actress managed to convey the entire palette of feelings due to her heroine. Surprisingly, she played both pain and unhappy love brilliantly, although she had never experienced anything like that in her life.

Lyudmila Marchenko in the film "Father's House"

Now the entire Soviet Union knew her. Abroad, she was nicknamed the “Soviet Audrey Hepburn.” It is unlikely that Hollywood suspected that the star lived in a one-room apartment with 7 people.

Not only harmless admirers and young colleagues enchanted by beauty flocked to Marchenko’s inner light and incredible charm. The 19-year-old girl came to the attention of the powerful, talented and despotic director Ivan Pyryev, the creator of the Union of Cinematographers, who entered the offices of the top officials of the state without knocking. They said about him that he could make even a washerwoman a star.

Ivan Pyryev and Lyudmila Marchenko

It was such a person who turned his close attention to the young student. This turned out to be the reason for Lyudmila Marchenko’s rapid rise to stratospheric heights and at the same time the misfortune of her entire life. 58-year-old Pyryev unexpectedly invited the young student to his place.

He saw her in “Father’s House” and realized that this talented girl, like no one else, was suitable for the role of Nastenka in the project he was hatching, “White Nights” based on the work of F. Dostoevsky. Roughly making fun of the girl’s snub nose, Pyryev still approved her for the role without a single audition.

Lyudmila Marchenko in the film "White Nights"

The master’s innate directorial instincts did not let him down. The young artist brilliantly transformed into the proposed image. While playing in this film, she became so deeply involved in the role that she constantly cried and was often in a depressed state of mind. It’s difficult to play Dostoevsky’s characters on screen with other emotions.

The actress, who lived the role, did not immediately hear the gossip and gossip behind her back. Everyone noticed the new passion of the almighty Pyryev. And he didn’t really hide. Lyudmila, when she understood the reason for the strange looks of her colleagues, at first it was funny. She didn't believe that a man her grandfather's age actually fell in love with her.

Lyudmila Marchenko and Oleg Strizhenov in the film “White Nights”

However, the girl did not care about the passion of the elderly director. She fell in love with her co-star Oleg Strizhenov. Their movie love spilled over into real life. She didn’t care much that the actor was married and 11 years older than her. The artist was sure that he would leave his family. Everything else didn’t matter to Lyudmila.

Perhaps that is why she accepted the keys to the apartment that Pyryev rented for her on Maly Demidovsky Lane. But when he rubbed his hands, his young lover met Oleg Strizhenov in his love nest. When the director approached the house, there was no trace of the couple.

Lyudmila Marchenko in the film “My Little Brother”

It was a dangerous game. Marchenko did not dare to say a categorical “no” to the almighty Pyryev, but she did not say “yes” either. It seems that this inflamed the director, who was not used to refusals, even more. Lyudmila Marchenko’s sister would later write in her memoirs that Pyryev manically pursued the actress. For example, he suddenly appeared on the set of the film “My Little Brother.” The film starred aspiring actors Oleg Dal, Andrei Mironov and Alexander Zbruev.

At that time, the relationship between Lyudmila and Oleg Strizhenov ended. The actress married MGIMO student Vladimir Verbenko. When the husband arrived at the set and saw young handsome men Dahl, Mironov and Zbruev circling around his wife, and then Pyryev closely watching her, he left his wife.

Actress Lyudmila Marchenko

The creative biography of Lyudmila Marchenko moved inexorably towards its terrible ending. One day, friends brought geologist Valentin Berezin to the artist. She immediately liked the serious and courageous man. He played the guitar beautifully and spoke captivatingly about the expeditions. A romance broke out.

The young people began to live together. When this was reported to Ivan Pyryev, he angrily forbade all directors to film Marchenko. No one dared to disobey the almighty master. Leonid Gaidai, who auditioned the artist for the role of Nina in “Prisoner of the Caucasus,” took Natalya Varley. Lyudmila was not allowed into the House of Cinema and Mosfilm: all her passes were cancelled.

Lyudmila Marchenko in the film “The Cook”

There was an oppressive silence in the artist’s apartment, which was not disturbed by a single call. They say that when meeting with Pyryev, Marchenko angrily told him that she would complain. To which he laughed in her face: “Where? IN DOSSAF?

Pyryev calmed down only a few months before his death. He married actress Lionella Skirda. Only then did director Edmond Keosayan dare to offer Marchenko a small role in the film “The Cook.” But even then, Pyryev’s shadow flashed over the revived actress, forever and finally crossing out her future career.

One day Berezin, the common-law spouse of Lyudmila Marchenko, was hinted in a drunken conversation that the cooperative apartment in which they live was a gift from Pyryev. And although there was only part of the truth in this, the jealous man came home and severely beat the actress.

Actress Lyudmila Marchenko

Doctors at the Sklifosovsky Institute barely saved the disfigured actress. They really gave back the life of Lyudmila Marchenko, but the terrible scars, which could not be hidden even under a thick layer of makeup, remained for life. The woman did not say a word to the investigators about who beat her. She stated that she was in a car accident.

No one wanted to get to the bottom of the truth, because at that time the almighty Pyryev was still alive. So, at the age of 26, the cinematic biography of Lyudmila Marchenko, a talented actress who was in the prime of her creative powers, ended.

Tragedy in the life of actress Lyudmila Marchenko: an old lover, the loss of a child and total loneliness

Beautiful, talented women, like bright lights, attract the hearts of a variety of men. But it doesn’t always end in mutual happiness. The sister of Lyudmila Marchenko spoke about the difficult fate of the favorite of Soviet men.

24smi.org

Already at the age of 20, Lyudmila Marchenko found herself in a whirlpool of passions. The eminent director Ivan Pyryev, who was almost 40 years older than the actress, fell madly in love with her. Due to her innate modesty, the artist could not sharply refuse this man, and he simply lost his head from Lyudmila’s beauty. Pyryev pursued her, gave her roles and even helped her get an apartment. Because of this story, Marchenko even began to be teased.

Marchenko and Pyryev, kulturologia.ru

“Moscow gossips persuaded Lyudmila in every way, they even came up with a nickname for her - Pyrchenko. I myself couldn’t really understand what was going on with them. Did I ask my sister directly whether she had something with Pyryev or not? Luda answered: “There is nothing! Well, I can’t go to bed with an old man! I don’t like him, he’s unpleasant.” Ivan Aleksandrovich was indeed too loud, scary in his expansiveness, and very sick, which was reflected on his face. But in response to his declarations of love, for some reason Lyudmila did not refuse outright, but only remained silent and smiled,” said the actress’s sister.

Lyudmila Marchenko with Oleg Strizhenov, chtoby-pomnili.net

Despite such pressure, she fell in love with something completely different - married actor Oleg Strizhenov. The artist met him on the set of the film “White Nights” and completely lost her head. They began meeting secretly in Lyudmila Vasilievna’s apartment, which Pyryev provided her with. Marchenko wanted to be happy with Strizhenov, he assured that he would get a divorce, but this did not happen. Six months later she had to return to her father's house. Right on the threshold she fainted. The visiting doctor said: “Everything is clear, they had an abortion, and even at home.” After that, she was unable to get pregnant again. The actress herself considered this to be God’s punishment for her rash act, especially since in the future all her husbands frantically dreamed of fatherhood.

goodhouse.ru

Marchenko lived with her first husband, Vladimir Vebrenko, for no more than a year. Rumors constantly swirled around the couple about her affair with 60-year-old Pyryev, who did not give up his idea to win the beauty’s favor. Later, she began a passionate affair with geologist Valentin Berezin, but it also turned out to be a failure. It turned out that he already has a family and a child on the side. Moreover, he is a terrible jealous person! Suspecting that his beloved was cheating on him with the famous director, he brutally beat her.

museikino.ru

“At the Sklifosovsky Institute, where my sister was brought, no one recognized her, disfigured, as a popular actress. They didn't care about preserving her beauty, they had to save her life! As a result, there were scars on both my head and face. When my mother and I saw Luda, we burst into tears! Mom, leaving the room, exclaimed: “She’s only twenty-six years old!” Of course, investigators also came to the room, but Lyudmila insisted: “It’s a car accident.” She didn’t want to betray her loved one, but she herself seemed petrified from grief. Since then, she began to drink heavily, pouring vodka on her stress and headaches, which began to haunt her,” the actress’s relatives shared their experiences with the portal starhit.ru.

kino-theatr.ru

As a result, Pyryev and the entire film fraternity turned away from her. There was an attempt to get rid of facial scars through plastic surgery, but it was unsuccessful. To dull mental and physical suffering, the actress began to drink in complete solitude. This is what ruined her. She once said to her family: “What did this cinema give me? I have a disfigured face, no children, no money. It would be better if I worked as a kindergarten teacher!” Unfortunately, drawing a lucky ticket in your youth does not mean winning real happiness, even if you are beautiful and talented, like Audrey Hepburn,” said the star’s sister. On January 21, 1997, Lyudmila Marchenko passed away due to a common flu.

Personal life

After 2 years, the actress learned that Berezin, who beat her, had an illegitimate child. She silently collected his things and put him out the door. Unfortunately, the woman could not give birth to the child herself. Due to a pregnancy interrupted at home during her affair with Oleg Strizhenov, the actress heard a terrible verdict from doctors: she was infertile.

Lyudmila Marchenko in recent years

The personal life of Lyudmila Marchenko took sharp turns twice more. Her third husband was Mosconcert administrator Vitaly Voitenko. He tried to help the woman and found a plastic surgeon. But his skill turned out to be questionable. After several operations, the effect was terrifying.

However, the loving husband helped his wife find at least some use for her talents. He organized creative meetings with the audience. And then Marchenko, together with Vladimir Vysotsky, went on a tour around the country. But the main question that fans tormented the star with was the one she feared most: “What are you working on now?” And the actress completely broke down. She started drinking and was left alone again.

Lyudmila Marchenko in the film “Say a word for the poor hussar”

In 1977 and 1980, Lyudmila Marchenko flashed on the screen. She played in two episodes: in the film “Office Romance,” Eldar Ryazanov gave her a tiny role as the Samokhvalovs’ guest, and in the film “Put in a Word for the Poor Hussar,” she played a provincial actress.

The former star was briefly sheltered by the actor's Studio Theater. Here the artist was entrusted with playing small roles in two performances. But the head injury began to take its toll: the woman noticed that her hearing was deteriorating.

Lyudmila Marchenko with her husband Sergei Sokolov and sister

And yet, personal happiness came to her once again. The actress married graphic artist Sergei Sokolov. They lived together for 21 years, until Sergei’s death. Lyudmila was his muse. He idolized her. Marchenko's features appeared in many of his paintings. They were recognized in his princess Mary, Kuprin's Olesya and Sulamith.

Sokolov made every effort to cure his wife of alcoholism. Every spring and throughout the summer, the couple went to a village near Tver, where the artist painted his paintings, and Lyudmila dug in the garden, fed the birds, read books and talked with her cats. One hot summer Sergei passed away. He was buried in the village cemetery.

KisTv

06/20/1940, p. Arkhipovo-Osipovka, Krasnodar Territory - 01/23/1997, Moscow

She was destined to become an actress

Lyudmila Marchenko was born on June 20, 1940 in the village of Arkhipo-Osipovka, located on the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus. Exactly a year after her birth, the Great Patriotic War broke out. Together with her parents, tiny Lyudochka had to survive the years of German occupation. When the war ended, the Marchenko family moved to Moscow. From an early age, Luda Marchenko became seriously interested in cinema and theater. Moscow school No. 135, where she studied, had its own theater group. Very soon Lyudmila became a real prima of the school theater. Already in those years, unusually beautiful and talented, she attracted the attention of all the boys and aroused the envy of the girls. It was clear to everyone that Luda would definitely become an actress. And so it happened...

A meteoric rise

Lyudmila Marchenko's dream came true in 1957. The girl submitted documents to the Shchepkinsky and Shchukinsky theater schools and successfully passed in both. However, at the last moment, one of the teachers advised her to go to VGIK: “For a theater actress, your voice is rather weak.” Lyudmila obeyed... She was accepted into the acting department of VGIK in the workshop of the famous Mikhail Romm. Vladimir Ivashov, Svetlana Svetlichnaya, Alla Budnitskaya, Galina Polskikh studied together with Lyudmila Marchenko. Subsequently, they all became famous. But if they still had everything ahead, then fame came to Lyudmila after the first year. The debut on the silver screen for 18-year-old Lyudmila Marchenko was a small role in Yuri Egorov’s film “Volunteers”. The actress played the girlfriend of Kaytanov Jr., one of the main characters in the film. And soon she herself got the main role... By that time, the audience had already become tired of the abundance of energetic workers and collective farmers on the screen. And when Lyudmila Marchenko appeared in Lev Kulidzhanov’s melodrama “Father’s House” in the image of a romantic heroine, while remaining the most ordinary girl from a Moscow courtyard, it caused everyone unanimous delight.

Nastenka

Ivan Aleksandrovich Pyryev could not ignore this picture. The 58-year-old director in those years was one of the pillars of Russian cinema. Behind him were such famous films as “Tractor Drivers”, “Pig Farm and Shepherd”, “Kuban Cossacks” and many others. Caressed by the official authorities and popular love, he, in his own words, was among the first in line for communism. And this man, who does not need anything, fell in love with a 19-year-old girl with a slightly upturned nose and a wasp-like waist... Fascinated by Lyudmila Marchenko, Ivan Pyryev, without any tests, approved her for the main role of Nastenka in his new film “White Nights” ( based on the work of the same name by F. M. Dostoevsky). The drama “White Nights” was released in the same 1959 as “Father’s House” and was no less successful with viewers. In an instant, Lyudmila Marchenko became popularly known. From all over the country, piles of letters poured in to her address, and her photographs appeared in kiosks. Critics, who noted the brilliant performance of the young actress, began to call her nothing less than “our Audrey Hepburn.”

Unrequited love

Ivan Pyryev did not hide his love for the beautiful student. Passionate and crazy love. And what about Lyudmila? At first, she simply did not take his feelings seriously, taking it for professional admiration. In addition, he was much older than her and married to one of the most beautiful actresses of the Soviet Union, Marina Ladynina. When the seriousness of Pyryev’s intentions dawned on her, she simply refused him. For Ivan Alexandrovich this was an unexpected and terrible blow. Thousands of actresses would like to be in her place. But what did he care about them when there was the only one in the world - Lyunechka, as Pyryev affectionately called her. The situation was extraordinary. Today, hardly anyone can be surprised by the age difference. And then, the love of the 58-year-old director for the 19-year-old actress caused a general shock. All sorts of gossip spread. It got to the point that Pyryev was called “on the carpet” to the CPSU Central Committee! This was already serious. Party bodies closely monitored the purity of their ranks... The gray-haired director did not make excuses to anyone. In front of “high-ranking officials,” he openly declared that all their fabrications were extremely humiliating for him, and he was ready to walk down the aisle with Lyudmila even now. He emerged victorious from the Central Committee. But Lyudmila Marchenko’s attitude towards him has not changed...

Failed romance

Having refused Pyryev, Lyudmila began an affair with Oleg Strizhenov. With this 31-year-old handsome actor, the idol of millions of women, she starred together in White Nights. The couple in love tried not to advertise their relationship, since Oleg was married to actress Marina Strizhenova. Even Lyudmila Marchenko’s closest people – her mother and sister Galina Vasilievna – did not know about their connection. Only many years later did Lyudmila tell her sister that Strizhenov had promised her to leave his wife. Soon the result of their relationship was Lyudmila's pregnancy. After consulting, they both came to the conclusion that Oleg’s divorce would not bring them anything good. They had no place to live, and they didn’t want to spoil their successful career. Lyudmila decided to terminate the pregnancy... Lyudmila secretly had an abortion from some grandmother. As it turned out later, it was unsuccessful. This pregnancy was her first and last. She couldn't be a mother anymore. Following this, the relationship between Lyudmila and Oleg somehow very quickly came to naught.

Four years of courtship

All this time, Pyryev did not lose hope that Lyudmila would reciprocate his feelings. Confident of success, he constantly presented her among filmmakers as his wife. After the end of the romance between Marchenko and Strizhenov, Pyryev made new attempts to achieve her favor. He followed her everywhere, and Lyudmila respectfully replied that there was a huge age difference between them, she could not become his wife, because he was the same age as her grandfather, and her mother would never understand her. Then Ivan Alexandrovich decided to take the extreme step. He went to Lyudmila’s mother and asked for her daughter’s hand in marriage, declaring that he would immediately break off his marriage to Marina Ladynina. He was ready to throw everything at their feet - his wealth, connections... His mother was not seduced by anything and showed him the door. Ivan Alexandrovich kept his word. He divorced Ladynina and continued to seek Lyudmila’s hand for four whole years. But this came to nothing. “Who was Luda to him? - Galina Vasilievna asks a question. — Muse, inspiration, nostalgia for youth? It's still hard for me to understand. But the more she refused, the more furiously he pursued her.” Pyryev, who had never known defeat in love, was driven to fury. They say that one day, having come to Lyudmila’s house and not finding her there, he broke down the door and in a rage destroyed the entire apartment. When she returned and tried to timidly declare that she would complain, he told her: “You can only complain about me to DOSAAF!” He wanted the disobedient girl to feel as much pain as he did. But the more he hurt her, the more he suffered.

First marriage

Meanwhile, Lyudmila Marchenko managed to star in several films: the melodrama by Viktor Sokolov “Until Next Spring” (Vera Nikolaevna), the comedy by the French director Marcel Paliero “Leon Garros is looking for a friend” (Masha), the drama by Nikolai Makarenko “Dmitro Goritsvit” (Yugina) and others . And then suddenly they stopped inviting her. Stung, Pyryev simply forbade all directors to film her... No, he did not want to ruin the career of the young actress. He just hoped that she would submit and come to him, but the proud girl stood her ground. At this moment, unexpectedly for everyone, Lyudmila married MGIMO student Vladimir Verbenko. Did she love him? Rather, it was a spontaneous, desperate step on her part. This marriage did not last long. Rumors and gossip around the relationship between Marchenko and Pyryev grew, acquiring more and more non-existent details. Those around her enviously claimed that all she had to do was ask Pyryev for something, and everything would come true. “And this is all for her alone!” - Evil tongues whispered. They were right about only one thing. A man in love would really fulfill her every whim, but Lyudmila did not ask for anything for herself. Never. Those around me refused to believe it. In 1963, Lyudmila Marchenko graduated from VGIK and became an actress at the Experimental Theater-Studio of Pantomime “Ektemim” under the direction of A. Rumnev. In the same year, Alexander Zarkhi, not afraid of Pyryev’s anger, invited Lyudmila to play the role of Gali in the film “My Little Brother.” This was the actress's last big role. It was during the filming of this film that Verbenko, tired of the gossip, packed his things and left. The family broke up without tears or hysterics.

Tragedy

Pyryev tried as best he could to protect his beloved from new acquaintances, but Marchenko was not left alone for long. One day, her friend, actor Vladimir Gusev, introduced the actress to his friend, the head of the geological exploration party, Valentin Berezin (this acquaintance also cost Gusev a ban on filming). If Lyudmila knew then how it would all end! Valentin looked after her beautifully, sang songs with a guitar, and met her relatives. In a word, he behaved like a potential husband. Soon Lyudmila reciprocated his feelings, and they began to live in a civil marriage. It seemed that everything was working out in life, but Lyudmila never had a job in cinema. Rare, insignificant episodes did not bring satisfaction, and there was not much work at the Film Actor Theater, where she moved in 1965. However, Lyudmila never gave in to despair. At least in public. Her friend Lyusya Shaposhnikova recalls: “She was always ironic, with a great sense of humor, sociable, kind and very, very fond of life and people. She could communicate not only with people of her own circle, but also with people of different social status and intelligence. Luda believed that the most valuable thing not only for actors (especially for actors), but for everyone is communication. She knew how to unite human souls, penetrate into destinies, survive them - this is probably part of her acting talent. She knew how to sympathize, encourage, and instill hope for the best in everyone’s life. Outwardly, she always looked optimistic and infected us with her optimism. I knew that sometimes cats scratched in her soul, but she didn’t show it. Her kindness knew no bounds. When there were feasts in the house, she was not only hospitable, but she believed that since people came to her, she must certainly give them something, even excesses of spiritual generosity appeared. On such days, everything was given: vases, flowers, dresses, scarves. Giving is a pleasure for her.” A happy life lasted three years, and then a tragedy occurred... Valentin Berezin often went on his expeditions. Coming back, each time he listened to another portion of dirty lies and one day he exploded. Once, in a fit of jealousy, Valentin rushed to beat his wife. He beat me brutally. Lyudmila screamed and called for help. Among her screams, the neighbors heard the name of the man she refused: “Pyryev!” But he wasn’t there... Valentin stopped only when Lyudmila’s face began to look like one continuous bloody mess. The sister recalls that there was a piece of lip lying on the floor in a pool of blood. That's when he got terribly scared. Valentin persuaded Lyudmila to tell the authorities that she had been in an accident. No one believed it, but the woman stubbornly stood her ground, and he escaped punishment. At the Sklifosofsky Institute, where Lyudmila was taken by ambulance, doctors were able to save her life. Life, but not appearance. When she was discharged, there was nothing in the 26-year-old woman with scars, a disfigured chin and torn lips that resembled the Lyudochka Marchenko that the audience knew and loved. But even with such an appearance, she managed to appear in several more episodes - in the films “Gypsy” (1967, Budulai’s wife), “Scouts” (1968, Marie), “A Man Drops Anchor” (1968, Nina).

Denouement

After that terrible, disgusting act, Lyudmila Marchenko lived with Valentin Berezin for another two whole years. Trying to make amends, he invited her to formalize their marriage, but Lyudmila did not agree. And in 1968, she unexpectedly learned that Valentin had another woman and a child on his side. Lyudmila, who forgave the fanaticism against herself, could not forgive the betrayal. She packed his things and asked him to leave... A strange coincidence - it was in this year that the one who had sought her hand for so long passed away. Ivan Pyryev. Pyryev continued to love Lyudmila Marchenko until his very last days. Severely depressed, he has not made a single film in the last four years. Unrequited love greatly shortened his life. Just a few years ago, full of health and energy, by the end of 1967 Pyryev was already a completely broken man. Three months before his death, Pyryev married again. Although it would be more correct to say that he was married to 30-year-old actress Lionella Skirda, who had been seeking this for a long time. Having become the wife of a famous director, she tried to take full advantage of her new position. And Pyryev continued to love Lyunechka. The coinage with her snub-nosed profile hung over his desk until his death. They say that once, in response to another whim of his newly-made wife, Pyryev muttered: “She needs something all the time!”, and added, tapping his cane on his favorite coinage: “This one will never ask for anything.” In 1967, Pyryev took up the film adaptation of The Brothers Karamazov, but did not have time to complete it. He died on February 7, 1968. An autopsy showed that in recent years Ivan Alexandrovich suffered six heart attacks. Soon after the death of her husband, Lionella Pyryeva (she now bore this last name) married Oleg Strizhenov. Yes, yes, that same Strizhenov...

Vitaly Voitenko

Lyudmila Marchenko's situation was becoming simply catastrophic. No one needed an actress with such a face. Gradually she was completely forgotten. But “sympathizers” appeared, ready to come with a bottle at any moment. It was during this difficult period that a man appeared in her life who tried to save her. Vitaly Voitenko, the administrator of Mosconcert, quickly dispersed the “warm” company. Moreover, he tried to bring the actress back to life. At that time, plastic surgery did not exist in our country. But Vitaly managed to find a surgeon for a lot of money who agreed to risk performing the operation. The result was disastrous. After the operation, Lyudmila's face became even more disfigured. Vitaly did not lose heart. It was thanks to his persistence that Lyudmila Marchenko began touring around the country. This went on for several years. Spectators everywhere warmly greeted the former star, but then the actress realized that she could no longer live on past merits and did not want to. In 1975, Lyudmila and Vitaly broke up.

last love

Also in 1975, Lyudmila Marchenko met graphic artist Sergei Sokolov in the House of Cinema restaurant. Soon they got married. Sokolov loved his wife very much. “Two people live in Luce: a very kind, gentle woman who can be unbreakably strong, and a weak little man who is controlled by evil spirits,” he said about her. She loved him too. The former actress became a real wife and a wonderful housewife. She cleaned the house, cooked, did the laundry... “It seems to me that marriage to the schedule Sokolov became for her a refuge from human evil. She hid behind him, like behind a stone wall,” reflected Svetlana Lebedyanskaya, director of the nostalgia film “Memories of a Star Ticket” (about the fate of the actors who starred in the film “My Little Brother”). But was Lyudmila completely happy? No. Like any creative person, she dreamed of more. But in the film actor’s studio where she worked, there was a lot of competition, and she practically didn’t get roles. She didn't act in films either. If any proposals appeared, then these were very tiny episodes. In 1982, Lyudmila Marchenko, as an actress who rarely acted, was transferred as an assistant director to the production department. After suffering there for two years, Lyudmila wrote a letter of resignation. Complete oblivion has set in...

When there is no reason to live

They lived together with Sergei Sokolov for twenty-one years. In July 1996, Sergei died suddenly of a heart attack. This death caused Lyudmila Marchenko extreme stress. She began to look for calm in alcohol. “Strange” people appeared again, things began to disappear from the apartment, but she no longer cared. When six months later she fell ill with the flu, she forbade her family to visit her, reassuring her that she was fine. She herself deliberately did not call the doctors and did not receive treatment. For what? After all, her life had already lost its meaning. On January 23, 1997, she passed away. Only a few people came to see off Lyudmila Marchenko on her last journey. The Union of Cinematographers allocated 200 rubles for the funeral. After her death, when the old furniture was being dismantled, a portrait of Ivan Pyryev fell out from behind the glass of the bookcase.

Death

A few months after her husband left, Lyudmila Vasilievna also passed away. She died in the winter, on January 21, 1997, from a common flu.

Shortly before her death, Marchenko admitted with undisguised bitterness that cinema had given her nothing. She dies in poverty, without children, with a disfigured face and a broken life. The lucky ticket drawn out in youth turned out to be an empty piece of paper.

Lyudmila Marchenko's grave

It seems that the actress, having lived less than 57 years, wanted to die. She forbade her family to visit her so that they would not catch the flu. At the same time, she did not call a doctor and did not take any medications.

The Union of Cinematographers, once headed by Pyryev, allocated 200 rubles for the funeral of the actress.

06/20/1940, p. Arkhipovo-Osipovka, Krasnodar Territory - 01/23/1997, Moscow

From an early age, Luda Marchenko became seriously interested in cinema and theater. Moscow school No. 135, where she studied, had its own theater group. Very soon Lyudmila became a real prima of the school theater. Already in those years, unusually beautiful and talented, she attracted the attention of all the boys and aroused the envy of the girls. It was clear to everyone that Luda would definitely become an actress. And so it happened...

She was accepted into the acting department of VGIK in the workshop of the famous Mikhail Romm. Vladimir Ivashov, Svetlana Svetlichnaya, Alla Budnitskaya, Galina Polskikh studied together with Lyudmila Marchenko. Subsequently, they all became famous. But if they still had everything ahead, then fame came to Lyudmila after the first year.

The debut on the silver screen for 18-year-old Lyudmila Marchenko was a small role in Yuri Egorov’s film “Volunteers”. The actress played the girlfriend of Kaytanov Jr., one of the main characters in the film. And soon she herself got the main role...

By that time, viewers had already become tired of the abundance of energetic workers and collective farmers on the screen. And when Lyudmila Marchenko appeared in Lev Kulidzhanov’s melodrama “Father’s House” in the image of a romantic heroine, while remaining the most ordinary girl from a Moscow courtyard, it caused everyone unanimous delight.

Fascinated by Lyudmila Marchenko, Ivan Pyryev, without any tests, approved her for the main role of Nastenka in his new film “White Nights” (based on the work of the same name by F. M. Dostoevsky). The drama “White Nights” was released in the same 1959 as “Father’s House” and was no less successful with viewers. In an instant, Lyudmila Marchenko became popularly known. From all over the country, piles of letters poured in to her address, and her photographs appeared in kiosks. Critics, who noted the brilliant performance of the young actress, began to call her nothing less than “our Audrey Hepburn.”

The situation was extraordinary. Today, hardly anyone can be surprised by the age difference. And then, the love of the 58-year-old director for the 19-year-old actress caused a general shock. All sorts of gossip spread. It got to the point that Pyryev was called “on the carpet” to the CPSU Central Committee! This was already serious. Party bodies closely monitored the cleanliness of their ranks...

The gray-haired director did not make excuses to anyone. In front of “high-ranking officials,” he openly declared that all their fabrications were extremely humiliating for him, and he was ready to walk down the aisle with Lyudmila even now. He emerged victorious from the Central Committee. But Lyudmila Marchenko’s attitude towards him has not changed...

Only many years later did Lyudmila tell her sister that Strizhenov had promised her to leave his wife. Soon the result of their relationship was Lyudmila's pregnancy. After consulting, they both came to the conclusion that Oleg’s divorce would not bring them anything good. They had no place to live, and they didn’t want to spoil their successful career. Lyudmila decided to terminate her pregnancy...

Lyudmila had an abortion secretly from some grandmother. As it turned out later, it was unsuccessful. This pregnancy was her first and last. She couldn't be a mother anymore. Following this, the relationship between Lyudmila and Oleg somehow very quickly came to naught.

Then Ivan Alexandrovich decided to take the extreme step. He went to Lyudmila’s mother and asked for her daughter’s hand in marriage, declaring that he would immediately break off his marriage to Marina Ladynina. He was ready to throw everything at their feet - his wealth, connections... His mother was not seduced by anything and showed him the door.

Ivan Alexandrovich kept his word. He divorced Ladynina and continued to seek Lyudmila’s hand for four whole years. But this came to nothing. “Who was Luda to him? - Galina Vasilievna asks a question. — Muse, inspiration, nostalgia for youth? It's still hard for me to understand. But the more she refused, the more furiously he pursued her.” Pyryev, who had never known defeat in love, was driven to fury. They say that one day, having come to Lyudmila’s house and not finding her there, he broke down the door and in a rage destroyed the entire apartment. When she returned and tried to timidly declare that she would complain, he told her: “You can only complain about me to DOSAAF!” He wanted the disobedient girl to feel as much pain as he did. But the more he hurt her, the more he suffered.

At this moment, unexpectedly for everyone, Lyudmila married MGIMO student Vladimir Verbenko. Did she love him? Rather, it was a spontaneous, desperate step on her part. This marriage did not last long. Rumors and gossip around the relationship between Marchenko and Pyryev grew, acquiring more and more non-existent details. Those around her enviously claimed that all she had to do was ask Pyryev for something, and everything would come true. “And this is all for her alone!” - Evil tongues whispered. They were right about only one thing. A man in love would really fulfill her every whim, but Lyudmila did not ask for anything for herself. Never. Those around me refused to believe it.

In 1963, Lyudmila Marchenko graduated from VGIK and became an actress at the Experimental Theater-Studio of Pantomime “Ektemim” under the direction of A. Rumnev. In the same year, Alexander Zarkhi, not afraid of Pyryev’s anger, invited Lyudmila to play the role of Gali in the film “My Little Brother.” This was the actress's last big role. It was during the filming of this film that Verbenko, tired of the gossip, packed his things and left. The family broke up without tears or hysterics.

Valentin looked after her beautifully, sang songs with a guitar, and met her relatives. In a word, he behaved like a potential husband. Soon Lyudmila reciprocated his feelings, and they began to live in a civil marriage.

It seemed that everything was working out in life, but Lyudmila never had a job in cinema. Rare, insignificant episodes did not bring satisfaction, and there was not much work at the Film Actor Theater, where she moved in 1965. However, Lyudmila never gave in to despair. At least in public. Her friend Lyusya Shaposhnikova recalls: “She was always ironic, with a great sense of humor, sociable, kind and very, very fond of life and people. She could communicate not only with people of her own circle, but also with people of different social status and intelligence. Luda believed that the most valuable thing not only for actors (especially for actors), but for everyone is communication. She knew how to unite human souls, penetrate into destinies, survive them - this is probably part of her acting talent. She knew how to sympathize, encourage, and instill hope for the best in everyone’s life. Outwardly, she always looked optimistic and infected us with her optimism. I knew that sometimes cats scratched in her soul, but she didn’t show it. Her kindness knew no bounds. When there were feasts in the house, she was not only hospitable, but she believed that since people came to her, she must certainly give them something, even excesses of spiritual generosity appeared. On such days, everything was given: vases, flowers, dresses, scarves. Giving is a pleasure for her.”

The happy life lasted three years, and then tragedy struck...

Valentin Berezin often went on his expeditions. Coming back, each time he listened to another portion of dirty lies and one day he exploded. Once, in a fit of jealousy, Valentin rushed to beat his wife. He beat me brutally. Lyudmila screamed and called for help. Among her screams, the neighbors heard the name of the man she refused: “Pyryev!” But he wasn’t there... Valentin stopped only when Lyudmila’s face began to look like one continuous bloody mess. The sister recalls that there was a piece of lip lying on the floor in a pool of blood. That's when he got terribly scared. Valentin persuaded Lyudmila to tell the authorities that she had been in an accident. No one believed it, but the woman stubbornly stood her ground, and he escaped punishment.

At the Sklifosofsky Institute, where Lyudmila was taken by ambulance, doctors were able to save her life. Life, but not appearance. When she was discharged, there was nothing in the 26-year-old woman with scars, a disfigured chin and torn lips that resembled the Lyudochka Marchenko that the audience knew and loved. But even with such an appearance, she managed to appear in several more episodes - in the films “Gypsy” (1967, Budulai’s wife), “Scouts” (1968, Marie), “A Man Drops Anchor” (1968, Nina).

Denouement

It’s a strange coincidence - it was in this year that the one who had sought her hand for so long passed away. Ivan Pyryev.

Pyryev continued to love Lyudmila Marchenko until his very last days. Severely depressed, he has not made a single film in the last four years. Unrequited love greatly shortened his life. Just a few years ago, full of health and energy, by the end of 1967 Pyryev was already a completely broken man.

Three months before his death, Pyryev married again. Although it would be more correct to say that he was married to 30-year-old actress Lionella Skirda, who had been seeking this for a long time. Having become the wife of a famous director, she tried to take full advantage of her new position. And Pyryev continued to love Lyunechka. The coinage with her snub-nosed profile hung over his desk until his death. They say that once, in response to another whim of his newly-made wife, Pyryev muttered: “She needs something all the time!”, and added, tapping his cane on his favorite coinage: “This one will never ask for anything.”

In 1967, Pyryev took up the film adaptation of The Brothers Karamazov, but did not have time to complete it. He died on February 7, 1968. An autopsy showed that in recent years Ivan Alexandrovich suffered six heart attacks.

Soon after the death of her husband, Lionella Pyryeva (she now bore this last name) married Oleg Strizhenov. Yes, yes, that same Strizhenov...

Vitaly Voitenko, the administrator of Mosconcert, quickly dispersed the “warm” company. Moreover, he tried to bring the actress back to life. At that time, plastic surgery did not exist in our country. But Vitaly managed to find a surgeon for a lot of money who agreed to risk performing the operation. The result was disastrous. After the operation, Lyudmila's face became even more disfigured.

Vitaly did not lose heart. It was thanks to his persistence that Lyudmila Marchenko began touring around the country. This went on for several years. Spectators everywhere warmly greeted the former star, but then the actress realized that she could no longer live on past merits and did not want to. In 1975, Lyudmila and Vitaly broke up.

Like any creative person, she dreamed of more. But in the film actor’s studio where she worked, there was a lot of competition, and she practically didn’t get roles. She didn't act in films either. If any proposals appeared, then these were very tiny episodes. In 1982, Lyudmila Marchenko, as an actress who rarely acted, was transferred as an assistant director to the production department. After suffering there for two years, Lyudmila wrote a letter of resignation. Complete oblivion has set in...

When there is no reason to live

When six months later she fell ill with the flu, she forbade her family to visit her, reassuring her that she was fine. She herself deliberately did not call the doctors and did not receive treatment. For what? After all, her life had already lost its meaning.

On January 23, 1997, she passed away. Only a few people came to see off Lyudmila Marchenko on her last journey. The Union of Cinematographers allocated 200 rubles for the funeral. After her death, when the old furniture was being dismantled, a portrait of Ivan Pyryev fell out from behind the glass of the bookcase.

Filmography:

1958 Volunteers 1959 Father's house 1959 White nights 1960 Until next spring 1960 Leon Garros is looking for a friend 1961 Dmitro Goritsvit 1962 Without fear and reproach 1962 My younger brother 1965 Cook 1966 Aibolit-66 1966 Tunnel ("Tunnel") 1967 Gypsy 1968 Scouts 1977 Office romance 1980 Say a word for the poor hussar 1982 Who is knocking on my door...

Actors section

Biography

A young, pretty face with a slightly upturned nose. This is how moviegoers saw her in 1959. VGIK sophomore Lyudmila Marchenko was only 19. Grigory Kozintsev and Ivan Pyryev found and lit this star of the classics of our cinema. The 58-year-old master fell in love with a student. Lucy thought it was funny and strange. She dared to refuse him. The touchy genius did not forgive the girl. Simple-minded and naive, she did not even understand what kind of network she had fallen into. Pyryev pursued her until the end of his days. Ivan Alexandrovich's shadow followed her even after his death.

Lyudmila Marchenko photography

PRINCE, NOT THE ONE

From a very tender age, everyone called Luda an “artist.” And when they asked: “What will you be?”, she, with a childish lisp, answered: “Asist.” At Moscow School No. 135, she was the prima of the school theater, and in the 10th grade she was even a director. No one was surprised that the girl simultaneously passed all the qualifying rounds at the Shchepkinsky and Shchukinsky schools. But one of the teachers advised her to go to VGIK. “For a theater actress, your voice is rather weak,” they told her. She obeyed. Lev Kulidzhanov also liked Lyudmila: this is exactly how he imagined his heroine in “Father’s House.” Pyryev immediately offered the debutante the main role in White Nights. Seeing her sweet face, he realized that no auditions were needed, that only this girl would play Nastenka. Life for Lucy unfolded so beautifully and rapidly that her school crush on cadet Zhenya Peshkov faded amid the compliments and advances of her idols, whose faces never left the screens. She saw that Ivan Alexandrovich liked it, although she took it for professional admiration, besides, Ivan Alexandrovich was already approaching 60, and he was married to Marina Ladynina herself! In “White Nights” her partner was 31-year-old Oleg Strizhenov, an idol and favorite of women in those years. Unbeknownst to herself, Luda fell in love with him. Without really advertising their relationship (Strizhenov was married to actress Marina Strizhenova), the couple in love began renting a room in Demidovsky Lane. Very soon Lucy realized that she was pregnant.

Lyudmila Marchenko photography

“Neither my mother nor I knew anything,” recalls her sister Galina Vasilievna.
— Luda has always been very secretive. Only years later did she admit that Oleg did not seem to be against the child. But then the young people decided that this was inappropriate now: he was not divorced, there was nowhere to live, her career was just beginning. Luda secretly had an abortion from some grandmother, which, as it turned out later, was unsuccessful. In general, this was her first and last pregnancy. The child died, and love, along with the hero-lover, disappeared somewhere. Advertising:
And Ivan Alexandrovich seemed to be waiting for such a denouement. He began to actively pursue her. So active that he was summoned to the Party Central Committee. The authoritative gray-haired director, as if not understanding what he was talking about, boldly, without being a fool, said that he loved the girl, wanted to get married, and all these proceedings were extremely humiliating. He emerged victorious from the Central Committee! But this girl!.. She did not meet me halfway.

Lyudmila Marchenko photography

“We were brought up in such a way,” says Galina Vasilievna, “that we could not be rude to an adult or say an impudent word.” To all of Pyryev’s advances (and for her, too, he was a myth, a legend), Luda respectfully responded that there was a huge age difference between them, she could not become his wife, because he was the same age as her grandfather and her mother would never understand her.

And then, not knowing defeat, Pyryev went to his 45-year-old mother. He cast an appraising glance at the small, miserable apartment, realized that the “mother-in-law” should be delighted at such a tempting offer, and began to “match.” The potential mother-in-law, undeterred by Pyryev’s anger, pointed to the door.

Lyudmila Marchenko photography

THE FAILED ESCAPE

-Who was Luda to him? - Galina Vasilievna asks a question. — Muse, inspiration, nostalgia for youth? It's still hard for me to understand. But the more she refused, the more furiously he pursued her.

Lyudmila Marchenko photography

One day she came home and said that she was getting married. It was a bolt from the blue: she didn’t seem to be dating anyone, no one was courting her, there was no talk of any potential groom. She called his name - Vladimir Verbenko, a student at MGIMO. And although my mother understood the spontaneity of her decision, she did not oppose the marriage. They did not live together for long: Pyryev’s name, gossip and gossip trailed like a trail behind the young married couple. Vladimir didn’t like it - the family broke up without tears or hysterics. One day Ivan Alexandrovich said to Lyudmila:

— A cooperative house is being built. I can help you join a cooperative.

Whether it was his kind gesture or whether he was still playing with her, arranging, first of all, an alcove for the desired dates, it is difficult to say, but soon the 23-year-old VGIK graduate moved into a one-room apartment on Chernyakhovsky Street. Now Ivan Aleksandrovich began to visit more and more often with a bottle of vodka. For Lyudmila this was the beginning of trouble. One day, when no one opened the door for Pyryev, he broke it open. The apartment was empty. In anger, he smashed and broke everything he could get his hands on. And yesterday’s student, who spent all her savings on a cooperative, lived very modestly. The actor neighbors saw their boss's violence, but they were afraid to call the police or at least intervene.

“He took all her clothes.” I remember that Lyudmila had to go to a meeting with the audience that day, and she had only one dress left, in which she showed up to the ruined apartment,” recalls Galina Vasilyevna. “Luda, who is very calm by nature, shouted in despair:

- I will complain about you!

- On me? - he said royally. - You can only complain about me to DOSAAF!

MYTH ABOUT CAR ACCIDENT

Among Lyusya’s friends was actor Vladimir Gusev. He introduced Lyudmila to his friend Valentin Berezin, the head of the geological exploration party. He played the guitar well, sang songs, talked interestingly about his romantic profession, and women liked him. Valentin beautifully courted Luda and met the bride’s relatives. The conversation turned to the wedding. Pyryev was beside himself with anger. Soon all the directors of Mosfilm received a strict command: do not film Gusev from now on!

And Lyudmila acted in films, went on tour, Valentin went on his expeditions. When I returned, I heard whispers from all sides about Pyryev, his divorce from Ladynina and pestering Marchenko. This lasted three years, and one day Valentin exploded: in a fit of jealousy, he began to beat his wife. He beat me brutally. She screamed, called for help. Among the screams, people heard the name “Pyryev”. When I came to my senses, Ludino’s face was a complete bloody mess. The sister recalls that there was a piece of lip lying on the floor in a pool of blood. Valentin called an ambulance. And there, either fearing trial or ashamed of his barbarity, he persuaded his wife to say that she had allegedly been in a car accident. So she did. The doctors saw that this was not a traffic injury, they called an investigator, but she stood her ground. The myth mixed with the name of Pyryev still lived. In “Sklif” the doctors did not care about the actress’s appearance; they fought for her life. A 26-year-old woman left the hospital with scars, a disfigured chin, and torn lips. She no longer looked like the Lyudmila Marchenko whom the audience knew and loved.

They lived with Valentin for another two years. Now he even offered to formalize their marriage, but she refused. And then the “well-wisher” said that he had another woman and a child was growing up there. Luda did not scream or be indignant. She didn't even show that she knew about it. Just on her next return from an expedition, she silently collected his things and asked him to leave. Forever. It was 1968, the year of the death of Ivan Aleksandrovich Pyryev.

INSIGHT

Lyudmila Marchenko was invited to act in films less and less often. But she didn’t remind me of herself.

“This is a trait of her character,” says Galina Vasilievna. - Pride is a great sin. I constantly instilled this in her. Once, an acquaintance of mine told me that at the end of her life, when Lionella Skirda married Pyryev to herself, the young wife called the housekeeper and asked her to tell Ivan Alexandrovich to send a car for her. “She always needs something! - Pyryev muttered. - She’ll get there on her own. This one,” he tapped his cane on his favorite embossing with the profile of a snub-nosed girl, very similar to Lyusin, “will never ask for anything.”

At that time, Marchenko’s filmography actually contained few works: “Gypsy”, “Scouts”, small episodes. Gradually she became depressed. True, there were sympathizers who came to her with a bottle to cheer her up. Maybe during this most difficult period a man appeared in her life who tried his best to save her - Vitaly Voitenko, the administrator of the Mosconcert. In the 70s, we did not yet have plastic surgery, but he found a surgeon who tried to perform the first operations.

— Vitalka paid a lot of money, but the result was terrible. It’s worse than after Sklif,” sighs Galina Vasilievna. — We tried to redo it, and again it was unsuccessful. Another operation was scheduled, but Luda refused, she understood that our doctors were powerless.

Vitaly, who did not lose heart, offered to go on tour together with her films. Indeed, Lyudmila’s albums contain a lot of photographs depicting her meetings with the audience. From Ukraine to the dense taiga. In the photographs there are trains, planes, helicopters, taiga, bonfires, Black Sea beaches, flowers, hugs, smiles... But one gray day she suddenly told her husband: “I can’t do it anymore! I can’t hear that traditional question anymore: “What are you working on now?” It’s a shame to live on old merits...” Vitaly continued to tour with concerts, but without her. In 1975 they separated.

PRINCESS MARY

“Two people live in Lyus: a very kind, gentle woman who can be unbreakably strong, and a weak little man who is controlled by evil spirits,” said the famous illustrator Sergei Sokolov, who idolized her. He loved her first - the one who was his muse. In Princess Mary, Kuprin's Olesya and Sulamith - her features are visible in all his works. And Sergei decided to fight the second one. I found a doctor. Lucy agreed to these sessions, but then she accidentally found out that the vaunted doctor’s husband was a complete alcoholic, and she didn’t go to see her again... So the artist lived with her. For twenty-one years I loved, suffered, suffered, retreated and fought again.

Now Lyudmila worked at the Film Actor Studio Theatre. Every year there was less and less work in the theater. Marchenko was involved in only two performances in tiny roles. But the actress valued them very much. Over time, the head injury took its toll: she began to lose her hearing and was terribly burdened by it. At the beginning of perestroika, layoffs began in the theater. The administration tactfully reminded the actress that she had not been filmed for a long time. Lucy regarded this as an offer to leave of her own free will. And she left. She went to Mosfilm as an assistant director for actors. The actors had a hard time with their work, but, as they believed, something depended on Lucy, and they all went to her with bottles. Sokolov first shamed the “deserved and popular”, then unceremoniously began to persecute everyone. But soon this position was gone.

Sergei Alexandrovich became seriously ill. And she herself was unwell. Only the dacha of their sister, Galina Vasilievna, saved them. Every spring they left for Tver, Sokolov painted pictures, she read, talked with her cats, fed the birds, and dug in the garden. On the day Sokolov died, it was so hot that they did not dare take him to Moscow; they buried him there in the village. A long, long winter has come, which Lucy never liked. Some terrible flu has spread across Moscow...

A bell rang in Lusina's apartment. My nephew answered the phone. A male voice asked Lyuda, Lyudmila Vasilievna.

- She's not there. She died...” said Sasha.

The other end fell silent. Then they said in a barely audible voice:

- I'll tomorrow...

Now Galina Vasilievna picked up the phone. It was a call from distant youth. Zhenya called, cadet Zhenya Peshkov. She remembered him, of course. Now a colonel, who served in Afghanistan, a fighting friend of General Gromov, married, with two children...

- Where is Lucy? - he asked unexpectedly.

Galina Vasilyevna explained how to find her grave on Vagankovo. But he didn't find it. I called again. She explained again. Then Galya understood why he couldn’t find Lucy: her photograph had faded beyond recognition in the sun. But Zhenya didn’t call again, and when he did, she, not hoping for a successful search, immediately blurted out:

— I will definitely replace the photo.

“No need,” he replied.

“No, no, definitely,” Galina Vasilievna insisted, rather making a promise to herself.

“I’ve already done everything... I ordered a marble monument, a shadow portrait... I have a lot of photographs of her... I just didn’t have time to see how they installed it... I’m calling from the hospital.”

Galina Vasilievna went to the cemetery. There was a luxurious obelisk at my sister’s grave. Of course, she couldn't afford one like that.

And a few days later Evgeniy called again. He said that he and his wife also liked the monument. He just kept silent about the fact that his wife bought a luxurious bouquet of flowers and gave it to Lucy, the girl whom her husband once loved so much.

m
m
07/26/2006 07:28:44

great article about a very interesting person

about first love
Galina
01/03/2011 12:23:21

What a pity that this man (Lyudmila’s first love) passed her by in life, but what a complete person that did not lose his feelings over the years.

No title

05.01.2013 06:51:12

It’s very hard not to break down when you had success and then lost it.