Lyudmila Savelyeva turned 78 / Showbiz

Height, weight, age. How old is Lyudmila Savelyeva

Many ballet fans are often interested in what parameters a girl should have to become a ballerina. So let’s use our heroine as an example to understand this issue: what is the height, weight, age, how old is Lyudmila Savelyeva? Throughout her life, the actress has had a “aspen” waist: her height is average – one meter sixty-five centimeters, and she weighs fifty-five kilograms. Lyudmila Mikhailovna is well over seventy, but the actress looks amazing.

Lyudmila Savelyeva, photos in her youth and now - like no one else, she proves to the entire public how you can preserve your appearance and beauty. After all, despite all the difficulties that this great woman had to endure, she is ready to continue her path as a star actress, thereby delighting her fans.

Lyudmila Savelyeva: the best Natasha Rostova comes from besieged Leningrad

Director Sergei Bondarchuk doubted for a long time which actress to approve for the role of Natasha Rostova in the film “War and Peace”. Ballerina Lyudmila Savelyeva did not seem to him the best contender: inexpressive appearance, unsuccessful auditions, lack of experience in filming. But later he did not regret his choice - the whole world fell in love with Lyudmila Savelyeva, she was recognized as the best actress who embodied the image of Natasha Rostova on the screen.

Lyudmila Savelyeva in the film *War and Peace*, 1965-1967

Lyudmila Savelyeva was born in 1942.

, when the most terrible times came in besieged Leningrad. The childhood was hungry, so that the girl did not die from exhaustion, she had to be fed with wood glue. But, despite all the difficulties, from a young age Lyudmila was interested in literature and ballet. She began studying ballet at the age of 11, and in 1962 she graduated from the Leningrad Choreographic School. A. Vaganova. After that, she was accepted into the troupe of the Leningrad Opera and Ballet Theater. S. Kirov (now the Mariinsky Theater). She was destined for a successful career, she could have become a prima, but fate decreed otherwise.

People's Artist of the RSFSR Lyudmila Savelyeva

Filming *War and Peace*

Sergei Bondarchuk could not find an actress for the role of Natasha Rostova for a long time. Anastasia Vertinskaya, Natalya Kustinskaya, Natalya Fateeva - the most beautiful and spectacular Soviet actresses - took part in the auditions. Bondarchuk had a prejudice against “ballet dancers” - they rarely made good actresses. When the director's assistant suggested watching Lyudmila Savelyeva, Bondarchuk doubted. Later he admitted: “At first she was even refused a photo test: she seemed so inexpressive and “not Natasha” in appearance. I accepted it, essentially, in order to soften the bitterness of rejection.”

Lyudmila Savelyeva in the film *War and Peace*, 1965-1967

In makeup, a dress and a wig, the actress was transformed - she herself felt like Natasha Rostova. She was finally approved for the role, and Bondarchuk did not regret it. Filming lasted 5 years. Savelyeva had to leave ballet and make a choice in favor of cinema. She didn't have to regret her choice either. The success of War and Peace was stunning.

People's Artist of the RSFSR Lyudmila Savelyeva

IV International Film Festival. A. Vertinskaya, S. Bondarchuk, V. Tikhonov, L. Savelyeva, B. Zakhava and I. Skobtseva. 1965

At the Moscow Film Festival, the debutant actress received two awards - for best debut and the audience award. In America, the film "War and Peace" was a real triumph - it received an Oscar, and in Europe - a number of other film awards. At that time, there was already an American film adaptation of L. Tolstoy’s novel with Audrey Hepburn in the title role, but the Russian Natasha Rostova managed to outshine it. Lyudmila Savelyeva made the whole world fall in love with her. She was admired by Federico Fellini and Giulietta Masina, her portrait adorned the covers of foreign newspapers and magazines. In Europe, many mothers named their newborn daughters Natasha.

Lyudmila Savelyeva in the film *War and Peace*, 1965-1967

Lyudmila Savelyeva as Natasha Rostova and Vasily Lanovoy as Anatoly Kuragin

“This role gave me a lot, over the five years while this epoch-making work was being filmed, I got used to my heroine and became very similar to her,” said Savelyeva. “It was also shown in America, and people stood in huge lines to see the Soviet film. And this despite the fact that several years earlier Hollywood released its film.”

The role of Natasha Rostova became iconic in the creative life of actress Lyudmila Savelyeva

The film “War and Peace” became fateful for Lyudmila Savelyeva not only in creative terms. During filming, she met her future husband, actor Alexander Zbruev. The girl captivated him when he saw her in the image of Natasha Rostova.

Lyudmila Savelyeva and Alexander Zbruev

Lyudmila Savelyeva

Biography and personal life of Lyudmila Savelyeva

The biography and personal life of Lyudmila Savelyeva tested her strength from early childhood. The future celebrity was born in 1942 in Leningrad. Unfortunately, who the father and mother of the actress are is unknown. Needless to say, Lyudmila’s life began in hunger and poverty, like other children born during the war. But she survived this difficult time, went to school, and grew up as a gifted child.

In 1962, the Honored Artist thought that she had decided on her type of activity, because by this time she had successfully performed in ballet productions. But, as often happens, His Majesty chance intervened. At one of the performances, Lyudmila was noticed by assistant director Sergei Bondarchuk. At this time, auditions for the role of Natasha Rostova were taking place and he mercilessly rejected all the candidates. This fate befell Savelyeva at the first audition, but something prompted the director to give her a second chance.

SAVELIEVA Lyudmila Mikhailovna

Born 01/24/1942, Leningrad

People's Artist of the RSFSR (1985).

Ballerina

Lyudmila Savelyeva was born in Leningrad during the siege. In 1962, she Savelyeva graduated from the Leningrad Choreographic School named after A. Ya. Vaganova and was accepted into the troupe of the Leningrad Opera and Ballet Theater. S. M. Kirov (now the Mariinsky Theater).

The girl’s career as a ballerina was going well. Soon her first appearance on the screen took place. In 1964, a film adaptation of the ballet “The Sleeping Beauty” was made, in which she took part. However, here chance made its changes to Lyudmila’s plans...

Natasha Rostova

The charming ballerina was noticed by assistant director Sergei Bondarchuk, who was preparing for the filming of the film “War and Peace.” Lyudmila, who had absolutely no experience in cinema, was invited to Moscow for a screen test. She had to play, no less, Natasha Rostova herself.

Many actresses auditioned for the role of Natasha Rostova, among whom were: Anastasia Vertinskaya, Natalya Kustinskaya, Natalya Fateeva…. Initially, Bondarchuk didn’t like Savelyeva, as he admitted: “At first she was even denied a photo test: she seemed so inexpressive and “not Natasha” in appearance. I accepted it, essentially, in order to soften the bitterness of rejection.”

Lyudmila Savelyeva read the proposed scene somehow incomprehensibly. But apparently something struck Sergei Bondarchuk, because he invited the girl to come the next day.

The first failure made Lyudmila very angry. Gathering all her strength and will into a fist, she showed up the next day for the audition. As soon as the girl changed clothes and put on makeup, she was magically transformed.

Lyudmila Mikhailovna recalls: “But I had nothing in common with Natasha: small, fair-haired, eyes not black, like the heroine of the novel, but blue... And in general, some kind of ugly duckling... But when they put on a wig and pantaloons, I suddenly I felt like Natasha. The scene was not complicated, and everything worked out.”

Sergei Bondarchuk's opinion about Lyudmila Savelyeva's acting abilities changed after the first audition, but it took many more screenings and rehearsals for her to finally be approved for the role.

Lyudmila Mikhailovna says about her impressions of working with the legendary director: “Sergei Fedorovich created such an atmosphere that it seemed to me: I’m really doing everything myself. I auditioned for a very long time, with different actors. The last test turned out to be the most difficult - it was necessary to play an explanation scene with Prince Andrey, when he proposed to separate for a year. Natasha should cry, but I had no idea how to do it. My throat was dry... I auditioned then with the wonderful actor Innokenty Smoktunovsky, he played along with me. When I said the phrase “A year, really a whole year?”, I suddenly saw tears rolling down Smoktunovsky’s face. And she cried too. That’s when I first understood what an acting brotherhood is. Smoktunovsky at that time had already been approved for Hamlet, and he could not play Andrei Bolkonsky, for whom he auditioned, but he was interested in how things were going with us, and he helped me a lot.”

Our Audrey Hepburn

Filming of the film "War and Peace" continued for several years. The interest in it was enormous - filming had not yet finished, but the film had already been bought for theatrical distribution in America and Japan. Bondarchuk lived up to expectations by creating a truly epoch-making work. The entire color of Soviet cinema was involved in the film: Vyacheslav Tikhonov, Vasily Lanovoy, Oleg Efremov, Anatoly Ktorov, Anastasia Vertinskaya, Vladislav Strzhelchik, Oleg Tabakov, Irina Skobtseva. The director himself also starred, playing Pierre Bezukhov. Lyudmila Savelyeva did not get lost in this star company either.

It must be said that when filming began, Lyudmila continued to perform on stage. However, this could not last long. This “split” ended with physical exhaustion. The girl began to faint both in classics lessons and on the set. And then she decided to leave ballet. Later they asked her if she regretted it, because it was quite possible that a brilliant career awaited her in ballet. “At first, maybe I regretted it,” admits the actress. “And when I finally “grew” into Natasha, everything in my fate was decided.”

The film was a huge success all over the world, and in America a real triumph awaited it - the jury of the American Film Academy was defeated, and the Soviet film was awarded an Oscar.

Savelyeva’s work was also noted. At the Moscow Film Festival, young Savelyeva received two awards at once - for the best debut and the audience award. But the most important thing is the genuine love of viewers all over the world. One fact is that in France, after the film was released, mothers began to call their born daughters Natasha.

It is worth noting here the fact that a little earlier the Americans filmed the novel “War and Peace”. Natasha Rostova was beautifully played by Audrey Hepburn in that film, and no one could imagine another actress in this role. But, after the viewer saw Lyudmila Savelyeva, there was no doubt: Russian Natasha eclipsed everyone and everything.

Marriage

After leaving the Opera and Ballet Theater, Savelyeva became an actress in the theater-studio of a film actor in 1967.

In those same years, the actress’s personal life also changed. She married Alexander Zbruev, who by that time had already gained fame thanks to the films “My Little Brother” and “Two Tickets to the Matinee.” For Zbruev this was the second marriage. His first wife was actress Valentina Malyavina.

1970

Lyudmila played her next film role only a few years later. A natural question arises: were there really no proposals from the directors? Lyudmila Mikhailovna says: “We were bombarded with offers. But the literary basis meant a lot to me. While I was filming with Bondarchuk, I slept with volumes of War and Peace under my pillow. Therefore, when they offered me some crafts, the roles of pink young ladies, I refused. I wanted to play a heroine completely different from Natasha.”

She's lucky. Directors Alov and Naumov offered Savelyeva the role of Serafima Korzukhina in the film “Running” based on Mikhail Bulgakov. Filming took place in the Turkish quarter in Plovdiv and Sevastopol. Here Lyudmila was lucky enough to make friends with the wife of the great writer, who advised the film. After watching the footage, she cried and said that Mikhail Afanasyevich would be pleased. For Lyudmila Savelyeva, this was the highest assessment of the work done.

In the same year, Savelyeva played Nina Zarechnaya in the film “The Seagull” by Yuli Karasik. The film was awarded for Best Adaptation of a Classic Work and Excellence in Ensemble Acting at the 1973 Chicago International Film Festival.

It is worth mentioning one more work by Lyudmila Savelyeva. In 1970, she starred in the French-Italian melodrama Sunflowers. The young actress had the privilege of starring alongside the incomparable Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni. And although this picture can hardly be called a great success, the experience gained in working with world stars is priceless.

In conclusion, it should be noted that 1970 was declared the Year of Lyudmila Savelyeva in Japan.

70s – 80s

As has already become clear, Lyudmila Savelyeva took her choice of roles seriously. Having once set the bar high for herself, she had no intention of lowering it. This is probably why there are so few films in her biography. In the 70s, only two can be noted. In 1973, she starred with Oleg Vidov in the title role of Louise Poindexter in Vladimir Weinshtok's adventure film The Headless Horseman. Four years later, Savelyeva played the main role in the Soviet-Bulgarian historical film “Yulia Vrevskaya,” which tells about the dramatic fate of a remarkable Russian woman - Countess Yulia Petrovna Vrevskaya, who invested all her funds in organizing a volunteer sanitary detachment during the Russian-Turkish War.

Savelyeva acted a little more often in the 80s. Together with her husband Alexander Zbruev, she played in the heroic adventure film by Georgy Nikolaenko “It was the fourth year of the war” and the psychological drama “Success” by Konstantin Khudyakov. Of the other works of those years, the most notable is the main role in Vitaly Koltsov’s psychological drama “We Can’t Predict.”

Personal life

Since the beginning of the 90s, Lyudmila Mikhailovna stopped acting in films altogether. And a few years later, rumors began to spread that the long-term marriage of Alexander Zbruev with Lyudmila Savelyeva had broken up. The artist began to be seen more and more often in the company of another woman. He himself categorically avoided any questions on this matter, declaring “I try not to let anyone into my personal life and never talk about my wife or daughter.” Lyudmila Savelyeva did not talk much about this topic either.

But Zbruev’s ex-wife Valentina Malyavina said in the summer of 1997: “Sasha is completely confused about women. Today he has two wives, and somehow he can’t cope with them: they both complain to me about him...”

Be that as it may, the couple still live together.

Return to cinema

After a long break, Lyudmila Mikhailovna returned to cinema, starring in 1999 in Vladimir Naumov’s philosophical parable “The Secret of Nardo, or The Dream of a White Dog.” This was followed by the main role in the drama “Tender Age” by Sergei Solovyov, and a role in the film “Clocks Without Hands” by the same Vladimir Naumov.

A few words in conclusion

Throughout her life, Lyudmila Savelyeva never had to play so-called negative roles - villains and bitches. Explaining this, Lyudmila Mikhailovna quotes the words of Faina Ranevskaya: “When Faina Ranevskaya was asked why she plays so little in films and theater, she replied that she doesn’t play at all. “I live on stage, I put myself in the circumstances that my character finds herself in,” she said. This is very clear to me. It’s very difficult to play like this because you waste yourself a lot. Indeed, I have never played a bitch. Yes, I don’t throw out my emotions in life either.”

About what she is like in everyday life, Savelyeva says: “I have not been adapted to everyday life since childhood. At home they called me Baroness. I like it to be beautiful, clean, and I’m not too lazy to put things in order. But I hate cooking. Thank God, my family is unpretentious in this regard. Sometimes I look through women's magazines - everything is so beautiful: amazing pies, cakes. But I can't do them. My husband, Alexander Zbruev, loves fried potatoes with stew. If it were up to me, I would eat only sandwiches. But I can’t live without books. And in creative life everything seems to be fine so far. Recently she starred with Vladimir Naumov and Sergei Solovyov. But sometimes it’s scary - what’s next is unknown. What if I can’t play anything else?..”

Materials used: Encyclopedia of Cinema of Cyril and Methodius (CD LLC "Media-Service-2000"); Tatyana Kharlamova, “The noise has died down...” (Newspaper “Alphabet” https://www.alphabet.ru); Jamilya Sairamova, “Lyudmila Savelyeva plays better than Audrey Hepburn” (https://www.ug.ru); V. Wolf's program “Silver Ball. Lyudmila Savelyeva" https://adverus.ru; Fedor Razzakov, “Sex symbols of Russia”, article about Alexander Zbruev Photo: https://akter.kulichki.net, https://actors.khv.ru, https://kino.kulichki.com

Filmography: films starring Lyudmila Savelyeva

The filmography of the great actress begins with the role of Natasha Rostova in the film “War and Peace.” This film was shot over five years and exceeded all expectations of critics and audiences. The film won an Oscar, was shown in different countries around the world, and French women began to name their daughters after the heroine.

After such an enchanting success, the young actress began to be inundated with offers to act in films. However, Savelyeva, after such a rise, carefully chose roles, not agreeing to play the same type of romantic person.

She probably chose the right tactics, because all the films with her participation became masterpieces of Russian cinema. She played the main characters in the films “Running”, “The Seagull”, “Yulia Vrevskaya”. She also starred in the Italian film “Sunflowers” with equally famous foreign actors.

Afterwards there was a long break. Recent films include “A Tender Age,” “Seventh Heaven,” and “Anna Karenina.”

Lyudmila Savelyeva never regretted that she had to give up her career as a ballerina because of filming.

Savelyeva Lyudmila Mikhailovna

Lyudmila Savelyeva was born on January 24, 1942 in the city of St. Petersburg. That she survived is a real miracle. It is no wonder that her early childhood years were very difficult. But the war ended, and Lyudmila Savelyeva, along with all Leningraders, began to return to peaceful life. She attended one of the city schools. Already in her early years, her family noticed that the girl was drawn to art.

She loved to read and showed great interest in ballet. Mom took her 11-year-old daughter to ballet school and was right. Soon her Lyudmila began to demonstrate rapidly increasing skill. Teachers highly appreciated the abilities of the young ballerina, calling her one of the most promising students.

After graduating from school, Lyudmila Savelyeva easily entered the Leningrad Choreographic School, where she continued to improve in ballet. Immediately after receiving her diploma in 1962, the dancer was accepted into the Mariinsky Theater. Everything was leading to the fact that Savelyeva could soon take the place of soloist of the Mariinsky Theater. On this stage she made her debut in the production of “Giselle”, and then shone in the ballet “Sleeping Beauty”. The last performance was filmed and shown on TV.

Lyudmila Savelyeva read the proposed scene somehow incomprehensibly. But apparently something struck Sergei Bondarchuk, because he invited the girl to come the next day.

Made up and dressed “as Natasha Rostova,” Lyudmila appeared before the demanding Bondarchuk. After tests with different texts and characters, Sergei Fedorovich approved the ballerina.

Lyudmila Savelyeva was sure that working in cinema was just an episode in her life. That's why the girl didn't give up ballet. But filming took so much energy that Savelyeva soon had to make a decision, because she began to faint from fatigue. And unexpectedly for herself, Lyudmila chose cinema.

The aspiring actress was not mistaken. "War and Peace" turned her into a star. After the release of the film, the cinematic biography of Lyudmila Savelyeva soared to such heights that most actresses were unable to achieve during their long and hard work in cinema. The film won an Oscar and many other major awards. Savelyeva was not left without prestigious awards.

In the same 1970, the artist starred in another wonderful film – “The Seagull”. This is a film adaptation of the work of the same name by A.P. Chekhov, which was very talentedly made by director Yuli Karasik. Nina Zarechnaya performed by Lyudmila Savelyeva was inimitable. This work was highly praised by critics, awarding the film the prestigious Silver Hugo prize at the Chicago Film Festival.

In conclusion, it should be noted that 1970 was declared the Year of Lyudmila Savelyeva in Japan.

In 1973, she starred with Oleg Vidov in the title role of Louise Poindexter in Vladimir Weinshtok's adventure film The Headless Horseman.

Family and children of Lyudmila Savelyeva

Interview on the topic: family and children of Lyudmila Savelyeva - the actress does not like to give in principle. She has quite good reasons for this. It is known that Lyudmila Mikhailovna is married to Alexander Zbruev and they have a daughter, Natalya.

The ballerina once mentioned that she loves order, cleanliness and beauty, and enjoys doing all this around the house herself. During her childhood, her parents gave her the nickname Baroness for this. But standing at the stove and preparing culinary masterpieces is not her thing at all. In this regard, she was incredibly lucky with her household - they were not whimsical in their choice of food and gladly agreed to fried potatoes and sandwiches.

Daughter of Lyudmila Savelyeva - Natalya Zbrueva

The daughter of Lyudmila Savelyeva, Natalya Zbrueva, was born in 1968. The couple were happy to have another family member. Finishing ninth grade, Natasha played one of the main characters in the film “If you believe Lopotukhin.” However, she did not become a famous actress as a mother. On the contrary, Natalya disappeared somewhere for many years. In interviews, the star parents kept silent on all questions, only occasionally they could mention that she was doing well.

And only very recently the secret connected with Natalya Zbrueva began to be revealed. It turned out that Savelyeva’s daughter was a very reserved child since childhood. Further - more: she falls in love with an older man, they begin to live together, and after a while they kill him. This greatly affected the girl’s psyche - her parents took her to live with them. Recently it became known that Natalya had a stroke. For these reasons, “Lyudmila Savelyeva is an actress, her daughter is Natalya Zbrueva” - a photo with such an inscription cannot be found on the Internet.

After details about the daughter’s condition were revealed, the yellow press began to speculate as to why this was happening, and accusations rained down on Alexander and Lyudmila. In fact, only the actors’ relatives and friends know what is really true and what is just gossip, but they keep their mouth shut.

Lyudmila Savelyeva's husband - Alexander Zbruev

Lyudmila Savelyeva's husband, Alexander Viktorovich Zbruev, was born in 1938 in Moscow. He graduated from the Shchukin School and began to successfully audition for films. The marriage with Lyudmila was the second in a row. Before this, his wife was Valentina Malyavina - she also belonged to the acting profession.

There has long been gossip around the actors' family, sometimes unsubstantiated rumors. However, some things turned out to be true: for example, that Alexander had an affair with a young actress. The girl gives birth to his illegitimate daughter Tatyana, to whom Zbruev never gave his last name.

Even when Lyudmila found out about her husband’s infidelity, she did not file for divorce, and Alexander did not want to leave his family. After everything they have experienced, they hide all the details of their family life.

Personal life

Be that as it may, the couple still live together.

Wikipedia Lyudmila Savelyeva

Wikipedia Lyudmila Savelyeva will tell everyone who is interested in the life path of the great ballerina and actress. Here you can see the awards and titles that Lyudmila Mikhailovna deserved.

She starred in more than 20 films - they were a huge success not only in her native land, but also abroad. And all because she played Natasha Rostova, the heroine who made Savelyeva famous throughout the country overnight. After that, the actress agreed only to roles that she liked. That is why the popular star has never played some charlatan or bitchy lady.