Marina Neyolova: Betrayal, late motherhood and the love of the life of a charming actress

Marina Neelova is one of the most beloved Soviet-Russian theater and film actresses with a very unusual biography. Having achieved success in cinema already in her debut role, she only found personal happiness at the age of 42. Having married a diplomat, the actress lived in France and the Netherlands, but never left the profession.

Marina Neelova. Photo postila.ru

Marina Neelova was born on January 8, 1947 in Leningrad into a family far from creativity. Her father, Mstislav Pavlovich, worked as an engineer, and her mother, Valentina Nikolaevna, was a housewife. Both parents went through the war (Valentina Nikolaevna volunteered for the front at the age of 18 and served as a radio operator).

From early childhood, the girl dreamed of the stage. Already at the age of 5, impressed by the ballet “The Nutcracker,” she decided to become a ballerina, but her fragile health did not allow her to withstand physical activity. And in elementary school I started studying in a literary circle. Marina perceived school as a meaningless waste of her time. Her whole life was focused on the theater and the brilliant future that awaited her. For a long time, parents considered their daughter’s passion to be a girl’s whim, but over time they had to come to terms with her choice.

Finally, the school was left behind. Neelova submitted documents to LGITMiK (Leningrad State Institute of Theater, Music and Cinematography) for the acting department. She realized that outwardly she was inferior to “beautiful girls and handsome boys,” since she was a very thin and incredibly shy girl. But Marina believed in her talent.

She was accepted as a candidate for the course of the famous St. Petersburg teachers Irina Meyerhold and Vasily Merkuryev . This meant that Marina could only become a full-fledged student if she passed acting with an “excellent” grade in the first semester. Fortunately, she succeeded.

After graduating from the institute in 1969, Neyolova received an assignment to the Volgograd Youth Theater , but she had neither the opportunity nor the desire to go there. Her father died suddenly, and Marina could not leave her mother alone. She remained in Leningrad.

Childhood and youth

Marina Neyolova was born in January 1947 in Leningrad. Despite the fact that the girl’s parents had nothing to do with theater or cinema, they were still able to instill in their daughter a love of beauty. From an early age, Marina’s mother took Marina to performances, and her father, a former front-line soldier, introduced his daughter to painting, hanging his own watercolors around the house. At the age of 4, the girl was sent to ballet.

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Marina Neyolova in her youth
As a high school student, Neyolova began to seriously think about a career as an actress, so immediately after school in 1964, the girl applied for admission to LGITMiK. She managed to enroll in the course of Vasily Merkuryev and his wife Irina Meyerhold.

Biography

Marina Neelova was born in Leningrad on January 8, 1947, where she spent her childhood and youth. The parents, who were far from art themselves, tried to introduce their daughter to it. The girl took ballet seriously from the age of 4; she had everything she needed to become a ballerina: hard work and a fragile build. But Marina fell more and more in love with the theater every year and dreamed not of dancing, but of acting on stage. Immediately after school, she took the risk of applying to LGITMiK and passed, despite a huge competition, and even ended up in a workshop with the strongest teachers.

With Oleg Dahl in the film “An Old, Old Tale”, 1968

In 1968, the third-year student was offered two roles at once in “An Old, Old Tale.” Although students were not encouraged to film, Neyolova was forgiven for this violation, and a year later she received her diploma.

Marina's youthful dream of playing in the Tovstonogov Theater never came true. At first, yesterday’s student did not dare to ask to join the troupe of the famous Leningrad director and went to work for Lenfilm in order to first become famous in cinema. And by the time Tovstonogov himself noticed her and wanted to invite her to the BDT, the actress’s career in Moscow had already begun.

Theater

Marina Neelova received the coveted diploma of actress in 1969 and joined the staff of the Mossovet Theater. Here the actress was given a loud and flattering title - “young Ranevskaya”. But Neelova did not work for Yuri Zavadsky for long. She managed to act in only one play, and also became a participant in Edward Radzinsky’s production of “Tour Base,” but the play was banned.

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Marina Neyolova and Faina Panevskaya
Then the actress was noticed by Valery Fokin, who worked as a director at Sovremennik. In 1974, he invited Marina Neelova to the production of “Valentin and Valentina”, instead of the dropped out Irina Akulova. The actress became the only performer for whom the theater adjusted its schedule during her long-term trips to France and the Netherlands, which allowed her not to interrupt her collaboration with Sovremennik and remain its leading artist.

In 2020, the stage star won a special prize “For conquering the heights of acting and loyalty to the principles of the school of K. S. Stanislavsky” at the Moscow International Film Festival.

Children of Marina Neelova

Marina Neelova became a mother only once, giving birth to her daughter Nika. To this day, no one knows who her father is. According to rumors, the girl's father was the famous chess player Garry Kasparov. But the man himself denies this.

Marina Neelova’s children include her two godsons, who are already quite old. They have their own families in which children were born. Godchildren often call the actress and invite her to family holidays.

The actress considers her roles to be her children, each of which she loves. A woman cannot name her most important job; for her they are all equal.

Personal life

Neelova was married to director Anatoly Vasiliev. They met in their youth, and it was her husband who contributed to Marina’s move to Moscow. Their life together lasted 8 years. After the breakup, the spouses do not communicate.

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Marina Neyolova and her daughter Nika
Then, in the actress’s personal life, there was an affair with chess athlete Garry Kasparov. Even the noticeable age gap did not hinder the romantic feelings of the lovers - Marina Mstislavovna is 16 years older than Kasparov. Harry at that time was on his way to becoming the youngest world chess champion. The beloved supported the young man: she was present at all the games of the legendary match between Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov.

The romance lasted 2 years, during which time Neyolova managed to introduce the young gentleman to many influential people, which the chess player strongly strived for. But when it became clear that the actress would like to officially get married, the athlete’s mother intervened in the situation. The break with Garry Kasparov caused a lot of noise, and then the entire theater world came to Neyolova’s defense.

Personal life of Marina Neelova

The film actress married twice, each time out of great love.
Journalists have been interested in the details of this for a long time. For the first time, Marina Neyolova married a colleague in the artistic workshop. For 8 years, the popular actress and her husband were often on set separately from each other. In the end, the actors decided to divorce so as not to burden each other.

For a number of years, Marin Neyolova’s personal life ran in parallel with the famous chess king Garry Kasparov. The lovers often came together to various events. After a short time, the artist became pregnant, but the chess player said that he had nothing to do with the child. To this day, Marina Neyolova and Garry Kasparov have not revealed the secret of the girl’s birth. The former lovers do not communicate to this day.

Currently, Marina Neelova is very happy. Her husband serves in the embassies of the Russian Federation in one or another European country.

Marina Neyolova now

Now Marina Neelova has taken a creative break again and does not appear on the big screen. But in the summer of 2020, it became known that she, together with Inna Churikova, plans to play in a new project under the working title “No Shame, No Conscience.”

Marina Neyolova now (still from the film “Frostbitten Carp”)

The film script was presented by producer Nikita Vladimirov at a meeting of the expert council on feature films of the Russian Ministry of Culture. Both screen stars have already become familiar with the plot and are ready to sign a contract. The comedy film will be directed by Oksana Karas.

Family of Marina Neelova

Marina Neelova’s family consists of her beloved husband and daughter Nika. The woman, despite being busy in theater productions, devotes a large amount of time to her family and friends. In the 90s, the actress left for several years with her husband to France, where the man worked at the diplomatic mission.

Neelova's parents had nothing to do with theater and cinema. No one knows what father’s job was. In his free time, he painted. The mother was a housewife and was raising her daughter.

Filmography

1978 — “Handsome Man”
1972 — “The Prince and the Pauper”
1975 - “Olga Sergeevna”
1975 — “From Lopatin’s notes”
1978 — “Mistakes of Youth”
1984 — “Someone else’s wife and husband under the bed”
1985 - “The investigation is being conducted by the Experts. Midday Thief"
1986 - “We are cheerful, happy, talented!”
1988 — “Dear Elena Sergeevna”
1995 — “First Love”
1996 — “The Inspector General”
1998 — “The Barber of Siberia”
2002 — “Lady for a Day”
2002 — “Azazel”
2009 — “Suggested Circumstances”
2017 — “Frost-bitten carp”

In theatre, film and television

In the theater (since 1973 in Sovremennik), actress Marina Neyolova, who performed as a travesty (“Four Drops”, “Hurry to Do Good”), soon switched from lyrical-comedy (Viola in “Twelfth Night”) and melodramatic roles (Valentina in “ Valentina and Valentina") to the nervous and brittle figure in the roles of Veronica in "Forever Alive" and Nika in the play "From Lopatin's Notes." Naturally and with a sense of style, Neelova played in television adaptations of foreign classics (“Night of Errors”, “Dombey and Son”).

On television, the actress performed in a brilliant duet with Andrei Mironov in the play “Between Heaven and Earth” and in the television film “Faryatyev’s Fantasies” (1979). The motif of “uncommunicative feelings” of dissimilar people was developed in the television film “Transit” (1982), where Marina Mstislavovna performed in tandem with Mikhail Ulyanov.

Having established herself in a dramatic role, the actress again experienced a penchant for lyrical comedy or light farce (“Handsome Man,” 1978; “Ladies Invite Gentlemen,” 1981; “Carousel,” 1983; “Someone else’s Wife and Husband Under the Bed,” 1984); “We are cheerful, happy, talented”, 1987). Acting less and less in subsequent years, Marina Neyolova alternated between modern dramatic (“Dear Elena Sergeevna”, 1988; “You Are the Only One for Me”, 1993, Nika Award) and costume-historical tragicomic images (“The Shadow, or Maybe All will cost”, 1991, TV film “The Inspector General”, 1996; “The Barber of Siberia”, 1999).

In the theater, actress Marina Neyolova concentrated on dramatic and sometimes tragic material (“Anfisa”, “Steep Route”, “Three Sisters”, “The Cherry Orchard”, “Playing... Schiller!”).

In cinema, Neyolova brilliantly manages to embody the images of vulnerable, fragile, unprotected heroines who nevertheless stubbornly defend personal independence - Stepanida Bazyrina (“With and without you”, Golden Femina Prize at the International Festival in Brussels), Sasha Nerodova (“ Just Sasha"), Valentina Kostina ("A Word for Defense"), Nina Georgievna ("Photos on the Wall"), Alla ("Autumn Marathon", State Prize of the RSFSR for 1981).

Recognition and awards

1976 - Golden Femina prize at the International Festival in Brussels (“With and without you”);
1975 - Audience Award at the Belgrade Film Festival (“With and without you”);
1976 - Lenin Komsomol Prize - for embodying the image of his contemporaries in cinema;
1977 - All-Union Film Festival Award for the role of Valentina Kostina in the film “A Word for Defense” (1976);
1980 - Honored Artist of the RSFSR;
1981 - State Prize of the RSFSR named after the Vasilyev brothers - for the role of Alla in the film “Autumn Marathon” (1979);
1987 - People's Artist of the RSFSR;
1990 - State Prize of the RSFSR in the field of theatrical art - for playing the main role in the play “Steep Route” by Evgenia Ginzburg;
1993 - Nika Award for Best Actress in the film “You Are the Only One for Me” (1993);
1996 - Order of Friendship - for services to the state and many years of conscientious work;
2000 - Triumph Award;
2001 - State Prize of the Russian Federation - for the role of Elizabeth in the play “We’re Playing... Schiller!”;
2006 - Order of Merit for the Fatherland, IV degree - for great contribution to the development of theatrical art and achieved creative success;
2012 - Order of Honor - for great services in the development of national culture and art, many years of fruitful activity;
2016 — Special prize “For conquering the heights of acting and loyalty to the principles of the school of K. S. Stanislavsky” MIFF;
2017 - 25th Russian Film Festival in Honfleur - prize for best actress (“Frostbitten Carp”);
2017 - Moscow City Prize in the field of literature and art in the category "Theater Art" - for high performing skills and contribution to the development of domestic theatrical art and cinema.