Serafima Birman: biography, personal life, films

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Serafima Birman. Today, the name of this extraordinary talented actress is almost forgotten. And once Stanislavsky himself admired her, and many connoisseurs of theatrical art put her name on a par with the greatest actresses in the world. Our article will tell readers about the biography of this woman, her work and personal life.

Begin biography

Serafima Birman was born in Moldova, in the city of Chisinau. Her mother was Elena Ivanovna Botezat, her father was German Mikhailovich Birman. The head of the family had the military rank of staff captain and served in a reserve infantry battalion.

The atmosphere in the family was especially strict. Seraphim's father was extremely demanding both to himself and to those around him.

Serafima Birman studied well and graduated from the women's gymnasium with a gold medal. Then the girl went to her older sister, who worked as a doctor in the large village of Chernolevka.

Local landowner KF Kazimir arranged small amateur performances in his estate, in which Serafima had a chance to participate. Casimir saw in the awkward ugly girl a real acting talent. He renderedfinancial assistance to the girl so that she could learn the basics of acting from professional teachers.

In 1908, Serafima Birman moved to Moscow and began attending Adashev's drama school. Yevgeny Vakhtangov studied with her at that time. Later, the actress recalled how miserable their student life was. They ate only canned food and black bread. In 1911, the training was completed.

Meet Stanislavsky

Now Serafima Birman had an acting education. The young inexperienced actress boldly went to audition at the Moscow Art Theatre.

The members of the commission, seeing an awkward, thin girl with a huge nose, decided to quickly get rid of her and suggested that she immediately play an improvisation on the theme of seduction. To their surprise, Birman was not at all embarrassed or confused.

The skinny girl went to the most important examiner, coquettishly sat down next to him and began to shamelessly flirt with him. Stanislavsky (it was he who appeared in the role of the seduced) waved his hands and shouted: "I believe! I believe!". All members of the introductory commission unanimously voted to admit Birman to the Moscow Art Theater.

Work in the theater

Serafima Birman organically joined the legendary First Studio of the Moscow Art Theater. Together with her, Sofya Giatsintova, Evgeny Vakhtangov, Mikhail Chekhov served there. The "cult of the Stanislavsky system" reigned in the team.

From 1913 to 1924 Birman played in the following productions: "The Hostess" (Galdoni); "VillageStepanchikovo" (Dostoevsky), "The Death of Pazukhin" (S altykov-Shchedrin), "The Fruits of Enlightenment" (L. Tolstoy).

In 1924, the First Studio of the Moscow Art Theater ceased to exist. The Moscow Art Theater was organized, in which Birman worked until 1936. In the Moscow Art Theater, she becomes one of the leading actresses and plays a lot. Her most famous roles of those years: Queen Anna Stewart (the play "The Man Who Laughs"), Julitta ("Shadow of the Liberator"), Violanta ("Spanish Priest"), Dvoyra ("Sunset").

After 1936 Serafima Birman served in the MOSPS Theatre. There she decided to try herself as a director and staged a powerful play "Vassa Zheleznova", in which she played the main role.

In 1938, the actress participates in the creation of the Theater. Lenin Komsomol. She served there until 1958. Then, until the end of her life, she worked at the Mossovet Theater.

In the troupe of the Moscow City Council at that time was the star Faina Ranevskaya, who, like Birman, played sharp roles. It is known that these two great women competed with each other. They were similar in many ways.

Movie roles

Seraphim Birman's film career was not as successful as in the theater. The actress was distinguished by a specific appearance and she was invited to play mainly episodic roles. But even in episodes, the power of Birman's acting temperament is visible on the screen.

The most famous film role of the actress is Efrosinya Staritskaya in Eisenstein's film "Ivan the Terrible". For this work, Birman1946 received the Stalin Prize.

Writing talent

Serafima Germanovna was not only a talented actress and director. She wrote books: "The work of an actor", "The path of an actress", "Fate-granted meetings", "Actor and image". All of these works were published during her lifetime.

Besides, throughout her acting career, Serafima Germanovna was in active correspondence with admirers of her talent, and there were many such people. Birman, despite being very busy, answered every letter.

Actress's personal life

From our story it is clear that the actress devoted all her time to creativity. But what about personal life? Serafima Birman was married to the writer Talanov Alexander Viktorovich. He was 11 years younger than his wife and loved her very much, and she also doted on him.

In her work, the famous actress has always shown a tough, difficult character. At home, she was completely different: gentle, soft, loving. This was told by family friends who often visited the house of Birman and Talanov.

The spouses had no children. Alexander Viktorovich was in poor he alth. When he fell ill, Serafima Germanovna was very worried about her husband, about which she wrote to friends more than once.

In 1969, when Serafima Birman toured the B altics with the theater, news came from Moscow that her husband had died. People around said that it was painful to look at the actress, she was so depressed by thistragic news.

After the death of his wife Birman plunged into loneliness. Many began to avoid her, which further contributed to the deterioration of her mental state.

Illness and death

A few years after the death of her husband, actress Serafima Birman left the theater. But she did not know how to live outside of creativity, she was completely helpless in everyday life. At first, she was looked after by a housekeeper, to whom Birman was very attached, but soon this person also died.

The relatives took the helpless old actress to Leningrad. There she was placed in an insane asylum. To top it all off, Serafima Birman was stricken with blindness.

Being in a mental disorder and being completely blind, the actress lived in some kind of her own world. She seemed to be rehearsing something all the time. Serafima Germanovna Birman died on May 11, 1976 at the age of 85. The ashes of the actress are buried in the columbarium of the Novodevichy cemetery.

Filmography

There are few films with Serafima Birman, here is a list of them:

• "Cutter from Torzhok";
• "Girl with a box";
• "Women's victory";
• "Black barrack";
• "Man with a gun";
• "Girlfriends";
• "Ivan the Terrible";
• "Friends";
• "Crazy Day";
• "Island of mistakes";
• "Ordinary Man";
• "Don Quixote";
• "Storm".

Despite the short listelements of her filmography, she was remembered for a long time by the audience of the theater and cinema with her inimitable game.