Olga Pyzhova: biography and photo

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

She was a real icon of Soviet cinema and a brilliant star of the theater stage. In addition to these qualities, the great actress Olga Pyzhova was also an excellent teacher, she produced a galaxy of talented actors and directors. In addition, the audience appreciated her for her ability to stage performances and plays. Olga Pyzhova, like no other, was in demand in the profession, but, unfortunately, she was forced to leave the theater stage in advance. What was her creative path like? Let's take a closer look at this issue.

Years of childhood and youth

Olga Pyzhova, a biography whose personal life will be of interest primarily to admirers of her talent, was born on October 29, 1894 in Moscow. Studied at the Institute for Noble Maidens.

After some time, the future actress graduated from accounting courses, so she went to work in a seed office. She also happened to be a reader in a rich family. After the death of her father, she and her mother moved to the city on the Neva, closer to relatives. Young Olga Pyzhova in the northern capital gets a job first in a bankinginstitution, and then she is accepted as an employee in the archives of the Senate. In her youth, she woke up an interest in great art. Once, even under the patronage of her aunt E. Sultanova, she took part in the charity performance "White Lily" (dir. N. V. Petrov). Soon he came to the city on the Neva with a tour of the Moscow Art Theater, whose performances made an indelible impression on the girl: she was captivated by the theater once and for all. Olga acted decisively: she wanted to talk to Nemirovich-Danchenko himself, and she succeeded. The maestro liked the young naivety of the girl, and he invited her to take the exam. Pyzhova had only a month and a half to prepare.

Studying at the Moscow Art Theater

Remarkably, out of the two hundred applicants for acting, almost all failed the exam, with the exception of two applicants.

One of them was Olga Pyzhova. She was accepted into the first studio of the Moscow Art Theater. The girl was a diligent student, so at the end of the course she was enrolled in the troupe of the local theater.

The beginning of a career at the Moscow Art Theater

Beginning actress Olga Pyzhova began to demonstrate the limits of her talent immediately. The directors were happy to try her out for roles, but for some reason there were not many of them. So, the young actress appeared before the audience in the images of a young lady at a ball at Famusov's (“Woe from Wit”), a governess in the play “Where it is thin, there it breaks”, Fairies in the production of “The Blue Bird”. Subsequently, Olga Pyzhova skillfully combined work in different studios of the Moscow Art Theater. In the first, she was remembered for the roles of Viola in the "Twelfthnight", courtesan Lizzi in "The Flood". The vaudeville "Match" turned out to be a successful work, where the actress acted on the same stage with the eminent Mikhail Chekhov and Sofia Giatsintova. In the second studio, Pyzhova filigreely reincarnated as the image of a Hummingbird (the play “The Story of Lieutenant Yergunov”). Even Konstantin Stanislavsky himself, struck by the amazing talent and unusual artistic nature of the actress, without hesitation, approved her for the role of Mirandolina (“Hotel Hostess”). It was this performance that appeared in the repertoire of foreign tours.

In America, actress Olga Pyzhova, whose biography contains many remarkable and interesting facts, masterfully reincarnated as Varvara ("The Cherry Orchard").

MKhAT-2

After foreign tours, Pyzhova decides to work permanently in the first studio of the Moscow Art Theater, which after some time was renamed the Moscow Art Theater-2. Olga was immediately remembered by the viewer for her role as the beautiful Dina Kraevich in Evgraf the Adventurer (1926). However, after some time, a creative conflict broke out in the Melpomene temple, and Pyzhova, along with part of the acting troupe, was forced to leave the theater.

Revolution Theater

This is where Olga came to work after the Moscow Art Theater-2. On the stage of the Theater of Revolution, the actress will play a number of brilliant roles, including: Lena in "Personal Life", Glafira in "Golgotha", Ksenia in "Man with a Briefcase", Kiksi in "Street of Joy". Unfortunately, she soon had to leave the big stage, as the actress's eyesight deteriorated sharply, and her blindness began to progress.

Perhaps that is why she did not fully reveal her acting potential on the set. Nevertheless, she still managed to play several notable roles in the cinema: Ogudalov ("Dowry", 1937), grandmother Olya ("Alyosha Ptitsyn develops character", 1953).

Director's work

However, despite all the hardships and hardships, Olga Pyzhova (actress) was not going to stay outside the creative profession. In the 1920s, she began directing. And the peak of her career in this capacity was already in the 30s. Together with her husband, she staged performances at the 3rd Moscow Theater for Children. The audience simply adored her work: "The tricks of Scapin" by Moliere (1937), "The Tale" (1939), "Twenty years later" (1940).

During the Patriotic War, Pyzhova continued to hone her directing skills even in the evacuation. In Kazakhstan, she staged a magnificent play "The Taming of the Shrew" (1943). In collaboration with B. Bibikov and Y. Zavadsky, she directed the production of "Invasion" (1943).

After the war, she continues to work in the chosen direction and together with her husband in 1949 puts on the play "I want to go home!" Mikhalkov, who is awarded the prestigious USSR State Prize.

Teaching work

Olga Pyzhova also became famous as a talented mentor. Back in 1939, she was awarded the honorary title of professor.

The actress taught beginner actors at GITIS, the Vakhtangov studio, the Theater-studio im. M. N. Ermolova,VGIK.

Private life

The actress was married to the great Boris Bibikov. They were the happiest couple. Together they were able to put on a number of interesting and entertaining performances. Olga Pyzhova and Boris Bibikov brought up a whole generation of talented actors, including Leonid Kuravlev, Svetlana Druzhinina, Lyubov Sokolova, Tamara Semina, Nonna Mordyukova and many others.

Olga Pyzhova died on November 8, 1972. She was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery of the capital.