Nina Menshikova: mother, wife, actress

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

Really great actors and actresses can show their unimaginable talent in literally two or three roles. Sometimes just one role is enough. The audience fell in love with this wonderful actress of Soviet cinema after the release of only two films: "Girls" (the role of Vera's mother) and "We'll Live Until Monday" (the role of Svetlana Mikhailovna)). So, Nina Menshikova: acting wife and mother.

Start

On a warm summer day, August 8, 1928, a daughter named Ninochka was born in the family of Tatyana Grigoryevna (born 1903) and Evgeny Alexandrovich (born 1898) Menshikov. Very little is known about the childhood years of the actress, almost nothing. It is known that her father was a military man. Ninochka herself dreamed of acting in films since childhood.

At the age of nineteen (in 1947) Nina Menshikova became a student at the All-Union Institute of Cinematography. She enters the acting department. Despite the fact that she really liked studying, this process did not develop too much for her.successfully. The head of the course, where the future actress studied, was Boris Babochkin (the legendary Chapaev), and he could not see in his student at least a modicum of prettiness or bright, instantly conspicuous beauty. Babochkin was sure that there was no prospect in her future: her appearance was absolutely not suitable for the pages of cinematic art, and the student herself did not show any hope necessary for working in cinema. None of the educational work of Nina Evgenievna suited him, therefore, the marks did not rise higher than “satisfactory”.

Getting to know Gerasimov

This situation lasted for two years. Nina Menshikova, whose biography is rich in a huge number of interesting facts, made a fateful decision for her to move to a lower course. It was the workshop of Sergei Gerasimov. From that moment on, a completely different life begins for the girl.

It was within these walls that her acting charm was revealed, her somewhat peculiar talent was revealed and there was a huge increase in her professionalism. Nina Menshikova studied very diligently, she was even a Stalin scholarship holder. In the characterization that was given to her upon graduation from the institute, it was said that she was very inquisitive and well educated, she could independently solve acting tasks, played many diverse roles, differing from each other in character and age …

By the way, all these qualities could be seen in her theses: in "Anna Karenina" Menshikova had the role of Dolly, and in "Youth of Peter" - Anna Mons.

Debut role

HisThe first role of Nina Menshikova, an actress of Soviet cinema, was played in the diploma short film "Trouble", staged by her comrades in the workshop based on Chekhov's story. They decided to invite an aspiring actress to the main role of Masha's governess. According to the script, she had rather mean actions and remarks. But… It was very interesting material, saturated through and through with dramaturgy. The psychological state of Mashenka changes three times during the short story! Each time, Menshikova had to look for some tricks to convey to the viewer the state of the main character. She did it well, she managed to make Masha alive, and the tragedy - real.

The teachers were able to make sure that the girl is very professionally able to express the state of her heroine, move plastically, she listens to any idea of the director and knows how to make independent creative decisions.

Varvara and Svetlana Mikhailovna

The role of the mother of an ordinary village boy, who accidentally managed to find an ancient miraculous icon, made it possible for Menshikova to very clearly show all her best acting qualities and abilities. The image of Varvara (mother) in the entire huge creative biography is the most tragic. The character is torn apart by internal contradictions. She was abandoned by her husband, left with a young son in his arms. Barbara is not very well adapted to live independently, she is very timid, modest, used to obey. Nina Menshikova very convincingly conveyed all the worthlessness and joylessness of Varvara's existence. She has constant transitions from fear oflife to attempts to exercise evil power over a young son and again to tears.

Another serious and audience-loved role of Nina Menshikova was a character from the film "We'll Live Until Monday" - literature teacher Svetlana Mikhailovna. At first glance, this is a very negative person. But the skill of Menshikova made it possible to reveal the most contradictory traits of her heroine's character, to show her subtly. Each viewer, having watched this film, could not only sympathize or gloat with some line in the film, but also reflect on the teacher's life vicissitudes, on all the circumstances of her personal drama. The work of the actress on creating the image of Svetlana Mikhailovna clearly showed that playing the role of a character that is not very attractive at first glance, a talented actor will be able to show him from the other side. For this role, Nina Menshikova received the State Prize of the Soviet Union.

Private life

The biography of actress Nina Menshikova cannot be complete without mentioning her family.

The 45-year marriage of director Stanislav Rostotsky and actress Nina Menshikova was a happy exception, not at all confirming the opinion of how dissolute and unfaithful people of art are.

It was one of the most beautiful couples in Soviet cinema. They met at VGIK. Nina was sure that her love had no chance, because almost all the girls of the course were in love with Stanislav, even Alla Larionova did not stand aside. But aftera trip to the village of Kirzhach, where Rostotsky was going with the co-author of the first work, Vladimir Krasilshchikov, and where Menshikova went to cook food for two talented people, everything was decided. The novel, which resulted in the painting "Earth and People" in 1956 and the birth of his son Andrei in January 1957, began on the very first day. Doctors forbade Menshikova even to think about a child because of tuberculosis. She didn't listen to them. So the world learned about another talented actor, stuntman and director Andrei Rostotsky.

The family was very happy until August 2001, when Rostotsky Sr. passed away after a massive heart attack. It would seem that this loss in the life of Nina Evgenievna cannot be harder. But there was another heavy loss. On May 5, 2002, their son Andrei tragically died in Sochi.

Nina Menshikova died on December 27, 2007, outliving her son by 5 years…