Actress Dzidra Ritenberg: biography, personal life, family, films and photos

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

Dzidra Ritenbergs is a popular Soviet and Latvian actress, film director. Glory came to her quite early, after the very first film in her career - Vladimir Brown's melodrama "Malva", in which she got the main role. In the life of the actress there were many bright roles and a real love tragedy: her husband died just a few months before the birth of her daughter Evgenia..

Biography of the actress

Dzidra Ritenbergs was born in 1928. She was born in the Dundaga parish on the territory of modern Latvia. After graduating from an evening high school in Liepaja, Dzidra Ritenbergs entered the Upita Drama Theater for the course of teacher Vera Balyug. She later graduated from the Jazeps Vitola Latvian State Conservatory.

Creative career

Dzidra Ritenbergs began her creative career on the stage of the Drama Theater in Liepaja, where she worked from 1948 to 1957. Then she performed at the Riga Russian Drama Theater for five years.

Herebya breakthrough in the biography of Dzidra Ritenbergs was the move to Moscow. Since 1962, she continued her creative career as an actress at the Stanislavsky Drama Theatre. She has been working in it until 1975.

After that, she returns to Riga, where she begins to make films herself as a director at a local film studio. At the same time, since 1958, Dzidra Ritenbergs, whose photo you have the opportunity to view, has been a member of the Latvian Filmmakers Union. In 1960 she received the title of Honored Artist in her republic.

In March 2003, after a long illness, she passed away at the age of 74. She was buried at the Forest Cemetery in Riga.

Work in the theater

It was on the theatrical stage that the first success came to Dzidra Ritenbergs. Photos of the actress show what a stunning beauty this woman was. At the Drama Theater in Liepaja, she was remembered by the local audience, playing the role of Beatrice in the play based on the play by William Shakespeare "Much Ado About Nothing" and Elina in "Days of Tailors in Silmachi" by Rudolf Blaumanis.

In the Riga Theater of Russian Drama, her most notable images created on stage are Jeanne Barbier in Lev Slavin's "Intervention", Anna W alter - Remarque's "Last Choice", Madame Alta - "Which Harbor?" Grigulis, Nadezhda Monakhova - "Barbarians" by Gorky, Rumyantseva - "Torch" by Samuil Alyoshin, Dagna - "Unfinished Tale" by Masevich.

Star role

Dzidra's biography is amazingRitenbergs. She was lucky to play a star role in the very first film in which she was invited. It was a melodrama by Vladimir Brown "Malva", based on the story of the same name by Gorky and another work of the writer called "Two Tramps".

The heroine of our article plays the role of Malva. This is a fatal beauty, with whom the peasant Vasily, who left his wife and son Jacob, falls in love. With Malva, he is forgotten in a carefree life.

When his son Yakov grows up, he, convinced of the futility of village life, comes to his father in the city. Soon after this, the relationship between Vasily and Malva deteriorates, as a result, he leaves her with her son, and he returns to the village. Malva turns out to be too proud, she rejects young Jacob.

The film starred Pavel Usovnichenko (Vasily), Anatoly Ignatiev (Yakov). The picture was presented in 1957 at the Venice Film Festival, where the actress received a prize for best actress.

Popularity with directors

After the triumph in Venice, the actress began to receive regular offers to appear in new films. But mostly these were minor roles that did not bring her satisfaction. Of her works of that period, one can note the image of Stephanie in the historical-revolutionary drama "Born by the Storm" by Arthur Voitetsky and Yakov Bazelyan, as well as Sophia in the drama "Thunderstorm over the Fields" by Nikolai Krasy and Yuri Lysenko. She also appeared in little-known films: "Cause and Effect", "After the Storm","Happiness must be protected", "Echo", "Someone else's misfortune", "Your happiness", "Under one roof".

Family

Personal life played a big role in the biography of Dzidra Ritenbergs. Photos of the actress began to appear regularly on the pages of Soviet newspapers and magazines dedicated to cinema and culture. Soon she found a husband - actor Yevgeny Urbansky. For him, this was the second marriage. His first wife Olga had a daughter from him. Eugene was one of the most promising Soviet actors of the early 60s. He was glorified by the roles: Vasily Gubanov in the socialist drama Yuli Raizman "Communist", Vasya the disabled in the military melodrama Grigory Chukhrai "The Ballad of a Soldier".

It is interesting that Dzidra herself did not immediately reciprocate Urbansky, since at that moment she had an affair with Vyacheslav Tikhonov, which had been going on for four years. When Eugene began to look after her, the actress was sick, she was in hospital. When Tikhonov learned that Urbansky was visiting her in the hospital ward, he himself immediately broke off any relationship with her. Dzidra got married as soon as she left the hospital. Life together was not easy, after the wedding it turned out that Eugene regularly takes mistresses, who, moreover, call home themselves, and one of them repeatedly told the heroine of our article that she had given birth to a child from her husband.

But his acting talent was not destined to be fully revealed. In 1965, he tragically died at the age of only 33. For biography, person althe life of Dzidra Ritenbergs left a strong imprint.

Tragedy on set

The tragedy occurred on the set of the film "Director" by Alexei S altykov. In this picture, he got the role of the founder of the ZIL plant, Ivan Likhachev. As the heroine of our article later recalled, Eugene accepted this invitation without enthusiasm, but went near Bukhara, where they filmed the scene of the passage of a convoy through the sands. He was worried about his wife, who by that time was six months pregnant, and this was her first child at 37.

According to the script of the film, Urbansky's character had to quickly drive through the dunes, overtake the convoy, and then lead it. In this scene there was a complex shot with a car jumping from one of the dunes. The first take was shot without problems, but the second director who was filming offered to shoot another take to make the car bounce even higher. During the second shot, the car Urbansky was driving overturned. The actor died on the spot from his injuries.

It is noteworthy that on that fateful day the actor was not supposed to act at all, the stuntman was supposed to sit in the car, but Evgeny convinced the director that a close-up was needed in the car, so he would have to perform the dangerous maneuver himself. After this tragedy, Goskino immediately ordered to stop working on the film, the director was removed from the profession for a year and a half. Only in 1967 did he manage to return to the set, S altykov shot the military drama "Indian Kingdom", and two years later all-finally got permission to finish work on "Director". The role of Urbansky was eventually played by Nikolai Gubenko.

Birth of a daughter

The heroine of our article never got married again. A couple of months after the death of her husband, the daughter of Dzidra Ritenbergs was born, who was named Evgenia - in honor of her father.

She became a singer in a Latvian choir, gave birth to two children - Carl and Gustav. Photos of Dzidra Ritenbergs and her daughter can be found in our article. Some time later, the actress returned to her activities.

Return to work

After the death of her husband, actress Dzidra Ritenbergs did not immediately return to work, besides, she needed to recover after the birth of her daughter. In 1967, she starred in the film "Larks Come First", and then played in the film "The Source".

Among her notable roles of that period, it should be noted: the head of the women's department in the military drama Alois Brencha "Triple Check", Luiza Ivanovna in the film adaptation of Dostoevsky's novel "Crime and Punishment" by Lev Kulidzhanov, Catherine I in the historical and biographical drama of Yuri Shvyrev "The Ballad of Bering and His Friends", Dzidra Arturovna in the melodrama "Day after Day" by Lydia Ishimbayeva and Vsevolod Shilovsky, Sirena Markovna in Alois Branch's musical comedy "Big Amber", Nasonov's wife in Branch's detective story "Keys to Paradise".

It may seem surprising, but the main roles of the actressalmost no one offered time. The only exception was Janis Streicha's 1975 comedy melodrama "My friend is not a serious person." The protagonist of this picture is the principled Arvid Lasmanis, who, due to his quarrelsomeness, does not linger on any job. In this tape, the heroine of our article played the role of Mirdza.

At the end of acting career

In the 70s, the heroine of our article finally returns to Latvia, filmed only at the Riga Film Studio. At the same time, he receives the main or at least noticeable roles.

Among the films of Dzidra Ritenbergs of that period, Janis Streicha's drama "The Master" can be noted, in which she played Aunt Lida's client. In the picture of Andris Rozenbergs "Reflection in the Water" she appears as a secretary. Then in the comedy melodrama of Karlis Marsons "Be my mother-in-law!" plays the administrator of the hotel, in Alois Branch's drama "Long Road in the Dunes" - Ernu, in his own play "Remember or Forget" - the doctor. In the drama "Rich Man, Poor Man" by Arunas Zhebryunas - Mrs. Lucia, in the film by Olgert Dunkers "Garden with a Ghost" - Miss Robertson.

The last role of Dzidra was a professor in Viya Beinert's melodrama "Coincidence".

In the director's chair

Since the mid-70s, the heroine of our article decided to try herself as a director. Her debut work was the youth drama "This Dangerous Door to the Balcony". It starred Varis Vetra, Antra Liedskalnynia, Peteris Gaudins.

The main character of thisIn the movie, Roland nearly died when he fell off a balcony when he was a kid. His parents, in order to protect the boy from future possible misfortunes, simply nailed the door to the balcony with nails. When he turns 18, an amateur film is shown at his birthday celebration, in which a girl who comes on a date but never waits for her boyfriend is filmed with a hidden camera. After some time, she finds herself in a hospital emergency room - the young lady has a broken leg. The traumatology department nurse Inga decides to find out who is guilty of what happened at all costs.

In 1979, Dzidra shoots the melodrama "Evening Variant". This is a film adaptation of the work of Bronislava Parszewska, which, in the director's interpretation, has a pronounced socio-pedagogical focus. She tries to convey modern teaching methods to students and colleagues, but does not find support and understanding. She soon finds herself embroiled in a family feud at the home of one of her students.

80s Movies

In the 80s, Dzidra worked very fruitfully, releasing four full-length films.

In 1982, she directed the drama "The Longest Straw", which tells about life in a provincial town in the first post-war year. A stranger appears among its inhabitants, who goes to the local underground,claiming that he had come on behalf of Madame Murskaya. Allegedly, on the eve of her flight abroad, she hid family treasures in a cache. However, the leader of the underground does not trust him, noting that, moreover, he surprisingly resembles the son of the local doctor Vilks, who was killed by the Nazis four years ago.

In 1985, the drama "Another Case" was released - the story of a schoolgirl Stasi, who comes to Riga during the winter holidays to find her father. He left them with his mother two years ago. The girl ends up at the home of lawyer Eric, who decides to help her, but when they find her father, he turns out to be not at all as wonderful as his daughter imagined.

In the 1986 detective film The Last Report, a West German journalist is assigned by his superiors to investigate the mysterious death of popular journalist Jorgensen. Busy with another topic, the protagonist reluctantly takes up this matter. However, having received access to the materials of the investigation, he finds out that a colleague died because of the publications that he was preparing to publish in the near future. And not at all for domestic reasons, as the police claim.

A house with no way out

In 1988, the drama "House with No Exit" was released. It tells about three criminals who escape from the colony and stay in the artist's summer house. They force the owner to help them escape from persecution. A creative person, driven to a nervous breakdown, is trying to get rid of uninvited guests by any means.

Last directorialDzidra's work - "Lifelong W altz" - went unnoticed.