Alla Demidova
Alla Demidova | |
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Website | demidova.ru |
Alla Sergeyevna Demidova (Russian: А́лла Серге́евна Деми́дова; born 29 September 1936, Moscow) is a Russian actress internationally acclaimed for the tragic parts in innovative plays staged by
Biography
Alla Demidova was born on 29 September 1936 in
Career
While still at school, Demidova joined the well-known Moscow actress Tatyana Shchekin-Krotova's courses to study drama. After the graduation she took the examinations at the
In 1964 Demidova graduated from the Shchukin Institute, having presented as her diploma work the role of Mrs. Young in
1966 – 1979
The leading role in
1968 was the year of Demidova's major breakthrough when six of her films came out. Some of her roles (like that in
In 1968 Demidova started to get major roles in Taganka, Elmyra in
After the success of Hamlet, Demidova started to receive numerous offers, but felt disappointed with the way directors tried to exploit the most obvious aspects of her stage persona. Still, lauded were her performances as Arkadina in
As Yuri Lyubimov, invited to direct at
Demidova and Vysotsky
In the late 1970s Demidova and Vysotsky, both irritated by Lyubimov's artistic dictatorship, gravitated into a tandem (where, as one critic put it, "ice and fire clashed") to experiment with ideas of their own.[3] "We both were beginning to realize that the time of massive, colourful theatrical shows has come to an end, and the new era of private, chamber theater was approaching," Demidova recalled.[5] Having in mind the Vysotsky and Demidova's project, Vitaly Vulf translated into Russian Tennessee Williams' Out Cry, a play for two characters, brother and sister. Lyubimov saw it as an "ego act" (seeing as the original had been written for a couple of Broadway stars) and the fellow Taganka actors apparently took their boss's side.[5] "As the first Act was ready, we advertised it locally, inviting everybody to come and see. Only two people showed up: [stage designer] David Borovsky and his friend. What would you expect: it's... theatre!" Demidova later bitterly remarked.[10] The experiment was shelved, along with another project, their own version of Jean Racine's Phaedra. Months later Vysotsky died. "It was only after he was gone that I suddenly realized how much he'd meant to me as a partner... He was an exceptional actor, especially in his last years, the one who reigned the audience by literally magnetizing the air around him," she later remembered.[5]
1980s
In the early 1980s Demidova started to stage her own recital shows, each produced as a miniature theatrical play. Some, shown by the Soviet TV, became popular. In Pushkin's
After Lyubimov's departure to the West, Demidova gradually withdrew from Taganka. In 1986 Efros revived the Cherry Orchard production, casting Demidova in the leading role. It won the 1st Prize at
1990s
Demidova's performance as Electra in
In 1992 Demidova's own A Theater opened, with the production of Phaedra. In 1993 came out Quartet, a play by
In the 1990s Demidova appeared in several films, playing Lebyadkina (The Obsessed, 1992), Miss Minchin (Little Princess, 1997) and Elizaveta Alekseevna (Unseen Traveller, 1998).[3] For two years she was teaching at the Boris Shchukin Theatre Institute (refusing to be paid, "so as not to feel tied up by it") but left, disappointed by her young students' response.[27] Now firmly under the impression that theatre in Russia, as well as abroad, was in crisis, Demidova quit the stage altogether.[32]
2000 – present
In 2000–2002 Demidova appeared on screen twice, first as Lora Lyons (in Remembering Sherlock Holmes, a Russian TV serial) then as mad Elsa (in Letters to Elsa, a film based on Vladimir Vysotsky's son Arkady's screenplay).[10] In Boris Blank's Death of Tairov (2004) Demidova played Alisa Koonen. "Enchanted by the character, I longed for that role, but the film proved to be devoid of dramatic scenes, and the script was bizarre, to put it mildly. Nevertheless, I managed to achieve some things: visual and aural similarity, by reproducing her voice and plastics – people who remembered her assured me as much," she later commented.[32] Yuri Lyubimov was supposed to be cast as Tairov, but fell ill, was hospitalized and Mikhail Kozakov came in, making a disappointing substitution, as far as Demidova was concerned. For the leading role in Kira Muratova's The Tuner (2005) Demidova received the Nika Award and the Golden Eagle Award for the Best Actress, having portrayed a kind of "modern day Ranevskaya," as she put it, a pure and pathetic post-Chekhov character.[10] After two more films – Igor Maslennikov's Russian Money (after Alexander Ostrovsky) where she played Murzavetskaya, and Sergey Kostin's historical documentary Waiting for the Empress (about Maria Fyodorovna, both 2006,[33] – Demidova declared she's lost all interest in being filmed.[34]
Throughout the 2000s Alla Demidova was staging her poetry recitals regularly (performing in Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Israel) and continued to do so in the early 2010s. As of 2014 she published nine books on theater, including Vladimir Vysotsky (1989), My Memory's News Ticker (2000) and Akhmatova's Mirrors (2004).[2][3]
Selected filmography
- Nine Days in One Year (1962)
- Two Comrades Were Serving (1968)
- The Shield and the Sword (1968)
- The Sixth of July (1968)
- Tchaikovsky (1970)
- All the King's Men (1971)
- The Seagull (1972)
- The Flight of Mr. McKinley (1975)
- Mirror (1975)
- Father Sergius (1978)
- A Glass of Water (1979)
- The Queen of Spades (1982)
- The Kreutzer Sonata (1987)
- The Tuner (2004)
Honours and awards
- USSR State Prize (1977), for her role in the film The Flight of Mr. McKinley
- People's Artist of the RSFSR (1984)
- The Stanislavsky award (1993)
- Order of Friendship (1997), for "services to the State and significant contribution to strengthening friendship and cooperation between peoples, many years of fruitful activity in the arts and culture"
- The President of the Russian Federation's Prize for outstanding contribution to Arts and literature in 2000 (25 April 2001)
- Nika Award, the Golden Eagle Award (2005) for her role in Kira Muratova's The Tuner
- Order of Merit for the Fatherland
- 4th class (2007), for "contribution to the development of the national culture and Arts, and creative longevity"
- 3rd class (2011), for "contribution to the development of domestic theatrical and cinematic arts, and creative longevity"
- The "Idol" Award (2009), "For high service to the Art"
- The Russian of the Year National award (2011)[35]
References
- ISBN 978-0-8108-6072-8.
- ^ a b Lyubov Lebedina. "She Ages Beautifully Too". www.demidova.ru. Retrieved 22 March 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Shenderova, Alla. "Alla Demidova. Biography". www.demidova.ru. Archived from the original on 13 April 2010. Retrieved 22 March 2010.
- ^ Rasskazova, Tatyana. Alla With a Doggie. www.demidova.ru.
- ^ a b c d e f g Demidova, A.S. One's Memory Running Line Eksmo-Press. 2003.
- YouTube. Part. 1.
- ^ a b Matizen, Victor. "Actress Alla Demidova. First Royalties Paid me a Shoe-maker". Novyie Izvestiya. Archived from the original on 29 March 2012. Retrieved 22 March 2010.
- ^ a b c d Arefyeva, Anastasiya. "Demidova, Alla Sergeevna". Krugosvet (Around the World) Encyclopedia (Russia). Archived from the original on 2 April 2010. Retrieved 22 March 2010.
- ^ a b c d e "Alla Demidova in Theatre". www.demidova.ru. Archived from the original on 28 March 2010. Retrieved 22 March 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Novikova, L. Alla Demidova: "I’ve been befriended by real geniuses" – Kultura (newspaper, Russia), 2006.
- ^ a b Fedorovsky, D. Alla Demidova: 'Why do I want to play Hamlet'. Yunost, August 1968, No.8 issue
- ^ Khmelnitsky, Boris (28 September 2006). "Alla Demidova's hands are like those of Plisetskaya". www.gzt.ru (Gazeta). Retrieved 22 March 2010.
- ^ "The Other Cinema. Alla Demidova". www.inoekino.ru. Retrieved 26 May 2010.
- ^ "Vladimir Vengerov". funeral-spb.narod.ru. Retrieved 3 May 2010.
- ^ "The Fate of the Comedy. Tartuffe at Taganka". Taganka Theatre site. Retrieved 22 March 2010.
- ^ a b c Veniamin Smekhov (1986). ""One Fine Day" (fragment)". Sovetsky Pisatel. Landscapes and Portraits. Retrieved 7 January 2010.
- ^ Gayevsky, V. (1990). "The Flute of Hamlet. Images of the Modern Theatre". www.russiancinema.ru. Archived from the original on 10 March 2012. Retrieved 3 May 2010.
- ^ Benyash, Raisa. "Two Roles of Alla Demidova". Avrora, No.4, 1975. Retrieved 18 May 2010.
- ^ Shakh-Azizova, Т. (1971–1972). ""Tchayka" by Alla Demodova". Ekran (The Screen) magazine. Retrieved 18 May 2010.
- ^ "All the King's Men". www.kino-teatr.ru. Retrieved 22 March 2010.
- ^ a b c Smolyakov, Alexander. "Hamlet Approaches the Sea". www.demidova.ru. Retrieved 7 January 2010.
- ^ "The Glass of Water (Stakan vody)". ruskino.ru. Archived from the original on 5 July 2010. Retrieved 13 August 2010.
- ^ a b c Shenderova, Alla (2006). "Lyubov Andreevna Ranevskaya as a Silver Age Woman". Proscenium. Voprosy Teatra. Retrieved 18 May 2010.
- ^ Rudnitsky, К. "The Cherry Orchard. Anatoly Efros' production". The Theatre Storylines Iskusstvo Publishers, 1990. Retrieved 18 May 2010.
- ^ "Oleg Grigoryevich Tchukhontsev". www.demidova.ru. Retrieved 22 March 2010.
- ^ ""Boris Godunov" production at Taganka Theatre". www.demidova.ru. Retrieved 18 May 2010.
- ^ a b c Podluznhaya, Alla. "Our profession is scrambling up a smooth wooden plane". www.day.kyiv.ua. Retrieved 18 May 2010.
- ^ Moskvina, Tatyana (1997). "The Lady at Winter (All Stand Still! compilation)". Amphora Publishers, Saint Petersburg. Retrieved 22 March 2010.
- ^ Gorfunkel, Yelena; Moskvina, Tatyana (2002). "The Film and the Context. Vol.IV". The Modern History of the Russian Cinema. 1986–2000. Saint Petersburg, Seans Publishers. Retrieved 18 May 2010.
- ^ Shvydkoy, Mikhail (14 October 1992). "What's That Electra to Us?". Literaturnaya Gazeta, No.42 (5419). Retrieved 18 May 2010.[dead YouTube link]
- ^ Vengerova, Ella (11–18 February 1993). "Theatre Without Catharsis". Ekran y Stsena (Screen and Scene, newspaper), No. (161). Retrieved 18 May 2010.
- ^ a b Dolin, Anton. Alla Demidova in The Tuner. www.demidova.ru.
- ^ Bykov, Dmitry (28 September – 4 October 2006). "To Play for Dionis". Rossiya (newspaper). Retrieved 17 May 2010.
- ^ Kutlovskaya, Yelena (23 May 2008). "Talent Vs. Character". Nezavisimaya Gazeta. Retrieved 3 May 2010.
- ^ «Россиянин года» на сайте Российской Академии бизнеса и предпринимательства
External links
- Alla Demidova at IMDb
- Official site of Alla Demidova
- Alla Demidova at Kino-Teatr.ru