Nina Menshikova: mother, wife, actress

Really great actors and actresses can show their unimaginable talent literally in two or three roles. Sometimes just one role is enough. This wonderful actress of Soviet cinema, the audience fell in love with the appearance on the screens of only two pictures: "Girls" (the role of Vera's mother) and "We'll Live To Monday" (Svetlana Mikhailovna's role)). 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 Grigorievna (born 1903) and Eugene Alexandrovich (born in 1898) Menshikovs. About the childhood years of the actress very little is known, practically nothing. It is known that her father was a military man. Nina herself from the very childhood dreamed of acting.

At the age of nineteen (in 1947) Nina Menshikova became a student of the All-Union Institute of Cinematography. She goes to the acting department. Despite the fact that she liked to learn, this process was not very successful for her. The head of the course, where the future actress studied, was Boris Babochkin (the legendary Chapaev), and he could not see in his student any kind of beauty or bright, instantly striking beauty. Babochkin was sure that in her future there is no prospect: her appearance is absolutely not suitable for the pages of cinematic art, and the student herself does not give any hopes necessary for working in the cinema. None of Nina Evgenyevna's educational work suited him, so the marks did not rise higher than "satisfactory".

Acquaintance with Gerasimov

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

It was in these walls that her acting charm was discovered, her somewhat peculiar talent was revealed and her professionalism increased tremendously. Nina Menshikova studied very diligently, even was a Stalin scholarship. In the characteristic that was given to her at the graduation from the institute, it was said that she is very inquisitive and well educated, she can independently solve acting problems, she played many diverse roles, differing in character and age ...

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

Debut role

Her first role, Nina Menshikova, an actress of Soviet cinema, played in the graduation short film "Trouble", set by her comrades in the workshop on the story of Chekhov. They decided to invite the leading actress to the main role of Masha's governess. According to the scenario, she had rather scant actions and cues. But ... It was very interesting material, impregnated through dramaturgy. The psychological state of Masha for a small history changes three times! Every time Menshikova had to look for some tricks to convey the state of the main character to the viewer. She managed to do it for glory, she managed to make Masha live, and the tragedy - real.

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

Varvara and Svetlana Mihailovna

The role of the mother of an ordinary village boy, who accidentally managed to find an ancient miraculous icon, gave Menshikova the opportunity to show her best of all her best acting qualities and abilities. The image of Barbara (mother) in the entire huge creative biography is the most tragic. The character is torn apart by internal contradictions. Her husband left her, left with a small son in her arms. Varvara is not very well adjusted to live independently, she is very timid, modest, used to obey. Nina Menshikova very convincingly conveyed all the worthlessness and bleakness of the existence of Barbara. She has constant transitions from fear of life to attempts to show evil power over a small son and again to tears.

Another serious and beloved viewer role of Nina Menshikova became a character from the picture "We'll Live To Monday" - a literature teacher Svetlana Mihailovna. At first glance this is a very negative person. But Menshikova's skill enabled her to reveal the most contradictory features of her character's character, to show her exquisitely. Each viewer, having looked at this film, could not simply sympathize or gloat some line in the picture, but also reflect on the teacher's life peripeteias, over all the circumstances of her personal drama. The actress's work on the creation of the image of Svetlana Mikhailovna clearly showed that playing a role of a character that is not very attractive at first glance, a talented actor will be able to show it from the other side. For the performance of this role, Nina Menshikova Received the State Prize of the Soviet Union.

Personal life

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

The 45-year-old marriage of director Stanislav Rostotsky and actress Nina Menshikova was a happy exception, which does not at all confirm the opinion of how disingenuous and wrong the people of art are.

It was one of the most beautiful pairs of Soviet cinema. They met while in VGIK. Nina was sure that her love has no chance, because almost all the girls of the course were in love with Stanislav, not even Alla Larionova was left behind. But after a trip to the village of Kirzhach, where Rostotsky was going to co-author the first work with Vladimir Krasilshchikov and where Menshikov went to prepare food for two talented people, everything was decided. The novel, the result of which was the picture "Land and People" in 1956 and the birth in January 1957 of Andrei's son, began on the very first day. Doctors forbade Menshikova to even think about the child because of the tuberculosis she had suffered. She did not listen to them. So the world learned about another talented actor, stuntman and director Andrei Rostotsky.

From the family was very happy until August 2001, when, after a massive heart attack, Rostotsky the elder passed away. It would seem that it is harder than this loss in the life of Nina Evgenyevna can not be. But there was another heavy loss. May 5, 2002 in Sochi, their son Andrei is tragically killed.

Nina Menshikova died on December 27, 2007, having survived her son for 5 years ...