Aleksandra Sergeyevna Khokhlova (born Alexandra Sergeyevna Botkina, russian: Александра Сергеевна Хохлова, 4 October 1897 – 22 August 1985) was a Soviet actress, theatre director, writer, and educator.
Biography
200 px, left, "Little Foxy" by Filipp Malyavin, 1902
The daughter of Sergei Botkin (1859–1910), a physician, and Alexandra Pavlovna Botkina (née Tretyakova, 1867–1959), Alexandra Sergeyevna Botkina was born in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
, in what was then the
German Empire
The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
. She had a sister, Anastasia,
and was the granddaughter of
Pavel Tretyakov
Pavel Mikhaylovich Tretyakov (russian: Па́вел Миха́йлович Третьяко́в; 27 December 1832 – 16 December 1898) was a Russian businessman, patron of art, collector, and philanthropist who gave his name to the Tretyakov Ga ...
, a philanthropist and patron of the arts. In 1914, she married actor
Konstantin Khokhlov
Konstantin Pavlovich Khokhlov (russian: link=no, Константин Павлович Хохлов, 1 November 1885 – 1 January 1956) was a Soviet stage and film actor, theater director, teacher. People's Artist of the USSR (1944).
Sel ...
. They had one child together, a son named Sergei.
She appeared as a supporting actress in the 1916 film ''Uragan'' (Hurricane) directed by
Boris Sushkevich
Boris Mikhaylovich Sushkevich (russian: Борис Михайлович Сушкевич, 7 February 1887 — 10 July 1946) was a St. Petersburg-born Russian, Soviet actor, theatre director and reader in drama, honoured with the titles Meritoriou ...
and in the 1918 film ''Iola'' directed by
Władysław Starewicz
Ladislas Starevich (russian: Владисла́в Алекса́ндрович Старе́вич, pl, Władysław Starewicz; August 8, 1882 – February 26, 1965) was a Polish-Russian stop-motion animator notable as the author of the first pu ...
. In 1919, she passed the entrance exam for the
State Institute of Cinematography in
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
. There she met
Lev Kuleshov
Lev Vladimirovich Kuleshov (russian: Лев Владимирович Кулешов; – 29 March 1970) was a Russian and Soviet filmmaker and film theorist, one of the founders of the world's first film school, the Moscow Film School. He ...
who would become her partner in film and in life. Khokhlova appeared in the 1920 film ''Na krasnom fronte'' (
On the Red Front) directed by Kuleshov; he also acted in the film, which combined archival footage with staged film sequences. Khokhlova's career in film was cut short when she fell out of favour because of her family's wealth and connections with Tsar
Nicholas II
Nicholas II or Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov; spelled in pre-revolutionary script. ( 186817 July 1918), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer,. was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Pola ...
.
[
Besides acting and directing, Khokhlova also taught a workshop at the state institute with Kuleshov. In 1935, she was named a Merited Artist of the Russian Federation.][
]
Selected filmography
Acting roles
* ''Zheleznaia Piata'' (The Iron Heel
''The Iron Heel'' is a political novel in the form of science fiction by American writer Jack London, first published in 1908.Kershaw, Alex. ''Jack London: A Life''. London: HarperCollins, 1997: 164.
Background
The main premise of the book i ...
) (1919) directed by Vladimir Gardin
Vladimir Rostislavovich Gardin (russian: Влади́мир Ростисла́вович Га́рдин) (born Vladimir Rostislavovich Blagonravov (Благонра́вов); – 28 May 1965) was a pioneering Russian film director and actor who ...
* ''Neobychainye prikliucheniia mistera Vesta v strane bolshevikov'' ( The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of the Bolsheviks), comedy (1924) directed by Lev Kuleshov
* ''Luch smerti'' ( The Death Ray) (1925) directed by Lev Kuleshov, Kholhlova was also assistant director
* ''Po zakonu'' (By the Law
''By the Law'' (russian: По закону, Po Zakonu, link=no) is an 83-minute silent drama film released on 3 December 1926. The film was directed by Lev Kuleshov and produced by the Soviet production company Goskino.
The narrative is based ...
) (1926) directed by Lev Kuleshov
* ''Vasha znakomaia'' (Your Acquaintance
''Your Acquaintance'' (russian: Ваша знакомая, Vasha znakomaya) is a 1927 Soviet short silent drama film directed by Lev Kuleshov and starring Aleksandra Khokhlova, Pyotr Galadzhev and Yuri Vasilchikov. Only a fragment of the film ...
) (1927) directed by Lev Kuleshov
* ''Velikii uteshitel (The Great Consoler
''The Great Consoler'' (russian: Великий утешитель, translit. Velikiy uteshitel) is a 1933 Soviet drama film directed by Lev Kuleshov and starring Konstantin Khokhlov. The film is based on the facts from the biography of t ...
) (1933) directed by Lev Kuleshov, Kholhlova was also assistant director
* ''Sibiryaki (Siberians
The Siberians, or Siberiaks, (russian: сибиряки, sibiryaki, ) are the majority inhabitants of Siberia, as well as the (sub)ethnic or ethnographic group of the Russians.
As demonym
The demonym ''Siberian'' can be restricted to either t ...
) (1940) directed by Lev Kuleshov
Directing
* ''Delo s zastezhkami'' (An affair of the clasps) (1929)
* ''Sasha'' (1930)
* ''Igrushki'' (Toys) (1933)
Assistant director
* ''My s Urala'' (We from the Urals
''We from the Urals'' (russian: Мы с Урала) is a 1943 Soviet drama film directed by Lev Kuleshov and Aleksandra Khokhlova.
Plot
Two teenagers working after school in a large military factory in the Urals rush to the front lines of war, ...
) (1943), directed by Lev Kuleshov
References
External links
*
Aleksandra Khokhlova
at the Women Film Pioneers Project
{{DEFAULTSORT:Khokhlova, Aleksandra
1897 births
1985 deaths
Actresses from the Russian Empire
Soviet actresses
Soviet women film directors
Soviet screenwriters
Soviet women writers
Women film pioneers
Soviet film directors
Women screenwriters
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