Ekaterina Fyodorovna Savinova (russian: link=no, Екатерина Фёдоровна Савинова; 26 December 1926 – 25 April 1970) was a Soviet theatre and film actress and singer most famous for the leading role in the comedy movie '' Come Tomorrow, Please...'' directed by her husband
Yevgeny Tashkov
Yevgeny Ivanovich Tashkov (russian: Евгений Иванович Ташков; 18 December 1926 — 15 February 2012) was a Soviet and Russian film director, screenwriter and actor known for his spy movies as well as a comedy '' Come Tomorrow, ...
. She was named
Meritorious Artist
Merited Artist of the Russian Federation (russian: link=no, Заслуженный артист Российской Федерации, ''Zasluzhenny artist Rossiyskoy Federatsii'') is an honorary title in the Russian Federation. The title is ...
of the RSFSR in 1965.Cinema: Encyclopedic Dictionary // ed.
Sergei Yutkevich
Sergei Iosifovich Yutkevich (russian: Серге́й Ио́сифович Ютке́вич, 28 December 1904 – 23 April 1985) was a Soviet and Russian film director and screenwriter. He was a People's Artist of the USSR (1962) and a Hero of ...
. — Moscow: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1987, p. 377
Early life
Ekaterina Savinova was born in the Yeltsovka village (modern-day
Yeltsovsky District
Yeltsovsky District (russian: Ельцо́вский райо́н) is an administrativeLaw #28-ZS and municipalLaw #11-ZS district (raion), one of the administrative divisions of Altai Krai, fifty-nine in Altai Krai, Russia. It is located in the ea ...
,
Altai Krai
Altai Krai (russian: Алта́йский край, r=Altaysky kray, p=ɐlˈtajskʲɪj kraj) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (a krai). It borders clockwise from the west, Kazakhstan (East Kazakhstan Region and Pavlodar ...
of Russia) into a peasant family, the youngest of four children. Her ancestors, originally from Penza Governorate, resettled in
Siberia
Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...
during the Stolypin reform. Her father Fyodor Yakovlevich Savinov worked in kolkhoz. Savinova inherited her singing talent from her mother Maria Semyonovna Savinova. She finished a secondary school and on August 1944 left for Moscow to enter acting courses. She was too late for exams, so she studied in a farming university and in half a year entered an additional VGIK course launched by
Vasili Vanin
Vasili Vasilyevich Vanin (russian: Васи́лий Васи́льевич Ва́нин; 13 January 1898, Tambov – 12 May 1951, Moscow) was a Soviet and Russian actor, theater director and pedagogue. People's Artist of the USSR (1949).
Biography ...
. She was soon dismissed "for the lack of acting skills", but this didn't stop her, and during the next summer she became a VGIK student under
Boris Bibikov
Boris may refer to:
People
* Boris (given name), a male given name
*:''See'': List of people with given name Boris
* Boris (surname)
* Boris I of Bulgaria (died 907), the first Christian ruler of the First Bulgarian Empire, canonized after his d ...
and his wife
Olga Pyzhova
Olga may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Olga (name), a given name, including a list of people and fictional characters named Olga or Olha
* Michael Algar (born 1962), English singer also known as "Olga"
Places
Russia
* Olga, Russia ...
Yevgeny Tashkov
Yevgeny Ivanovich Tashkov (russian: Евгений Иванович Ташков; 18 December 1926 — 15 February 2012) was a Soviet and Russian film director, screenwriter and actor known for his spy movies as well as a comedy '' Come Tomorrow, ...
. They graduated in 1950 and in a year they got married. In 1957 their son Andrey Tashkov was born (also a popular Russian actor). After VGIK Savinova entered the
Gnessin State Musical College
The Gnessin State Musical College (russian: link=no, Государственный музыкальный колледж имени Гнесиных) and Gnesins Russian Academy of Music (russian: Российская академия музык ...
to study vocals. Her rare voice (3.5
octave
In music, an octave ( la, octavus: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is the interval between one musical pitch and another with double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been refer ...
) was so impressive that she was offered to perform at the
Bolshoi Theatre
The Bolshoi Theatre ( rus, Большо́й теа́тр, r=Bol'shoy teatr, literally "Big Theater", p=bɐlʲˈʂoj tʲɪˈatər) is a historic theatre in Moscow, Russia, originally designed by architect Joseph Bové, which holds ballet and ope ...
and pop scene upon graduation, yet she declined all offers, because she saw herself only as a cinema actress and "just enjoyed singing on her own".''Tatiana Bulkina (2011)''. A Reverence to the Soviet Cinema // Interview with Yevgeny Tashkov. — Moscow: Moskovia Publishing House, pp. 289—294
Career
She played her first big role in 1949 in the musical comedy ''
Cossacks of the Kuban
''Cossacks of the Kuban'' () from Mosfilm is a color film, glorifying the life of the farmers in the kolkhoz of the Soviet Union's Kuban region, directed by Ivan Pyryev and starring Marina Ladynina, his wife at that time.Ivan Pyryev (who also served as the head of Mosfilm at the time) tried to seduce Savinova. She slapped Pyryev in the face, and after that he used his influence to ruin her career. For many years she appeared only in supporting or episodic roles. Nevertheless, she received the Best Acting Award at the
1955 Cannes Film Festival
The 8th Cannes Film Festival was held from 26 April to 10 May 1955. The Golden Palm went to the US film '' Marty'' by Delbert Mann. The festival opened with '' Du rififi chez les hommes'' by Jules Dassin and closed with ''Carmen Jones'' by Otto Pr ...
along with other actors of ''
A Big Family
''A Big Family'' (russian: Больша́я семья́, translit. Bolshaya semya) is a 1954 Soviet drama film directed by Iosif Kheifits. It was entered into the 1955 Cannes Film Festival. It was based on Vsevolod Kochetov's novel ''Zhur ...
''. From 1952 on she also performed at the
National Film Actors' Theatre
The National Film Actors' Theatre or State Theatre of Cinema Actors (Russian - Государственный театр киноактёра) is a theatre company in Moscow, Russia, founded in December 1943 by the Council of People's Commissars t ...
.
In 1961 Tashkov decided to produce his own comedy movie with his wife in the leading role. Together they wrote a screenplay which turned to be partially autobiographical. The heroine – named after Savinova's childhood friend Frosya Burlakova – was also a young girl with a unique voice who arrived to Moscow from a small Siberian village Yeltsovka hoping to enter the Gnessin College, too late for exams. Many comic episodes were also "borrowed" from real life. In addition to all singing parts, Savinova also voiced one of the characters – Maria Semyonovna, an elderly housekeeper named after her mother. Tashkov, in turn, voiced the leading male character played by Anatoli Papanov.
Illness and death
During the shooting Tashkov revealed that his wife had been suffering from high temperature for a long time, yet kept quiet about it. At one point they had to call ambulance. He insisted on physical examination. After going through many checks Savinova was finally diagnosed with brucellosis: she got infected by drinking unpasteurized milk. The shooting had to be delayed for a year.Irina Kravchenko. Andrei Tashkov: "Everyone Is Alive in My Heart" ' interview from '' Story Caravan'', 21 June 2012 (in Russian)
When the film was finished, it turned a great success. Savinova was named the best actress at the 1964 All-Union Film Festival. In 1965 she was named the
Meritorious Artist
Merited Artist of the Russian Federation (russian: link=no, Заслуженный артист Российской Федерации, ''Zasluzhenny artist Rossiyskoy Federatsii'') is an honorary title in the Russian Federation. The title is ...
of the RSFSR. The spouses then toured around the country with concerts where Tashkov talked about filmmaking and Savinova performed with songs. During that time she started complaining about "hearing voices". Turned out brucellosis touched her brain and nervous system which led to sluggish schizophrenia. From then on Savinova's health had been slowly decreasing. She had to take a lot of medicine and spent months in mental clinics.
She continued touring with concerts and acting. In 1964 she played another notable role in the comedy '' Balzaminov's Marriage'', yet the illness had been progressing, and Savinova felt it. In 1970 she suddenly left for
Novosibirsk
Novosibirsk (, also ; rus, Новосиби́рск, p=nəvəsʲɪˈbʲirsk, a=ru-Новосибирск.ogg) is the largest city and administrative centre of Novosibirsk Oblast and Siberian Federal District in Russia. As of the Russian Census ...
and spent a month with her sister. On 25 April 1970 Savinova left for Moscow, arrived to a local train station and threw herself under the passing train. "Just like Anna Karenina whose monologue she read during the entry exams at VGIK", as Tashkov later recalled.
Savinova was buried at the Kleshchikhinskoye Cemetery in Novosibirsk. During the lifetime she was very religious, and her husband insisted on conducting a memorial service in the Russian Orthodox traditions. In 2006 the tomb was moved to a better part of the cemetery and renewed.
Memory
In 1995 Leonid Filatov dedicated the 9th episode of his long-running documentary series ''To Be Remembered'' to Savinova.
In 2011 during the 85th anniversary of Savinova's birth a Museum of Ekaterina Savinova was opened in the Yeltsovka village.
Same year a book of memoirs and other writings left by the actress, ''Light of the Faded Star: Ekaterina Savinova'', was published.
Also in 2011 the movie '' Come Tomorrow, Please...'' was restored,
colorized
Film colorization (American English; or colourisation [British English], or colourization [Canadian English and Oxford English]) is any process that adds color to black-and-white, sepia tone, sepia, or other monochrome moving-pi ...
Komsomolskaya Pravda
''Komsomolskaya Pravda'' (russian: link=no, Комсомольская правда; lit. "Komsomol Truth") is a daily Russian tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper, founded on 13 March 1925.
History and profile
During the Soviet era, ...