Leila Abashidze ( ka, ლეილა აბაშიძე; August 1, 1929 – April 8, 2018) was a

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a Character (arts), character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek ...

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

and

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

. She was

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 ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

People's Artist People's Artist is an honorary title in the Soviet Union, Union republics, in some other Eastern bloc states (and communist states in general), as well as in a number of post-Soviet states, modeled after the title of the People's Artist of the USS ...

of Georgia, a recipient of

Order of the Red Banner of Labour The Order of the Red Banner of Labour (russian: Орден Трудового Красного Знамени, translit=Orden Trudovogo Krasnogo Znameni) was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to th ...

, as well as of awards of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an and

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

n film festivals, and has her own honorary star in front of Rustaveli cinema on

Rustaveli Avenue Rustaveli Avenue ( ka, რუსთაველის გამზირი, ''Rust'avelis Gamziri''), formerly known as ''Golovin Street'', is the central avenue in Tbilisi named after the medieval Georgian poet, Shota Rustaveli. The avenue s ...

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the Capital city, capital and the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia, lying on the ...

. During her career she was widely considered as the "

Mary Pickford Gladys Marie Smith (April 8, 1892 – May 29, 1979), known professionally as Mary Pickford, was a Canadian-American stage and screen actress and producer with a career that spanned five decades. A pioneer in the US film industry, she co-founde ...

of the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

".День Лейлы Абашидзе
(in Russian) She is one of the most popular Georgian and Soviet actresses.

Biography

In 1951, Abashidze graduated from Rustaveli Theatrical Institute in Tbilisi, Georgia. She worked in the film studio " Georgian film" since 1940 and was a member of the cinematographer's union since 1958. Abashidze made her screen debut as a child alongside

Nato Vachnadze Natalia "Nato" Vachnadze ( ka, ნატო ვაჩნაძე), born Natalia Andronikashvili ( ka, ნატო ანდრონიკაშვილი), (14 June 1904 – 14 June 1953) was a Georgian and Soviet film actress. She started h ...

in ''Kajana'' (1941), but it was the hit romantic comedy ''The Dragonfly'' (1954) which made her popular throughout the Soviet Union and Europe. Then she appeared in another popular comedy ''The Scrapper'' (1956). After all that, she was associated with comedies, but this stereotype was destroyed after she starred in the critically acclaimed historical drama ''Maia Tskneteli'' (1959). She has had one of her biggest commercial successes with the drama ''Meeting Past'' (1966), for which, in 1968, she was awarded on Leningrad Film Festival as a Best Actress. Also she achieved wider fame after her appearance in the tragic drama ''Khevisberi Gocha'' (1964) and in one of the most popular romantic comedies ''Meeting in Mountains'' (1966). She was the writer of ''Anticipation'' (1970), ''Silence of Towers'' (1978). She was the director, writer and leading actress of ''Tbilisi-Paris-Tbilisi'' (1980).День Лейлы Абашидзе
(in Russian)

Death

On April 8, 2018, Abashidze's health conditions got worse and she was sent to the hospital after suffering a stroke: she was pronounced dead on arrival, the cause of death was ruled as an

ischemic stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

of the brain.

Filmography

* ''Kajana'' (1941) * '' Golden Path'' (1945) * ''Cradle of Poet'' (1947) * '' Keto and Kote'' (1948) * ''Spring in Sakeni'' (1951) * ''They Came from Mountains'' (1954) * ''The Dragonfly'' (1954) * ''Our Courtyard'' (1956) * ''The Scrapper'' (1956) * ''Where is Your Happiness Mzia?'' (1959) * ''Maia Tskneteli'' (1959) * ''I Shall Dance'' (1963) * ''Khevisberi Gocha'' (1964) * ''Wreck'' (1965) * ''Meeting Past'' (1966) * ''Meeting in Mountains'' (1966) * ''Anticipation'' (1969) * ''The Right Hand of the Grand Master (Episode One)'' (1969) * ''The Right Hand of the Grand Master (Episode Two)'' (1970) * ''Walking in Tbilisi'' (1976) * ''Cinema'' (1977) * ''Tbilisi-Paris-Tbilisi'' (1980) * ''Commotion'' (1986) * ''Zvaraki'' (1990)

Dignities and awards

*Meritorious Artist of Georgia (1958) *People's Artist of Georgia (1965) *People's Artist of Chechnya-Ingushetia (1964) *Honors:

(1960) (In Georgian: წითელი დროშის ორდენი, in Russian: Орден Трудового Красного Знамени) *Best actress at the Leningrad Film festival, 1968. *Prize of 2 world festivals, Tokyo, 1997.

References

External links

*
Leila Abashidze
on Georgian National Filmography {{DEFAULTSORT:Abashidze, Leila 1929 births 2018 deaths 20th-century actresses from Georgia (country) Actresses from Tbilisi Soviet film actresses Soviet stage actresses Soviet child actresses Child actresses from Georgia (country) Film actresses from Georgia (country) Soviet women film directors Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Women film directors from Georgia (country) Film directors from Georgia (country) Burials in Georgia (country)