Svetlana Ivanovna Savyolova (russian: Светлана Ивановна Савёлова, 7 January 1942 – 30 January 1999) was a Soviet Russian film and stage actress. Savyolova starred in seven films and then acted on stage. For her look Savyolova was sometimes called "the Russian

Brigitte Bardot Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot ( ; ; born 28 September 1934), often referred to by her initials B.B., is a former French actress, singer and model. Famous for portraying sexually emancipated characters with hedonistic lifestyles, she was one of the ...

Early life

Savyolova was born in the city of

Simferopol Simferopol () is the second-largest city in the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula. The city, along with the rest of Crimea, is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine, and is considered the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. However, ...

, then part of the

Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic During the existence of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, different governments existed within the Crimean Peninsula. From 1921 to 1936, the government in the Crimean Peninsula was known as the Crimean Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic; ...

which was in the grip of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

at the time. Having finished school, Savyolova initially planned a medical career. She started to work in a

Sevastopol Sevastopol (; uk, Севасто́поль, Sevastópolʹ, ; gkm, Σεβαστούπολις, Sevastoúpolis, ; crh, Акъя́р, Aqyár, ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea, and a major port on the Black Sea ...

drugstore. In her student years, Savyolova was briefly married to film director Gennadiy Baysak, but the marriage fell apart.

Films

Savyolova was discovered by film director

Yakov Segel Yakov (alternative spellings: Jakov or Iakov, cyrl, Яков) is a Russian or Hebrew variant of the given names Jacob and James. People also give the nickname Yasha ( cyrl, Яша) or Yashka ( cyrl, Яшка) used for Yakov. Notable people People ...

, who was searching for an actress in his film '' Farewell, Doves''. Having a headache, Segel visited a drugstore in Sevastopol where Savyolova was working. Segel decided it was Savyolova he was searching for and gave her the lead role of nurse Tanya in ''A Farewell to Doves'', which became Savyolova's breakthrough. She decided to postpone the medical career and continued acting. In 1968, Savyolova played the lead role of Lena Velichko in the Soviet comedy ''

Seven Old Men and a Girl ''Seven Old Men and a Girl'' (russian: Семь стариков и одна девушка, Sem starikov i odna devushka) is a 1968 Soviet comedy film directed by Yevgeny Karelov. Plot Elena Velichko — a young graduate of the sports institute, ...

''. Savyolova was chosen over other candidates, such as

Natalya Seleznyova Natalya Igorevna Seleznyova (russian: Ната́лья И́горевна Селезнёва; born 19 June 1945) is a Soviet and Russian theater and film actress. Biography She first took the stage at the age of six, participating in the Red Arm ...

and

Lyudmila Gladunko Ludmila, Ludmilla, or Lyudmila (Cyrillic: Людмила, ''Lyudmila'') may refer to: People * Ludmila (given name) a Slavic female given name (including a list of people with the name) * Ludmila da Silva (born 1994), Brazilian footballer, com ...

. In her career, Savyolova starred in seven Soviet films: '' Farewell, Doves'' (1960), ''Listen!'' (1963), ''Small Green Light'' (1964), ''The Last Swindler'' (1966), ''A Day of Sun and Rain'' (1967), ''

'' (1968) and ''Throughout Rus'' (1968). ''Throughout Rus'' became Savyolova's last film, after which she was no longer offered any film roles.

Stage and last years

In 1965 Savyolova graduated from

Boris Shchukin Theatre Institute The Boris Shchukin Theatre Institute (russian: Театральный институт имени Бориса Щукина) is a Russian drama college in Moscow, formed in 1914 as part of the Vakhtangov Theatre. In 2002 it was granted the Academy ...

and started to act first in the

Vakhtangov Theatre Yevgeny Bagrationovich Vakhtangov (also spelled Evgeny or Eugene; russian: Евге́ний Багратио́нович Вахта́нгов; 13 February 1883 – 29 May 1922) was a Russian-Armenian actor and theatre director who founded the ...

, then in the

Lenkom Theatre Lenkom Theatre, formerly known as Lenin’s Komsomol Moscow Theatre or Moscow Leninist Komsomol Theatre is the official name of what was once known as the Moscow State Theatre named after Komsomol, a Communist youth league set up by Vladimir Len ...

. As a stage actress, Savyolova achieved her peak after

Mark Zakharov Mark Anatolyevich Zakharov (russian: Марк Анатольевич Захаров; 13 October 1933 – 28 September 2019) was a Soviet and Russian stage and film director, screenwriter and pedagogue best known for his fantasy parable movies. He ...

had come to the Lenkom Theatre. Zakharov found a common language with Savyolova and gave her prominent roles. From the 1980s, however, Savyolova started to receive fewer roles. In the Lenkom Theatre, Savyolova had several unsuccessful romances. Eventually she became impoverished and sold her apartments to live elsewhere. In January 1999, Savyolova was found dead in her Moscow flat at the age of 57. The investigation into the cause of death was not performed, as Savyolova left no relatives who could have requested such an investigation. Savyolova was buried at the Nikolo-Arkhangelsk Cemetery in Moscow.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Savyolova, Svetlana Soviet film actresses Soviet stage actresses 1942 births 1999 deaths Actors from Simferopol