The life of the great Soviet and Russian actress Sophia Pilyavskaya was not easy. Cloudless years with all childhood joys were replaced by a series of troubles, adversity and loneliness. Her father was twice arrested, exiled and then shot as an enemy of the people. My husband died early. An inexhaustible note of tragedy always sounded in her fate.
Pilyavskaya was born in 1911 in Krasnoyarsk. The family had enough of everything, the child was not denied anything: an elegant Christmas tree for the New Year, gifts and sweets, toys ordered from Poland, Sunday breakfasts at the table. Her parents took care of her, cherished her. And Sonya did not sit still, craved activity and hoped for a great future.
In the fourth grade, she was seriously interested in theater, while managing to study well. She herself prepared school productions, devoted most of her time to performances, wanted to thoroughly engage in acting. The first attempt to enter the Studio of the Art Theater Z. S. Sokolova was unsuccessful. The girl’s Polish accent was not in her favor. But Sophia did not give up, diligent studies at the speech therapist “corrected” her speech. She tried again and was accepted as a student.
After graduating from the studio, Sophia entered the M. Gorky Moscow Art Theatre. During the Great Patriotic War, the theater was evacuated to the Saratov Theater. The actors lived within its walls and only in November 1942 returned to Moscow.
In 1951, Sophia received the Stalin Prize for her first
The Conspiracy of the Doomed . Later, after the loss of her beloved husband Nikolai Dorokhin, Pilyavskaya began teaching at the V.I. Nemirovich-Danchenko School-Studio. She then lived only in the theater, which became the only consolation from loneliness and longing.
The captivating talent of Sophia Stanislavovna was reflected in the films: the actress played Countess Vronskaya in the film.
"Anne Karenina" (1967), Raisa Pavlovna in the legendary
We'll Live Until Monday" (1968), Alice Vitalievna in the famous
Pokrovsky Gate" (1982).
Despite the creative success, numerous awards, titles and demand, Pilyavskaya was almost always unhappy. Time reigned terrible: it was impossible to deviate from the norm, something to stand out, to be considered a “white crow”. The actress shone with the beauty of the past century, it was impossible to take your eyes off her. That was her trouble. She was also the daughter of the enemy. She was constantly reminded of this.
Life went on. Her relatives and colleagues who understood and supported Sophia went to the next world, and she was destined to live on, carry her cross: I did not want to live until the centenary of the Moscow Art Theater. But I did. I'm so lonely.
Sophia Pilyavskaya died when she was eighty-nine. She was buried in the Novodevichy cemetery in the same grave with her husband. Perhaps, in the invisible world, her soul was freed from earthly hardships and found long-awaited peace. /