Biography
The future People's Artist of the RSFSR and star of Soviet cinema Alla Dmitrievna Larionova was born in Moscow in February 1931. The family lived quite prosperously: dad was an employee of a food retailer, mom worked as a caretaker in a kindergarten. The parents named the girl in honor of the movie star and idol of her time, actress Alla Tarasova. And, as they say now, they programmed their daughter for the future.
Actress Alla Larionova
After her father went to the front, Alla and her mother went into evacuation. In the city of Menzelinsk, my mother worked in a hospital. It was here that 9-year-old Alla Larionova first appeared on stage. She read poetry to the wounded who were in the hospital. Here the future artist heard her first applause and laudatory “reviews” of her performances. In this hospital, Alla Larionova was seen by Zinovy Gerdt. A couple of decades later they met as colleagues.
For the first time, young and charming Alla was invited to the movies when she was barely 15 years old. An unfamiliar woman approached her on the street and asked if the girl wanted to act in films. Of course, Larionova wanted it. So she got on the set and starred in several films. True, in the crowd, but Alla felt the taste of the profession.
Alla Larionova in her youth
After graduating from school, Alla went to study to become an artist. At GITIS, Larionova failed her exams miserably. Unfortunately, among the examiners the girl saw the famous director Vasily Mikhailovich Goncharov and completely forgot everything she had prepared for admission. Not everything turned out smoothly with admission to VGIK. For some reason, Sergei Gerasimov did not like the girl. But everything was decided by his wife Tamara Makarova, who, on the contrary, liked Alla.
Movies
The star role, which determined her entire subsequent film career, went to Alla Larionova during her student years. The actress played Lyubava in Alexander Ptushko’s film “Sadko”. The film, released in 1952, was so successful that the following year the group that starred in it was invited to a festival in Venice. Moreover, the fairy tale film was awarded the Silver Lion prize in the Golden Lion nomination. This was a real breakthrough for Soviet cinema.
Alla Larionova in the film "Sadko"
In Venice, Alla Larionova felt a taste of incredible fame. Crowds of journalists and fans ran behind the Russian beauty. Among the latter were the most famous producers and directors. They offered the actress roles, which she flatly refused: official representatives, officials who accompanied the group of artists abroad, strictly forbade her to make contacts with “bourgeois” directors.
Perhaps Alla Larionova’s creative biography would have turned out completely differently if she had remained abroad. But history does not tolerate the subjunctive mood. The artist returned home in tears. She was allowed to touch the beautiful world, to see it, but was forbidden to live in it.
Alla Larionova in the film “Team from Our Street”
The actress's consolation was the offer she received as soon as she got off the plane. Alla Larionova was informed that she had been approved for the role of the main character of the film “Anna on the Neck”.
The film was released in 1954 and turned Larionova into a star of Russian cinema. The fame that befell the artist exceeded the fame that Alla Dmitrievna received after “Sadko”. They guarded her near the house and showered her with flowers. The queues outside the cinemas of those wishing to see “Anna on the Neck” stretched for hundreds of meters. But fame also had a downside to the coin. Alla Larionova was envied. Gossip spread around her name.
Alla Larionova in the film “Anna on the Neck”
After the actress starred in Twelfth Night, where she appeared as the beautiful Olivia, fans stood around the film studio and apartment, looked into the windows and waited for her to come out. Even the Minister of Culture came to see the actress. After this, Larionova was immediately credited with having an affair with an official.
And they stopped giving roles. And if they did, they did everything to prevent the actress from getting on set. This happened with the painting “Ilya Muromets”. Larionova was approved for the role, but the theater where she worked did not sign a business trip to Yalta, where filming took place.
Alla Larionova in the film "Twelfth Night"
In the 60-70s, Alla Larionova never received the main roles. Often she even agreed to episodes. And in 1966, the artist starred in the film “Wild Honey”, where she agreed to the role of an ugly woman whose face was generously smeared with mud.
During these years it was discovered that Alla Larionova could play character roles. She played Natalya Dmitrievna Paskudina in "Uncle's Dream", saleswoman Lyubava in "Kolka Pavlyukov's Long Day", Elena Ivanovna in "The Magician" and Catherine II in the film "There is an Idea!" But roles after which the actress would be carried in her arms were no longer offered to her.
The last role of Alla Larionova in the film “Trotsky”
They remembered Alla Larionova when she turned 60. The artist was given the title People's, congratulated, but was never offered significant roles. Larionova lived very quietly and modestly. Until the end of her life, she regretted that she refused to act with Charlie Chaplin, who repeatedly offered her work. In order not to indulge in sad memories and not sit within four walls, Larionova traveled around the country with the play “Money, deceit, love” with the Yevgeny Vakhtangov Theater.
Star from a postcard
In the 1950s and 60s, the easiest resource for sociological film research was the availability or lack of commercially available postcards of actors. So, postcards with a portrait of Alla Larionova were considered in short supply, although new editions were constantly being printed. They sold out instantly! This is how the beauty deficit was filled.
Alla Larionova. Reproduction. Photo: ITAR-TASS
In the early 50s, Alla Larionova was the first beauty of Soviet cinema. A stately blonde with huge gray-blue eyes and a sensual mouth, she had not only a bright appearance, but also temperament, charm, and love of life. She started acting early, while still studying at VGIK. Back then, adult actors had little work - the country's leadership ordered filmmakers to set a course for masterpieces, and not to be scattered about trifles. And Larionova defended her diploma at the institute with several full-length films, in which she managed to star during her years of study... The actress made her debut in the 1952 film fairy tale “Sadko” by Alexander Ptushko, in the role of Lyubava, the bride of the main character. “The film, about the Venice Festival (where the debutante went in someone else’s, “state” dress), forever captured the standard female appearance of the Soviet 1950s: the healthy splendor of natural antique forms combined with breathtaking gray-eyed innocence, charming severity and the ability to wait, which is obligatory for a Russian woman. betrothed because of distant lands,” wrote film critic Liliya Shitenburg in “The Recent History of Russian Cinema.”
1954 and 1955 were the peak of Larionova’s acting career. One after another, films are being released: “Anna on the Neck” by Isidor Annensky and “Twelfth Night” by Jan Fried. “Anna on the Neck” was a resounding success - and for many years! Larionova in the role of Chekhov's Anna turned out to be, as they say, a 100% hit. The actress loved life, comfort, beauty, celebration - all this found expression in the image of the young wife of an old official. Anyuta-Larionova throws herself into the whirlpool of secular entertainment with the appetite of a starving person, greedily absorbing everything that her new life offers. In her agility, however, notes of melancholy are already discernible. There will be no legitimate love in Anyuta’s life; happiness will have to be snatched out secretly.
Still from the film "Sadko"
Still from the film “Anna on the Neck”
Still from the film “Twelfth Night”
Having flashed like a bright comet in the 50s, Alla Larionova never again had such interesting, significant works in cinema. Fate gave her early rapid success, but denied her the length of her acting career. Of her further roles, we can perhaps recall Natasha from “Three Sisters” by Samson Samsonov, a luxurious woman with a modest, strange man in Pyotr Todorovsky’s film “The Magician”, a colorful bourgeois woman in Semyon Tumanov’s film “Come to me, Mukhtar!” In the 60s and 70s, Larionova acted, but not often, in minor roles, or even episodic ones. With her husband, actor Nikolai Rybnikov, Larionova traveled a lot around the country - with films and performances. They were a bright star couple. Alla loved to be in public and felt comfortable in any company. But Rybnikov in life was a shy person, he suffered from the fact that he was recognized everywhere. Their union confirmed the thesis about opposites attracting.
Alla Larionova's filmography is not as long as it could be. And she aroused great love from the audience, and even today the film radiates the light of her beauty and charm. People are still gossiping about the circumstances of Larionova’s life. Because she was more than an actress - she was a star. A bright individuality that makes no sense to copy.
Personal life
In January 1957, Alla Larionova married Nikolai Rybnikov. Their relationship was quite difficult at first. Alla liked the future star of Soviet cinema back in her student years. But then Nikolai Rybnikov did not pay attention to her.
A little later, Larionova began an affair with actor Ivan Pereverzev. They lived together for some time until Alla found out that Pereverzev was developing a relationship with another woman. Larionova left her unfaithful lover. Even pregnancy couldn’t hold her back.
Alla Larionova and Nikolai Rybnikov
Having learned that Alla Larionova was alone, Rybnikov immediately rushed to Minsk, where she was filming the film “The Polesie Legend,” and proposed marriage to her. At that time, he was madly in love with the actress. Subsequently, he loved his daughter Alena no less than their common daughter Arisha.
This wonderful couple lived together for 33 years. When Nikolai Rybnikov passed away, Alla Dmitrievna somehow immediately sank, as if the light had been extinguished in her. She fell in love with solitude and rarely went out. Soon she exchanged their large 5-room apartment, where everything reminded of Nikolai.
Family
During her years of studying at the film institute, Alla Dmitrievna fell in love with a classmate, the handsome Nikolai Rybnikov . However, the artist, whose further creative path became a glorious page in the history of Russian cinema, responded to the girl’s love only with friendly communication. Later, his heart trembled, but Alla (due to her youth and lack of life experience) rashly decided that if a romantic story did not work out right away, then most likely there would not be a happy ending.
Alla Larionova and Nikolai Rybnikov
On the set of the film “The Polesie Legend,” the girl attracted the attention of the famous artist Ivan Fedorovich Pereverzev . The first handsome man of the Soviet screen basked in female attention and happily embarked on amorous adventures. Often, a seductive man dated two women at the same time. The story with Larionova was no exception. Ivan had an affair with a young beauty and at the same time improved relations with his former wife.
Ivan Pereverzev
Having learned about the parallel relationship, the proud girl broke off her relationship with her flighty boyfriend. Even the fact that the actress was 8 months pregnant did not influence her decision. In Soviet times, an unmarried woman expecting a child automatically became the object of public condemnation and malicious gossip. Having learned about the difficult situation that Alla Dmitrievna found herself in, Rybnikov, who was in love with her, rushed to Minsk (where the film was filmed). Alena , born from another man, Arina , who appeared later (in 1961) .
Nikolai Rybnikov with Alena and Arina
The artists created a beautiful marital union in 1957, and lived together for 33 years , until the death of Nikolai Nikolaevich. Talk about Larionova marrying an artist only due to forced circumstances and living with him without love is an empty phrase. The woman warmed her soul near her adoring husband, and never regretted parting with the father of her first child. The years spent together were filled with light and happiness . The partners' affection for each other was so strong that they tried not to separate even while working. The creative couple starred in joint projects “The Witch”, “Two Lives”, “Milky Way”, “Fathers and Sons” and other films.
After the death of her husband, the active and cheerful Alla Dmitrievna somehow immediately wilted, and over the course of 10 years she gradually faded away - she had little interest in her career, ignored social events, and radically narrowed her circle of friends. She died in 2000, death was caused by a massive heart attack. The star beauty, in accordance with her will, was buried next to her beloved husband.
Death
Alla Larionova faded away for 10 years after the death of her husband. She passed away on April 25, 2000. The famous actress died quietly, in her sleep. She was found 6 hours after her death. It turned out that she died from a massive heart attack. Larionova did not live to see her 70th birthday one year.
Alla Larionova's grave
The artist was buried next to her husband at the Troyekurovskoye cemetery. A year later, their daughter Arisha died, addicted to alcohol.
Personal life of Alla Larionova
During her student years, Alla met the then future actor Nikolai Rybnikov, who later became her husband. However, the beginning of their relationship was not the easiest. Alla Larionova’s personal life is filled not only with happy moments. Nikolai did not reciprocate the girl’s sympathy one bit. And, ironically, he paid attention to her only when Larionova herself had already lost interest in him and was in a relationship with another man. At the same time, the common-law husband began to cheat on the actress and abuse alcohol, so Alla left him, even despite the fact that she was already pregnant at that time.
Nikolai Rybnikov, having learned about what happened to Alla, began to actively look after her and offer any help. At first, the actress reacted reluctantly to the attention of a man who at one time ignored her. However, Nikolai was persistent and thanks to this, the couple got married in 1957. Larionova finally found family happiness.
