The actress, beloved by millions of Soviet and Russian viewers, People's Artist of the USSR Rufina Dmitrievna Nifontova left a bright mark in domestic cinema and theater. The multifaceted images created by her will long remain in the memory of the audience.
Biography of Rufina Nifontova
A charming red-haired and big-eyed girl, who was named with the rare name of Rufina, was born in Moscow in mid-September 1931. No one could have imagined that on this day a Soviet cinema star was born.
A family
The family, which had Greek roots, lived on Sokolinaya Gora, not far from the Rodina movie theater, famous in the capital. Pope Rufina, Dmitry Ivanovich Pitade, worked as deputy chief of the Moscow-Sortirovochnaya station. He was a very attentive and gentle person.
Daria Semenovna, the mother of the future star, worked at a weaving factory. She was an activist, a drummer, and was distinguished by her perky and fighting character.
Alexander, Rufina's elder brother, went missing in the early days of the Second World War, and her middle brother Boris heroically died at the front. The third brother of Rufina Dmitrievna, Vyacheslav, is her twin.
Childhood and youth
As a child, Rufa Pitade was thin, pale and weak. She changed during the war.
When the elder brother Alexander was missing in the very first days of the war, and then the family received a funeral for middle Boris, his mother went mad with grief. She began to over-patronize her twins. This was especially true of the last son. Gradually, from a mischievous and amusing boy, Glory turned into a quiet and shy home teenager. And Rufina, on the contrary, got stronger, she felt self-confidence.
Drama circle
When the girl was in school, she enrolled in a drama circle. When Nifontova Rufina Dmitrievna recalled these years, she emphasized that she had never thought about cinema. Soviet actresses were not familiar to her. All her dreams were directed to the theater. She first appeared on the stage in the play of Ostrovsky, where she played the maid Annushka.
Classmates have always been sure that Rufina will certainly become an actress. However, the girl was not admitted to any theater school in Moscow.
University studies
After graduating from school, Nifontova Rufina Dmitrievna submitted documents to the theater school, but she was not accepted. In Sliver, the entire selection committee voted for her admission, except for the chairman, actress Vera Pashennaya. She was not satisfied with the low voice of a young talent, and she considered that Rufina would not be able to play female roles.
Upset Nifontova tried to pass exams at VGIK, but she was not accepted. In the VGIK corridor, professor Boris Bibikov saw a tearful girl. He saw the potential in this red-haired girl and took her on his course. She fell into a group where the future great Soviet actresses studied with her - Nadezhda Rumyantseva, Isolda Izvitskaya and Maya Bulgakova. In this magnificent flower garden, the talented girl did not get lost - she was immediately offered roles, she was looked after, admired by her. Fellow students recalled that Rufina had many novels during her student years. Each of them was like a vivid performance. But the details were never told either by the actress herself or her friends.
Carier start
VGIK Rufina Dmitrievna graduated in 1955. Almost immediately, she was accepted into the troupe of the Theater Studio of the film actor. Many of her colleagues noted that she was a good, deep tragic actress. Her unusually beautiful face and delightful eyes fascinated. They were very special, bottomless. Later, many noted that the depth of these eyes depends on the depth of those feelings that she experienced.
Actress Nifontova Rufina met on the same stage with V. N. Pashennaya in the performance of the Maly Theater “Stone Nest”. Vera Nikolaevna often remembered how she had not accepted Nifontova to school. Then she was very fond of this talented actress.
Movie work
Almost simultaneously with entering the theater, Nifontova Rufina Dmitrievna began acting in films. She made her debut in 1955 in the film “Freedom”. She was immediately entrusted with the main role - Nastya. This work received the prize of the Karlovy Vary International Festival.
It should be noted that all the heroines of Nifontova are very feminine, lyrical, but with a strong character. After the release of the three-part film “Walking through the agony” by G. Roshal, the theater and film actress Nifontova received all-Union fame. Refined, gentle, beautiful Katya was remembered for a long time by the audience. Rufina Dmitrievna in this image managed to convey the deep inner experiences of her heroine, who fell into the whirlpool of social events. It seemed that it was just such - feminine, sensual, thinking - that Katya Bulavina Alexei Tolstoy imagined when he wrote his famous novel.
After this wonderful work, new offers of interesting roles began to arrive quite often.
In 1957, Nifontova was accepted into the troupe of the Maly Theater. At this time, she was already known and in demand.
Work on the radio
Nifontova Rufina Dmitrievna devoted a lot of time to work on the radio. She took part in radio shows. Her partners were Rostislav Plyatt, Nikolai Plotnikov, George Menglet, Evgeny Matveev, Oleg Strizhenov. Famous Soviet actresses worked with her - Nadezhda Rumyantseva, Tatyana Peltzer and others.
The collection of the Radio Fund has preserved many recordings of productions with the participation of Rufina Dmitrievna.
Famous movie actresses rarely worked on the radio, and Nifontova loved this work. In addition to the productions, she recorded on the radio poems by Y. Polonsky, L. Ukrainka, R. Jeffers, L. Schipakhina.
Personal life
Numerous fans of the actress closely watched her life. They were interested in everything - with what they live, what they breathe, what Rufina Nifontova does in her free time. The personal life of the star aroused increased interest.
In the second year, Rufina became the wife of Gleb Nifontov. He studied at the faculty of directing and was ten years older than his chosen one. He later became a famous director. He devoted himself to non-fiction film. With Gleb Rufina Dmitrievna lived all her life, until his tragic death. The couple had a daughter, Olga. She followed in the footsteps of her father - she graduated from VGIK and began to shoot popular science films.
In the early 1990s, Nifontova Rufina Dmitrievna entered the black band of her life. At first, her beloved brother, with whom they were very close, died due to heart problems. He died of a heart attack in the bathroom. He grabbed it two days later, broke the door and saw a terrible picture. At that moment, Rufina Dmitrievna said: “I will also die in the bathroom ...”
After a short period of time, her niece, daughter of Vyacheslav, died. She was in business. She was robbed, taken to the forest and brutally killed there.
Rufina Dmitrievna was very upset by these tragic losses. She could not get used to the idea that she had lost her brother. The problems were added by the daughter of Nifontova Rufina. Olga married a man whom the parents categorically did not like, against their will. But after a while she gave birth to a wonderful boy - son Misha. Parents could only reconcile with her marriage, although conflicts with her daughter's husband did not stop.
Once, after a scandal in the country, Gleb Nifontov got into a car in anger and drove to Moscow. On the way, he had a heart attack, he lost control and his car collided with a cargo MAZ. Gleb died instantly.
In the last years of her life, Nifontova Rufina Dmitrievna lived alone. The daughter and her family lived in another apartment. At this time, her heart began to bother her, but she continued to play in the theater, preparing new roles.
Rufina Nifontova: cause of death
Many famous movie actresses ended their lives tragically. But the death of Rufina Dmitrievna shocked Moscow.
On November 27, 1994, the actress returned home from the dacha, was very cold and decided to lie in the bathroom before going to bed to warm herself. The water seemed to her not warm enough, she turned on the boiling water, and after a moment lost her senses.
The neighbors from the lower floor, who noticed leaks on the ceiling, first knocked on the door, and then rang the daughter of the actress. Boiling water poured on Olga with her husband, who arrived at the apartment and opened the door. No one could help Rufina Dmitrievna ...
The great actress was buried in an open coffin, but on her face was lace - the one in which she played in the play "Summer Residents". Nifontova Rufina Dmitrievna was buried in Moscow at the Vagankovsky cemetery.
We want to present you some outstanding works in the cinema of a wonderful actress - Rufina Nifontova.
The Birds of Our Youth (1974)
We would like to start our conversation with this particular work because in this performance film, the 43-year-old actress Nifontova played a very elderly woman - the wise and infinitely lonely aunt Rutz. Beauty Rufina Nifontova was never afraid to be old or ugly in front of the camera. And she coped brilliantly with this role.
“Optimistic tragedy” (1977) - the main role
Drama, film adaptation of the play by V. Vishnevsky. The events of the picture unfold in 1917. A woman commissar is sent to the naval detachment, led by the anarchist Leader, on behalf of the Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party. She was entrusted with explaining to the sailors the tasks of the revolution ...
"Spring Love" (1981) - the main role
Screen adaptation of the play by K. Trenev. The revolution destroyed not only the foundations of social structure, but also human souls and families. The painting reflects the historical events of the civil war. Bolshevik underground operated in the White Guard rear. At this alarming time, Yarovy's husband and wife found themselves on opposite sides of the barricades.
Lyubov Yarovaya was sure that her husband was a man with revolutionary convictions. This helped her serve the cause of the revolution. She accepts the ideology of the workers and stands on the side of the Bolsheviks.
A chance meeting with her husband demonstrates that Yarovoy does not share her views - he is the worst enemy of the Bolsheviks. In the soul of a woman, a conflict arises between love for her husband and sense of duty ...
“Control by specialty” - melodrama (1981)
A young student of the Faculty of History receives a task: Alka must find a participant in the war and interestingly talk about his participation in the hostilities, about how his life after the Victory took shape. At first, the girl reacted to the task rather nonchalantly. But having met Lyubov Savelyevna Oreshko (Nifontova), who was a partisan during the war, rethought her life ...
"Comrade Innocent" - drama (1981)
In this historical and revolutionary drama Rufina Dmitrievna played a small role Serebryakova. However, this image was remembered by the viewer for her femininity and at the same time the enormous strength of character of the heroine Nifontova.
The film tells about the beginning of the revolutionary activity of I. Dubrovinsky.
"Thomas Gordeev" (1983)
The film is a performance of the Maly Theater based on the novel by M. Gorky, in which Nifontova played the role of Sasha.
The protagonist of the film received a large fortune and family business from his father. He wants to adequately continue the activities of the parent and increase the capital he has acquired, but he is far from the world of businessmen. His dreamy nature tells him that happiness cannot be measured by the amount of money. He seeks his place in life, but faces many challenges ...
"Time and the Conway Family" (1984) - the main role
In this family drama, based on the play by J. Priestley, the actress played the role of Mrs. Conway. The action takes place in the UK for 20 years between the two world wars. The film shows a complex relationship in a once prosperous bourgeois family. All its members in different ways experience the collapse of their hopes and plans ...
Crazy Love - Drama (1992)
The heroine of this film (Nifontova) was in a madhouse. Some of its inhabitants resemble Alexander Nevzorov, some severe Gdlyan, and some Anatoly Kashpirovsky ...
Oddly enough, but life in an insane asylum passes interestingly, and besides it does not oblige anyone to anything. There is faithful friendship and tender love here. The word "crazy" does not apply to her. It characterizes the circumstances that suit all heroes. Therefore, they are not in a hurry "at liberty" ...
Today we remembered the great Soviet theater and film actress, a talented person and a very beautiful woman - Rufina Dmitrievna Nifontova. Her life ended tragically, and it is very bitter to realize that this beautiful artist could still play many wonderful roles.