It is amazing how different fates sometimes develop for truly talented people! Some experience tremendous success and world fame, others lead to a dead end, and failing to cope with failures, they fade away without reaching their heights. Inna Gulaya is the greatest actress who has become an example of just such a sad life and creative history.
Childhood and youth
She was born shortly before the start of World War II, on May 9, 1940, in the city of Kharkov. Subsequently, the actress shared her childhood memories, saying that she remembers how difficult it was to rebuild the country in the postwar period. Gulaya Inna Iosifovna, like all her peers, graduated from a regular school and decided to enroll in a theater studio at the Central Children's Theater.
In those days, in order to enter the theater university, it was first necessary to get a certain length of service, but Inna, while working at the factory in 1960, was lucky enough to star in her debut film "Clouds over Borsky." Then she was noticed by the famous screenwriter and director Vasily Ordynsky and invited to play the role of Olya Ryzhkova in this dramatic picture. Inna Gulaya recalled that all the comrades in the workshop were surprised for a long time and did not believe that she was the one who shot the movie. However, such inquiries did not stop until Inna in 1962 left the factory and entered the Shchukin Theater School.
The beginning of serious work
But being a simple worker, Inna Gulaya managed to star in two more films, one of which is the comedy melodrama “Noisy Day” by Grigory Natanson and Anatoly Efros. The second made her at that time truly famous. It was a 1961 painting, “When the Trees were Large,” directed by Lev Kulidzhanov. The actress became so accustomed to the image of the village girl Natasha that the elite of Soviet cinema, having watched the film, called Inna a real find and began to prophesy a great future for her.
Significant roles in Inna’s career include also the image of Shura, Hasek’s wife, in the Czechoslovak-Soviet film “The Big Road” and the role of Shurochka Soldatova in the film by Sofia Milkina and Mikhail Schweitzer entitled “Time, Go!”.
Meeting and life with Gennady Shpalikov
Some time after the first great success, the actress Inna Gulaya gets acquainted with the famous poet, screenwriter (Zastava Ilyicha, I am walking in Moscow) and the beginning filmmaker Gennady Shpalikov. Strong mutual feelings arise between them, and they decide to get married. Inna, who is passionately in love, considers the genius of her chosen one, does not pay attention to the fact that Gennady is getting married not the first time, and to rumors of his addiction to alcohol.
At the end of 1962, the couple married, and on March 19, 1963 their daughter Daria was born. However, in a new round of Shpalikov’s career, a fateful event for the life of the couple occurred. The fact is that at the meeting of the leaders of the Union with the leaders of Soviet cinema, held in the Kremlin, Gennady was reckless to speak sharply to politicians and their work. After this incident, Shpalikov and his wife could no longer count on the successful continuation of their careers.
The only and last directorial work of Gennady was the film “A Long Happy Life,” in which his wife Inna Gulaya played the main role. Family spouses' everyday life was difficult, full of hardships and troubles. Inna was still invited to play episodic roles, but Gennady's career seemed doomed, he fell into a depression and began to drink heavily. In November 1974, he hanged himself at a writer's dacha in Peredelkino.
End of career and life
This tragedy caused the actress a deep mental wound. Friends said then that the wonderful light in the depths of her eyes had faded, and, according to Inna herself, she continued to live only for her daughter's sake. Since 1975, the actress took part in the filming of only four paintings, which included “Escape Mr. McKinley” production of “Mosfilm” and the melodrama “Kreutzer Sonata” 1987 release. She was her last movie work.
May 27, 1990 Gulaya Inna Iosifovna died at 51 years of age. Death came from an overdose of sleeping pills. According to the most common version, the cause of her death was suicide.
Simple great actress
In her short life, Inna Gulaya, whose biography is filled with tragedy, still showed how deep, versatile and talented actress she was. In her works, she demonstrated the ability to get used to the role to the last cell, connecting with her whole heart to the image.
Yuri Nikulin, Inna Gulay’s partner in the film When the Trees were Big, spoke of her as a person who made an indelible impression on those around him. She captivated the viewer with her sincerity and "huge, clean, piercing souls." It remains only to assume what an unprecedented contribution to the development of the cinema this star could not have flared up if its fate had turned out differently.