Actress Zoya Stepanova is most familiar to the viewer in the performance of episodic roles. Many people remember her by the role of a caustic wife in the film "Time of Desires" or by the small role of Kira Stroganova in "Three came out of the woods." From this article you can find a biography of Zoe Stepanova. How did the actress's career develop, and in which films did she still play a major role?
Biography
Zoya Stepanova was born on July 24, 1928 in Moscow. From childhood, the girl was distinguished by her industriousness and determination, while she had a cheerful disposition and artistic abilities. In the war years, starting from the age of 15, young Zoya combined her studies at school with work for the benefit of the Red Army - she helped in factories, factories and in food supplies. Zoya Stepanova began her acting biography at the age of nineteen, having entered the VGIK in 1947. She graduated from the acting department, her master was Boris Babochkin - People's Artist of the Soviet Union.
Careers in film and theater
First of all, Zoya Stepanova was a theater actress. After graduating from the institute in 1952, Zoya was assigned to the troupe of the Kinoakter theater studio, on the stage of which she served for more than forty years. Theatrical biography of Zoe Stepanova includes such performances as "Eight Women", "Uncle's Dream", "Kiss Me, Kat", "Severe Field", "At the Dangerous Line", "Ah, Heart" and many others.
But despite the success and achievements in the theater, actress Stepanova was always more attracted to cinema. The first film in which she took part was the 1954 painting "Faithful Friends." Zoe played a cameo role of an anonymous Komsomol member, her name was not even in the credits. In 1954, there was another nameless role in the film "This must not be forgotten." And in 1956 a real film debut took place - Zoya Stepanova performed the main role in the film "Flax Sowed by Girls". A frame from this film is presented below.
The film is a typical 50s sketch from a working rural life. The heroine of Stepanova is Nadeyka Krasovich, a flax collection manager at a Belarusian collective farm. Having won the agricultural exhibition, Nadeika promises to collect twice as much flax, but no one believes in its success. Against the background of the life and work of the collective, the romantic story of Nadeika and Grigory, the new director and the only person confident in the success of Nadeika, unfolds.
Despite the fact that Stepanova coped well with the role and the film was well appreciated, there was no longer any major role in her film career. From 1957 to 1959, Zoya Stepanova in the films "Special Assignment", "Three came out of the woods" and "Aina" played secondary roles, after which she did not act for 10 years. From 1969 to 1985, she returned to the cinema, starring in more than ten films, but performed only third-rate and episodic roles. But in small roles, she managed to prove herself by revealing the character’s image - many remember her eloquent look turned to the main character in the film “Time of Desires”.
Personal life
Unfortunately, information about the biography of Zoya Stepanova is so scarce that nothing is known about the actress's family. Perhaps, having devoted many years to the theater, she never managed to create her own family.
In addition to theater and cinema, Zoya Stepanova was fond of literature all her life. From a young age, she wrote poetry, and at a more advanced age she began to write prose. A collection of her works entitled "Curious stories or a dream in the hand" was released in 2005, and in 2008 the same collection was reprinted.
The actress died of cardiac arrest on August 21, 2017 at the age of 89.