Olga Androvskaya - one of the "great old people" of the Moscow Art Theater

The concept of “charming woman” as if was created for Olga Nikolaevna Androvskaya. And the admired “devil” is very suitable for her. Rather, she is the same as she was on stage and on the screen.

Olga Androvskaya
And in her last deafeningly popular role, Mrs. Conti from the play “Solo for a Watch with a Fight”, she played just such an old, captivating and charming woman in the past.

Mother genes

They say that she masterfully possessed a laugh that had many intonations and was able to infect others with it. Olga Androvskaya was born in the century before last, in 1898, in the family of the future lawyer, and then law student Nikolai Schulz. Her mother was Frenchwoman Maria Rigule, who came to Russia to teach the language. Perhaps this is the reason for Olga Nikolaevna’s rare charm? Maybe the mother’s genes gave her a real French charm? If so, then all of her temperament, piquancy, humor and cunning took the scene.

Beloved and only

Such were her heroines, and in life, according to people who knew her well, Olga Androvskaya was a rather sad person and not a “fighter” at all. She herself said that she was sad to live, and playing fun. But, obviously, this phrase applied to the period of life when the beloved husband had already died - the theater and cinema artist, who was the archipopular at that time, who played the main role in the first Soviet sound film “A ticket to life,” Nikolai Batalov.

Olga Androvskaya actress
For some reason, in all articles they consider it necessary to emphasize the fact that he was an uncle to Alexei Batalov. So they write - Honored Artist of the RSFSR, Uncle A. Batalova. Like it's a title. Yes, A. Batalov himself, according to many testimonies, is keen on indecency through family ties.

Life to the theater

Olga Androvskaya graduated with honors from the gymnasium in 1914. The future People’s Artist of the USSR and the Stalin Prize laureate (I degree) did not think about the career of an actress, but as a girl from a good, wealthy family she entered medical courses. Olga Nikolaevna has always been conscientious about any work. She professionally and mentally looked after the many wounded who were coming to the clinic from the front. Later, the father insisted that the daughter follow in his footsteps, and the girl enters higher law courses.

Carier start

It was during training at the courses that Olga Androvskaya began to participate in performances, and later, having decided on the choice of a profession, she took the pseudonym “Androvskaya” in honor of her younger brother Andrei, who died in 1924 from wounds received in the war.

Olga Androvskaya biography

The famous actress of the Imperial Theaters, the teacher of the great Yablochkina, Glykeria Fedotova, noted the talent of young Androvskaya and advised her to devote herself to the art of Melpomene.

A very suitable actress

And since 1916, Olga Androvskaya is an actress of the very popular Krosh Theater then. At the same time, she visited the studio to them. Chaliapin. In 1919, Olga Nikolaevna entered the 2nd studio of the Moscow Art Theater, and from that time she took part in the performances of the famous Art Theater, and in 1924 she joined the studio. The first major role of Androvskaya on the stage of the Moscow Art Theater was the role of Isabel from the comedy of P. Calderon "The Invisible Lady."

Olga Androvskaya films
She was very favorably treated by the founding fathers of the Art Theater. A.P. Chekhov - K.S. Stanislavsky and V.I. Nemirovich-Danchenko. He offered her the role of Lisa in “Woe from Wit”, where K.S. Stanislavsky shone in the role of Chatsky. It was impossible not to isolate her - Androvskaya was called a unique actress, possessing amazing charm, grace, craftiness and, most importantly, she had a sophisticated stage technique.

One of the most successful roles

And, of course, Olga Androvskaya, an actress with such data, shone in characteristic roles. For example, Suzanne in Beaumarchais's “The Marriage of Figaro”. In general, the cast of this performance was brilliant - Batalov (Figaro) and Shevchenko, Livanov and Zavadsky as Count Almaviva, Stepanov and Prudkin. Costume designs were made by Golovin. The carnival performance forever inscribed the name of Androvskaya in the history of the Moscow Art Theater and did not leave the scene for more than 10 years.

Performances that glorified the theater

Maybe, by theatrical standards, the actress played not so many roles, but absolutely all of them were memorable. Famous performances such as “The Perfect Husband” or “School of Slander”, where Androvskaya shone as Mrs. Chiwley and Lady Teesle (respectively), did not leave the stage for a very long time, and the superbly staged “School of Slander” was filmed. Actress Androvskaya, possessing only her inherent, unique, brilliant style, became famous. For this performance, Olga Nikolaevna mastered playing the harp, and her partner Mikhail Yanshin - on the flute.

Ingenious actress any role on the shoulder

Actress Olga Androvskaya, whose biography was connected with the Moscow Art Theater until the end of her days, played another characteristic role of Roxy Hart in the play “Advertising” by M. Watkins, which later became the basis of the sensational Broadway play “Chicago”. Androvskaya gained fame as a comedic actress. But Olga Nikolaevna could play any role, for example, Panova in "Love Spring". Many believe that this role became the pinnacle of her work.

Personal life

In her personal life, Olga Androvskaya, whose biography since 1921 was associated with Nikolai Batalov, was happy. In 1923, a daughter Svetlana was born in a family of talented actors, in which her mother did not cherish a soul. But the cold, which N. Batalov caught on the set of the film "Aelita", grew into tuberculosis. And in 1937, the actor dies. Olga Androvskaya never married again. The joy for her was a daughter. Svetlana grew up, became an actress, but did not succeed. Her husband was actor Peter Chernov, who became unusually popular after playing the role of Davydov in the film Virgin Soil Upturned.

Cinema and teaching

Olga Androvskaya, whose films few remember, nevertheless, was also shot quite successfully. And the role of landowner Elena Ivanovna Popova in the short film "The Bear," in which the brilliant M. Zharov was her partner, made her famous throughout the country.

actress Olga Androvskaya biography
The film is now broadcast on television. It should be noted her pedagogical activity (GITIS) - Olga Nikolaevna released several famous actors, in 1963 she became a professor.

Great performance

And the performance “Solo for a Watch with a Fight” became a great final chord. Not every actor gets such a gift - so brilliantly, with such a triumph, to leave the stage. All the “great old men” were unusually good at Solo ... but Olga Androvskaya simply shone. At the rehearsal, she was brought from the hospital - she was already seriously ill then. A unique actress died in 1975 from cancer. She was buried next to N. Batalov in the 2nd section of the Novodevichy cemetery.


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