Many viewers know and remember the honored actress of Soviet cinema - Kurkina Raisa Semenovna. Over the long years of her career in the world of cinema, she has played many roles in popular films and series. Her characters evoke the love of the audience from the first minutes. And although the actress never played a major role, she does not regret it at all. After all, she was engaged in a business that was to her joy and pleasure. How the actress’s childhood passed, the details of her career and the main points of the biography of Raisa Kurkina - read the article.
Children's years of the popular actress
Raisa was born in the fall of 1927 in the small village of Pokrovka, Tula Region. Her parents worked at the factory. They were people far from the world of art. Little Paradise, on the contrary, has grown up as a very creative girl since childhood. She loved to speak to the public, read poetry and, together with her friends, staged small performances that delight adults. From childhood, Raisa wanted to become an actress or ballerina in order to be able to shine on the stage.
Parents believed that the girl would follow in the footsteps of her grandmother, who performed amazing songs. People from other villages came to listen to her performances. Raisa Kurkina was a sociable, very open girl, with a huge number of friends, whom she was always ready to help in any situation. The Great Patriotic War began when Paradise had not yet finished school. The girl went to work in a kindergarten, in which she worked for seven years. The children loved her very much, as did the parents, the administration.
Decisive change
Over time, the craving for the world of cinema did not disappear, and Raisa Kurkina decided to go to the capital to enter the theater institute. In 1950, she submitted documents to the famous school named after M. S. Shchepkin. At the entrance exams, the young girl performed Katerina’s monologue from Ostrovsky’s Storm. She became so accustomed to the image, so imbued with the feelings of her heroine, that she could not hold back her tears and end her speech. The chairman of the commission (the famous actress Vera Pashennaya) advised Raisa Kurkina to calm down and come again tomorrow.
But this was not destined to happen. In Moscow, the girl met a friend who gave her a Chinese textbook. Curious Raisa immediately wanted to learn this language, as well as devote her time to studying the East. She submitted documents to the Moscow Institute of Oriental Studies, where she successfully entered. After graduating from this educational institution, in 1952, the girl makes another attempt to enter the theater institute. This was prompted by her acquaintance with the famous actor Mikhail Ulyanov.
He saw in the girl the future star of Soviet cinema and recommended that he enter the Shchukin School, which he graduated from. Raisa passed the entrance tests with brilliance and entered the course of the wonderful teacher Vera Lvova. During her studies, the girl learned the intricacies of her chosen profession and honed her acting skills. Immediately after graduating from the Theater Institute, Raisa Kurkina was accepted into the troupe of the Moscow State Theater. Here she worked for many years.
First Steps to Glory
For the first time in cinema, actress Raisa Kurkina starred as a third-year student, in 1955. In the film "Guests from the Kuban" she played a bright, very charismatic girl - Katya Gorban. Despite the fact that the role was small, Raisa received a lot of new impressions (after all, she was on the set for the first time surrounded by stars of Soviet cinema) and an invaluable experience.
After graduation, the girl was not left without work. Offers of participation in various films rained down on her. Unfortunately, all these were supporting roles. In 1958, a talented girl played the role of Adeline in the movie "The Idiot", directed by the famous Ivan Pyryev.
The next significant step in the career of Raisa Kurkina was the film "Children of the Pamirs", which was released on the screens of the USSR in 1962. The girl played the role of a pretty doctor from the central hospital of the city. Participation in this film radically changed the personal life of Raisa. On the set, she met her first love - director Vladimir Motyl. This beautiful couple made a good creative tandem. The role in Vladimir's film "The White Sun of the Desert" gave Raisa fame.
Raisa Kurkina: films
Among the huge number of paintings with the participation of the actress, the following can be distinguished:
- "White Sun of the Desert". The director of the film (Vladimir Motyl) did not make any trials for the role of Nastasya (the wife of the main character of the customs officer Vereshchagin), he knew for sure that no one could fulfill her better than Kurkina. And he was right. Raisa Semenovna was able to feel her heroine 100%. She managed to show the audience the whole depth of Nastasya’s character. The actress's partner was Pavel Luspekaev. On the screen, they managed to play a really strong family, where everyone supports and respects each other.
- "Belorussky railway station". In this film, the actress played the role of the widow of the hero of World War II - Lida Matveeva. And although the actress did not appear so often during the film, many viewers remembered the modest and loyal girl Lida.
- Speaking about the best images of Raisa Kurkina, one should not forget about the role in the comedy "Afonya". In it, she played the aunt of the protagonist, who appeared on the screen in just a couple of episodes. But thanks to the talent of the actress, this image became the personification of pure and disinterested motherly love.
Personal life of Raisa Kurkina
As mentioned above, the girl met her husband on the set of the film "Children of the Pamirs". Raisa could not resist the charm of a young man. Vladimir Motyl very beautifully looked after the girl: gave flowers, sang songs with a guitar and read verses during evening walks. And soon Raisa made an offer. The girl agreed. Unfortunately, the marriage of this bright creative couple did not last long. On the set of the painting “The White Sun of the Desert,” their ship of love cracked. The reason was Motyl's wild jealousy. He was jealous of his wife for film partner Pavel Luspekaev. However, the main reason was the infidelity of Vladimir himself. Raisa could not forgive her husband for treason and filed for divorce. Since then, the actress carefully hides all the facts about her personal life.
Last news
Since the beginning of the 2000s, Raisa Kurkina practically stopped acting in films. Reason: lack of desire to play the proposed roles. As the actress herself admits, she no longer wants to appear in the frame, hear the command "Motor". Perhaps if she were offered a role worthy of her talent, she would have agreed, but there are very few such options. Among the latest film works of the actress: "MUR is Moore" (2004), "Yevlampiya Romanova. The investigation is conducted by amateur-2" (2004) and "The Constellation of greedy dogs" (also 2004).