Elena Solovey - theater and film actress. The holder of the title of People's Artist of the RSFSR, which she was awarded in 1990. She achieved the greatest popularity after roles in the films “Slave of Love”, “Fact”, “A Few Days from the Life of I. I. Oblomov”.
Actress Biography
Elena Solovey is an actress born on February 24, 1947 in a military family, in the town of Neustrelitz, located in the Soviet zone of German occupation. The population of the town is very small, a little more than 20 thousand people.
Her father - Yakov Abramovich - was a front-line officer, fought in artillery. He participated in the Soviet-Finnish war, and then went through the entire Great Patriotic War. Mother - Zinaida Shmatova - was a nurse at the front. Parents of the future actress met after the end of the war in Germany, in 1946.
Soon the family returned to the USSR, the actress Nightingale Elena spent her childhood in Krasnoyarsk. When she was 12 years old, her parents moved to the capital - Moscow, in which they stayed.
Having received higher education, Elena Solovey entered the All-Union State Institute of Cinematography. The actress got into the workshop of Boris Babochkin, the performer of the role of Vasily Ivanovich Chapaev in the legendary film of the Vasilyev brothers. Elena graduated from the Institute in 1970.
Movie career
Since 1971, Elena Solovey is an actress of the Lenfilm film studio, the largest in the Soviet Union. Over the next two decades, she plays in dozens of films, many of which have a natural success with the audience.
In the musical fairy tale by Pavel Arsenov, “The Deer King,” she plays the role of Clarice, in Vitaly Melnikov’s comedy “The Seven Brides of Corporal Zbruev,” plays Rimma, in the drama of Yevgeny Tashkov’s Children of Vanyushin, the niece of the protagonist Lenochka, in the cult film Nikita Mikhalkov, Unfinished Play for the mechanical piano, "based on Chekhov’s works, the main role of Sofia Yegorovna Voynitsyova, and in the melodrama about teenage love by Ilya Frez," You never dreamed ... "was a literature teacher Tatyana Nikolaevna Koltsova.
Favorite Director
At that time, the actress has her favorite director, who invites her to almost every film in the lead roles. It becomes Nikita Mikhalkov.
In Chekhov’s drama “An Unfinished Piece for a Mechanical Piano,” the high society gathers for the summer in the luxurious estate of the widow of General Anna Voynitseva. All guests are respected people: Dr. Triletsky, admirer of the estate's owner Porfiry Glagoliev, Platonov’s neighbors, creditors of the estate owner, Petrin and Shcherbuk. For the evening party, the stepson of the hostess Serge arrives, who introduces his wife Sophia to the public, whose role is brilliantly performed by actress Elena Solovey. Her biography says that after this, the name of the actress for many years was associated with this film.
In Sofya, neighbor Mikhail Platonov finds out his long and strong love. Everyone is having fun, playing forfeits, and only a platonic philosophical mood fell upon Platonov. He is constantly trying to talk about the mortality of human existence. Sophia recognizes him.
A beautiful evening ends with a fireworks display, during which an explanation takes place between former lovers. Sophia still loves Platonov and is ready to abandon her new husband for his sake. But Michael himself is not ready for such a rapid development of events and, desperate because he cannot understand himself and his feelings, decides to commit suicide. He rushes from a small cliff into the river, but the water is knee-deep there. Suddenly, his wife, Sasha, appears, who claims that she loves him, no matter what.
The work is based on several dramatic stories by Chekhov - "Three Years", "Teacher of Literature", "Fatherless Fatherhood" and, of course, "In the Estate".
"Slave of love"
In 1975, Nikita Mikhalkov invited the actress to a major role in his drama "Slave of Love." The action takes place in 1918, at the height of the Civil War. In Moscow, the Bolsheviks. Meanwhile, in the south of the country, in a hurry, they are trying to catch the melodrama about a quiet pre-revolutionary life, in which Olga Voznesenskaya plays the main role. She is just played by Nightingale Elena - an actress whose photo by that time was well known to all connoisseurs of Soviet cinema. This character is a prototype of the star of the domestic silent film Vera Kholodnaya.
The film crew tries to ignore the surrounding political reality, ignoring it whenever possible. Everyone dreams of emigrating to Paris. In addition to the operator Pototsky performed by Rodion Nakhapetov. He is the only one who supports the revolution, uses film for clandestine filming of the atrocities of the White Guards in order to conduct propaganda for the Bolsheviks.
The main character Ascension is literally worn in her arms. She does not understand anything in politics; she is fond of Pototsky, and, at the same time, his revolutionary cause. But she is not attracted to this by the political side, but by the romantic. After all, this is a matter for which you can go to jail or even die.
In the finale, she becomes a witness to the murder of the operator, who by that time managed to fall in love without memory.
The film was based on real episodes from the life of actress Vera Kholodnaya.
"A few days from the life of I. I. Oblomov"
In 1979, Nikita Mikhalkov made another famous film - an adaptation of Goncharov’s novel Oblomov with Oleg Tabakov and
Yuri Bogatyrev in the title role. The character of Olga Ilyinskaya goes to Elena Nightingale.
The main character of the film, Ilya Obolomov, is a classic Russian landowner. He owns a small but fairly profitable estate. He spends his life without caring about business. His day is dedicated to sleep, idleness and food. His childhood friend Andrei Ivanovich Shtolts, who thanks to his German roots is very active and practical, is trying to radically change this situation.
From time to time, he manages to force Oblomov to leave the house and begin to lead a healthy lifestyle. On one of these secular trips, Oblomov met the Ilyinsky family. Among them is young Olga, to whom Ilya Ilyich has a hitherto unfamiliar feeling.
Olga, too, is imbued with sympathy for Oblomov and, like Stolz, tries to tear him out of the usual circle. However, Oblomov is already mired in laziness and cannot change something radically in his life, even with a great desire. The final is disappointing - he parted with Olga.
"Fact"
Another landmark film in the career of Elena Nightingale was the military drama Almantas Grikevičius "Fact", which was released in 1980. For her role in this film, Elena was awarded the nomination for Best Actress at the Cannes International Film Festival. True, the award went to Hungarian actress Jadwig Jankowska-Cesljak that year for the role of Eva Tsalanski in Karoy Mack’s drama “Looking at Each Other,” which tells about the anti-communist uprising in Hungary in 1956.
In the film "Fact", the action takes place during the Great Patriotic War on the territory of modern Lithuania. 1944 year. German punitive units destroy the village of PirÄŤiupiai. Already in peacetime, the Soviet authorities were investigating war crimes committed by the German occupiers together with Lithuanian accomplices, who went over to the side of the invaders. Mostly they were nationalists.
The film is based on real facts and documents that meticulously recreate the events that preceded the destruction of the Lithuanian village. This is the murder by an unknown forester, the decision of Colonel Titel, who led the occupation, about a punitive operation. The protest murder of a German officer by the young Lithuanian peasant Vincas.
Elena Solovey in this film plays the sister Tekle, who is in love with the brave peasant Vincas.
In the competitive program of the international film festival in Cannes, the picture participated under the name "Blood Type" Zero ".
Helena Nightingale Awards
During her career, Elena Solovey was awarded a large number of awards. So, for her role in the film "Fact", she received the prize of the international film press federation FIPRESCI in the nomination "Best Actress in a Supporting Role".
In 1976, she became the owner of a diploma for best actress in the film "Slave of Love" from the Council of Young Filmmakers at Mosfilm Studio. And in 1980, Elena Solovey (actress) received the prize “Oxford Silver Shield” for her role in the film “A Few Days from the Life of I. I. Oblomov”. Her films are still loved by the audience.
Theater career
Since 1983, the Nightingale has been playing on the stage of the Lensovet Academic Theater. He is actively involved in filming television shows and premieres. However, more attention is paid to movie roles.
Personal life
Actress Elena Solovey, whose personal life was interested in many of her fans in the 80s, in 1971 meets the production designer Yuri Pugach on the set of Ilya Averbakh's "Drama from an Ancient Life". As soon as the work on the film was completed, she moved from Moscow to her beloved in Leningrad. Soon they get married. In marriage, they had two children - daughter Irina and son Paul.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, in 1991, Nightingale and her husband left the USSR, moved to live in the United States. Their children have already grown up and presented them with three grandchildren - Sophia, Ivan and Agrafen. Everyone now lives in America.
Elena Solovey these days
Actress Elena Solovey is now a teacher of acting. Periodically lives in Canada, where he plays in the Russian-language Varpakhovsky Theater. Russian classical works are often staged on the stage.
The actress returned infrequently to acting in the USA. Basically, she played episodic roles. True, she could be seen in cult American TV shows. In particular, in the 2000s, she played in David Chase's crime drama "The Soprano Clan." She got the role of Branca, the nurse Corrada Soprano, nicknamed Junior, who was the younger brother of the father of the protagonist.
Many fans are still wondering where Elena Solovey is now. The actress still lives in New Jersey. She periodically broadcasts on Russian radio. She founded her own creative studio for young actors.