“There is no sadder story in the world than the story of Savelov’s Light,” the elders of the Lenkom Theater paraphrased Shakespeare. This year, this actress, whom the audience fell in love with in the films “Seven Old Men and One Girl”, “Farewell, Pigeons”, “Green Light”, would have turned 80 years old. A rare beauty at one time was compared with Brigitte Bardot. Her life was cut short at the age of 57 from alcohol poisoning on January 30, 1999. Savelova’s body lay for three days in her modest apartment on the outskirts of Moscow. There was no decent dress in the closet, so the actress was buried in clothes from the props of the theater costume shop.
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They say that Savelova considered Nikolai Karachentsov the main man in her life. Their romance began when young Kolya just came to work at Lenkom, and Svetlana was already considered a prima there. Years later, Nikolai Petrovich, who had long been married to another colleague in the troupe, Lyudmila Porgina, sobbed at the funeral of the former bride. Even though I was late for the funeral.
There are several versions of the breakup of this pair. Porgina puts the blame on her husband’s mother, the venerable choreographer Yanina Brunak:
– Yanina Evgenievna was categorically against his marriage to Sveta. He introduced them, brought Savelova to her parents’ house, but her mother coldly met Kolya’s bride and cut her off: “She is not a match for you.” My mother-in-law didn’t accept me right away either. Apparently, she believed that Kolya was worthy of at least Maya Plisetskaya. But I ignored her words. Nicholas and I fell in love, and it was impossible to separate us.
A close friend of Karachentsov, his classmate and theater colleague Boris Chunaev, is sure that the stubborn Porgina beat off Nikolai Petrovich from Savelova:
– Kolya and I were almost like brothers. Inseparable. 60 years together. I witnessed his relationship with Sveta. She came to Lenkom already as a star. The artistic director Mark Zakharov treated her in a special way. She was appointed to the main roles. And Kolya was a beginner and unknown to anyone. So Sveta gave him advice, however, mainly regarding cinema. After all, she played her first leading role in the movie Goodbye Doves without being an actress. And only then she graduated from “Pike”.
mental anguish
– Kolya, Sveta and I not only toured together, but went on vacation together, – continues Chunaev. – On the road with the troupe, Savelova, unlike us, was always settled in suites. The theater immediately gave her an apartment on Gorky Street. But, despite her status, Karachentsov immediately fell in love with Savelova. And she, in my opinion, loved him for real. Nikolai remained her main man. But at some point he chose Porgina. More precisely, Luda chose Kolya and achieved his love. Such a woman will move mountains to get her way. But Sveta was not like that. She didn’t feel pressured. I saw how much she was going through a break with Kolya. But Savelova did not like being pitied. And then a not very good person appeared in the theater, who took advantage of her grief and committed meanness towards the Light.
Savelova’s classmate, the famous “Porthos” Valentin Smirnitsky, told us the name of this person:
– Yes, unhappy love with Karachentsov made Svetlana vulnerable, – confirmed Valentin Georgievich. – In this difficult time for her, like a devil from a snuffbox, the mediocre artist Sergei Milovanov jumped out. He introduced her to the bottle – he found a way to drown out Sveta’s mental anguish. But during her studies, she did not take a drop of alcohol into her mouth. She was a very pure, correct girl.
Karachentsov, already as a friend, tried to save his failed bride.
– Milovanov, a very unpleasant type, from whom one could expect all sorts of nasty things, began to circle around Savelova, and it seems she succumbed to him, – states the Lenkom actress Nina Gorshkova. – I witnessed how at one banquet Milovanov added vodka to Sveta and persistently persuaded her to drink. She knocked back a few glasses and quickly got tipsy. Karachentsov carefully asked Milovanov to move away from Savelova. But Sergei was rude to Kolya. And he, despite the fact that he was already Luda’s husband, attacked Milovanov with his fists in front of everyone. I’m sure Savelova remained indifferent to Karachentsov.
On the road to God
Sergey Milovanov soon left Lenkom. In the cinema, he began with the role of a locksmith in the film by Stanislav Govorukhin “The meeting place cannot be changed.” And ironically, he also ended up as a locksmith. In the painting “See Paris and die.”
As if by the end of his life (he died in 2003), Milovanov settled down and came to God. The first love of Sergei Nikolayevich, People’s Artist of Russia Lyudmila Zaitseva, told Express Gazeta about this rebirth.
– The amorous Serezha had many ladies of the heart. I know his last wife – a very decent woman. With her, Sergei Nikolaevich became a believer. And in his youth, yes, he was a little unlucky and a bully, despite the fact that he was born into an intelligent Moscow family – his parents were engaged in literary work. But by the end of life, all the nonsense has passed. I used to like him. Highly! He is my first true love. We were friends, walked together, went somewhere. They also went to a restaurant – ate something, drank wine (and note: I didn’t drink too much, although I’m not a very strong-willed person) and ran away without payment. I don’t even know how it would all end, but Serezha was expelled from the Pike for some kind of misconduct. Then we sometimes met, but only as old acquaintances. I married Gennady Voronin, with whom I lived for 30 years.
Savelova’s stage partner Evgeny Steblov believes that the reason for all her misfortunes is in her unsettled personal life:
– For a woman, it is very important. For an actress – doubly so. You can list on the fingers the actresses who were both single and successful. Lyudmila Gurchenko, for example, got married many times until she found her man. And my first love, Marianna Vertinskaya, is in a relentless search for love.
The last man of Svetlana Savelova was a former police officer. Often it was he who came to Lenkom for her salary. With this money they drank heavily. But shortly before the death of the actress, he ran away from her.
Photo source: EG archive, Film stills, Personal archive, Legion-Media