“There is no sadder story in the world than the story of Savelov’s Light,” paraphrasing Shakespeare the elders of the Lenkom Theater. 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 was once compared to Brigitte Bardot. Her life was cut short at the age of 57 by alcohol poisoning on January 30, 1999. Savelova’s body lay in her modest apartment on the outskirts of Moscow for three days. There wasn’t a decent dress in the closet, so the actress was buried in clothes from the theater’s costume shop props.
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They say that Savelova considered Nikolai Karachentsov to be the main man in her life. Their romance began when young Kolya just came to work in Lenkom, and Svetlana was already considered a prima there. Years later, Nikolai Petrovich, long married to another colleague of the company, Lyudmila Porgina, sobbed at the funeral of the ex-bride. Even though I was late for the funeral.
There are several versions of the breakup of this pair. Porgina blames her husband’s mother, the venerable choreographer Yanina Brunak:
– Yanina Evgenievna was categorically against his marriage to Sveta. She introduced them, took Savelova to her parents’ house, but her mother coldly met Kolya’s bride and interrupted: “She is not up to you.” Even my mother-in-law did not accept me right away. 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 part.
A close friend of Karachentsov, his classmate and theater colleague Boris Chunaev, is sure that the stubborn Porgina defeated Savelova’s Nikolai Petrovich:
– Kolya and I were almost like brothers. Inseparable. 60 years together. I witnessed her relationship with Sveta. She came to Lenkom already as a star. Artistic director Mark Zakharov treated her especially. She was nominated for the main roles. And Kolya was a beginner and unknown to anyone. So Sveta gave him advice, though, mostly about cinema. After all, she played her first leading role in the movie Goodbye Doves without being an actress. And only then she graduated from the “Pike”.
mental anguish
– Kolya, Sveta and I not only went on tour together, we went on vacation together, – continues Chunaev. – Traveling with the crew, Savelova, unlike us, 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, really loved him. Nikolai remained her main man. But at some point he chose Porgina. More precisely, Luda chose Kolya and achieved her love for her. Such a woman will move mountains to get what she wants. But Sveta was not like that. She didn’t feel pressured. I saw how much she was going through a breakup with Kolya. But Savelova did not like to be pitied. And then a not very good person appeared in the theater, who took advantage of her pain 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 moment for her, like a devil from a snuffbox, the mediocre artist Sergei Milovanov popped up. He introduced her to her bottle: he found a way to drown out Sveta’s mental anguish. But during her studies, she didn’t get a drop of alcohol in her mouth. She was a very pure and correct girl.
Karachentsov already as a friend tried to save his failed bride.
– Milovanov, a very unpleasant fellow, from whom all sorts of nasty things could be expected, began to circle around Savelova, and she seems to have succumbed to him, – says Lenkom actress Nina Gorshkova. – I saw how at a banquet Milovanov added vodka to Sveta and persistently persuaded her to drink. She downed a few drinks and she immediately got drunk. 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, punched Milovanov in front of everyone. I’m sure Savelova remained indifferent to Karachentsov.
On the way to God
Sergey Milovanov soon left Lenkom. In the cinema he made his debut with the role of a blacksmith in Stanislav Govorukhin’s film “The meeting place cannot be changed”. And ironically, he also ended up as a blacksmith. In the painting “See Paris and die”.
As if at the end of his life (he died in 2003), Milovanov settled down and went to God. Sergei Nikolayevich’s first love, 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 honest woman. With her, Sergei Nikolaevich became a believer. And in his youth, yes, he was a little unlucky and domineering, despite the fact that he was born into an intelligent Moscow family: his parents were engaged in literary work. But at the end of life, all nonsense is over. I liked. 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, even though I’m not a very strong-willed person) and ran away without getting paid. I don’t even know how it would have turned out, 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 unstable personal life:
– For a woman, it is very important. For an actress, doubly so. You can list on your fingers 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 pursuit of love.
Svetlana Savelova’s last man was a former police officer. Often it was he who came to Lenkom for his salary. With this money they drank a lot. But shortly before the death of the actress, he ran away from her.
Photo source: EG archive, stills, personal archive, Legion-Media
