Faina Ranevskaya
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Faina Georgiyevna Ranevskaya (, born Faina Girschevna Feldman, — 19 July 1984) was a Soviet actress. She is recognized as one of the greatest Soviet actresses in both tragedy and comedy. She was also famous for her
aphorism An aphorism (from Greek ἀφορισμός: ''aphorismos'', denoting 'delimitation', 'distinction', and 'definition') is a concise, terse, laconic, or memorable expression of a general truth or principle. Aphorisms are often handed down by tra ...
s.Фаина Раневская: Жизнь без взаимности
/ref> She acted in plays by
Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; ; 29 January 1860 – 15 July 1904) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer, widely considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career as a playwright produced four classics, and his b ...
,
Alexander Ostrovsky Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky (; ) was a Russian playwright, generally considered the greatest representative of the Russian realistic period. The author of 47 original plays, Ostrovsky "almost single-handedly created a Russian national repe ...
,
Maxim Gorky Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (;  – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (; ), was a Russian and Soviet writer and proponent of socialism. He was nominated five times for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Before his success as an aut ...
,
Ivan Krylov Ivan Andreyevich Krylov (; ; 13 February 1769 – 21 November 1844) is Russia's best-known fabulist and probably the most epigrammatic of all Russian authors. Formerly a dramatist and journalist, he only discovered his true genre at the age of ...
,
Fyodor Dostoevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. He is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in both Russian and world literature, and many of his works are considered highly influent ...
,
Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Tolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; ,Throughout Tolstoy's whole life, his name was written as using Reforms of Russian orthography#The post-revolution re ...
, and others.


Biography

She was born as Faina Feldman (Фельдман) to a wealthy
Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
family in the city of
Taganrog Taganrog (, ) is a port city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, on the north shore of Taganrog Bay in the Sea of Azov, several kilometers west of the mouth of the Don (river), Don River. It is in the Black Sea region. Population: Located at the site of a ...
,
Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...
. Her father, Girsch Haimovich Feldman, owned a dry-ink factory, several buildings, a shop and the steamboat "Saint Nicolas". He was the head of Taganrog
synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...
and a founder of a Jewish asylum for the aged. Faina's mother, Milka Rafailovna (née Zagovaylova), was a great admirer of literature and art. That and her passion for Chekhov influenced Faina's love of art, poetry, music, and theater. There were three other children in the family - two brothers and an older sister named Bella. Faina Feldman attended the elementary school classes at the Mariinskaya Gymnasium for Girls, and then received regular home education. She was given music, singing, foreign languages lessons. Faina loved reading. Her passion for theater began when she was 14. Her attendance of Chekhov's ''
The Cherry Orchard ''The Cherry Orchard'' () is the last play by Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. Written in 1903, it was first published by '' Znaniye'' (Book Two, 1904), and came out as a separate edition later that year in Saint Petersburg, via A.F. Marks Pu ...
'' at the
Moscow Art Theatre The Moscow Art Theatre (or MAT; , ''Moskovskiy Hudojestvenny Akademicheskiy Teatr'' (МHАТ) was a theatre company in Moscow. It was founded in by the seminal Russian theatre practitioner Konstantin Stanislavski, together with the playwright ...
was an experience that had great impact on her. Her
pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...
"Ranevskaya", which later became her official surname, also came from that theater visit. In 1915 she left Taganrog for
Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
to pursue a career in the theater. Faina became estranged from her family over her choice of career, which they apparently rejected. She started as an extra actor in crowd or background scenes at the Summer Theater in
Malakhovka Malakhovka () is the name of several inhabited localities in Russia. ;Urban localities *Malakhovka, Moscow Oblast, a suburb of Moscow with historic dachasToda, Yasushi and Nozdrina, Nadezhda N.(2008) ''The Cottages in Suburban Moscow: A New Lifesty ...
near Moscow in 1915, where she also had a dacha. The Feldman family emigrated in 1917, but Faina decided to stay and continued her acting career, working in the theaters of
Kerch Kerch, also known as Keriç or Kerich, is a city of regional significance on the Kerch Peninsula in the east of Crimea. It has a population of Founded 2,600 years ago as the Colonies in antiquity#Greek colonies, ancient Greek colony Pantik ...
,
Rostov-on-Don Rostov-on-Don is a port city and the administrative centre of Rostov Oblast and the Southern Federal District of Russia. It lies in the southeastern part of the East European Plain on the Don River, from the Sea of Azov, directly north of t ...
, at the mobile theater "The First Soviet Theater" in
Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...
, also in
Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...
,
Arkhangelsk Arkhangelsk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina near its mouth into the White Sea. The city spreads for over along the ...
,
Smolensk Smolensk is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest cities in Russia. It has been a regional capital for most of ...
and other cities. In 1931 Ranevskaya acted at the
Chamber Theater Chamber theater is a method of adapting literary works to the stage using a maximal amount of the work's original text and often minimal and suggestive settings. In chamber theater, narration is included in the performed text and the narrator migh ...
. The film ''Pyshka'' (known as ''Boule de Suif'' in the U.S.), directed by
Mikhail Romm Mikhail Ilyich Romm (; – 1 November 1971) was a Soviet film director, screenwriter and pedagogue. He was named People's Artist of the USSR in 1950. Life and career Early life He was born in Irkutsk into a family of mixed Russian Jewish ...
, marked her debut as a film actress in 1934. It was a silent black and white film based on the novel ''
Boule de Suif "Boule de Suif" (), translated variously as "Dumpling", "Butterball", "Ball of Fat", "Ball of Lard", or "Small Ball", is a short story by the late-19th-century French writer Guy de Maupassant, first published on 15/16 April 1880. It is arguabl ...
'' by
Guy de Maupassant Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant (, ; ; 5 August 1850 – 6 July 1893) was a 19th-century French author, celebrated as a master of the short story, as well as a representative of the naturalist school, depicting human lives, destinies and s ...
, in which she starred as Madame Loiseau. Although the film was silent, Ranevskaya learned several sayings of Madame Loiseau in
French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...
from the original novel by Maupassant.
Romain Rolland Romain Rolland (; 29 January 1866 – 30 December 1944) was a French dramatist, novelist, essayist, art historian and Mysticism, mystic who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1915 "as a tribute to the lofty idealism of his literary pro ...
, a French writer who visited the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
in the 1930s, loved the film, and his favorite actor in the movie was Faina Ranevskaya. At his request, the ''Pyshka'' (''Boule de Suif'') was shown in French cinemas, where it became a box-office success. Ranevskaya played on stage of the
Central Academic Theatre of the Russian Army The Central Academic Theatre of the Russian Army () is the largest theatre in Moscow. It was established on 6 February 1930 as the Red Army Theatre, was renamed the Soviet Army Theatre in 1951 and has always specialized in war-themed productions ...
(1935-1939), Drama Theater, now
Mayakovsky Theatre Mayakovsky Theater () is a theater in Moscow, Russia, founded in 1920, first as ''Terevsat'' (Theater of Revolutionary Satire, 1920-1922), then ''Revolution Theater'' (1922-1943) and ''Drama Theater'' (1944-1953). In 1954 it was renamed after Vlad ...
(1943-1949),
Moscow Pushkin Drama Theatre The Moscow Pushkin Drama Theatre is a theatre company in Moscow, Russian Federation created in 1950 on the base of Alexander Tairov's Chamber Theatre, which was founded in 1914 and shut down in 1949 for ideological reasons. The theatre is based ...
(1955-1963), and finally
Mossovet Theatre Mossovet State Academic Theatre (Государственный академический театр имени Театр Моссовета) is one of the oldest theatres of Moscow, opened in 1923 and based at Bolshaya Sadovaya, 16. History Mo ...
(1949-1955, 1963-1983), where she worked with
Yuri Zavadsky Yuri Aleksandrovich Zavadsky (; 12 July 1894, Moscow — 5 April 1977, Moscow) was a Soviet and Russian theater director, actor and pedagogue. People's Artist of the USSR (1948) and Hero of Socialist Labour (1973). Zavadsky studied under Yevgeny ...
. The actress was awarded the Stalin Prize for outstanding creative achievements on stage in 1949, and in 1951 for her work in the film ''U nih est' Rodina'' (''They Have Their Motherland''), directed by Vladimir Legoshin and Alexandre Feinzimmer. In 1961 Faina Ranevskaya was awarded the title of
People's Artist of the USSR People's Artist of the USSR, also sometimes translated as National Artist of the USSR, was an honorary title granted to artists of the Soviet Union. The term is confusingly used to translate two Russian language titles: Народный арти ...
. The actress died in 1984 in Moscow and was buried at the
Donskoye Cemetery The New Donskoy Cemetery (Новое Донское кладбище) is a 20th-century necropolis sprawling to the south from the Donskoy Monastery in the south-west of Central Moscow. It has been closed for new burials since the 1980s. Histo ...
. A memorial plate dedicated to Ranevskaya was placed on her birthhouse in the city of Taganrog on August 29, 1986. In 1992 British "Who's Who" encyclopedia named Ranevskaya among the world's Top Ten Actors of the 20th century. That was done despite the fact that the actress had never played a major part in a movie: all her roles were supporting ones. In a newspaper article, one of the Soviet movie industry apparatchiks explained her lack of main roles by Faina Ranevskaya's "typical Semitic" facial features. On May 16, 2008, a
Ranevskaya Monument The Monument to Faina Ranevskaya, designed and sculpted by David Begalov, is located in front of Faina Ranevskaya's birth house in Taganrog, Russia. Faina Ranevskaya (1896-1984) is recognized as one of the greatest comic actors of the 20th cent ...
was inaugurated in Taganrog in front of actress's birth house on Ulitsa Frunze 10 within the framework of the International Ranevskaya Theater Festival "The Great Province". In 2017 it was announced that Faina Ranevskaya's birth house in Taganrog will re-open its doors as a museum.


Filmography

* ''
Boule de Suif "Boule de Suif" (), translated variously as "Dumpling", "Butterball", "Ball of Fat", "Ball of Lard", or "Small Ball", is a short story by the late-19th-century French writer Guy de Maupassant, first published on 15/16 April 1880. It is arguabl ...
'' (1934) as Madame Loiseau * ''
The Ballad of Cossack Golota The Ballad of Cossack Golota () is a 1937 Soviet action drama film directed by Igor Savchenko. Plot The film is based on the novel '' R.V.S.'' by Arkady Gaidar. The film takes place in 1920 during the Russian Civil War. All the men of Olkhovka ...
'' (1937) as priest's wife * ''
Engineer Kochin's Error Engineer Kochin's Error, () is a 1939 Soviet thriller directed by Aleksandr Macheret. The film tells the story of how an aircraft engineer's decision to take classified blueprints home unravels a deadly web of espionage, betrayal, and intrigue in ...
'' (1939) as Ida Gurevich * ''
Man in a Shell The Man in the Case () is a 1939 Soviet drama film directed by Isidor Annensky. This film is based on the short story "The Man in the Case" written by Anton Chekhov in 1898. Plot The film tells about the teacher of the Greek language Belikov, ...
'' (1939) as superintendent's wife * '' The Foundling'' (1939) as Lyalya * '' The Beloved'' (1940) as Manya * ''
The Dream A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Dream may also refer to: Art Paintings * ''The Dream'' (Detaille), an 1888 painting by Édouard D ...
'' (1941) as Roza Skorokhod * '' Alexander Parkhomenko'' (1942) as pianist * '' The Wedding'' (1944) as Nastasya Timofeyevna Zhigalova, bride's mother * '' Heavenly Slug'' (1945) as medicine professor * '' Springtime'' (1947) as Margarita Lvovna, housekeeper * ''
Cinderella "Cinderella", or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a Folklore, folk tale with thousands of variants that are told throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press, 1988. The protagonist is a you ...
'' (1947) as Cinderella's stepmother * '' Private Aleksandr Matrosov'' (1947) as combat medic * ''
Encounter at the Elbe ''Encounter at the Elbe'' (in ) is a Soviet war film released in 1949 from Mosfilm, describing the conflict, spying, and collaboration between the Soviet Army advancing from the east and the United States Army, U.S. Army advancing from the west. ...
'' (1949) as Mrs. McDermot * '' They Have a Motherland'' (1949) as café owner frau Wurst * '' A Girl with Guitar'' (1958) as Zoya Pavlovna Sviristinskaya * '' Be Careful, Grandma!'' (1960) as Yelena Timofeyevna, Lena's grandmother * ''
An Easy Life ''An Easy Life'' () is a 1964 satirical Soviet comedy film directed by Veniamin Dorman. It was seen by 24.6 million Soviet moviegoers during its initial release. Plot A chemist by training, Alexandr Petrovich Bochkin (Yury Yakovlev) manages a Mos ...
'' (1964) as Margarita Ivanovna, "Queen Margot"


Ranevskaya's aphorisms

* Life is a short promenade, just before the eternal sleep. * Solitude is when you have a telephone but the only ringing comes from the alarm clock. * Life is a sky-dive: out of a cunt, into the grave. * Ageing is tedious, but it is the only way to live long. * I spent all my life swimming in a toilet-bowl, in the butterfly style. * There are people with God inside, there are people with the devil inside, and there are people with only
helminths Parasitic worms, also known as helminths, are a polyphyletic group of large macroparasites; adults can generally be seen with the naked eye. Many are intestinal worms that are soil-transmitted and infect the gastrointestinal tract. Other par ...
inside! * To star in a bad movie is as if to spit into eternity. * God has made women pretty, so that men can like them, and silly, so that they can like men. * You won't believe how old I am - I even remember some decent people! * (Asked about her well-being) At night everything aches, especially conscience. * An actor has no inconveniences if it is necessary for the role. * I'm watching this movie for the fourth time and let me tell you, today the actors played like never before. * Say and think about me whatever you like. When have you seen a cat interested in the mice's opinion about it? * (After recovering from a heart attack) If the patient really wants to live, the doctors are powerless. * (Answering how to lose weight effectively) Eat anything and whenever you like, but only naked in front of a mirror. * Animals that are rare have been put into the red book, and those that are plentiful - into the cooking book. * Condoms are white because white color fattens. * A man only blushes twice: the first time when he can't the second time, and the second time when he can't the first time. * A real man is the one who remembers your birthday and also does not remember your age. * Those obnoxious journalists! Half the lies they tell about me aren't even true! * Damn nineteenth century upbringing: I can't stand up when men are sitting. * Nowadays when someone shies away from saying that they don't want to die, they say: "I want to live to see what happens next". As if, if not for that, they'd be all for dying. * (Said in late 1970s) It's dreadful when you are eighteen inside, when beautiful music, poetry, art delights you ... and they say it's your time, and you haven't even done anything, and you feel like beginning to live! *"Homosexuality is not a perversion. Perversions are field hockey or ice ballet."


References


External links

* *
Website about Faina Ranevskaya
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ranevskaya, Faina 1896 births 1984 deaths 20th-century Russian actresses Actors from Taganrog People from Don Host Oblast Aphorists Honored Artists of the RSFSR People's Artists of the RSFSR People's Artists of the USSR Recipients of the Order of the Badge of Honour Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Recipients of the Stalin Prize Actresses from the Russian Empire Jewish actresses Jewish Russian actors Jewish Russian comedians Russian film actresses Russian stage actresses Russian voice actresses Soviet film actresses Soviet Jews Soviet stage actresses Soviet voice actresses Burials at Donskoye Cemetery