Maria Ivanovna Babanova (11 November 190020 March 1983) was a Soviet and Russian actress and pedagogue. She has been described as

Vsevolod Meyerhold Vsevolod Emilyevich Meyerhold (; born ; 2 February 1940) was a Russian and Soviet theatre director, actor and theatrical producer. His provocative experiments dealing with physical being and symbolism in an unconventional theatre setting m ...

's greatest actress and was named a

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 ...

in 1954.

Life and career

Babanova made her debut in

Theodore Komisarjevsky Fyodor Fyodorovich Komissarzhevsky (; 23 May 1882 – 17 April 1954), or Theodore Komisarjevsky, was a Russian, later British, theatrical director and designer. He began his career in Moscow, but had his greatest influence in London. He was note ...

's theatre in 1919. A year later, she joined

's acting courses. Described as "a small, radiant, energetic actor", Babanova captivated the Moscow public in Meyerhold's production of '' The Magnanimous Cuckold'' (1922). The three leading players,

Igor Ilyinsky Igor Vladimirovich Ilyinsky (13 January 1987) was a Soviet and Russian stage and film actor, director and comedian. Hero of Socialist Labour (1974) and People's Artist of the USSR (1949). Early years Igor Ilyinsky was born on 24 July 1901 in Mo ...

, Maria Babanova and Vasily Zaichikov were so in harmony they became known collectively as 'Il-Ba-Zai'. Babanova was viewed as the first great actress to emerge after the

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

. A typical review of her acting read as follows: Babanova's triumphs allegedly aroused the jealousy of Meyerhold's wife,

Zinaida Reich Zinaida Nikolayevna Reich (the last name also spelled Raikh or Raih; ; – 15 July 1939) was a Russian actress and one of the main stars of the Meyerhold Theatre until it was closed under Joseph Stalin. Reich married poet Sergey Yesenin and h ...

. In 1927, Babanova was forced to leave Meyerhold's troupe, as major female roles went to Reich and she felt underemployed. Babanova excelled at the

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 ...

in the roles of children and adolescents. She retired from acting in 1979 and died in 1983, aged 82.

The Snow Queen

The eponymous character from the film of the same name was voiced by her. The animators took a new approach to drawing the Snow Queen. They emphasized the spectral presence of the Snow Queen by using the animation technique known as

rotoscoping Rotoscoping is an animation technique that animators use to trace over motion picture footage, frame by frame, to produce realistic action. Originally, live-action film images were projected onto a glass panel and traced onto paper. This pr ...

or "éclair" named after the table manufactured by the company of the same name. Éclair method used a epidiascope that would be fixed on one side of a furniture equipment provided by furniture company Éclair and the screen projector was fixed on the other side. As one of the acclaimed actresses of Soviet Union, Maria Babanova and some of the other cast members were filmed as if the actors are in a live performance with makeup and costume. Then the film footage was transferred to celluloid with some corrections. The role of the Snow Queen would resemble the mannerisms and unique qualities of the actress as the film footage was translated into frame-by-frame drawings. Maria Babanova's voice was fitting for the character. Babanova Novod 20170404 123119

Selected filmography

* '' Alone'' (1931) as Chairman's wife *''

Alisher Navoi 'Ali-Shir Nava'i (9 February 1441 – 3 January 1501), also known as Nizām-al-Din ʿAli-Shir Herawī ( Chagatai: نظام الدین علی شیر نوایی, ) was a Timurid poet, writer, statesman, linguist, Hanafi Maturidi mystic and ...

'' (1947) as Gyuli's voice (played by Tamara Nazarova) *'' The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish'' (1950) as the Golden Fish (voice) *'' The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Knights'' (1951) as Tsarina/Magic Mirror (voice, uncredited) *''

The Scarlet Flower The Scarlet Flower (), also known as The Little Scarlet Flower or The Little Red Flower, is a Russian literary fairy tale written by Sergey Aksakov. It is a variation of the plot of the fairy tale ''Beauty and the Beast''. In Russia, ''Beauty an ...

'' (1952) as Lyubava (voice, uncredited) *'' In a Faraway Kingdom...'' (1957) as the Pike (voice) *''

The Snow Queen "The Snow Queen" () is an 1844 original fairy tale by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. It was first published 21 December 1844 in ''New Fairy Tales. First Volume#New Fairy Tales. First Volume. Second Collection, New Fairy Tales. First Vo ...

'' (1957) as The Snow Queen (voice and motion capture)

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Babanova, Mariya 1900 births 1983 deaths 20th-century Russian actresses Actresses from Moscow Honored Artists of the RSFSR People's Artists of the RSFSR People's Artists of the USSR Recipients of the Stalin Prize Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Russian drama teachers Russian film actresses Russian silent film actresses Russian stage actresses Russian voice actresses Soviet drama teachers Soviet film actresses Soviet silent film actresses Soviet stage actresses Soviet voice actresses Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery