Vera Vasilyevna Kholodnaya (née Levchenko; ; ; 5 August 1893 – 16 February 1919) was a Russian cinema actress. She was the first star of Imperial Russian silent cinema. Only five of her films still exist, and the total number she acted in is unknown, with speculation ranging from 50 to 100. She predominantly acted in the genres of drama, melodrama, and short films, working with directors such as Yevgeni Bauer, Pyotr Chardynin, and others. Her co-stars included Vitold Polonsky, Vladimir Maksimov, and Osip Runich. She gained fame for her roles in films such as ''The Song of Triumphant Love'' (1915), ''Mirages'' (1915), ''A Life for a Life'' (1916), ''Forget the Fireplace...'' (1917), and many others. Only five films featuring Vera Kholodnaya have survived, though the actual number of her films may range from 50 to 100. Even after her death at the age of 25, her popularity endured during the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the Civil War. The official cause of her death was Spanish flu, but it sparked numerous rumors and myths.

Early life

Born in

Poltava Poltava (, ; , ) is a city located on the Vorskla, Vorskla River in Central Ukraine, Central Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Poltava Oblast as well as Poltava Raion within the oblast. It also hosts the administration of Po ...

(Russian Empire, now Ukraine), she went to live in Moscow with her widowed grandmother at the age of 2. As a girl, she dreamed of a career in

classical ballet Classical ballet is any of the traditional, formal styles of ballet that exclusively employ classical ballet technique. It is known for its aesthetics and rigorous technique (such as en pointe, pointe work, turnout (ballet), turnout of the legs, ...

and enrolled at the

Bolshoi Theatre The Bolshoi Theatre ( rus, Большо́й теа́тр, r=Bol'shoy teatr, p=bɐlʲˈʂoj tʲɪˈat(ə)r, t=Grand Theater) is a historic opera house in Moscow, Russia, originally designed by architect Joseph Bové. Before the October Revolutio ...

ballet school. From early childhood. Vera participated in family theatricals. When she was age 10, Vera was sent to the famous Perepelkina's grammar school.

Personal life

At the graduation prom she met Vladimir Kholodny, who was then a student, an editor of a daily sport newspaper and a race-driver, said to be one of the early Russian car racers. They got married in 1910 despite disapproval of both families. Vera often accompanied him in races, which resulted in road accidents. She also adopted his surname, which translates to "the cold one". Later, many took it for a well-chosen pseudonym. Their daughter Evgeniya was born in 1912, and they adopted a girl, Nata, a year later.

Career rise

In 1908, Vera attended a performance of '' Francesca da Rimini'', with Vera Komissarzhevskaya in the title role. She was deeply impressed with Komissarzhevskaya's artistry and decided to venture in film acting. She approached

Vladimir Gardin Vladimir Rostislavovich Gardin 28 May 1965, born Blagonravov)
Great Soviet EncyclopediaAnna Karenina (1914 film), Anna Karenina''. In 1915 Yevgeni Bauer was to direct the film ''Song of Triumphant Love'' (''Pesn Torzhestvuyushchey Lyubvi''), a mystical love drama (after

Turgenev Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev ( ; rus, links=no, Иван Сергеевич ТургеневIn Turgenev's day, his name was written ., p=ɪˈvan sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ tʊrˈɡʲenʲɪf; – ) was a Russian novelist, short story writer, poe ...

) and was searching for an actress of outstanding beauty. When Vera Kholodnaya was introduced to Bauer, he at once approved her for the role, being impressed by her beauty. ''Song of Triumphant Love'' was an enormous success and Yevgeni Bauer immediately started shooting his another movie starring Kholodnaya. It was a melodrama ''Flame of the Sky'' (''Plamya Neba'') about guilty love of a young woman married off to an old widower, and his son. Although ''Flame of the Sky'' was shot after ''Song of Triumphant Love,'' it was the first to go on screen and so brought fame to Vera Kholodnaya. At first it was hard for Vera to convey complex psychological nuances and so she imitated the acting of

Asta Nielsen Asta Sofie Amalie Nielsen (11 September 1881 – 24 May 1972) was a Danish silent film actress who was one of the most popular leading ladies of the 1910s and one of the first international movie stars. Seventy of Nielsen's 74 films were ...

but gradually developed her own style. Vera's extravagant costumes and large gray eyes made her an enigmatic screen presence which fascinated audiences across

Imperial Russia Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor/empress, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * ...

. Her next picture was ''The Children of the Age'' (''Deti veka''), aired in 1915, a drama with pretensions to revealing social problems. Tremendous success was Pyotr Chardynin's tragic melodrama ''The Mirages'' (1916), followed by the 'fancy drama' ''Beauty Must Reign in the World'' by Yevgeni Bauer, melodrama ''Fiery Devil'', and another melodrama ''A Life for a Life'', which turned one of the most popular films in Vera Kholodnaya's career and brought her the title 'the Queen of Screen'. The author of this title was Alexander Vertinsky who venerated the actress and frequented her house. In 1916 Khanzhonkov's company started making the film ''Pierrot'' with Vertinsky and Kholodnaya playing the leads. Unfortunately, the film was not completed. In the beginning of 1917 was released of one of the best films with Vera Kholodnaya, namely ''By the Fireplace'' (''U kamina''), based on a popular romance. The tragic film about a family broken by a rich lover ended with the death of the protagonist played by Vera Kholodnaya. The triumph of the drama exceeded all the films shot in Russia before that. It was so until 1918 when the movie '' Be Silent, My Sorrow, Be Silent'' (''Molchi, grust, molchi'') aired and received even great acceptance. Like many of her films, it was based on a Russian traditional love song. At the same time there was probably no other film so much criticized, especially after the revolution. By the middle of 1918 Vera Kholodnaya turned from just a popular and admired actress into a real phenomenon of the Russian cinema. Her latest movies were ''Krasnaya zarya'' (1918), ''Zhivoy trup'' (1918), '' The Last Tango'' (1918). However, only five works with Kholodnaya have been preserved. ''The Children of the Age'' was the earliest of them. The other four extant films are: ''The Mirages'' (1916), ''A Life for a Life'' (1916), ''A Corpse Living'' (1918), and ''Be Silent, My Sorrow, Be Silent'' (1918). ''A Life for a Life'' was the film that definitively established Kholodnaya's star status.

World War I and the Russian Revolution

After her husband was drafted to fight in World War I, Kholodnaya signed with a rival Khanzhonkov studio. During World War I, Kholodnaya took part in charity concerts, selling gifts to support soldiers and their families. Soldiers worshipped Kholodnaya, calling her "our Verochka". In breaks between shooting sessions, Kholodnaya travelled to the front to visit her husband. By the time of the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

, a new Kholodnaya film was released every third week. ''At the Fire Side'' (1917) was her massive commercial success: the movie was run in cinemas until 1924, when the Soviet authorities ordered many of the Kholodnaya features destroyed. ''At the Fire Side'' was a drama based on a love triangle. The film's success prompted its director Petr Chardynin to make a sequel, ''Forget about the Fire, the Flame's Gone Out'' (1917), which was released during the October revolution. ''Forget about the Fire'', together with another film, ''Be Silent, My Sorrow, Be Silent'' (1918) both with a circus theme broke all commercial records for Russian pre-revolutionary cinema. During the

Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...

, the Bolshevik authorities requested film companies to produce less melodrama and more adaptations of classics. Accordingly, Kholodnaya was cast in a screen version of

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 pre-reform Russian orthography. ; ), usually referr ...

's '' The Living Corpse''. Her acting abilities in this film were applauded by

Konstantin Stanislavski Konstantin Sergeyevich Stanislavski ( rus, Константин Сергеевич Станиславский, p=kənstɐnʲˈtʲin sʲɪrˈɡʲejɪvʲɪtɕ stənʲɪˈslafskʲɪj, links=yes; ; 7 August 1938) was a seminal Russian and Sovie ...

, who welcomed Vera to join the troupe of 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 ...

. By this time, the actress had determined to move with her film company to Odessa, where she died at the age of 25 in the

1918 flu pandemic The 1918–1920 flu pandemic, also known as the Great Influenza epidemic or by the common misnomer Spanish flu, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the Influenza A virus subtype H1N1, H1N1 subtype of the influenz ...

. On learning about her death, Alexander Vertinsky, wrote one of his most poignant songs, "Your fingers smell of church incense, and your lashes sleep in grief..." A director with whom she had worked for several years filmed her large funeral. Ironically, this seems to be her best known film today.

Circumstances of her death

Official Russian records state that Vera Kholodnaya died of the

Spanish flu The 1918–1920 flu pandemic, also known as the Great Influenza epidemic or by the common misnomer Spanish flu, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 subtype of the influenza A virus. The earliest docum ...

during the pandemic of 1919. While that seems quite likely, there is much speculation around her death. Other stories claim she was poisoned by the French ambassador with whom she reportedly had an affair and who believed that she was a spy for the

Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

. During her funeral in Odesa, a large number of people gathered to pay their final respects to Kholodnaya. She was buried on February 19 at the First Christian Cemetery of Odesa. In 1937, the cemetery was demolished by the Communist authorities. In its place, the "Park of Ilyich" with amusement attractions was established, and part of the territory was transferred to the local zoo. Today, only a few reburials from the old cemetery are known with certainty, and there is no confirmed information regarding the reburial of Kholodnaya. Volodymyr Kholodnyy lived only a few months and died of typhus. Many people refused to believe that the great actress had died. Others were shocked by her skin, which had turned bluish due to the embalming fluid. The star’s death gave rise to numerous rumors and a host of legends. According to one version, she was executed as a French spy; another claimed she suffocated from the scent of poisoned white lilies allegedly sent by French consul Enno; a third suggested that Kholodnaya was strangled by a jealous lover. The rumors intensified after the arrest and execution of Kholodnaya’s husband, but her family and close friends confirmed the official cause of death—Spanish flu. There were also whispers that the doctor had been blackmailed into signing off on the Spanish flu diagnosis. Some even claimed that the woman buried was not Vera Kholodnaya at all, but an unknown woman, and that the actress had faked her death and fled abroad due to the threat of her secret mission being exposed. Another rumor alleged she had been kidnapped because she was wearing a large amount of jewelry. No evidence has ever been found to support any of these theories. Ossip Runitch in Posledneye Tango

Legacy

Her life was dramatised in

Nikita Mikhalkov Nikita Sergeyevich Mikhalkov (; born 21 October 1945) is a Russian filmmaker and actor. He made his directorial debut with the Red Western film ''At Home Among Strangers'' (1974) after appearing in a series of films, including the romantic com ...

's film '' A Slave of Love'' (1976). A documentary on her life was filmed in 1992. A year later, her image was depicted on a postage stamp and in 2003 a life-size bronze statue of her was erected in Odessa, created by the artist Alexander P. Tokarev. * Director Vadim Tsalikov created a documentary film titled ''Farewell Beauty'', dedicated to the actress. * A feature film inspired by the life and film career of Vera Kholodnaya, ''A Slave of Love'' (1975), was directed by Nikita Mikhalkov. The lead role was played by Elena Solovey, who later emigrated to the United States. * In February 1996, a small square at the corner of Bunin and Preobrazhenskaya Streets in Odesa was renamed in honor of Vera Kholodnaya. * In 2003, a monument was erected near the house in Odesa where the actress lived and died. * In 2010, Odesa hosted the silent film and contemporary music festival ''Silent Nights'', with one of the sets dedicated to Vera Kholodnaya. * In 2017, Yulia Sak created a short artistic film dedicated to Vera Kholodnaya, titled ''Elegy of Love: Vera Kholodnaya''. * In 2022, Marshal Rokossovsky Street in the city of Kremenchuk was renamed Vera Kholodnaya Street as part of the de-Russification process.

Filmography

Only eight of Kholodnaya's films have survived, in part or in whole:

Lost films

Films that were never released

References

External links

*
Information on the Vera Kholodnaya monument in Odessa, Ukraine

Biography

Detailed account of her career

Her bio and photographs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kholodnaya, Vera 1893 births 1919 deaths Deaths from the Spanish flu pandemic Actors from Poltava Actresses from the Russian Empire Ukrainian silent film actresses