The unique Vera Vasilyeva passed away

The name Vera was given to Vasilyeva not by chance – she proved it with her life. She believed herself – in the theater, in colleagues, in general in people. And no one let her down: she served in the Moscow Academic Theater of Satire for 75 years. It is unlikely that there will be at least one of the colleagues who will say something unkind about Vera Kuzminichna. And people loved her because she never deceived them either from the stage or from the screen.

She did not deceive from the very moment when her chubby and with dimples on her cheeks Nastenka was seen from the screens by the country that watched the film by Ivan Pyryev “The Legend of the Siberian Land”. She, a student of the Moscow Art Theater School, was approved for this role, and she timidly entered the fantastically stellar ensemble – Marina Ladynina, Boris Andreev, Vladimir Druzhnikov and Vladimir Zeldin.

The young artist did not let down the star cast, did not fall out of it, for which she received the Stalin Prize of the 1st degree, although at first there were doubts whether to give the student. Lucky you didn’t offend. And she herself, bypassing her government award named after the Generalissimo himself, would hardly have grieved – she has such a character. And this character turned out to be a lifeline in a very attractive, but difficult acting profession.

More and more, a parallel with Yulia Borisova suggests itself: Vasilyeva is also from the category of quiet stars. No one has ever seen her in anger, heard her scream or noisy, ostentatious behavior. Always sweet, delicate, tactful. It is better to remain silent than to start arguing, to respond to someone else’s aggression, which is enough in both human and theatrical life. And quiet not from fear or excessively careful attitude towards oneself, no – this is from dignity. And such a dignity, true, the audience felt and reciprocated.

And Faith is power. In relation to Vera Kuzminichna – a quiet force. It is impossible without force in the theater. When in Satire she was bypassed with the role of Ranevskaya, she did not begin to sort things out with the main director, but simply got on the train and left for Tver, to the drama theater, where she began to rehearse and played Ranevskaya. There she played Kruchinina in the play “Guilty Without Guilt”. This quiet girl did not expect mercy from nature.

And an amazing desire to work. Of all the centenarians of our theater, Vera Vasilyeva took the stage for the longest time. Before the pandemic, she had three performances at the Satire Theater – “Talents and Admirers”, “Faith” (a mono-performance at the “Attic of Satire”) and the most difficult role in the play “Fatal Attraction”. This role for actresses is much younger, for physically hardy.

Nevertheless, in her nineties, Vera Kuzminichna walked up the steep stairs for more than two hours in high heels, she had almost seven changes of toilets … I wanted to ask director Andrei Zhitinkin what he thought, building almost all the mise-en-scenes on the stairs – up down. But for Vera Kuzminichna, who elegantly put her foot from step to step, it was not a question, but a matter of honor. Only such loud words as honor, service, she did not like to pronounce.

She is 97, and she plays in the “Old New Year’s Tavern” among young people. He sits in an armchair next to Shura Shirvindt, and they sing a romance in two voices: “Everything is as before, still the same guitar.” Sweet, so touching. Her lyricism is colored by his irony.

And at one of the performances (because of its popularity, it was played all winter), at the final phrase, where Vera Kuzminichna should sing: “It’s terrible that you are young at heart,” she sang out of excitement: “Horror that you are blue in your soul.” And Shirvindt, and the artists that were on stage, and the whole hall banged and could not move away from laughter for a long time. So Vera Kuzminichna, not wanting it, made a play.

It turned out to be an involuntary joke, but the attitude to the profession is the most serious, all the same continuation of dignity. Until the end of her days, she followed her physical form. Having no craving for sports, not doing gymnastics, nevertheless, I went to the pool twice a week. Always had a straight back, with a neat haircut.

“You know, Marinochka,” she said to me, “I am so dependent on my hairstyle: my mood and the whole day depend on it.

In everyday life, it is completely unpretentious. You run to her on Old Arbat, and she: “I can offer you coffee and sandwiches.” She did not demand anything from life – she was content with what she had. The husband Vladimir Ushakov, whom Vera Kuzminichna affectionately called Ushka, was engaged in arranging their life. He fenced her off from life, did everything. However, when he himself fell seriously ill, Vera Kuzminichna looked after him.

Maybe for her unpretentiousness, for her lack of love for everything material (they didn’t even have a dacha), God sent Dasha to her. Many years ago, Dasha was a young fan of the actress, but worship turned out to be for life. Vera Kuzminichna, who had no children of her own, considered Dasha Miloslavskaya her adopted daughter, and when she had her own daughter Svetochka, she called her granddaughter.

Dasha Miloslavskaya – a lawyer by profession, extended the years of the actress. When Vera Kuzminichna lost her husband, she took full care of her, arranged a vacation abroad. Vera Kuzminichna spent the summer relaxing at the dacha of Dasha’s parents, whom she considered her family. And in this family, one might say, as in her own house, she died.

“Of course, at this age, everything can be expected, but nothing foreshadowed trouble,” Dasha tells me through tears. “Three years ago Verochka went out into the garden, swinging on a swing. I think that the heat of recent days provoked a sharp deterioration. All of a sudden it got worse at night.

– But what a mystical coincidence – not even a day has passed since Yulia Konstantinovna Borisova left.

– She and Verochka called back until Yulia Konstantinovna ended up in the hospital. And only then she consulted with her daughter-in-law Natalya Vladimirovna. She never found out that Yulia Konstantinovna was gone …

Vera Vasilyeva is remembered by her colleagues.

Sergey Gazarov, artistic director of the Theater of Satire:

– In addition to her talent, charm and the fact that she is a representative of a bygone or passing era, her best representative, I was amazed at her one quality – she was constantly in the process, in business. Vera Kuzminichna constantly demanded new roles. And so she participated in the “Old New Year’s Tavern”, she always came, tirelessly read poetry. The hall became silent, subsided when she read, not believing her eyes and ears.

Every time she came to the gathering of the troupe, and not at the beginning of the season, but to all the workers. And always in great shape: hair, with a flat waist, in a dress. In general, a beauty. We all admired her. And this absolute love is not only in our theater – just the country. When I watched her play “Vera”, I saw that it was not without tears. And not only for me, for the whole room.

Despite everything, we made plans with her for our centenary, which will be in a year. I counted on her great participation in it.

The last time Vera Kuzminichna went on stage was in the evening in memory of Anatoly Papanov on May 9th. She has been on the stage of Satire for 75 years and is the absolute guardian of the theater. In this sense, we are lucky, because, God bless everyone, we have all centenarians, and we take care of them. But the fact that we had Vera Kuzminichna spurred us all on, set us apart from the general background, and we took care of her as best we could. But it happened.

Yuri Vasilyev, actor of the Theater of Satire, partner of Vera Vasilyeva in many performances:

– Everything that is characteristic of a Russian actress – love, tenderness, light, hope – was in her. No wonder she was born on September 30, the day of Faith, Hope, Love and their mother Sophia. I have been at the Theater of Satire for 47 years, and closer than with Vera Kuzminichnaya, I have never had such a relationship with any of the female staff. It was as if we were related, family. I often visited her at home. And how much we played with her mother and son together – and there is nothing to say, on stage, in films, in television performances.

We had the play “The Eighteenth Camel”, where she played my aunt, she brought me up all the time. There was already a rumor that I was her son in life.

And then I came up with such a trick: turning to her, I said: “Mom, oh, aunt …” And everyone in the hall said: “Well, Vasiliev did not accidentally make a slip, he, of course, is her son.”

And somehow I’m going to her next anniversary, I’m being driven by a taxi driver. He turns to me: “Well, to my mother for the anniversary?” After that, I suggested to her: “Vera Kuzminichna, let’s no longer deny that you are my mother.” Although she knew my mother, she tenderly congratulated each other on various holidays, and Vera Kuzminichna even sent her small gifts.

She lived a happy life, because there was absolute admiration for her both in the theater and among the public. After all, until recently she played in four theaters – that’s what a thirst for work. She played The Queen of Spades at the Maly, at the Modern Theater – in my play Once Upon a Time in Paris, and at the Obraztsova Theater she played Mrs. Savage in the play This Strange Mrs. Savage. And plus in Satire – in “Talents and Admirers”, in “Fatal Attraction”.

There was a joke about her thirst for work in the theater: Vera Kuzminichna passed the premiere, and the next day she was already in Shirvindt’s office and said: “Shurochka, what’s next?” Completely stunned Shirvindt: “Vera, are you out of your mind? Does anyone at your age in Moscow play that much?”

I am shocked that Vera Kuzminichna and Yulia Konstantinovna died almost on the same day. They were very affectionate towards each other. Usually actresses of this level have some competition, and they had absolute respect and tenderness for each other. And admiration for each other.

In the 90s, when it was difficult in the theater, we went to play a concert in a military unit. After the concert, a lieutenant comes up to us and says that we will send you money later, and began to explain some problems. And at that time, if the artists were told that “then we will send money”, this meant that they would never be. That’s why Olga Aroseva in such cases always said: “First the money, then the concert.”

But Vera Kuzminichna … So I will remember this incident for the rest of my life – she looked at this officer like that and said: “You have no honor.” And I saw him turn pale.

And on her 90th birthday! Usually actresses of her age sit in a chair and regally accept congratulations. She played “Fatal Attraction”, and then only congratulations. Because she didn’t want to be perceived only as Nastya from the cinema or “on the porch together”, which already got her a little, but as an actress with a new job.

Read the interview “Vera Vasilyeva spoke about playing on stage at the age of 95”