The name of the theater and film actress Valentina Karavaeva is now unknown to almost anyone. But the life story of the youngest winner of the Stalin Prize is so amazing that it resembles a fairy tale. Only this story does not end with a happy ending.
It is likely that Cinderella Valentine, who was left alone, after giving up the shoe was happy in her own way. Sometimes she makes such an impression, judging by the amateur films she shot for lack of other roles.
Fulfillment of desires
Alla Ivanovna Karavaeva was born on May 21, 1921 in Vyshny Volochyok. The girl did not like her real name very much.
From an early age, the baby was sure that she would become an actress. The name "Alla" is completely unsuitable for the stage. The five-year-old daughter asked her mother to call her Valentina.
After school, the future actress went to the capital. There she entered the school at Mosfilm. With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, it seemed, it was possible to forget about a career.
But the authorities decided to strengthen the fighting spirit with the help of art. Therefore, filming continued. It was at this time that Vale Karavaeva was destined to become a star.
In 1942, a picture with a touching and simple plot "Mashenka" appeared on the screens of the country. The young performer played the main character in it. The success turned out to be incredible.
Broken dream
Not only ordinary viewers liked the tape. Valentina was awarded the Stalin Prize for her Mashenka. Stalin shook hands with the twenty-one-year-old actress. It is quite possible that this saved her life in the future.
However, Karavaeva's happiness did not last long. Only a few months have passed since the award ceremony. In 1944 Valentina got into a car accident on her way to the shooting of a new film "Moscow Sky".
When the car collided with the tram, the driver was killed. The actress survived, but she had a terrible scar from chin to ear. The face of the previously attractive girl remained disfigured.
This excluded the possibility of filming. Only cameo roles remained. After the Victory, Karavaeva managed to get a job at the Mossovet Theater. The roles there were given to her are far from secondary.
But the singer did not abandon the hope of returning the former face. Russian specialists could not help her. However, at this time, Valentina met the British diplomat George Chapman.
Tom has long liked the cheerful, charming girl from the painting "Mashenka". Even with the scar, he recognized her. Young people got married in 1945. Mindful of the prize, Stalin gave the desperate personal permission to leave.
Chance for happiness
It was whispered everywhere that the marriage was concluded only for profit: the actress needed plastic surgery abroad. Soviet Cinderella managed to organize a theater in the Russian community in Geneva, for which she herself staged plays and played.
Valentina has addressed specialists abroad more than once. But there, too, nothing came of it. Even the best surgeons made a helpless gesture. The affected face was only slightly corrected.
Desperate Karavaeva decided to return. The spouse was discouraged by a loving husband. He assured her that her act was like death. But the performer left without roles and without hope did not want to listen to anything.
In the early fifties, Valentina returned to the USSR. After a divorce in 1950-1951, she retained the surname Chapman.
Frustration
Many people preferred not to contact the actress who came from the capitalist country. Yes, and Karavaeva herself all the time believed that the KGB was monitoring her.
The actress was able to get a job only in the theater in her small homeland. But she was no longer offered the role. Since 1957, the performer has worked at the Gorky Film Studio.
She was lucky only with Schwartz's fairy tale "An Ordinary Miracle" in 1964. Erast Garin invited her. On the set, Valentina Ivanovna had a chance to try on the image of Emilia.
The once well-known Mashenka appeared on the screen for the last time in 1968. She played in a tiny episode of Moses Kalik's film "To Love …".
In the Theater, the actor was paid out of pity for the crumbs. In order to somehow survive, the actress took up voice acting. She "gave" her voice to many foreign stars: Greta Garbo, Bette Davis, Marlene Dietrich.
Last years
No one offered her a movie. At home, Karavaeva filmed her films with a small amateur camera. There were no spectators. She arranged a one-man theater, performing the same roles for two decades. These shots were included in the documentary film "I am the Seagull" by Georgy Parajanov.
Only thanks to him did they learn about the fate of Valentina Karavaeva. The exact date of the departure of the Soviet Cinderella remains unknown to this day: she lived very secluded after Chapman's return.
Her neighbors did not immediately notice her disappearance. Only after the pipe broke at the entrance did all the residents have to leave. Someone has discovered that there is no "weird" artist.
It was never possible to establish how long her body lay behind closed doors. Presumably she died in December 1997. But on the grave of the "unforgettable Mashenka" at the Khovanskoye cemetery in the capital, a different date is indicated: January 12, 1998.
There is a stone monument on the previously abandoned grave. The name of the Soviet Cinderella, which she received after marriage, is engraved on it.
Yuri Buida wrote the novel Blue Blood in 2011. Karavaeva became the prototype of the main character. The book reproduces many details of the life of the Soviet Cinderella.
