One of the most beautiful Soviet actresses Elsa Lezhdey, known to millions of viewers of the older and middle generations for the role of forensic expert Zina Kibrit in the cult series "The Investigation is Conducted by ZnatoKi".
Childhood and youth
Honored Artist Elsa Ivanovna Lezhdey was born on February 19, 1933 in Sevastopol. She considered her name "too German" and often introduced herself as Ella. The girl always dreamed of a creative profession and already in the fifth grade she tried to "hire an artist" of the city touring association. After graduating from school, the girl decided to try her luck in the capital. She withstood the competition in two universities at the same time, but preferred the Schepkinsky school. The next few years, the graduate devoted to the capital's Theater of the film actor.
Film work
The film debut of the actress in 1954 was successful. In the film "Frozen Sea" Yuri Yegorov was asked to play the beautiful Barbara, the bride of the missing fisherman. The plot of the story is based on real events of the 18th century. The Pomeranian ship wrecked after being attacked by pirates, and only four surviving brave souls spend six years on the deserted island.
Changes in her personal life determined the future career of the heroine. Her first husband was Vladimir Naumov. The aspiring director managed to film his wife in several films. I especially remember the film "Wind", where she played the prostitute Maria and Rita Ustinovich in the film "Pavel Korchagin" based on the novel by N. Ostrovsky. The family union of two creative people did not last long, even the son Alexei did not save their marriage.
On the set of the sports drama Hockey Players, Elsa met Vyacheslav Shalevich. The joint scenes of the leading performers grew into a novel that lasted almost two years.
For the movie "The Squadron Goes West" the actress mastered a foreign language. Her heroine Zhanna Labourbe campaigned among the soldiers during the First World War. The image of the French revolutionary who dies at the end of the picture is vivid and heroic.
The audience remembered the artist in the film by Grigory Chukhrai "The Ballad of the Soldier". A young, beautiful woman appeared on the screen, happy to meet her disabled husband, a front-line soldier.
the main role
But the true popularity came to Elsa Lezhdey with the appearance on the television screens of the detective series "The Investigation is Conducted by the Knowledgeable." Zinochka - this is how the colleagues of the clever and resourceful criminologist Zinaida Kirbit were affectionately called, who easily solved the most complex thefts, robberies, and murders. From 1971 to 1989, 22 stories were filmed - 22 investigations. The authors involved a star cast of "villains": Armen Dzhigarkhanyan, Nikolai Karachentsov, Leonid Bronevoy, Marina Neyelova. The role turned out not only triumphant, but also fatal for the talented actress. The directors perceived her exclusively in one role. Invitations to shoot became rare, mostly small episodes were offered.
The second time Elsa Ivanovna got married in 1971. This time, her chosen one turned out to be a colleague, an intelligent handsome man Vsevolod Safonov. They spent over twenty years together. After the death of her husband, Lezhdey closed herself off, she was grieving at the loss. Having lived in solitude for the rest of her life, seriously ill, the actress died in her Moscow apartment in June 2001.
