Elena Mayorova is a star of Soviet and Russian cinema, an extraordinary personality, a favorite of theater and film directors. Her fate was unusual, bright, beautiful - and suddenly cut short at the age of 39. The tragic death of the actress is still a mystery to biographers and friends.
Biography: how it all began
Elena Mayorova was born in 1958 in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. The girl was brought up in a simple working-class family far from art. Little is known about her early years - Mayorova did not like to be frank even with those closest, and she did not consider her childhood cloudless. It is only known that from a very young age Elena was extraordinary, complex, not always understandable - exactly what a real great actress should be. It is not surprising that already in the third grade, the girl was enrolled in a theater studio.
After graduating from school, Mayorova left for Moscow and rushed to storm the admissions offices of all theatrical universities. The first attempt was unsuccessful. Elena's type - thin, tall, nervous - did not fit the desired canons. The girl had to enter a vocational school, a year later she received a working profession and began working at a construction site. This was necessary not only in order to provide for themselves, but also for a legal life in Moscow. Elena did not give up her dream of becoming an actress.
The next year, the dream came true - the girl was enrolled in the first year of GITIS in the group of Oleg Tabakov. She passed the exams perfectly, her talent was finally noticed and appreciated - during Mayorova's studies, she was the first in her course to receive an invitation to a real shoot - in Fraz's picture You Never Dreamed of. For an unknown future actress, it was a real success.
Career in theater and cinema
After graduation, Elena began work at Sovremennik, and a year later, together with part of the troupe and director Oleg Efremov, moved to the Moscow Art Theater. The creative path was not always easy, the actress either received leading roles, or was severely criticized for the slightest mistake. Sometimes Mayorova even doubted the correctness of her career choice. However, it was at the Moscow Art Theater that the best roles of the classical and modern repertoire were played, from Masha in Three Sisters to Lyuba in Olen and Shalashovka.
There are more than four dozen films in Mayorova's film library. She has both episodes and main roles in various genres. Best of all, Elena succeeded in the roles of simple girls with a difficult fate - the same as herself. Thanks to her appearance, the actress easily transformed into fragile, broken-down young ladies, girls from working-class suburbs, broken-hearted divorces and even women of easy virtue. She liked to experiment with characters, the audience warmly accepted the images she created.
In the 90s, the actress began to complain of depression, creative breakdowns. She was always distinguished by impressionability and acutely experienced the slightest setbacks, including in her personal life. Despite a good relationship with her husband, rivals and rivals often arose in their relationship, each betrayal was hard. At the same time, Elena worked a lot - during the years of perestroika, she turned out to be in great demand and could star in 5-6 films in a year.
Personal life
The first marriage was a student marriage and, as often happens, unsuccessful. Elena's husband was Vladimir Chaplygin. The young family lived in a hostel, there was not enough money, difficult living conditions accelerated the gap. The failed husband returned to his parents, and Elena soon met her last, true love.
Her second husband was the fashionable artist Sergei Sherstyuk. The couple moved to the general's apartment owned by his family. The husband earned great money, the only thing that darkened the life together was the absence of children. Due to health problems received in her youth at a construction site, Elena could not become a mother.
After perestroika, her career developed successfully, and her husband's work was selling worse and worse. This could not but provoke family conflicts. Difficulties at home were superimposed on physical and mental fatigue. Mayorova could not cope with one of the bouts of depression that happened in August 1997. It is not known exactly how she was able to set herself on fire - perhaps the cause was an accident while smoking. There was no one at home, in search of salvation, Elena ran to the entrance of her native theater. An ambulance was called, but the actress could not be saved. After 9 months, her husband also died - life without his beloved woman turned out to be meaningless for him.
