This year Galina Borisovna will celebrate her 85th birthday. It is known that Volchek has big health problems, namely with the spine. The famous actress and theatrical figure suffers from a herniated disc. This happened, among other things, due to excess weight, which puts pressure on the intervertebral discs, creating unbearable pain and making it difficult to move without support. The disease began to manifest itself especially acutely in 2014.
Why is Galina Volchek in a wheelchair?
Galina Volchek, artistic director of the Sovremennik Theater, was brought to a memorial service for Nina Doroshina in a wheelchair. Black glasses and a mourning shawl added to the sadness of the actress and director, who was already far from a blooming appearance. She looked emaciated and sick.
Galina Borisovna will celebrate her 85th birthday this year. She is older than all the leading artists of Sovremennik - Leah Akhedzhakova, Valentin Gaft, Marina Neelova. And she outlived everyone with whom she began to build Sovremennik - Nina Doroshina, Oleg Tabakov, Oleg Efremov. But over the years, it is becoming more and more difficult for her to lead, to stage performances, to stay in the ranks.
Galina Volchek has big health problems. Many, when they first saw her in a wheelchair, even whispered that the famous director was paralyzed. In fact, she has serious problems with her spine - an intervertebral hernia. Volchek is a lady with forms, so the weight of her body presses on the intervertebral discs, creating unbearable pain and making it difficult to move without support. At the same time, since 2014, the disease, as they say in the theater, has been progressing.
Volchek has been in intensive care several times
Volchek was observed by Dr. Ilya Pekarsky, one of the most famous vertebrologists and spinal surgeons in Israel and the world, who once treated Evgeni Plushenko. But Galina Borisovna refused the operation. After all, everyone who is familiar with this problem knows that spinal surgery is one of the most dangerous. An MRI is performed, and only if it turns out that the hernia is compressing the spinal cord or its roots, surgical intervention is prescribed, but even it does not guarantee 100% success. And Volchek is prevented from being operated on by a sick heart. It is worth noting that constant stress and nerves in the life of the artistic director and director also led to lung problems and hypertension.
In recent years, Volchek has been admitted to the intensive care unit several times with various diagnoses. The position of artistic director of a complex creative team brings stress and nervous situations every day. Hence the hypertensive crises, and cardiac arrhythmias. One can only hope that the strong-willed nature of Galina Borisovna will help her not to give up and defeat the disease.
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Galina Volchek
At the funeral ceremony for Nina Doroshina, the artistic director of the Sovremennik Theater, 84-year-old Galina Volchek, was brought in a wheelchair. Black glasses, combined with a mourning scarf, added sorrow to the actress and director, who was already far from a blooming look. She looked tired and sick.
Galina Borisovna will celebrate her 85th birthday this year. She is older than all the leading artists of Sovremennik - Leah Akhedzhakova, Valentin Gaft, Marina Neelova. And she outlived everyone with whom she began to create Sovremennik - Nina Doroshina, Oleg Tabakov, Oleg Efremov. But over the years, it is becoming more and more difficult for her to lead, to stage performances, to be in the ranks ...
Galina Borisovna has many health problems. Many, the first time they saw her in a wheelchair, even whispered that the famous director was paralyzed. In reality, she has big problems with her spine - an intervertebral hernia. Volchek is a lady with forms, because of this, the weight of her body presses on the intervertebral discs, creating excruciating pain and making it difficult to move without support. Moreover, since 2014, the disease, as noted in the theater, is making itself felt more and more.
Volchek was observed by Ilya Pekarsky, one of the most famous vertebrologists and spinal surgeons in Israel and the world, who once treated Evgeni Plushenko. But Galina Borisovna did not do the operation. Since everyone who is familiar with this problem knows that spinal surgery is one of the most dangerous. An MRI is done, and only if it becomes clear that the hernia is compressing the spinal cord or its roots, surgical intervention is prescribed, but even it does not guarantee 100% success. And Volchek does not allow a heart disease to perform an operation. It must be said that the endless stresses and nerves in the life of the artistic director and director also led to lung problems and hypertension.
Galina Volchek is a Soviet and Russian theater director, actress and teacher, who in 1989 received the title of People's Artist of the USSR. In the theatrical environment, she is, following the example, called the "Iron Lady" - they idolize and fear, respect and bow. Galina did a lot in her life to raise culture to a high level, for which she became a holder of the Order of Merit for the Fatherland.
Galina Volchek was born in the early 30s in Moscow, in a family that was directly related to the stage and cinema. Galina's mother, Vera Maimina, is a Soviet screenwriter, and her father, Boris Volchek, is a famous director and cameraman who filmed Soviet hits Pyshka, Thirteen, Lenin in October and others.
As a child, Galya loved reading, so the girl rarely spent her free time without her favorite book in her hands. Seeing his daughter's interest, his father pushed Galina to enter the only Literary Institute named after him in the Union. But it is unlikely that a child who has absorbed the acting and directing life from the cradle would have chosen a different path. Galina entered the Moscow Art Theater School, where she studied until 1955.
Theater
The theatrical biography of Galina Volchek is full of significant events from the very beginning. A year after graduation, Galina Volchek, together with Lilia Tolmacheva, founded the new Studio of Young Actors, which would soon turn into the cult Sovremennik Theater.
And if in the late 50s Volchek appeared on stage as an actress, then in 1962 Galina Borisovna began directing, which will go down in the history of Soviet and Russian art. Looking ahead, we note that in 10 years Galina will become the chief director of the theater, and in the late 80s she will head the theater as an artistic director.
In 1984, Galina Volchek plays Martha in the production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, and this role becomes Volchik's last appearance in the theater as an actress. Since then, the artist has been focusing on her directing career.
Volchek's first directing experience brings tremendous success. It was a production of William Gibson's play "Two on a Swing", which did not leave the stage of Sovremennik for more than 30 seasons. Two more significant works of the director are "An Ordinary Story" based on the novel and the play "Three Comrades" based on the novel by Erich Maria Remarque. The first of them brought Galina Volchek the State Prize of the USSR, and the second in 1999 "raised Moscow on the ears" and made a splash.
Galina Volchek was the first Soviet director to break through the cultural blockade between the Soviet Union and the United States. She staged several performances of Russian classics in American theaters, including the famous Broadway, where the Russian troupe played for the first time since 1924. And these were not just performances "for show". Volchek's tour was marked by one of the most prestigious US national awards in the field of drama theater - the Drama Desk Award, which was awarded to a non-American theater for the first time in the long history of this award.
The famous director shared her experience with the new generation, and she taught mostly not in Russia, but abroad. For example, recently Galina Volchek conducted a course of lectures and practical exercises at New York University.
Galina Volchek's latest production today was William Gibson's Two on a Swing in 2015. This is the same work that started Volchek's directorial career. Fans see this as a mystical and cyclical meaning and note with sadness that the first work can be chosen by the director to be staged specifically in order to be the last.
Movies
On the screen, Galina Volchek made her debut in 1957 in the film adaptation of the Spanish classic novel Don Quixote, playing the role of a strong maid Maritornes. Then there were roles in the films Sinful Angel, A Bridge Under Construction, King Lear and others.
Sometimes the actress appeared only in episodes, but she made them bright and unforgettable. For example, in the tragicomedy Beware of the Car, she simply played a buyer of a tape recorder in a store, but managed to attract the attention of the audience in ten seconds.
In the fairy tales "About Little Red Riding Hood" and "The Little Mermaid" Volchek has the negative roles of the mother wolf and the sea witch, but in them the actress perfectly realized her own talent. The films "Autumn Marathon", "Unicum" and "Tevye the Milkman" were also successful.
In 1996, the actress stopped acting in feature films, but began to appear annually in documentary projects.
In the new millennium, Galina Volchek starred in a number of films dedicated to the colleagues of the actress: “The Life of Desdemona. ”,“ Unknown ”,“ . Frantic actor”, “Three loves”, “. From hate to love”, “. A man with a past” and others.
The actress also starred in the multi-part documentary projects “To Remember”, “Idols” with and “Film About the Film”, where she also talked about her colleagues, and not about herself. So far only books have been written about Galina Borisovna herself: “Galina Volchek. In an absurd and tragic mirror” Gleb Skorokhodova, “Galina Volchek. Usually outside the rules” and “Galina Volchek. By itself” by Marina Raikina.
Galina Volchek also tried herself in cinema as a director. True, for a long time she simply filmed her best theatrical performances "An Ordinary Story", "Hurry to Do Good", "The Cherry Orchard" and many others. But she also had experience in filming according to original scenarios, for example, the heavy psychological dramas Echelon and Steep Route.
Galina Volchek on the set of the series "Mysterious Passion" In 2015, Galina Volchek suddenly returned to television as an actress in a feature series. The actress played herself in the drama "Mysterious Passion", an adaptation of the novel of the same name. The series tells about real creative people of the last century, who, for the sake of the artistry of the story, wear fictitious, but easily decipherable names.
Personal life
Officially, Galina Volchek was married twice. The first husband of the actress is the famous actor Yevgeny Evstigneev, with whom she lived for 9 years and gave birth to a son. The son of Volchek and Evstigneev also could not leave the world of cinema and became a director. The child did not save the acting marriage, Volchek and Evstigneev separated.
Volchek claims that it was she who initiated the divorce from Yevgeny Aleksandrovich. Despite subsequent relationships, the actress no longer had children, the son from Evstigneev remained the only child of Galina Volchek.
Galina's second husband is the Soviet scientist Mark Abelev, Doctor of Technical Sciences, who taught at the Moscow Civil Engineering Institute. Their union also did not last long, and the couple divorced.
The third marriage of Galina Volchek was civil, lasted almost 10 years, but the director prefers not to remember this period. In her own words, she "had two husbands, several affairs and one misunderstanding." After these relationships, she did not try to create a family anymore, believing that it was impossible to devote herself completely to theatrical activities and at the same time be a happy family man.
The main hobby of Galina Volchek, as the director likes to say, is “making stars”. Of course, you can’t argue that thanks to Galina Borisovna, the world learned about a huge number of artists. But if we talk about hobbies, then it is worth noting that Volchek is not bad at modeling clothes and has created a number of memorable outfits.
In 1995, Galina Volchek agreed to put forward her own candidacy for the elections to the State Duma and entered the federal list of the All-Russian Socio-Political Movement Our Home is Russia electoral association.
For four years, the director sat in the State Duma and worked as a member of the Committee on Culture, but in 1999, by her own decision, she left the walls of parliament.
Galina Volchek now
Recently, the health of the 83-year-old star began to fail. The director often ends up in hospitals, the last time Galina Volchek was on March 21, 2016 with suspected pneumonia. After the state of health of Galina Borisovna stabilized, the director returned home.
Today, Galina Volchek moves in a wheelchair, but details about the director's health were not disclosed. The press did not come to a consensus on this matter: some argue that Galina Borisovna is confined to a wheelchair and no longer walks, others adhere to an optimistic theory that the director is simply trying not to burden himself and give the body a rest.
At the same time, the wheelchair does not prevent Galina Volchek from organizing creative evenings, meeting friends and attending social events.
April 28, 2017 Galina Volchek received the title of Hero of Labor of the Russian Federation with the wording "for special labor services to the state and people." Also in 2017, Galina Borisovna celebrated a double theatrical anniversary: 60 years as she has been working in Sovremennik, 45 of them as the main director.
Filmography
- 1970 - "King Lear"
- 1975 - "Waves of the Black Sea"
- 1977 - "About Little Red Riding Hood"
- 1979 - "Autumn Marathon"
- 1983 - "Unique"
- 1983 - "Black Castle Olshansky"
- 1985 - Tevye the Milkman
- 1992 - "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"
- 2008 - "Contemporary"
- 2010 - "Catherine III"
- 2015 - "Secret Passion"
Galina Volchek, artistic director of the Sovremennik Theater, was brought to a memorial service for Nina Doroshina in a wheelchair. Black glasses and a mourning shawl added to the sadness of the actress and director, who was already far from a blooming appearance. She looked emaciated and sick.
Galina Borisovna will celebrate her 85th birthday this year. She is older than all the leading artists of Sovremennik - Leah Akhedzhakova, Valentin Gaft, Marina Neelova. And she outlived everyone with whom she began to build Sovremennik - Nina Doroshina, Oleg Tabakov, Oleg Efremov. But over the years, it is becoming more and more difficult for her to lead, to stage performances, to stay in the ranks ...
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Galina Volchek has big health problems. Many, when they first saw her in a wheelchair, even whispered that the famous director was paralyzed. In fact, she has serious problems with her spine - an intervertebral hernia. Volchek is a lady with forms, so the weight of her body presses on the intervertebral discs, creating unbearable pain and making it difficult to move without support. Moreover, since 2014, the disease, as they say in the theater, has been progressing.
Volchek was observed by Dr. Ilya Pekarsky, one of the most famous vertebrologists and spinal surgeons in Israel and the world, who once treated Evgeni Plushenko. But Galina Borisovna refused the operation. After all, everyone who is familiar with this problem knows that spinal surgery is one of the most dangerous. An MRI is performed, and only if it turns out that the hernia is compressing the spinal cord or its roots, surgical intervention is prescribed, but even it does not guarantee 100% success. And Volchek is prevented from being operated on by a sick heart. It is worth noting that the constant stress and nerves in the life of the artistic director and director also led to lung problems and hypertension.
December 19 marks the 85th anniversary of the People's Artist of the USSR, actress, director, teacher Galina Volchek. In theatrical circles, she is called the Iron Lady - she is strict and demanding in her work, but no one doubts her professionalism. She reached considerable heights in her work, however, for this she had to sacrifice personal happiness ...
Galina Volchek was born in 1933 in Moscow in the family of the famous director and cameraman Boris Volchek and screenwriter Vera Maimina, so her path was predetermined from childhood. Just a year after graduating from the Moscow Art Theater School, she, along with other actors - Evgeny Evstigneev, Oleg Efremov, Igor Kvasha, Oleg Tabakov and Lilia Tolmacheva - organized the "Studio of Young Actors",
The acting career of Galina Volchek did not last long - in the late 1950s. she entered the theater stage as an actress, but since 1962 she took up directing activities, and since then she has given all her strength only to her. The last time she played in the play "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" in 1984, and on this her acting career in the theater ended. But Galina Volchek periodically appears in the cinema. Her film debut took place in 1957, and since then she has often received offers from directors. True, as a rule, these were episodic roles. But she turned each episode into a masterpiece. What are her Wolf in the film-tale "About Little Red Riding Hood" and Buzykin's friend in the "Autumn Marathon"! True, she herself believed that she was offered very monotonous roles of “all sorts of half-monsters”, it was simply impossible to realize her creative potential in such conditions, so she decided to leave the movie.
As a film director, Galina Volchek began with adaptations of her theatrical productions, and then made films based on original scripts - Echelon, Steep Route, etc. However, the theater always came first for her, to which she devoted her whole life. In 1972, she became the chief director of the Sovremennik Theater, and in the late 1980s, its artistic director. She was also called the first theater director who broke through the "cultural blockade" between the USSR and the USA - in the 1970s, at the height of the Cold War, she staged several performances based on Russian classics in American theaters, including Broadway, taught at New York University. Sovremennik became the first off-Broadway theater to win the prestigious Drama Desk Award.
Galina Volchek had to sacrifice a lot for her beloved work. Including personal happiness. Officially, she was married twice. Her first husband was the famous actor Yevgeny Evstigneev - she lived with him for 9 years and gave birth to a son, Denis, who also became a director. Due to the infidelity of her husband, this marriage broke up. The second marriage with scientist Mark Abelev also lasted about 9 years. Later, Galina Volchek admitted that her mother-in-law was absolutely right, reproaching her that nothing exists for her except the theater: “Alas, my absolute immersion in the theater greatly interfered with our lives. Mark was jealous, worried. Yes, and the publicity of my profession added discomfort - it is very difficult for a self-sufficient man to constantly feel like on the sidelines ... In general, I did not give Markusha what is necessary in family life, the theater took me all, without a trace».
About another relationship that stretched for 10 years and did not end in marriage, Galina Volchek prefers not to remember at all. After that, she decided to devote herself entirely to work, concluding that it was simply impossible to combine active theatrical activity and family concerns. Moreover, she always treated her work fanatically - on the 17th day after the birth of her son, she had already returned to the theater. Later, Galina Volchek admitted: “As a result of this experience, I finally realized: family life in its usual sense is excluded for me. My theater bulldozed over it ... All my life I led myself to the fact that the family became impossible for me. This is the natural state of a man who sold himself into slavery to the theater».
Galina Volchek's first directorial work was a production of William Gibson's play Two on a Swing. Subsequently, she did not leave the Sovremennik stage for more than 30 years and became a landmark for the director. She explained:In order to talk about human relations from the stage, one must be able to analyze them, even dissect them. And the best subject for research is yourself. I once formulated my personal life as follows: I had two marriages, several novels and one delusion, and everything lasted a long time. But besides love, my whole life, and now no less than in my youth, is also a kind of swing».
Unfortunately, all the outstanding actors with whom Volchek began working at Sovremennik are no longer alive - Oleg Efremov, Nina Doroshina, Evgeny Evstigneev, Oleg Tabakov. Galina Volchek is older than all the leading actors-old-timers of the theater - Valentin Gaft, Marina Neelova, Leah Akhedzhakova. Over the years, it was increasingly difficult for her to manage the theater and remain in the ranks.
