Vera Kholodnaya
Encyclopedia
Vera Vasilyevna Kholodnaya (Russian
: Вера Васильевна Холодная; August 30, 1893 - February 16, 1919) was the first star of Russian
silent cinema
. Only five of her films still exist and the total number she acted in is unknown, with speculation ranging between fifty and one hundred.
, Russian Empire
,now Ukraine
as Vera Levchenko, she went to live in Moscow
with her widowed grandmother at the age of two. As a girl she dreamed of a career in classical ballet
and even enrolled at the Bolshoi Theatre
ballet school.
, with Vera Komissarzhevskaya
in the title role. She was deeply impressed with Komissarzhevskaya's artistry and decided to venture in film acting. She approached Vladimir Gardin
, a leading Russian film director, who cast her in a minor role in his grand production of Anna Karenina
.
In 1910, she married Vladimir Kholodny, said to be one of the first Russian car racers and the editor of a daily sport newspaper. Vera would often accompany him in races which resulted in road accidents. She also adopted his surname, which translates to "the cold one". Later, many took it for a well-chosen pseudonym. Their daughter Evgeniya was born in 1912, and they adopted another child a year later.
but gradually developed her own style. Vera's extravagant costumes and large gray eyes made her an enigmatic screen presence which fascinated audiences across Imperial Russia.
Tremendous success was Pyotr Chardynin
’s tragic melodrama The Mirages (1916), followed by the ‘fancy drama’ Beauty Must Reign in the World by Bauer
, melodrama Fiery Devil, and another melodrama A Life for a Life, which turned one of the most popular films in Vera Kholodnaya’s career and brought her the title ‘the Queen of Screen’. The author of this title was Alexander Vertinsky
who venerated the actress and frequented her house. In 1916 Khanzhonkov
’s company started making the film Pierrot with Vertinsky and Kholodnaya playing the leads. Unfortunately, the film was not completed.
By the time of the Russian Revolution
, a new Kholodnaya film was released every third week. At the Fire Side was her massive commercial success: the movie was run in cinemas until 1924, when the Soviet authorities ordered many of the Kholodnaya features destroyed. Her last box-office champion was titled olchi, grust... molchi]: like many of her films, it was based on a Russian traditional love song.
During the Russian Civil War
, the Bolshevik authorities requested film companies to produce less melodrama and more adaptations of classics. Accordingly, Kholodnaya was cast in a screen version of Tolstoy
's The Living Corpse
. Her acting abilities in this film were applauded by Stanislavsky, who welcomed Vera to join the troupe of the Moscow Art Theatre
.
By that time, the actress had determined to move with her film company to Odessa
, where she died at the age of 25 in the 1918 flu pandemic. On learning about her death, Alexander Vertinsky
, wrote one of his most poignant songs, "Your fingers smell of church incense, and your lashes sleep in grief..." A director with whom she had worked for several years filmed her large funeral. Ironically, this seems to be her best known film today.
The other five extant films with Vera Kholodnaya are: Children of the Age (1915), The Mirages (1915), A Life for a Life (1916), A Corpse Living (1918), and Molchi, grust... molchi
(1918).
during the pandemic
of 1919. While that seems quite likely, there is much speculation around her death. Оther stories claim she was poisoned by the French
ambassador with whom she reportedly had an affair and who believed that she was a spy for the Bolsheviks.
's movie Slave to Love (1975). A documentary on her life was filmed in 1992. A year later, her image was depicted on a postage stamp
and in 2003 a life-size bronze statue of her was erected in Odessa
, Ukraine; created by the artist Alexander P. Tokarev.
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
: Вера Васильевна Холодная; August 30, 1893 - February 16, 1919) was the first star of Russian
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
silent cinema
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
. Only five of her films still exist and the total number she acted in is unknown, with speculation ranging between fifty and one hundred.
Early life
Born in PoltavaPoltava
Poltava is a city in located on the Vorskla River in central Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Poltava Oblast , as well as the surrounding Poltava Raion of the oblast. Poltava's estimated population is 298,652 ....
, Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
,now Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
as Vera Levchenko, she went to live in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
with her widowed grandmother at the age of two. As a girl she dreamed of a career in classical ballet
Classical ballet
Classical Ballet is the most formal of the ballet styles, it adheres to traditional ballet technique. There are variations relating to area of origin, such as Russian ballet, French ballet, British ballet and Italian ballet...
and even enrolled at the Bolshoi Theatre
Bolshoi Theatre
The Bolshoi Theatre is a historic theatre in Moscow, Russia, designed by architect Joseph Bové, which holds performances of ballet and opera. The Bolshoi Ballet and Bolshoi Opera are amongst the oldest and most renowned ballet and opera companies in the world...
ballet school.
Career Rise
In 1908, Vera attended a performance of Francesca da RiminiFrancesca da Rimini
Francesca da Rimini or Francesca da Polenta was the daughter of Guido da Polenta, lord of Ravenna. She was a historical contemporary of Dante Alighieri, who portrayed her as a character in the Divine Comedy.-Arranged marriage:...
, with Vera Komissarzhevskaya
Vera Komissarzhevskaya
Vera Fyodorovna Komissarzhevskaya was the most celebrated Russian actress at the turn of the twentieth century.Vera Komissarzhevskaya was the daughter of Fyodor Komissarzhevsky, a leading tenor of the Mariinsky Theatre, and sister of Theodore Komisarjevsky, a famous theatrical director...
in the title role. She was deeply impressed with Komissarzhevskaya's artistry and decided to venture in film acting. She approached Vladimir Gardin
Vladimir Gardin
Vladimir Rostislavovich Gardin was a pioneering Russian film director and actor who strove to raise the artistic level of Russian cinema....
, a leading Russian film director, who cast her in a minor role in his grand production of Anna Karenina
Anna Karenina
Anna Karenina is a novel by the Russian writer Leo Tolstoy, published in serial installments from 1873 to 1877 in the periodical The Russian Messenger...
.
In 1910, she married Vladimir Kholodny, said to be one of the first Russian car racers and the editor of a daily sport newspaper. Vera would often accompany him in races which resulted in road accidents. She also adopted his surname, which translates to "the cold one". Later, many took it for a well-chosen pseudonym. Their daughter Evgeniya was born in 1912, and they adopted another child a year later.
World War I and the Russian Revolution
After her husband was drafted to fight in World War I, Kholodnaya signed with a rival Khanzhonkov studio. She starred in The Song of the Triumphant Love (after Turgenev), which proved to become a major box-office hit. At first she imitated the acting of Asta NielsenAsta Nielsen
Asta Nielsen , was a Danish silent film actress who was one of the most popular leading ladies of the 1910s and one of the first international movie stars. Seventy of Nielsen's 74 films were made in Germany where she was known simply as Die Asta...
but gradually developed her own style. Vera's extravagant costumes and large gray eyes made her an enigmatic screen presence which fascinated audiences across Imperial Russia.
Tremendous success was Pyotr Chardynin
Pyotr Chardynin
Pyotr Ivanovich Chardynin was a Russian film director, screenwriter, and actor. Pyotr Chardynin, one of the pioneers of the film industry in the Russian Empire, directed over a hundred silent films during his career.-Biography:...
’s tragic melodrama The Mirages (1916), followed by the ‘fancy drama’ Beauty Must Reign in the World by Bauer
Yevgeni Bauer
Yevgeni Franzevich Bauer was a Russian film director of silent films, a theatre artist and a screenwriter. His work had a great influence on the aesthetics of Russian cinematography at the beginning of the 20th century....
, melodrama Fiery Devil, and another melodrama A Life for a Life, which turned one of the most popular films in Vera Kholodnaya’s career and brought her the title ‘the Queen of Screen’. The author of this title was Alexander Vertinsky
Alexander Vertinsky
Alexander Nikolayevich Vertinsky was a Russian and Soviet artist, poet, singer, composer, cabaret artist and actor who exerted seminal influence on the Russian tradition of artistic singing.-Early years:...
who venerated the actress and frequented her house. In 1916 Khanzhonkov
Aleksandr Khanzhonkov
Aleksandr Aleksejevich Khanzhonkov was Russia's first cinema entrepreneur. He produced Defence of Sevastopol, Russia's first feature film, and Ladislas Starevich's ground-breaking puppet animations....
’s company started making the film Pierrot with Vertinsky and Kholodnaya playing the leads. Unfortunately, the film was not completed.
By the time of the Russian Revolution
Russian Revolution of 1917
The Russian Revolution is the collective term for a series of revolutions in Russia in 1917, which destroyed the Tsarist autocracy and led to the creation of the Soviet Union. The Tsar was deposed and replaced by a provisional government in the first revolution of February 1917...
, a new Kholodnaya film was released every third week. At the Fire Side was her massive commercial success: the movie was run in cinemas until 1924, when the Soviet authorities ordered many of the Kholodnaya features destroyed. Her last box-office champion was titled olchi, grust... molchi]: like many of her films, it was based on a Russian traditional love song.
During the Russian Civil War
Russian Civil War
The Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed to the Soviets, under the domination of the Bolshevik party. Soviet forces first assumed power in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a...
, the Bolshevik authorities requested film companies to produce less melodrama and more adaptations of classics. Accordingly, Kholodnaya was cast in a screen version of Tolstoy
Tolstoy
Tolstoy, or Tolstoi is a prominent family of Russian nobility, descending from Andrey Kharitonovich Tolstoy who served under Vasily II of Moscow...
's The Living Corpse
The Living Corpse
The Living Corpse is a Russian play by Leo Tolstoy. Although written around 1900, it was only published shortly after his death—Tolstoy had never considered the work finished...
. Her acting abilities in this film were applauded by Stanislavsky, who welcomed Vera to join the troupe of the Moscow Art Theatre
Moscow Art Theatre
The Moscow Art Theatre is a theatre company in Moscow that the seminal Russian theatre practitioner Constantin Stanislavski, together with the playwright and director Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, founded in 1898. It was conceived as a venue for naturalistic theatre, in contrast to the melodramas...
.
By that time, the actress had determined to move with her film company to Odessa
Odessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
, where she died at the age of 25 in the 1918 flu pandemic. On learning about her death, Alexander Vertinsky
Alexander Vertinsky
Alexander Nikolayevich Vertinsky was a Russian and Soviet artist, poet, singer, composer, cabaret artist and actor who exerted seminal influence on the Russian tradition of artistic singing.-Early years:...
, wrote one of his most poignant songs, "Your fingers smell of church incense, and your lashes sleep in grief..." A director with whom she had worked for several years filmed her large funeral. Ironically, this seems to be her best known film today.
The other five extant films with Vera Kholodnaya are: Children of the Age (1915), The Mirages (1915), A Life for a Life (1916), A Corpse Living (1918), and Molchi, grust... molchi
Molchi, grust... molchi
Molchi, grust... molchi is Russian silent drama film directed by famous director Pyotr Chardynin and starring several big Russian silent film stars as Vera Kholodnaya, Ossip Runitsch, Vitold Polonsky and Vladimir Maksimov.This film consisted of two parts,but survived just a 44 minutes long episode...
(1918).
Circumstances of her death
Official Russian records state that Vera Kholodnaya died of the Spanish fluSpanish flu
The 1918 flu pandemic was an influenza pandemic, and the first of the two pandemics involving H1N1 influenza virus . It was an unusually severe and deadly pandemic that spread across the world. Historical and epidemiological data are inadequate to identify the geographic origin...
during the pandemic
Pandemic
A pandemic is an epidemic of infectious disease that is spreading through human populations across a large region; for instance multiple continents, or even worldwide. A widespread endemic disease that is stable in terms of how many people are getting sick from it is not a pandemic...
of 1919. While that seems quite likely, there is much speculation around her death. Оther stories claim she was poisoned by the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
ambassador with whom she reportedly had an affair and who believed that she was a spy for the Bolsheviks.
Legacy
Her life was dramatized in Nikita MikhalkovNikita Mikhalkov
Nikita Sergeyevich Mikhalkov is a Soviet and Russian filmmaker, actor, and head of the Russian Cinematographers' Union.Mikhalkov was born in Moscow into the distinguished, artistic Mikhalkov family. His great grandfather was the imperial governor of Yaroslavl, whose mother was a Galitzine princess...
's movie Slave to Love (1975). A documentary on her life was filmed in 1992. A year later, her image was depicted on a postage stamp
Postage stamp
A postage stamp is a small piece of paper that is purchased and displayed on an item of mail as evidence of payment of postage. Typically, stamps are made from special paper, with a national designation and denomination on the face, and a gum adhesive on the reverse side...
and in 2003 a life-size bronze statue of her was erected in Odessa
Odessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
, Ukraine; created by the artist Alexander P. Tokarev.