Lyubov Petrovna Orlova (Russian: Любовь Петровна
Орлова [lʲʊˈbofʲ pʲɪˈtrovnÉ™ É rˈɫovÉ™] (listen); 29
January [O.S. 11 February] 1902, Zvenigorod â€" 26 January 1975,
Moscow) was the first recognized star of Soviet cinema, a famous
theatre actress, and a gifted singer.She was born to a family of
Russian hereditary nobles, her maternal side, and gentry, her paternal
side. in Zvenigorod, 60 km from Moscow, then lived with her parents
and older sister in Yaroslavl. Her acting and singing talents were
evident very early on, but her noble parents considered acting a
disgraceful career and directed her towards classical music. There she
began to study music. In 1914, after her father left for the front,
her mother Evgenia Nikolaevna and her daughters settled in Moscow,
where the sisters entered the gymnasium. The Orlovs spent the
difficult years of the Civil War in Voskresensk because their mother's
sister lived here. The family subsisted on funds from the sale of milk
which was given by the aunt's cow. Lyuba and Nonna drove nearly a
hundred kilometers to Moscow, and then went home, with heavy cans.
Hence comes the legend of the ugly hands which Orlova was so shy
about. Her first and last names are meaningful words in Russian:
любовь means "love", and Орлова is the feminine form of
орлов "eagle".When she was seven, Fyodor Shalyapin predicted her
future as a famous actress. In 1919â€"1922, she studied as a piano
student at the Moscow Conservatory (Professor K. Kipp [ru] class) but
did not graduate because she had to work as a music teacher and a
pianist-illustrator of silent films in movie theaters (French: tapeur)
to support her parents. In 1925, she has graduated from the Moscow
Theatre College, choreography department. Her first husband, a Soviet
economist, Andrei Berzin, was arrested in 1930. However, this did not
affect her career. Dmitri Shcheglov, a biography author, wrote in Love
and Mask ('Lyubov i maska', 1997): "As an eternal irony and foresight
of fate, the best performer of the roles of house servants and
enthusiasts of Communist labor was a descendant of ten Russian
Orthodox saints. Two of them, Olga, the Grand Princess of Kiev, and
Vladimir, the Grand Prince of Kiev, are among the Equal-to-apostles...
Red Eagle in an azure-golden field, the House of Orlov's coat of arms,
is also present on the Bezhetsk clan branch the actress belonged
to..." The Orlov family was partly saved from the worst form of
repression, camps or deportation, and the Bolshevik "redistribution of
property" only because even before the Revolution, her father Peter
had lost all three of his estates at cards, and therefore there was
practically nothing to take away. However, Orlova's father, an
engineer and class enemy, was officially banned as an employee.
Орлова [lʲʊˈbofʲ pʲɪˈtrovnÉ™ É rˈɫovÉ™] (listen); 29
January [O.S. 11 February] 1902, Zvenigorod â€" 26 January 1975,
Moscow) was the first recognized star of Soviet cinema, a famous
theatre actress, and a gifted singer.She was born to a family of
Russian hereditary nobles, her maternal side, and gentry, her paternal
side. in Zvenigorod, 60 km from Moscow, then lived with her parents
and older sister in Yaroslavl. Her acting and singing talents were
evident very early on, but her noble parents considered acting a
disgraceful career and directed her towards classical music. There she
began to study music. In 1914, after her father left for the front,
her mother Evgenia Nikolaevna and her daughters settled in Moscow,
where the sisters entered the gymnasium. The Orlovs spent the
difficult years of the Civil War in Voskresensk because their mother's
sister lived here. The family subsisted on funds from the sale of milk
which was given by the aunt's cow. Lyuba and Nonna drove nearly a
hundred kilometers to Moscow, and then went home, with heavy cans.
Hence comes the legend of the ugly hands which Orlova was so shy
about. Her first and last names are meaningful words in Russian:
любовь means "love", and Орлова is the feminine form of
орлов "eagle".When she was seven, Fyodor Shalyapin predicted her
future as a famous actress. In 1919â€"1922, she studied as a piano
student at the Moscow Conservatory (Professor K. Kipp [ru] class) but
did not graduate because she had to work as a music teacher and a
pianist-illustrator of silent films in movie theaters (French: tapeur)
to support her parents. In 1925, she has graduated from the Moscow
Theatre College, choreography department. Her first husband, a Soviet
economist, Andrei Berzin, was arrested in 1930. However, this did not
affect her career. Dmitri Shcheglov, a biography author, wrote in Love
and Mask ('Lyubov i maska', 1997): "As an eternal irony and foresight
of fate, the best performer of the roles of house servants and
enthusiasts of Communist labor was a descendant of ten Russian
Orthodox saints. Two of them, Olga, the Grand Princess of Kiev, and
Vladimir, the Grand Prince of Kiev, are among the Equal-to-apostles...
Red Eagle in an azure-golden field, the House of Orlov's coat of arms,
is also present on the Bezhetsk clan branch the actress belonged
to..." The Orlov family was partly saved from the worst form of
repression, camps or deportation, and the Bolshevik "redistribution of
property" only because even before the Revolution, her father Peter
had lost all three of his estates at cards, and therefore there was
practically nothing to take away. However, Orlova's father, an
engineer and class enemy, was officially banned as an employee.
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