Svetlana Svetlichnaya is called one of the most beautiful actresses in Soviet cinema. There were not many leading roles in her career, but even the episodes with the participation of the artist turned out to be bright and memorable for the audience. Svetlichnaya married early, tying fate with her colleague and classmate Vladimir Ivashov. Their family life was not cloudless. Both had romances on the side, and depression due to the lack of roles. But still, at the last moment, they always managed to save the shaken relationship.
Screen hero
Svetlana Svetlichnaya might never have become an actress if not for her mother's insistence. It was she who sent a quiet provincial girl to Moscow to enter VGIK. The future actress recalled how horrified she was when she learned about the competition of 80 people for a place. Fortunately, she managed to get into the number of those applicants who were admitted to the course of the legendary Mikhail Romm. In the second year of study, two new students came to them - Vladimir Ivashov and Zhanna Prokhorenko. In fact, they were supposed to be a year older, but missed too much due to filming their debut film, Ballad of a Soldier. To avoid expulsion, the young actors stayed for a second year.
The painting "The Ballad of a Soldier" by that time thundered all over the world, and the hearts of millions of girls were captured by the incredible Vladimir Ivashov in the role of Alyosha Skvortsov. Svetlichnaya also managed to fall in love in absentia with the actor's on-screen image and did not even imagine that she would soon meet him in real life. As soon as he returned to VGIK, a real struggle unfolded among fellow students for the attention of a rising movie star.
Svetlichnaya, on the contrary, behaved with restraint, not showing her sympathy. The chance to get close to Ivashov presented itself to her during a rehearsal of the play "Cossacks" based on Leo Tolstoy. In one of the scenes, they had to kiss, after which Vladimir unexpectedly confessed his love to Svetlana. They started dating, and in January 1961 they officially registered the relationship.
They decided to celebrate the wedding in Melitopol, where Svetlichnaya's parents settled at that time. Since her father was a military man, during the years of service, the family changed many cities and republics of the former USSR, until it settled in Ukraine. Vladimir and Svetlana came not alone, but with fellow students and the groom's family. The wedding turned out to be noisy, bright, cheerful and very hospitable.
Creative family
From a trip to her homeland, Svetlana returned already pregnant with her eldest son. Ivashov brought his young wife to an 18-meter room in a communal apartment, where he lived with his parents, brother and sister. Svetlana and Vladimir slept on the floor with his younger brother Yura. The mother-in-law was angry at the extra person who settled in their house, and moreover, did not bring income, apart from a modest scholarship.
The situation worsened even more when the young couple had a son, Alyosha, named after the protagonist of The Ballad of the Soldier. Fortunately, the family was saved by the help of the director of this film, Grigory Chukhrai. He turned to the right authorities, telling about the difficult life situation of the young star of the Soviet screen. Soon the Ivashovs were given a separate two-room apartment.
Svetlana does not hide that she was not a very good mother, endlessly disappearing on the set and on business trips. She made her film debut in her student years in the film by Tatiana Lioznova "Heaven Submits to Him". Her aunt, who temporarily moved to Moscow, helped her with her son Alyosha. An actress with a bright appearance was often sent on foreign business trips to film festivals, however, she went with other people's films.
In 1968, the finest hour came for Svetlichnaya. She inimitable played Anna Sergeevna in the famous comedy "The Diamond Arm". Now she was recognized on the streets even more often than her husband. Although, according to the actress, there was never any professional jealousy between them. In the 60s, the couple even played together in three films: "Aunt with Violets", "A Hero of Our Time", "New Adventures of the Elusive."
Svetlichnaya calls herself an amorous nature. In the prime of her career, she was spoiled by male attention, received declarations of love and indulged in hobbies on the side. As a rule, the actress prefers not to go into details, since Andrei Mironov, Vyacheslav Tikhonov, Stanislav Rostotsky are named among her lovers. She only admits that she did not hide the attention of her fans from her husband. However, according to rumors, Ivashov also did not remain faithful to his wife.
But each time, being on the verge of parting, the couple saved their marriage, still staying together. In 1972 they had a second son, Oleg. Sometimes Svetlichnaya took offense at her husband that he did not become a director who would always shoot her in his films. Since the 80s, both of them have suffered from creative lack of demand. Soon they had to leave the Film Actor Theater due to lack of work. To provide for his family, Ivashov worked at a construction site, was a sales manager, and was engaged in business. Svetlana, in turn, cleaned the apartment of a wealthy neighbor and sold vacuum cleaners.
Parting forever
After one of the major quarrels and reconciliation, Ivashov and Svetlichnaya decided to get married. This happened in 1994, and in 1995 the actor was buried here, seeing off his last journey. For many years he suffered from stomach ulcers, and after another attack he could not be saved. At 55, Svetlana became a widow. According to her, she lost her foothold, felt painful loneliness, although the sons tried to support the inconsolable mother.
From this state, the actress came out for a long time, at times, committing rash acts. These include the second, very short marriage of Svetlichnaya. She considers her marriage, which lasted less than a month, to be an obsession. Her chosen one was the poet and bard Sergei Smirnov-Sokolsky. Svetlana was looking for warmth, attention, love, but very quickly became disillusioned with her chosen one.
In 2006, fate prepared a new blow for her when her youngest son Oleg passed away. According to the official version, the cause of death was alcohol abuse, but the actress is convinced of the criminal overtones of this story. Oleg Ivashov had no children and wife. With the senior heir, Svetlana Afanasyevna was always in tense relations, she could not communicate for a long time. Only in 2018, Alexey Ivashov said that he and his mother had finally found a common language.
The novels with young fans, which the press attributed to her in recent years, Svetlichnaya calls fiction. She considers her late husband Vladimir Ivashov to be the main man of her life and cherishes the memory of him in her heart.
