Olga Pyzhova
Olga Pyzhova | |
|---|---|
| О́льга Ива́новна Пыжо́ва | |
 Pyzhova (1920) | |
| Born | 29 October 1894 Moscow, Russia |
| Died | 7 or 8 November 1972 (aged 78) Moscow, Russia |
| Occupation | Stage actress |
| Spouse | Boris Bibikov |
| Children | 1 |
Olga Ivanovna Pyzhova (29 October 1894, Moscow—7 or 8 November 1972, Moscow; О́льга Ива́новна Пыжо́ва) was a Russian stage actress, director, and teacher.[1][2][3] She spent her early years with the Moscow Art Theatre before moving to the Revolution Theatre in 1928.[1][3][4][5] She taught and directed at several schools and theatres, including Lunacharsky State Institute for Theatre Arts (GITIS), All-Union State Institute of Cinematography (VGIK),[4][5][3] Moscow Central Children's Theater, and Auezov Theater.[1][3] Her awards included Honored Artist of the RSFSR (1947), People's Artist of the Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (1949), the People's Artist of the Tajik SSR (1964),[5][1] and a Medal "For Valiant Labour in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945",[5] as well as a State Stalin Prize in the third degree for her and her husband's production of Sergey Mikhalkov's play I Want to Go Home.[5][1]
Biography
[edit]As a child, Pyzhova lived in the Varkava area of Moscow.[6] She studied at Institute for Noble Maidens[3][4] but left before finishing to train as an accountant.[4] After her father died, the family moved to St. Petersburg to be nearer her maternal aunts, including Ekaterina.[7][4][5] Her aunts introduced her to the world of theatre, inspiring her to become an actress herself. She reached out to MAT director Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, who encouraged her to go to Moscow to audition. She was one of two applicants accepted from a pool of more than 200[4][5] for the 1914/1915 season.[4][3]
Pyzhova became a student of Konstantin Stanislavski at the First Studio,[1] where she appeared as Mirandolina in The Mistress of the Inn, Viola and Sebastian in Twelfth Night (1917), and Golpana in Balladyna (1920), and traveled with the troupe to America to appear as Varya in The Cherry Orchard (1924).[2][3][4] By the time she returned to Russia, the First Studio had become the Second Studio under Michael Chekhov. She rejoined but was not cast in the theatre's new productions.[4] She and other company members left in 1928 to join Vsevolod Meyerhold's Revolution Theatre, where she worked until 1938. Her appearances there included as Xenia Travern in Man with a Briefcase (1928), Veronica in Anatoly Glebov's Inga (1929), and Nurse in Romeo and Juliet (1935).[1][4][5]
Pyzhova began directing in the 1920s.[1][3] In the 1930s, as her eyesight began to fail, she became more focused on teaching and directing than on acting and worked variously at Lunacharsky State Institute for Theatre Arts (GITIS), All-Union State Institute of Cinematography (VGIK),[4][5][3] Yermolova Theatre, and Vakhtangov State Academic Theatre, among others.[1][7][5] By the late 1930s, she was working at the Moscow State Academic Children's Music Theater with her husband, Boris Bibikov.[1][3] They both trained ethnic minorities in theatre over the duration of their careers, primarily by holding workshops.[7] At GITIS, she managed the Karakalpak, Uzbek, Tatar, Tajik, Lezgin, Turkmen, and Moldovan troupes.[5]
In 1939, she became Russia's first female Professor of Acting.[4][3] She worked at the Auezov Theater and the Mossovet Theatre during World War II as an actress, director, and teacher.[1][3] Between 1948 and 1950, she served as artistic director at Moscow Central Children's Theater. She and Bibikov taught acting workshops at VGIK;[5] their students included Vyacheslav Tikhonov,[8][3] Nonna Mordyukova, Rufina Nifontova[3] Ekaterina Savinova,[9] Svetlana Druzhinina,[10] Maya Bulgakova, Lyubov Sokolova, Leonid Kuravlyov, Tamara Nosova, Sofiko Chiaureli,[5] Yuri Belov, and Yevgeny Tashkov.[citation needed] Two of her students at GITIS were Maya-Gozel Aimedova[11] and Nadezhda Rumyantseva, the latter of which she brought with her to VGIK.[12]
Her awards included Honored Artist of the RSFSR (1947), People's Artist of the Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (1949), the People's Artist of the Tajik SSR (1964),[5][1] and a Medal "For Valiant Labour in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945".[5] In 1950, she and Bibikov were also awarded the State Stalin Prize in the third degree for their production of Sergey Mikhalkov's play I Want to Go Home.[5][1] Her memoir, Призвание (Calling), written with the help of her daughter, was published by Iskusstvo in 1974.[13]
Personal life
[edit]Pyzhova and Vasily Kachalov fostered a romantic relationship during his marriage to Nina Litovtseva, who Pyzhova became close to during her time touring America. Her daughter, Olga Vasilievna, was born in 1929; it is disputed whether Kachalov was her father or if she just bore his name.[14][8][7][15] The Olgas remained close with the Kachalovs even after Pyzhova and Vasily's affair ended, so much so that Olga Vasilievna lived with them as a child.[15] Pyzhova later married actor Boris Bibikov. She died in Moscow on 7 or 8 November 1972[3] and is buried in Novodevichy Cemetery.[6][16]
Filmography
[edit]| Date | Film | Role | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1937 | Without a Dowry | Kharita Ignatyevna Ogudalova | [3] |
| The Lonely White Sail | Madame Storozhenko | [3] | |
| 1953 | Alyosha Ptitsyn Grows Up | Grandmother Olya | [3] |
| 1966 | They're Calling, Open the Door | Natalia Ivanovna | [citation needed] |
Theatre
[edit]| Date | Play | Role | Company | Note(s) | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Blue Bird | Bérylune | Moscow Art Theatre First Studio | [1][7][13] | ||
| It Tears Where It Is Thin | Governess of Bieneme | [1][3][13][14] | |||
| The Cricket on the Hearth | Fairy | [1] | |||
| 1915 | The Deluge | Lizzie | Directed by Yevgeny Vakhtangov | [1][4][7][13] | |
| 1916 | The Story of Lieutenant Ergunoff | Hummingbird/Kolibri | Directed by A. Krasnopolska | [1][4][3][7][13] | |
| 1917 | Twelfth Night | Viola/Sebastian | Directed by Yevgeny Vakhtangov | [3][4][7][13] | |
| 1920 | Balladyna | Goplana | [1][3][4][7] | ||
| 1922 | Archangel Michael | Lucille | [13] | ||
| 1924 | The Cherry Orchard | Varya | Traveled on the American tour | [1][4][3][13] | |
| The Mistress of the Inn | Mirandolina | Toured in France and America; directed by Konstantin Stanislavski | [4][13] | ||
| 1925 | Dialogues | Moscow Art Theatre Second Studio | [13] | ||
| 1926 | Evgraf, Adventurer | Dina Kraevich | [1][3][13] | ||
| King of the Square Republic | Katarina Her | [1][13] | |||
| In 1825 | Varenka | [13] | |||
| 1928 | Man with a Briefcase | Xenia Travern | Revolution Theatre | [4][1][3][13] | |
| 1929 | Inga | Veronica | [4][3][13] | ||
| 1934 | Personal Life by Solovyov | Lena | [1][3][4][13] | ||
| 1935 | Romeo and Juliet | Nurse | Directed by Aleksey Popov | [1][3][4][13] | |
| Golgotha | Glafira | [1][3] | |||
| Street of Joy | Kixi | [3][4] | |||
| 1938 | Fuenteovejuna | Auezov Theater | [1][3] | ||
| 1943 | Taming of the Shrew | [1] | |||
| Invasion | Talanova | Mossovet Theatre | Co-directed with Boris Bibikov | [1][3][13] | |
| Match Between Two Fires | With Sofia Giatsintova and Mikhail Chevkov | [3][7] |
| Date | Play | Company | Note(s) | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1937 | Scapin the Schemer | Moscow Children's Theatre | [1][3] | |
| 1939 | Fairy Tale | Co-directed with Boris Bibikov | [3][13] | |
| 1940 | Twenty Years Later | [3][1][13] | ||
| 1943 | Taming of the Shrew | Auezov Theater | [3][17] | |
| Invasion | Mossovet Theatre | Co-directed with Boris Bibikov; also played Talanova | [13] | |
| 1949 | I Want to Go Home | Auezov Theater | Won the USSR State Prize in 1950[1] | [3] |
| Her Friends | [1][18] | |||
| 1950 | Twenty Years Later | Moscow Central Children's Theater | Co-directed with Boris Bibikov | [3][1][13] |
| The Snow Queen | Auezov Theater | [1] |
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai ПЫЖО'ВА Ольга Ивановна [Olga Ivanovna PYZHO'VA]. Istoriya-teatra.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 31 July 2025.
- ^ a b Ignatieva, Maria (7 October 2008). Stanislavsky and female actors: women in Stanislavsky's life and art. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 46. ISBN 9780761841791. Retrieved 31 July 2025.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am ПЫЖОВА, ОЛЬГА ИВАНОВНА [PYZHOVA, OLGA IVANOVNA]. krugosvet.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 31 July 2025.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Sewell, Jan; Smout, Clare (29 April 2020). The Palgrave Handbook of the History of Women on Stage. Springer Nature. p. 417-420. ISBN 9783030238285.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p ОЛЬГА ИВАНОВНА ПЫЖОВА [Olga Ivanovna Pyzhova] (in Russian). Moscow Department of Culture. Retrieved 31 July 2025.
- ^ a b ПЫЖОВА Ольга Ивановна (1894–1972) [Olga Ivanovna PYZHOVA (1894–1972)] (in Russian). Novodevichy Cemetery. Retrieved 31 July 2025.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Bibikov, Boris (2013). Отслужить Станиславскому [To serve Stanislavsky]. Intelros Magazine Club (in Russian). No. 11. Retrieved 31 July 2025.
- ^ a b Murga, Natalia (November 2016). Смертельный грех Вячеслава Тихонова [Deadly sin of Vyacheslav Tikhonov] (in Russian). Express. Retrieved 31 July 2025.
- ^ Grabenko, Lyudmila (27 April 2010). Знаменитая Фрося Бурлакова из фильма «Приходите завтра» актриса Екатерина Савинова покончила с собой, как Анна Каренина, монолог которой читала на вступительных экзаменах во ВГИК, — бросилась под проходящий поезд [The famous Frosya Burlakova from the movie "Come Tomorrow" actress Ekaterina Savinova committed suicide, like Anna Karenina, whose monologue she read at the entrance exams to VGIK, threw herself under a passing train]. Gordon Boulevard (in Russian). Vol. 261, no. 17. Retrieved 31 July 2025.
- ^ Дружинина, Светлана Сергеевна [Druzhinina, Svetlana Sergeevna]. TACC (in Russian). Retrieved 31 July 2025.
- ^ "Maya-Gozel Aimedova". Museum of CA Women. Retrieved 31 July 2025.
- ^ Светлая Надежда [Bright Hope]. izvestia.ru (in Russian). 9 April 2008. Archived from the original on 17 April 2013. Retrieved 31 July 2025.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v ОЛЬГА ПЫЖОВА [Olga Pyzhova]. kin-teatr.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 1 August 2025.
- ^ a b Василий Качалов — милый лжец [Vasily Kachalov is a sweet liar]. drug-gorod.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 31 July 2025.
- ^ a b Ignatieva, Maria (3 November 2022). Жена Качалова [Kachalov's wife]. screenstage.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 31 July 2025.
- ^ Ольга Ивановна Пыжова [Olga Ivanovna Pyzhova] (in Russian). Russian State Academic Youth Theater. Retrieved 31 July 2025.
- ^ Akhmetkali, Aibarshyn (15 February 2024). "Kazakhstan Marks Shaken Aimanov's 110th Anniversary, Honors Pioneer of Kazakh Cinema". The Astana Times. Retrieved 31 July 2025.
- ^ «Свою задачу вижу так: будить и не давать уснуть». Очередная публикация про драматурга Виктора Розова в газете «Правда» ["I see my task like this: to wake up and not let me sleep." Another publication about playwright Viktor Rozov in the Pravda newspaper]. kprf.ru. 31 May 2013. Retrieved 2 August 2025.