Faina Ranevskaya

Faina Ranevskaya was a legendary Soviet actress.

She was widely recognized for her immense talent in both tragedy and comedy. Beyond her acting, she was famous for her aphorisms. These are short, clever, and often witty sayings. In 1992, the British "Who's Who" encyclopedia named her one of the top ten actors of the 20th century. This was a remarkable achievement. It happened even though she never played a major lead role in a movie. She was almost always cast in supporting roles.

Ranevskaya was born Faina Feldman in the city of Taganrog. At that time, Taganrog was part of the Russian Empire. She was born into a wealthy Jewish family. Her father, Girsch Haimovich Feldman, was a successful businessman. He owned a dry-ink factory and several buildings. He also owned a shop and a steamboat named "Saint Nicolas." He was a leader in his community. He headed the Taganrog synagogue and founded a Jewish asylum for the elderly. Her mother, Milka Rafailovna, was a great lover of art and literature. This environment helped Faina develop a deep love for music, poetry, and theater.

Faina's journey into the performing arts began at age 14. A visit to the Moscow Art Theatre to see Anton Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard" had a massive impact on her. This experience was so important that she chose her professional pseudonym, Ranevskaya, from that theater visit. In 1915, she moved to Moscow to pursue acting professionally. This decision caused her to become estranged from her family. They did not support her career choice. She began her career as an extra. She worked in background crowd scenes at the Summer Theater in Malakhovka.

Her early career involved traveling to many different locations. While her family emigrated in 1917, Faina chose to stay in the region. She worked in various theaters across many cities. These included Kerch, Rostov-on-Don, and Baku. She also worked in Arkhangelsk and Smolensk. She was part of a mobile group called "The First Soviet Theater" in Crimea. In 1931, she joined the Chamber Theater. This period of constant travel and diverse roles helped build her skills as a versatile performer.

Ranevskaya made her film debut in 1934. The film was a silent, black-and-white production titled "Pyshka." In the United States, this film is known as "Boule de Suif." She played the character Madame Loiseau. The film was based on a short story by the French writer Guy de Maupassant. Even though the film was silent, Ranevskaya studied the character's French sayings from the original novel. Her performance caught the attention of the French writer Romain Rolland. He loved the film and named her his favorite actor. Because of his request, the film was shown in French cinemas. It became a major box-office success there.

Throughout her life, Ranevskaya performed at several prestigious venues. She acted at the Central Academic Theatre of the Russian Army from 1935 to 1939. She also worked at the Drama Theater, which is now the Mayakovsky Theatre, from 1943 to 1949. Later, she was at the Moscow Pushkin Drama Theatre from 1955 to 1963. Much of her career was spent at the Mossovet Theatre. She worked there from 1949 to 1955 and again from 1963 to 1983. During her time at Mossovet, she worked with the director Yuri Zavadsky. Her talent earned her many high honors. She received the Stalin Prize for her stage work in 1949. She won another Stalin Prize in 1951 for the film "U nih est' Rodina." In 1961, she was awarded the title of People's Artist of the USSR.

Her legacy continues to be celebrated in her birthplace. A monument to Ranevskaya was inaugurated in Taganrog in 2008. It stands in front of her birth house on Ulitsa Frunze. The city also hosts the International Ranevskaya Theater Festival, called "The Great Province." In 2017, plans were announced to turn her childhood home into a museum. Ranevskaya died in Moscow in 1984. She was buried at the Donskoye Cemetery. Her life remains a study in how a supporting performer can become a global icon through skill and wit.