Yekaterina Savinova

Ekaterina Fyodorovna Savinova (; 26 December 1926 – 25 April 1970) was a Soviet theatre and film actress and singer most famous for the leading role in the comedy movie Come Tomorrow, Please... directed by her husband Yevgeny Tashkov. She was named Meritorious Artist of the RSFSR in 1965.

Early life Ekaterina Savinova was born in the Yeltsovka village (modern-day Yeltsovsky District, Altai Krai of Russia) into a peasant family, the youngest of four children. Her ancestors, originally from Penza Governorate, resettled in Siberia during the Stolypin reform. Her father Fyodor Yakovlevich Savinov worked in kolkhoz. Savinova inherited her singing talent from her mother Maria Semyonovna Savinova. She finished a secondary school and in August 1944 left for Moscow to enter acting courses. She was too late for exams, so she studied in a farming university and in half a year entered an additional VGIK course launched by Vasili Vanin. She was soon dismissed "for the lack of acting skills", but this didn't stop her, and during the next summer she became a VGIK student under Boris Bibikov and his wife Olga Pyzhova.

She studied along with her future husband Yevgeny Tashkov. They graduated in 1950 and in a year they got married. In 1957 their son Andrey Tashkov was born (also a popular Russian actor). After VGIK Savinova entered the Gnessin State Musical College to study vocals. Her rare voice (3.5 octave) was so impressive that she was offered to perform at the Bolshoi Theatre and pop scene upon graduation, yet she declined all offers, because she saw herself only as a cinema actress and "just enjoyed singing on her own". From 1952 on she also performed at the National Film Actors' Theatre.

When the film was finished, it turned a great success. Savinova was named the best actress at the 1964 All-Union Film Festival. In 1965 she was named the Meritorious Artist of the RSFSR. The spouses then toured around the country with concerts where Tashkov talked about filmmaking and Savinova performed with songs. During that time she started complaining about "hearing voices". Turned out brucellosis touched her brain and nervous system which led to sluggish schizophrenia (The diagnosis has long been discredited because of its scientific inadequacy and its use as a means of confining USSR political dissenters.) From then on Savinova's health had been slowly decreasing. She had to take a lot of medicine and spent months in mental clinics.

Memory In 1995 Leonid Filatov dedicated the 9th episode of his long-running documentary series To Be Remembered to Savinova.

In 2011 during the 85th anniversary of Savinova's birth a Museum of Ekaterina Savinova was opened in the Yeltsovka village.

Same year a book of memoirs and other writings left by the actress, Light of the Faded Star: Ekaterina Savinova, was published.

Also in 2011 the movie Come Tomorrow, Please... was restored, colorized and shown on Channel One Russia.

Selected filmography Year English Title Original Title Role 1946 Life Pages Страницы жизни Katya Sorokina 1949 Cossacks of the Kuban Кубанские казаки Lubochka1953 Chuk and Gek Чук и Гек mail carrier (uncredited) Mysterious Discovery Таинственная находка Ekaterina Sotnikova Alyosha Ptitsyn Grows Up Алёша Птицын вырабатывает характер ice cream vendor (uncredited) 1954 A Big Family Большая семья Dunyasha Zhurbina 1955 The Shadow Near the Pier Тень у пирса Klava Shubina 1959 Ballad of a Soldier Баллада о солдате conductor (uncredited) 1963 Come Tomorrow, Please... Приходите завтра… Frosya Burlakova; Maria Semyonovna (voiceover)1964 Balzaminov's Marriage Женитьба Бальзаминова Matryona Come Here, Mukhtar! Ко мне, Мухтар! Verochka 1968 Zigzag of Success Зигзаг удачи saleswoman (uncredited) 1970 Payback Расплата Annushka the neighbor