Feb 11, 2019
Lyubov Orlova’s 117th Birthday
This Doodle’s Key Themes
Today’s Doodle celebrates the life and work of the Russian movie star Lyubov Orlova.
Born near Moscow on this day in 1902, Orlova began musical training at an early age. Her parents hoped she would become a classical pianist, and she impressed the Russian opera singer Feodor Chaliapin with her talent when she was still a little girl. She began her studies at the Moscow Conservatory and worked with the Moscow Musical Theater, singing in operas and dancing before making the transition to the big screen.
She made her onscreen debut in the 1930s, and her breakthrough role was starring in the film Jolly Fellows directed by Grigoriy Aleksandrov, whom she would go on to marry. Together they produced many successful films, including Цирк (Circus) and Волга-Волга (Volga-Volga). Orlova was awarded various honors for her talents, including the prestigious title People’s Artist of the U.S.S.R.
Orlova was a strong believer that age was simply a state of mind. Always preferring to keep her exact age a mystery, her character in the play Lovely Liar even famously remarked: “I will never turn over the age of thirty-nine, even for a single day!”
In the later years of her career, she returned to the stage, appearing at Moscow’s Mossovet Theater in plays directed by Yury Zavadsky.
On what would have been her 117th birthday, we honor Lyubov Orlova, a legend of Soviet cinema.
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