Nato Vachnadze. From music teacher to movie star

The name of Nato Vachnadze is familiar to every resident of Georgia and to many fans of cinema of the former Soviet Union. She could have become a star of the world cinema screen, but she did not have time...

Fragments of her biography

Real name Natalia G. Andronikova. Born in Warsaw in 1904 into a family of princes. Her father died in 1911, and her princely background did not bode well, it was even dangerous. She learned to live in a new way and worked hard.

She worked in a match factory and then as a music teacher. She never considered herself a beauty ideal, so she did not take praise seriously.

Possessing a vivid beauty, she always tried to avoid intrigue and scandal... Even making drastic changes in life, she tried not to hurt anyone.

Nikolai Shengelaya had a special place in her life. She was a director and second husband, father of her sons, Eldar and Georgy. He tragically died in a car accident in 1943.

In everyday life, if possible, kept inconspicuous. Only once in a while she used her popularity. Unfortunately, one such incident ended in her death. It happened on June 14, 1953.

On her birthday she was returning from Murmansk. There were no tickets for the Tbilisi flight at the ticket office. At that time Nato told the cashier who did not recognize her that she was an actress and gave her name. She gave Vachnadze the last ticket.

At that time not many people even flew on planes. The accidents were not reported in newspapers and were not talked about publicly. But the news quickly spread around the country.

Nato Vachnadze went from a screen legend to a national legend and became a symbol of the country, an ideal of a Georgian woman.

The first step to new images was the role of Guli in the film of the same name, made by young directors L.F. Push and N.M. Shengelaya. The main character here declares a protest to the disenfranchisement of women, she is active. Thus Nato takes another step towards mastery.

The era of sound films came, and Vachnadze did not lose herself there either. Although she had to learn a lot. She trained her diction, paid attention to stage actors, adopted their experience on stage.

Fame and a huge number of fans could have turned her into a frivolous movie diva. But this did not happen. She has always been drawn to outstanding people, constantly learning something new.

Among her acquaintances and friends were poets and writers, cinema figures - Vladimir Mayakovsky, Vladimir Grigorievich Barsky, Kote Marjanishvili, Mikhail Chiaureli.

When she had no roles, she tried her hand as an assistant director, mastered editing, took part in documentaries.

One of the first images of a woman with a strong character was the role of Neno in Mikhail Chiaureli's "Arsen". Then there were many other, no less wonderful roles. Who knows, perhaps Nato Vachnadze would have become an international movie star. But her life was cut short too soon...

A legend of the Georgian cinema, Soviet screen star Nato Vachnadze was talking about her life as a movie star:

How little one needs in order to become a successful actress in the cinema. Appearance and youth. Somehow, the audience immediately took you, your eyes, they were touched by your tears, charmed by your smile. How many accidents... How many such stars flashed on the screen and disappeared... You had to turn from a happy model to a hardworking actress in order to hold on.