All about Anastasia Vertinskaya: the incredible life of Mikhalkov’s wife and Efremov’s muse

Anastasia Vertinskaya was born in Moscow on December 19, 1944 in the family of actor and poet Alexander Vertinsky and artist and actress Lydia Tsirgvava. She grew up with her sister Marianne, who was a year older.

The parents had the opportunity to give the girls a good education and invested in language learning for their children. Anastasia dreamed of connecting her life with linguistics, but one day in 1960 she came to audition for the movie “Scarlet Sails” … and she was approved for the role of Assol.

Thus began his film career. I must say that the actress was not afraid of anything and calmly starred in the film “Amphibian Man” (1961) in unlined diving equipment, and also posed in a bathing suit, which was very rare for movies of the time.

Then she entered the Shchukin school, where everyone, of course, knew that she was a big movie star. She was envied and unbalanced citizens hurled insults. One of them even ran after him with a knife!

Vertinskaya’s fame frankly interfered, but she could not do anything. In 1964, playing Ophelia in Hamlet, she made herself known throughout the world (the film won a prize at the Venice Film Festival).

In 1965, fate brought her together with student Nikita Mikhalkov, who also starred in films. On September 24, 1966, Anastasia gave birth to a son, Stepan, and soon officially married Mikhalkov.

They were very happy… but not for long. It turned out that both wanted a career, but Mikhalkov believed that a woman should “sit in the country and give birth to children.” In 1970, the couple divorced, but on good terms to this day.

Since then, the actress decided that, since she had to be first and foremost, she was not born for a classic family life and never remarried.

Vertinskaya continued to act in films, and also played the main roles in the performances of the Sovremennik and Moscow Art Theater.

In 1976-1978, Anastasia met singer and composer Alexander Gradsky. He remembers it as an important event in her life, but she does not attach much importance to it, saying in an interview that he was not her official husband.

At that time she starred in the movie “Nameless Star”, and after that she was approved for a role in the series “The Gadfly”. And relations with Gradsky disappeared on their own – Vertinskaya worked very hard.

“The most ‘lively’ person in my life was Oleg Nikolaevich Efremov.

He was older than me, much more experienced, he gave me the life of an actress. I loved it,” Vertinskaya admitted in an interview with Express Gazeta in 2009.

Rumors about their romance have been circulating for a long time: Oleg is 17 years older, they worked together for many years in Sovremennik and the Moscow Art Theater. In total, they met for about 20 years. How serious everything was, the actress does not cover: Efremov was first married to Anastasia Efremova, and then to Alla Pokrovskaya.

Vertinskaya recalls that he proposed marriage to her, but not immediately, and she no longer needed him. Moreover, he was drinking and she was not ready to take on such a burden.

They were connected by the fact that Oleg Efremov did not force her to stay at home and cook borscht, did not encroach on her freedom, which is very important for the actress. They broke up in the late 80s.

Now the actress leads a calm and measured life, communicates with her grandchildren, takes care of the legacy of her talented father – and sometimes tells new details about her personal life.

Photo: Persona Stars, East News, Legion media, Getty images, A. Chumichev/TASS