Several generations grew up on the cult Russian fairy tale Mrázik. As in every fairy tale, here, too, in the end, good wins and evil is punished. In reality, however, the representatives of Nastenka and Ivan did not have a bed of roses. As he writes, only the representative of the evil Marfuška had a happy life.
The then 33-year-old Yevgenij Izotov (✝ 66) played the stupid Ivan, who grows wiser, but his life did not continue on the path of acting. At the same time, the talented young man was a beautiful, well-built, young man who also sang beautifully, so the roles kept pouring in. The role in Mrázik was his life role. They wrote about him even in the USA.
However, fame meant practically nothing in the Soviet Union, and the actor and his girlfriend were arrested right on the street. Izotov was sentenced to three years in prison for trying to exchange gold and currencies for rubles on the black market. In addition, the court confiscated all the property of the actress. All at once he found himself at rock bottom.
Imprisonment had a strong effect on the actor. Shortly after his release, he suffered a stroke. Once upon a time, a handsome man was wasting away and couldn’t find a job. Izotov also had memory problems. The 50-year-old suffered further strokes, which had serious consequences until he ended up in a wheelchair. The once famous actor lived out his life in a hospital for long-term patients.
Only fifteen-year-old Natália Sedychová (74) played Nastenka in Mrázik at the time, later she became a ballerina and actress. She applied for the audition without her parents’ knowledge, but she won the role. The ethereal lady became famous thanks to the role, but her acting career did not go according to her expectations. Natalia got only minor film roles, but the audience could see her in the Moscow theater.
In the matter of love, luck has completely turned away from her. Her husband divorced her and deprived the beauty of her son. However, the actress’s life was also at stake. One of her lovers tried to strangle her and then pulled out a knife. Fortunately, she survived the attack.
From Marfuška, a film legend
Marfuša, played by actress Inna Čurikovová († 79), is an integral part of the cult fairy tale. During the camera tests, she caught the attention of the director Alexander Rou with the shelling of nuts, which is one of the most famous scenes. Inna did not spare her teeth at all and played the scene perfectly. Because of the role of the bad and ugly nurse, the actress had a big mind.
Make-up artists made her a dwarf. Because of how she was supposed to look in the film, she even thought that she would not continue filming. Finally, she changed her mind and became an acting legend. However, she was once the target of ridicule in the streets of Moscow, and because of this she herself was said to be unable to look at Mrázik more than once.
Inna married the director Gleb Panfilov, who provided her with leading roles in his films. You made a name for yourself thanks to Fires you won’t get through and The Beginning. Churikova she died on January 14, 2023, the last farewell to the actress took place three days later in the Lenkom Theatre. She was buried at the Trojekurovsky cemetery in Moscow.
