French-Russian actress Marina Vladi has died at the age of 88, AFP reported. Her family announced that she passed away at home, surrounded by her loved ones and her animals. The cause of death was not reported.
“She lived a long, beautiful and full life“, her children said in a statement released by the agency.
A career that began in childhood
Marina Vladi was born on May 10, 1938 in Clichy, near Paris, to a family of Russian immigrants. She began acting in films as a child and gradually established herself among the recognizable faces of French cinema.
One of her iconic roles is in “The Princess of Cleves“ by Jean Delanois. In 1963, she received the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival for her participation in “The Conjugal Bed“ by Italian director Marco Ferreri.
Vladi also worked with Orson Welles and Jean-Luc Godard. Among her films are “Falstaff“ or “Bells at Midnight“ by Welles and “Two or Three Things I Know About Her“ by Godard. In her career, she starred in both popular productions and auteur films.
Her love affair with Vladimir Vysotsky
For the general public, Marina Vladi also remained connected to Vladimir Vysotsky - a Soviet poet, singer and actor. The two married in 1970 and remained together until his death in 1980.
Vladi also maintained her relationship with Vysotsky through literature. She later dedicated a book to their relationship and the years they spent together between France and the Soviet Union.
With the death of Marina Vladi, French cinema lost an actress whose career spanned more than six decades, and her name remains permanently associated with the work and life of Vladimir Vysotsky.
Sources: Figaro, BTA