People's Artist of the USSR Lyubov Orlova loved to repeat: "I will never be more than 39 years old, not for a single day!" As soon as it became impossible to hide wrinkles and folds on the face with the help of correctly exposed light on the set, the actress began to undergo operations. The leading surgeons of the USSR helped the artist to preserve her youth. Technologies were not like the current ones: for six months after the operation, Orlova did not go out to the public, did not receive guests. No one saw her until she was fully rehabilitated, except for the doctor and her husband. The artist never allowed to take amateur pictures with her participation. This winter will mark the 116th anniversary of the birth of Lyubov Orlova. Together with the plastic surgeon Stanislav Yekimov, the Teleprogramma magazine studied the transformation of the Soviet cinema star using photographs and documentary evidence from Orlova's biographers.
1937 year. Photo: FOTODOM.ru
Plastic surgeon Stanislav Ekimov
Stanislav Ekimov: - Soon after meeting her future husband, director Grigory Alexandrov, Lyubov Orlova became a star. Aleksandrov shot her in the films "Merry Guys", "Circus". But before, on his recommendation, Orlova repainted from brunette to blonde and inserted porcelain teeth. She became like a Hollywood star and began to closely monitor her appearance. After 35 years, Orlova daily used anti-aging creams from the Moscow factory "Svoboda". In addition, French creams were brought to her by special order. But this did not help to avoid blepharoplasty after 45 years. Eyelid surgery removes sagging skin, hernias, restores skin elasticity. Photographers were allowed to shoot Orlov from a favorable angle. But eyewitnesses confirmed: the look became open and young.
1950 year. Photo: Anatoly GARANIN / RIA Novosti
Stanislav Ekimov: - There were rumors that Lyubov Orlova did plastic surgery in France. But the actress trusted her face only to the chief plastic surgeon of the USSR, who worked at the Beauty Institute on the Arbat, - Alexander Shmelev. In 1965, Orlova was 63 years old and had a facelift and a neck lift. The circular lifting allowed the actress to get rid of wrinkles and restore the elastic oval of the face.
1964 year. Photo: RIA Novosti Colleagues and friends noticed that Orlova has changed: she has freshened up, the folds on her neck have smoothed out. It was possible to remove age-related changes, but at the same time the shape of the eyes changed - compare photos from 1964 and 1974. Now doctors recommend performing surgery to restore the ideal contours of the face and neck after 45 years. In the film "Starling and Lyra" 70-year-old Orlova played a young scout. Of course, at 30 years old the actress did not look, but at 45 - quite.
1974 year. Still from the film
Stanislav Yekimov: - Western experts admitted that Soviet plastic surgery was at a very high level. Moreover, our doctors practically did not have a decent toolkit. For example, instead of special threads, processed horsehair was used, for which doctors had to go to the stables of the Mikoyan Combine. By the way, there were no special scalpels for plastic surgery either. Instead, they have successfully used halves of razor blades. It was with their help that, during a circular lift, jewelry incisions were made in the middle and lower third of the face, in the forehead and neck area. Then these areas were sutured. Prices in the only institution in the USSR where plastic surgery was performed in the 50s and 60s of the XX century were acceptable. The average salary was then 80 rubles. per month, and blepharoplasty cost 5 rubles. (now the average cost of the operation is 80 thousand rubles), facelift - 7 rubles. (now the average price is 150 thousand rubles).
