Preobrazhenskaia, Olga

Preobrazhenskaia, Ol’ga Ivanovna 

Born 1881 (according to some sources, 1884) in Moscow; died there Oct. 31, 1971. Soviet Russian film actress and director. Honored Art Worker of the RSFSR (1935).

Preobrazhenskaia studied at the Moscow Art Theater studio in 1905 and 1906 and later went on to act in provincial theaters. In 1913 she made her film debut. Her film roles, all in 1915, included Liza in A Nest of Gentlefolk, based on Turgenev’s novel; Natasha Rostova in the film of the same name, based on L. N. Tolstoy’s War and Peace; and Princess Vera in The Garnet Bracelet, based on Kuprin’s work.

In 1916, Preobrazhenskaia directed her first film, Mistress into Maid (based on Pushkin’s work), which was made in collaboration with V. R. Gardin. It was followed by Kashtanka (1926, based on Chekhov’s work) and Ania (1927). She collaborated with I. K. Pravov on Women of Riazan’ (1927), The Last Attraction (1929), The Quiet Don (1931, based on Sholokhov’s novel), Hostile Paths (1935), Stepan Razin (1939), and The Youth From the Taiga (1941).

In the 1920’s, Preobrazhenskaia taught at the State School of Cinematography, now the All-Union State Institute of Cinematography.