Vera Chekhova: actress and director dies at the age of 83

The green eyes were her trademark. Vera Tschechowa received the Federal Film Prize in 1962 for the Böll film adaptation “The Bread of the Early Years”. Since the 90s, the actress preferred to be behind the camera rather than in front of it, portraying film colleagues such as Katja Riemann, Klaus Maria Brandauer and Michael Ballhaus. Now she died in Berlin at the age of 83 after a short, serious illness.

Viewers know her from films such as “Time of Sensitivity”, “Rausch der Metamorphung” or television series. In the 1980s, with her then-husband Vadim Glowna, she shot the Cannes entry “Desperado City,” the Max Frisch film adaptation “Bluebeard” and the documentary feature “Chekhov in My Life” about her famous Russian family.

After many films, she had had enough: “At some point the scripts just didn’t get any better, they got much worse.” She didn’t want to work below her level; she could live without the spotlight.

Third generation actress

Both her mother and grandmother were actresses. The poet Anton Chekhov was her great-granduncle. The big name was also a burden for her, without question. This spurred the actress on at a young age. Somewhere between her 30s and 40s she found herself. “One day I was Vera Chekhova.”

She originally wanted to become a set designer. She learned the craft of acting in Berlin and Munich. The screen career began in 1956 with “Widower with Five Daughters”, a typical film of the economic miracle era. Vera Chekhova was one of the beauties of the young Federal Republic, her face made for autograph cards.

Vera Chekhova and Elvis

An encounter with Elvis Presley also occurred during this era. The young Chekhova was once brought to a photo shoot with Elvis when he was stationed as a US soldier in Bad Nauheim. Much later there was an encounter with the “King”: When Chekhova was playing a theater in Munich, she heard that a single man had bought the entire performance. And so Elvis sat in the hall, his feet on the backrest and without understanding a word, as Chekhova reported with amusement. She resisted Presley’s courtship.

She was married to the entrepreneur Peter Paschek for several decades, and their son Nikolaus Glowna is a film composer. The actress once said that her life was always beautiful. In this context, she gave examples from the family: the dying Anton Chekhov, who asked his wife for a glass of champagne. Or the sick grandmother who could barely sip and wanted a glass of wine. Shortly before she died, she said: “Life is beautiful.” Vera Chekhova thought that was wonderful.