The key facts
- Ekaterina Raikina died on November 3 at the age of 88 after a long illness
- The farewell took place on November 6 at the Higher School of Performing Arts founded by Konstantin Raikin
- The actress served at the Vakhtangov Theatre for almost half a century; the urn with her ashes is to be buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery
Farewell in Moscow
People's Artist of Russia Konstantin Raikin spoke about the difficult final days of his sister Ekaterina Raikina, who died on November 3 at the age of 88 after a long illness. The farewell to the Honored Artist of the RSFSR took place on November 6 at the Higher School of Performing Arts, founded by her brother: a coffin surrounded by flowers was placed at the center of the stage, with a portrait of the actress nearby. Relatives, friends, colleagues and admirers came to see her off, including Mark Rozovsky, artistic director of the Theatre at the Nikitsky Gates, and actors Alyona Okhlupina and Mikhail Filippov. This was reported by Life.ru.
'Nothing but suffering'
At the ceremony, Konstantin Raikin admitted that the family had seen their sister's suffering in the hospital but did not know how to ease her condition. 'Everything was so hard in the hospital, and she was simply nothing but suffering. Of course, it was very hard. It was unbearable for her. And how could we help her with that?' Life.ru quotes him as saying. According to the outlet, the actress spent her last months in the hospital, gradually losing strength, but, according to her relatives, remained lucid until the end.
Arkady Raikin's tears
A special memory was the episode recounted by Konstantin Raikin about their father — the famous Soviet performer Arkady Raikin. He came backstage at the Vakhtangov Theatre after the play 'Cinderella,' in which Ekaterina performed, and could not hold back his tears. 'Dad cried when he came backstage at the Vakhtangov Theatre with me after her performance in Cinderella. Dad cried when he met her backstage. She said only one thing:
Career and farewell
Ekaterina Raikina served at the Yevgeny Vakhtangov Theatre for almost half a century, playing dozens of roles there. Audiences remembered her from productions of 'Cinderella,' 'Princess Turandot,' 'Ladies and the Hussars,' as well as from film roles, including in the movie 'Pious Marta.' After the civil memorial service, a funeral service is planned at the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God 'Joy of All Who Sorrow' on Bolshaya Ordynka, followed by cremation; the urn with her ashes is to be buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery next to her parents. Life.ru previously covered the last months of the actress's life, her theatre career and family in a separate article about her biography.
