Regina Zbarskaya: A Frighteningly Gray Finale to the USSR's Most Beautiful Weapon

You know, beauty often comes at too high a price. Especially if this beauty doesn't just belong to you personally, but to an entire state. Soviet fashion models were a completely separate, closed caste. Incredible Slavic appearance, multiplied by the rigid political power of a huge country, seemed to open doors to world catwalks for them like a battering ram. It would seem - live and rejoice. But behind the beautiful facade of heavy velvet and bright spotlights, broken destinies were hidden. Life abroad, away from home, rarely resembled the sweet fairy tale that millions dreamed of. And Regina Zbarskaya is perhaps the brightest and most tragic confirmation of this. She chose an open ending. Herself. She voluntarily stepped into the void, flatly refusing the classic, happy ending.

The glitter of spotlights and the dust of the province

Her story, like a ready-made script, became the basis for a book - harsh, where there is absolutely no place for romance - and a popular television series. You probably remember "The Red Queen", which was released in 2015? The screenwriters, as is often the case, generously sprinkled drama for the sake of ratings. In the film, her family languishes in total poverty, her father drinks incessantly, and the enraged daughter eventually takes his life. The mother, in order not to break the girl's fate, takes all the blame on herself. And after that, the main character goes to conquer Moscow and embarks on a creative path. Agree, the plot is extremely hyperbolized and squeezes a tear.

And what was in reality? In the dry lines of biography. She was born in 1935 in Vologda. The city was a deep front-line backwater, so the sounds of exploding shells and the horrors of war almost did not affect the girl's childhood. The family lived quite normally, but did not experience problems with money, they lived well. No murders, no blood. The parents simply divorced. The father decided to pursue his career and took his daughter with him to the First Throne - there were much more prospects for both of them. Valentina Filina later tried to convey the real story of Regina to the public, but this truth turned out to be too bland, not so interesting for film stories.

Zbarskaya, by the way, was never a poor student, scraping by on bread and water. Her father was allocated a good apartment right next to the university, and he was paid a decent salary. So the image of a poor provincial woman is just a beautiful myth.

A pass to eternity

But she wanted more. She wanted fame. Regina grabbed at any opportunity, just to pave this cherished path to popularity and fame. She finished school in Vologda, but she entered Moscow State University largely thanks to her father's connections. She should have gone to the acting faculty - the data was there. But, apparently, she did not have enough determination, and she had to gnaw at the granite of science at a boring economic department.

However, she was not interested in numbers at all. The girl spent every free day on screen tests. She walked, knocked on closed doors. Rejections poured in one after another - there was no successful result, she was stubbornly not approved for roles. But she acquired incredibly useful acquaintances, and her cute, memorable face became recognizable in the right circles. And then, in her senior years, a small breakthrough happened. Director I. Annensky, sincerely amazed by her bright appearance, invited the girl to an episode. It was the film "Sailor from the Comet". Not a resounding success, of course. But an excellent, strong springboard.

She was an enthusiast and was not going to give up after refusals. And for good reason. Once Regina crossed paths with Vera Aralova - a famous costume designer. It was this meeting that became her pass to the holy of holies - the All-Union House of Models.

A star is lit

Aralova, already a recognized goddess of stage costumes, who conquered even Paris, was pleasantly surprised by the grace and perfect figure of Regina. She saw in this girl the very pattern of beauty that absolutely all Soviet women would want to emulate. Regina herself considered Vera her main patron, and their creative union turned out to be incredibly productive. Not a single show was complete without a new model. Zbarskaya knew how to present herself on the catwalk in such a way that the audience literally gasped.

Of course, along with deafening fame, envious people came. There were many of them. They tried to denigrate the model's reputation, often accusing her completely groundlessly. In the wings, they whispered about her "imperfect legs". And once a dirty article appeared in the press: allegedly, a fan had been stalking the model for a long time in order to take pictures of her intimate parts. And these pictures really surfaced later in magazines under hot, scandalous headlines.

But even this could not spoil her image. The Russian beauty, on the contrary, became more and more recognizable and popular. There were enough competitors, but Regina stood out brightly against their background. Only one thing interfered: she could not travel to other countries due to endless, exhausting KGB checks.

Oddities, myths and a foreign muse

People around noticed: the model behaves strangely. She flatly refused to talk about her past. Colleagues were sincerely surprised. How could a girl who grew up in the outback possess such aristocratic manners? And where did the knowledge of foreign languages at the level of a professional translator come from? And Regina's clothes were always incredibly fashionable, although nothing was really brought to the USSR in those years.

She seemed not to run away from direct questions, but always kept an impenetrable mystery inside herself. It was almost impossible to get to the truth. Therefore, many began to look for information through the relevant structures or simply invent fables. Later, she was even accused of deliberately creating myths around herself. For example, once she seriously stated that her parents were circus performers and died together performing a complex trick under the dome.

Entire generations of women looked up to her. Her signature style was copied, marveling at her unprecedented photogenicity. Finally breaking into the world catwalk, she met real legends: Pierre Cardin, Fernand Léger. The foreign muse of fashion designers did not leave the pages of foreign newspapers. She was called loudly: "The most beautiful weapon of the USSR."

Blind love and fall

Glory overwhelmed her in the 60s. And she was able to glorify not only herself, but also her man. Felix-Lev Zbarsky came to the House of Models for work - he was engaged in developing a layout for the "Fashion Magazine". He had already survived one unsuccessful marriage and was completely free. It all started with beautiful courtship. Then - signing at the registry office and moving to a common corporate apartment.

But a secular lifestyle and quiet love turned out to be incompatible concepts. For the sake of an important show in Montreal, the model had an abortion. She did it easily, without even doubting whether it was the right thing to do. And her husband was constantly cheating. These infidelities methodically drove the young wife into a black depression. It got to the point that their loud quarrels became public knowledge, began to affect social life. And then Regina broke down for the first time - she ended up in a psychiatric hospital. However, colleagues understood everything. They blamed the consequences of male polygamy and did not refuse to cooperate. She recovered and returned to her place under the spotlights.

Instead of an epilogue

After this trauma, Regina no longer allowed men into her soul. Only to the body. And there were a lot of these men, by the way. And then a catastrophe happened. An anonymous person published a book in the West called "One Hundred Nights with Regina Zbarskaya". It described in minute detail intimate scenes, interspersed with stories about connections with the Soviet authorities. The author claimed a terrible thing: allegedly, Regina hated the Union with all her heart and regularly wrote denunciations to the KGB about her own acquaintances.

Her reputation began to crumble rapidly, like a house of cards in the wind. She realized: entry into the country (and therefore, life abroad) was now forbidden for her. Another attempt to end her life. And again - the cold wards of a mental hospital. Because of the fame of the "informer" that went from hand to hand, almost everyone turned away from her. They refused to help. In this dark hour, only close relatives and Vyacheslav Zaitsev did not abandon her. The brilliant star rolled down from the model catwalks to the work of a simple cleaner.

At the age of 52, she still brought what she had conceived to an end and committed suicide. For a long time, no one knew exactly how she died. Only 37 years after her death, her brother decided to tell the truth. She was buried in a very modest grave. There is no monument or even a name there. Such a bright person. And such a frighteningly gray end.