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.
Vera Chekhova: Star of the economic miracle years
Viewers know her from films such as “Time of Sensitivity”, “Intoxication of Metamorphosis” or television series. In the 1980s, with her then husband Vadim Glowna, she made 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. That’s why she withdrew more and more from the film and television business in the 1990s.
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She made her last film in 1991 with “Love at First Sight” alongside Margarita Broich. In 1993 she was seen in the MDR crime scene “Bauernopfer”. In 1996 she made her last television film, “Guilty on Suspicion”. By then she had appeared in over 90 film and television productions.
In 2022, Chechowa appeared as a contemporary witness in the docudrama “Rex Gildo – The Last Dance” by Rosa von Praunheim. Her autobiography “Predominantly cheerful: My pretty eventful life” was also published in 2022.
Both her mother and grandmother were actresses. Her great-granduncle was the poet Anton Chekhov. The big name was also a burden for her. This spurred the actress on at a young age. Somewhere between her 30s and 40s she found herself. “One day I was Vera Chekhova.”
Vera Tschechowa learned acting in Berlin and Munich
She originally wanted to become a set designer. She learned acting in Berlin and Munich. Her screen career began in 1957 with “Widower with Five Daughters” opposite Heinz Erhardt, a typical film of the economic miracle era. Vera Chekhova was one of the beauties of the young Federal Republic, her face perfect for autograph cards.
During this time he also met the “King of Rock ‘n’ Roll” Elvis Presley. The young Chekhova was once invited to a photo shoot with Elvis when he was stationed as an American soldier in Bad Nauheim. Much later there was another encounter with the music legend: When Chekhova was playing in a theater in Munich, she heard that a single man had bought the entire performance. And so Elvis sat in the hall with his feet on the backrest and didn’t understand a word, as Chekhova said with amusement. She resisted Presley’s wooing.
She was married to the entrepreneur Peter Paschek for several decades; their son Nikolaus Glowna is a renowned film composer who, among other things, contributed the music for films such as “Solo for Clarinet” and “Der Campus”.