Lilita Bērziņa
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17 July 1903
A Limousine the Colour of Midsummer's Eve (1981)
Lilita Bērziņa | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Lilija Priede-Bērziņa 17 July 1903 Rīga, Governorate of Livonia, Russian Empire |
| Died | 27 May 1983 (aged 79) |
| Burial place | Forest Cemetery, Riga |
| Notable work | Lāčplēsis (1930) A Limousine the Colour of Midsummer's Eve (1981) |
| Partner | Jānis Priede |
Lilija Priede-Bērziņa, known by her stage name Lilita Bērziņa (17 July 1903 – 27 May 1983) was a Latvian stage and film actress.
Bērziņa was born on 17 July 1903 in Rīga, Governorate of Livonia, Russian Empire. Her father Dāvis Bērziņš[a] was a carpenter and bricklayer and her mother Zelma Bērziņa was a seamstress.[1]
Bērziņa was educated at Riga City Gymnasium No. 3, leaving school in 1919, while also attending the Latvian Youth Union's drama courses.[1]
When she was 19, Bērziņa was cast in the silent film Psyche (1922, directed by Pjotrs Čardinins [lv]), alongside Eduards Smiļģis. After this role, Smiļģis invited her to work in stage productions with him.[1]
Bērziņa worked with Smiļģis at the Daile Theatre in Rīga,[2] with her debut role in 1921's Fire and Night.[1] She performed roles including William Shakespeare's heroines Desdemona and Juliet, Johann Wolfgang Goethe's Gretel, Henrik Ibsen's Solveig, Rainis' Asnati and antagonist Spīdola, and Friedrich Schiller's Zanna.[3] Bērziņa also starred in the first latvian full length motion picture Lāčplēsis (1930, based on the national epic poem by Andrejs Pumpurs).[4]
Following World War II, Bērziņa supported the renewal of the Jewish Theatre,[5] unsuccessfully trying to convince the Latvian Communist party leadership to reopen the institution.[6]
After a thirty-year break from acting, Bērziņa returned to the film industry to play older female roles,[7] including in A Limousine the Colour of Midsummer's Eve,[8][9] Surveyor's Times and Frost in Spring.[1]
Bērziņa died on 27 May 1983 in Rīga, Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic. She was buried at the Forest Cemetery, Riga.[1] She is commemorated on a plaque in Rīga.
Awards
- Order of the Red Banner of Labour (1948 and 1971)[1]
- Cavalier of the Order of Lenin (1965, 1973 and 1978[1]
- Hero of Socialist Labour (1978)[10]
- Stalin Prize[citation needed]
- Meritorious Artist of the Latvian SSR[citation needed]
- People's Artist of the USSR[10]
