Yelizaveta Nikolayevna Kedrova was born in Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire, the youngest of three children. Her parents were Russian opera singers. Her father, Nikolay Kedrov Sr. (1871–1940), was a singer and composer, a creator of the first Russian male quartet to perform liturgical chants. Her mother, Sofia Gladkaya (ru: Софья Николаевна Гладкая; 1874–1965), was a singer at the Mariinsky Theatre and a teacher at the Conservatoire de Paris. Her brother, Nikolay Kedrov Jr. (died 1981), was a Russian singer and composer of liturgical music. Her sister, Irene Kedroff (Irina Nikolayevna Kedrova; died 1989), was a soprano.[3]
In 1922, several years after the October Revolution, the family emigrated to Berlin. In 1928, they moved to France, where Kedrova's mother taught at the Conservatoire de Paris, and her father again recreated Quatuor Kedroff. In 1932, Kedrova joined the Moscow Art Theatre touring company. Then her film career began, mostly in French films, until her first English-language film appearance as Madame Hortense in Zorba the Greek (1964). Her performance won her the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. Kedrova then appeared in Alfred Hitchcock's film Torn Curtain (1966), playing the role of Countess Kuchinska, a Polish noblewoman in East Berlin who is desperate to emigrate to the United States. Kedrova played Fräulein Schneider in the West End stage production of Cabaret in 1968. She then played a series of eccentric and crazy women in Hollywood films. In 1983, she reprised her role as Madame Hortense on Broadway in the musical stage version of Zorba the Greek, winning both a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical and a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical in the process. In 1989, she played Madame Armfeldt in the London revival of A Little Night Music.[4]
Her second husband was Canadian stage director Richard Howard (1932–2017).[5]
Death
In 2000, Kedrova died at her summer home in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, of pneumonia, having suffered a long time with Alzheimer's disease.[2][6] She was cremated. Her ashes are buried in her family grave in the Russian cemetery in Paris.[citation needed]
Filmography
List of acting performances in film and television
Canadian Film Awards 1968-1978, Genie Awards 1980-2011, Canadian Screen Awards 2012-present. Separate awards were presented by gender prior to 2022; ungendered awards for best performance regardless have been presented since.
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