Vera Maretskaya

Vera Petrovna Maretskaya was born on July 31, 1906, in Barvikha, a suburb of Moscow, Russian Empire (now Moscow, Russia). Young Maretskaya helped her father, named Petr Maretsky, who was a candy bar vendor at Moscow Circus. Maretskaya was auditioned by Vakhtangov and Zavadsky, and studied at Vakhtangov Theatre School, from which she graduated as a actress in 1924. That same year she became permanent member of Theatre-Studio led by Yuri Zavadsky. She soon married her teacher Yuri Zavadsky, and they had one son. They remained life-long friends and stage partners, even after the end of their brief marriage. In 1925 she made her film debut in 'Zakroischik is Torzhka' (Tailor of Torzhok 1925). She played roles in fifteen silent films.