Little big group composition. Little Big: little people of big show business
Even if you have never heard her name, the face of this beauty will certainly seem very familiar to you - after all, these features were inherited by her famous daughter, Uma Thurman!
Nena von Schlebrugge(Nena von Schlebrügge) was a very famous model in the 60s, best photographers sought to photograph her for Vogue and Harper's Bazaar, and the most unusual men of her time offered their hand and heart...
Photo by Richard Avedon, New York, September 1962
Photo by Norman Parkinson, Vogue 1958
Birgitte Caroline "Nena" von Schlebrügge was born in Mexico City in 1941. The girl's mother, Swedish by birth, Birgit Holmqvist was known for her beauty. In 1930, she even posed for the artist Axel Ebbe for a statue of a nude woman. The sculpture with the tender name Famntaget (Embrace) still greets ships in the port of Smigehük. Nena's father, the German aristocrat and officer Baron Frederick Carl Johannes von Schlebrugge, became one of the most valuable Nazi agents in America during World War II, but was sent to prison for helping his Jewish friends.
Famntaget - Birgit Holmquist
In 1956, the famous photographer Norman Parkinson traveled to Sweden. His most valuable “souvenir” was his acquaintance with the young model Nena von Schlebrugge, whom experienced master advised me to immediately go to London and continue my career there. Nena did just that. Success was not long in coming, and in 1958 the largest modeling agency, Ford, invited her to New York. For the covers of Vogue and Harper's Bazaar, the young model was photographed by the best photographers in the world - Richard Avedon, William Klein, Norman Parkinson, Bert Stern. In 1963, at the height of Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out (“Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out”) , the artist Salvador Dali introduced the already popular model to the outrageous psychologist, Dr. Timothy Leary. notoriety Leary received for his research into the effects of psychedelics on the psyche and nervous system person. His research was in full swing when psychedelics (especially LSD) were outlawed. The experiments had to be stopped, but Leary had no intention of giving up psychedelics and sacrificed his professional career and reputation as an academic scientist for the sake of research. Nena and Leary married a year later at the Millbrook mansion of extravagant millionaire William Hitchcock, where Leary had established a center for psychedelic research. The process of preparations for this strange wedding can be seen in the short film “You”re Nobody Til Somebody Loves You” by American documentarian Donn Pennebaker.
"This movie is something of a mystery. Timothy Leary was getting married to a model named Nena Von Schlebrugge up in Millbrook, New York at the Hitchcock house, where Leary had been carrying on his hallucinogenic revelries for the past year or so after leaving Harvard. It was rumored that this was going to be the wedding of the season, the wedding of Mr. And Mrs. Swing as Cab Calloway put it. Blackwood took me downtown to meet Monte Rock III who was singing at Trudy Heller’s but who was also a very pricey and off-the-wall hairdresser and was in fact going to be doing the bride’s hair. Nena’s brother, Bjorn, known as the “Baron” was a friend of the Hitchcock’s, as was I, and the the idea of going along and filming the wedding seemed not unwarranted. I’ve always wanted to film someone getting married.
So we drove up in Monte Rock’s ancient Buick, Diane Arbus, an editor from Vogue whose name I can no longer remember, and of course Monte Rock, his fingers covered in rings. Close behind, Proferes and Desmond filmed us as we drove, up the Taconic and through the gates of the Hitchcock mansion. There were Hitchcocks and friends and relations of Hitchcocks, the Baron and his court, a score of models, and Charles Mingus playing a lonely piano. Even Susan Leary fresh out of jail. It was indeed an amazing wedding, and for all I know, an amazing marriage, someone later told me it was over before I’d even finished editing the film.
After Nena divorced Leary she married a Tibetan scholar, Dr. Robert Thurman and her daughter Uma is Uma the actress. Dick Alpert became his own guru, Baba Ram Dass and achieved a sainthood of his own. Monte Rock III left Trudy Heller’s and went out to Hollywood and became famous for his line in the John Travolta movie, Saturday Night Fever, when as the disco DJ he exclaims, “I love that polyester look.” Charles Mingus got thrown out of his loft and sadly perished, and in time the Hitchcock house itself burned down, or so I’ve been told. The mystery is that we never filmed anyone actually getting married".
Source: Phfilms
The “happiness of the young” did not last long and a year later the couple divorced. In 1967, Nena starred in a small episode in the cult film "Ciao! Manhattan". The film was released only four years later, due to health problems. main star Edie Sedgwick. Unfortunately, Nena's episode was cut from the final version. Also in 1967, Schlebrugge married again. This time, the girl’s chosen one was Robert Thurman, a remarkable personality in all respects. He became the first American monk of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, which was dedicated by the Dalai Lama himself. They are friends to this day, and Robert is America's leading Buddhist enthusiast, founder of the Tibetan House in New York, and the Je Tsongkhapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University.
The family settled in Boston, Massachusetts. Nena left her modeling career and became seriously interested in studying psychology. Becoming a certified psychologist? Nena devoted all her energy to raising children and popularizing Buddhism. Parents gave their offspring unique names rooted in Buddhist philosophy - Ganden, Uma, Dechen, Mipham. By the way, in adolescence actress Uma Thurman was embarrassed by her unusual name, preferring to call herself Diana. Since 2001, Nena has been the Executive Director of Menla Mountain Retreat, a Tibetan medicine center.
Norman Parkinson took this photo of Nena von Schlebrugge in her native Sweden where she is a model, 1956
Nena, photo by Norman Parkinson
Photo by Norman Parkinson, 1957
Photo by Norman Parkinson 1960
Photo by Norman Parkinson, British Vogue 1958
Nena von Schlebrugge in fleecy coat and hat by Balmain, Queen August 1960. By Norman Parkinson
Cardin Hat Over Paris" worn by Nena von Schlebrugge, photo by Norman Parkinson for Queen magazine, 1960
Models at the London docks, Vogue 1957. Nena von Schlebrugge in center. Photo Norman Parkinson
Nena von Schlebrugge in bathing suit by Jantzen, photo by Norman Parkinson for Queen Magazine, 1960
Nena von Schlebrugge, photo by Norman Parkinson for Vogue UK Sept. 1957
Nena von Schlebrugge, photo by Norman Parkinson, Vogue 1958
Nena von Schlebrugge, suit by Frederick Starke, Vogue 1958. Photo Norman Parkinson
Coming and Going (diptych): Nena Von Schlebrugge in Yves Saint Laurent's first collection for Dior, Vogue, 1958
Nena von Schlebrugge, photo by Richard Avedon, New York, September 1962
Photo by Claude Virgin
Photo by Eugene Vernier
Photo by Sante Forlano, 1959
Coat by Peck & Peck, photo by Diane and Allan Arbus, 1959
Inspiration: Nena von Schlebrügge by Claude Virgin, 1959
"I remember flicking back through Vogue and seeing the Vogue Model contest and thinking, 'This is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.' I found out later it was Uma Thurman's mother, Nena von Schleebrügge. It was that image that propelled me to enter the contest myself. I ended up winning. So it was through that picture that I started out as a model, and began my career in fashion. The picture by Vernier of me fishing was my first shoot." -Grace Coddington
Photo by George Hamill, 1960s
Nena in a relaxed pose, photo by Claude Virgin
Nena Von Schlebrugge, photo by Eugene Vernier
Wearing a silk taffeta evening wrap, photo by John French for the Sunday Times, London
Mirrors - Evelyn Tripp, Isabella Albonico and Nena von Schlenbrugge by William Klein, NewYork, Vogue 1962
Nena von Schlebrugge, photo by John Rawlings, Vogue, November 1, 1961
Nena Von Schlebrugge, photo by Lillian Bassman, 1964
Nena von Schlebrugge, Vogue, March 1960
Nena wearing Sarmi silk dress and Trifari necklace, 1961 by John Rawlings
Wearing a mink coat by Revillon, 1963
Nena von Schlebrugge (left) in a dress of criss-crossed silver paillettes trimmed with ostrich feathers by Harold Levine, photo by Avedon, Vogue, 1966
Nena (lright) is wearing a one-shoulder pink crepe dress by Malcolm Starr, photo by Avedon, Vogue 1966
Nena von Schlebrugge (r) and model in empire-waist party dresses, photo by Don Honeyman
Photo by John Rawlings, Vogue 1961
Anne St Marie top left and Isabella Albonico bottom right. Photographed by Tom Palumbo
Photographed by Horst P Horst. Vogue 1962
Wearing a pale green felt beret by Halston. Photographed by Bert Stern. Vogue 1962
The chessboard above, a display at the Hammond Museum in North Salem, N.Y., is a replica of the oversized outdoor boards used in Europe, photo by Yale Joel, December 1959
Nena is wearing a beige two button suit with mink collar over a silk blouse by Paul Parness
Nena is wearing a cable-knit two piece outfit by Robert Sloan for Harper's Bazaar
Nena von Schlebrugge in bare midriff dress with big sleeves by Donald Brooks, photo by Mark Shaw, 1963
Nena is wearing a suit of bold strawberry and white checks in wool. The jacket has a small collar and three quarter length sleeves. Suit by Zelinka-Matlick
Nena von Schlebrugge (r), photo by Helmut Newton, 1962
Cover by Gleb Derujinski, January 1962
Editorial from Vogue Magazine, August 1962
Cockscomb Hair, Tilly Tizzani and Nena von Schlebrugge, Harper's Bazaar, 1962. Photo by Melvin Sokolsky
Nena von Schlebrugge in maillot by Catalina and hat by Halston, photo by Gleb Derujinsky on top of the mountain Nemrud Dagh in Turkey, Harper's Bazaar, 1962
Nena von Schlebrugge in sleevless dress by Norman Norell, photo by Richard Avedon for Harper's Bazaar, 1961
Nena Von Schlebrugge in suit by Frechtel, scarf by Echo, ring and pin by Brania, cover by Tom Palumbo, Feb. 1962
Nena Von Schlebrugge, Jane Irwill ad, 1961
Photo by Richard Avedon for Harper's Bazaar, 1961
Photo by John Rawlings, Vogue 1961
Uma Thurman was named after a Hindu goddess and inherited her refined grace from her female ancestors. Her grandmother Birgit Holmqvist in her youth posed in nude style for the eminent sculptor Axel Ebbe for the statue “Embrace,” depicting a naked diva." This reverent sculpture from 1930 still meets ships in the port of a small cape on the southernmost point of the Scandinavian Peninsula. But special admiration and the aristocratic beauty of Uma’s mother, the supermodel and actress of the 50s and 60s of the last century, Nena von Schlebrugge, is worthy of admiration.
Venus Botticelli
In 1941, a daughter, Brigitte Caroline, was born in Mexico to the family of the Swedish beauty Birgit Holmqvist and the German aristocrat Friedrich Karl von Schlebrugge. Her relatives simply called her Nena. The daughter inherited her extraordinary appearance from her mother, and her aristocratic charm from her father. In the mid-fifties, the famous Vogue photographer went on business to the capital of Sweden, where he accidentally saw Nena. Then the young beauty was only 14 years old. This meeting marked the beginning of the girl’s modeling career.
A couple of years later, Nena was invited to London, where she became one of the stars in the world of high fashion. Her success was deafening, and her popularity soared very quickly - the American modeling agency Ford signed a contract with the Swedish beauty, and soon Nena decided to conquer the United States. On another continent, she was expected to work with Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar magazines, and the best photography pros collaborated with her: Norman Parkinson, Richard Avedon, Bert Stern and William Klein.
Nena's refined beauty has inspired many contemporary photographers and artists. Rumor has it that the girl became a muse for the great Salvador Dali, who in 1963 introduced the already famous beauty to the psychiatrist Timothy Leary, who became famous for his work in the field of the effects of psychedelics on the nervous system. The wedding of Timothy and Nena took place in the cottage of billionaire William Hitchcock, who kindly provided his apartment to a psychiatrist friend.
wedding ceremony was quite eccentric - she was captured on black and white film by documentarian Pennebaker. But even here Nena appears to the viewer as Venus, straight out of Botticelli’s paintings - fragile, tender and feminine. This union was short-lived, it lasted only a year. It was assumed that the reason for its collapse was the “great experimenter’s” use of the psychotropic drug LSD, banned in the States.
Under the sign of Buddha
In 1965, Nena filed for divorce, and two years later she remarried. Her chosen one was Robert Thurman, the first American to be tonsured a Buddhist monk personally by the Dalai Lama. It was a marriage consecrated by someone above - two harmonious souls merged, who to this day live in peace and harmony and bring the divine light of kindness to people. Soon the couple had their first child, Handen.
Despite the difficult time of motherhood, Nena continued to climb the career ladder and even managed to star in the Eddie Sedgwick film “Ciao Manhattan.” The picture was published only four years after its creation, but the episodes with Nena from the final version, unfortunately, were cut out.
In 1970 happy couple a daughter, Uma, appeared, whose name means “blessing giver.” Then Nena decided to leave her modeling career and devote herself to her family. In addition, she was so captivated by her husband’s ideas that she also became interested in actively promoting Buddhism in the States and even became a certified psychologist. In the late 1980s, von Schlebrugge was director of the New York Open Center, and in subsequent years became head of the Tibet House's US branch.
Today Nena is the executive director of the Menla Mountain Retreat center for Tibetan medicine and is proud of her talented and successful children with unique names associated with ancient Buddhist philosophy - Handen, Uma, Dechen, Mipham. And she remains the same aristocratic beauty and, simply, a happy woman...
BONUS
It's time to remember the Soviet actress who raised a Hollywood star: .
Russian singer and actress Olympia Ivleva, known as a member music project Little Big and the leading actress in the film "Lily".
Biography of Olympia
Olympia (or just Lipa for short) was born in 1990. Graduated from the Institute of Special Pedagogy and Psychology. She was involved in organizing holidays. Today she lives in St. Petersburg, where she performs as part of Little bands Big as vocalist.
In 2017, Olympia first appeared on the set as a film actress. She became the main character the film “Lily”, where she played a short girl who performs in a traveling circus troupe.
“I am very happy that I was able to be a part of this and am incredibly grateful to everyone who was involved in this! I am proud to say that this is a project that has soul and love. I'll miss".
Olympia worked with such actors as Sergei Batalov, Yulia Serina, Ilya Malakov, Sergei Gazarov and others.
Olympia has a lot in common with the heroine of the film: like Lily, she was ridiculed by other children as a child, but now she has countless fans.
“I never focused the attention of myself or other people on my height, and in most cases I always found a common language with the people who surrounded me. I first encountered this only when children appeared in my life, known for their cruelty and misunderstanding in their early teens at school.”
According to Olympia herself, her height never seemed uncomfortable to her, and she does not “measure” other people in centimeters. The only thing that is difficult is the high bar counters and height restrictions in the amusement park.
#SkibidiChallenge blew up social networks. The dance from LittleBig's viral video was repeated by thousands of Instagram users. And not only Russian ones: in the CIS countries, Europe and America, they also fell in love with the movements to the “skibidi pa-pa-pa.” The “Evening Urgant” team and the “Khleb” group have already joined the flash mob.
To help you get to know Little Big better, we provide a selection of interesting facts about them.
Culture1 fact: Little Big is a rave band originally from St. Petersburg. The group's style is to make fun of various stereotypes about Russians in their tracks. Initially, LB consisted of Ilya Prusikin (Ilyich), Sergey Makarov (Gokk) and two vocalists Anna Kast and Olympia Ivleva. The name of the group was born due to the difference in height within the group (Anna and Olympia are no higher than 130 cm).
Fact 2: On April 1, 2013, the first Little Big video appeared online. This day is considered the date of birth of the group. The video for “EveryDay I’m Drinking” took off, and the guys were invited to open for Die Antwoord. LB, of course, had no songs - no one expected such quick success. So we had to quickly get together and write tracks. In one month, Little Big gave birth to six of them. They were performed at the Die Antwoord concert in July 2013.
Fact 3: The leader of the Little Big group is a psychologist by education. But Ilya Prusikin did not go to all classes at the institute. And after practical training, I decided not to get involved with psychology at all. He liked creativity more. Before LB, Ilyich had many projects, the most famous of which are related to the YouTube community “Thank you, Eva!”
Fact 4: Not a single Little Big video costs more than a million. Production is in the hands of the band's musicians and other members of KlikKlak ( creative association YouTube, which includes LB). All by yourself! In general, the group members are really strongly involved in the creative process and are ready to do a lot for the sake of the product. For example, in the video “Life in da trash” Ilya Prusikin ate real maggots. He did this as many as five times, because the take was not immediately successful.
Fact 5: Little Big didn't invest a penny in their promotion. They became popular due to their content. And not only in Russia. The group is very popular in Europe. Ilyich and the other members of LB have a goal of becoming world stars - and they are on the way to it. The musicians already have listeners from France, Germany, Holland, Canada and Australia.
Fact 6: Ilyich's wife is Ira Smelaya. She is better known as Tatarka. Ilya and Ira have a son, Dobrynya. You can learn about the life of this family by looking at Smelaya’s blog “Tatar Everyday Life”.
Alexandra Shepelyuk
The creator of cult Internet projects, Ilya Prusikin, fell in love with the public because the 32-year-old intellectual keeps up with the times, not being afraid to raise acute social issues in his work that are not customary to talk about in modern society.
The future scandalous video blogger was born on April 8, 1985 on the border of Russia and China - in Transbaikalia. Later, “Ilyich” (creative pseudonym) will move to St. Petersburg with his parents. Contrary to popular belief, it is cultural capital will become a city of great opportunities for an ambitious guy.
In addition to the fact that Ilya loved to shock the public since childhood, the network figure grew up as a mischievous, active child: he played baseball as an outfielder, was fond of football and went to an aircraft modeling club.
On top of everything else, the parents, seeing considerable creative potential in their son, sent their son to music school, to piano class. From the biography of the Internet star it is known that in addition to secondary and musical under his belt, Ilya also has higher education. The man graduated from the psychological and pedagogical faculty of St. Petersburg state institute culture.
In 2011, the promising young man began collaborating with the subsidiary label company “Thank you, Eva!” Later, Prusikin’s projects will bring great popularity to the channel. Thus, stylized as the children's program “The Guffy Guff Show” (2012) and “The Great Rap Battle” (2012), in which, through recitative the mighty of the world who entered into confrontation with each other will turn out to be the highest rated on the video grouping platform. In fact, both programs exposed the social ills of society and ridiculed the well-known vices of humanity.
A little later, in 2012, the young man will become a producer and part-time actor of an analogue of the series “Real Boys” - the Internet sitcom “Police Weekdays”. The film produced by “bloggers” stars the most prominent representatives“YouTube”: a pioneer in the field of streaming, members of the rap group “Khleb”, “general of the pajama army” Sam Nickel and many others. Despite such an abundance of youth idols per square meter, the series did not find a response in hearts young viewers, and after 3 episodes the unpromising project was closed.
A year later, with a friend on the YouTube video hosting site, the man creates the “Klikklak” association. According to the creators, the audience of Klikklak is boys and girls with an active lifestyle and a good sense of humor. The channel’s page publishes such shows as “Give me some bream”, “Children’s trash games”, “As you say”, “Shocking karaoke” and “Experiment Destroyers”.
Music
In 2006, “Ilyich” became a member of the little-known emo-rock group “Tenkor”. The Russian public liked the guys’ creativity so much that the enterprising young men released several records (EP “It’ll be Late”, LP “Moe last letter", EP "ROCK, baby!", "SEX POLICE). Also, the “YouTube hero” had experience working with the groups “Like A Virgin”, “St. Bastards" and "Construktorr".
Despite such an abundance of musical groups, the rave team “Little Big” brought Ilyich worldwide fame.
On April 1, 2013, Prusikin and his friends posted the video “Every Day I’m Drinking” online as an April Fool’s joke and instantly divided the country into two camps. The first believed that the group was denigrating a great power, exposing all the worst that is in Russia, the second saw the work of the group as satire in its purest form.
The band members themselves publicly declared: “Little Big” is musical reflection society. In their songs, the guys openly ridicule national stereotypes of behavior and life of Russian people.
According to the stories of “Ilyich”, the scandalous group might not have existed at all if in July 2013 the guys had not been invited to warm up for the famous South African group “Die Antwoord”. At that time, Little Big's repertoire consisted of one song. Hardworking young people wrote six songs within a month and shot videos, which sold like hot cakes.
On May 21, 2016, the videos for the song “Give Me Your Money” and “Big Dick” became winners of the Berlin Music Video Awards 2016. “Big Dick” took first place in the Most Trashy category, and “Give Me Your Money” took 3rd place in the category Best Performer.
The “viral” project has taken root not only in Russia, but also abroad. Thus, in France and Holland, an art group with balalaikas and vodka gained enormous popularity.
The satirical collaboration of the rave group “Little Big” has won the hearts of listeners around the world.
Personal life
Until 2016, nothing was known for certain about “Ilyich’s” personal life.
Fans assumed that the short man (Ilya’s height is 165 cm) was dating the famous vlogger Ira Smelaya. The reason for the speculation was that the girl appeared more than once in videos both on the Klikklak channel and on Prusikin’s personal channel.
Moreover, the frontman of the group “Little Big” - ideological inspirer musical project “TATARKA”, in which Ira is a key character. Contrary to popular belief, the cloud rapper did not appear out of nowhere. The audience knew her before from the DIY programs “Fashion Trashon”, “M/F” and vlogs called “Tatar Everyday Life”. By the way, the Smelaya channel on the popular video hosting has 577 thousand subscribers. People started talking about the charismatic brunette on a national scale at the end of 2016, after the “viral” clip “Altyn” appeared online.
The rumors circulating around famous media personalities were confirmed on July 6, 2016, when the wedding ceremony took place star couple. Only close friends and relatives were invited to the wedding. But the young people did not forget about their loyal fans. Ilya posted a one-minute video on his YouTube channel where he and his wife were captured at the time of painting.
