Khadisha Bukeevna Bukeeva (kaz. Бөкеева Хадиша; 21 February 1917, Kaztalovka, West Kazakhstan Region — 31 January 2011, Almaty) — Soviet Kazakh actress of theatre and cinema, master of the artistic word. People's Artist of the USSR.

Khadisha Bukeeva was born on February 21 (according to other sources — January 1), 1917 in the village of Kaztalovka (now in the West Kazakhstan region of Kazakhstan).

The mother raised two children alone, and when Khadisha was nine years old, she died of an illness. The girl was sent to an orphanage in the village of Chieli in the South Kazakhstan region. The older brother, after graduating from college, took his sister when she was 13 years old. Together they moved to Shymkent, and then to Almaty. Bukeeva was preparing to enter the preparatory department of the Kazakh Medical Institute, and often ran with her friends on the radio. It was these "adventures" that contributed to the fact that once her acting talent was noticed. Due to the lack of necessary knowledge, studying there wasn’t easy for her. After all, it was necessary to study with breaks, and it was not possible to finish school.

The passion for singing and dancing does not pass without a trace. She took part in amateur performances. In 1934, was selected by the commission and sent to study at the Technical School of Performing Arts in Leningrad (since 1936 — the Central Theater School, now the Russian State Institute of Performing Arts), from which she graduated in 1938. Her mentors were prominent masters of the stage Leonid Vivien, Vsevolod Meyerhold, Vasily Merkuryev.

The process of mastering the image has always been difficult and painful for her. This remained with her for the rest of her life, just like in the first years of her studies. It was difficult to work with her, but V. Merkuryev and I. Meyerhold believed in her strength and stubbornly picked up the keys to revealing her personality. Early on, they saw a remarkable dramatic temperament and consistently freed her from the binding fetters of constraint.

In 1938 all graduates of the college were sent to Shymkent. They formed the nucleus of the then organised South Kazakhstan Regional Drama Theatre.

Since 1942 she was an actress of Kazakh State Drama Theatre named after Mukhtar Auezov ( Auezov Theater) in Almaty. From 1942 she was an actress in the Kazakh State Drama Theater named after M.O. Auezov (Alma-Ata), where she appeared on stage until the end of her life. One facet of her talent is her mastery of artistic reading.

Since 1965 conducted pedagogical activity at the theatrical faculty (since 1977 - Theatrical and Art Institute, at present Kazakh National Academy of Arts named after T.K.Zhurgenov) in Kurmangazy Kazakh Conservatoire. Since 1968 she was the senior lecturer, since 1974 - professor. Among her pupils there are well-known Kazakh actors A.Kenzheev, K.Tastanbekov, D.Zholzhaksynov, T.Zhamankulov, M.Utekesheva, R.Mashurova.

Member of the Cinematographers' Union of the Kazakh SSR. Passed away on 31 January 2011 in Almaty. Buried in Kensai cemetery. ^[1]

• People's Artist of the Kazakh SSR (1957)

• People's Artist of the USSR (1964)

• Stalin Prize of the third degree (1952) for her performance as Aygerim in "Abai" by M.O. Auezov

• Order of Lenin (1959)

• Order of Friendship of Peoples (1987)

• Order of the Badge of Honour (1946)

• Order of Otan (2000)

• Medal "Veteran of Labour"

• Jubilee Medal "Forty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945"

Khadisha was the premiere actress from her early ages, hence why she played so many roles in theatre performance. Since her very recruitment to the academy of arts, she has performed outstandingly amongst her peers, often serving as a prime example of an actor. She had as many as 26 unique roles assigned to her in theatrical performance just from one theatre alone. Amongst those are:

• Saule from “Comradery and Love” by A. Abishev
• Aygerim from “Abay” by M. Auezov
• Kapyrga from “Qara Qypshaq Qobylandy” by M. Auezov
• Mehmene Banu from “Farhad and Shirin” by N. Hikmet
• Katherina from “The Taming of the Shrew” by W. Shakespeare
• Queen Margaret from “Richard III” by W. Shakespeare
• Desdemona and Emilia from “Otello” by W. Shakespeare
• Saule from “Saule” by T. Akhtanov
• Tkhan’ from “The Star of Vietnam” by I. Kupriyanov
• Banu from “Amangeldy” by G. Musirepov
• Dametken from “Kozy Korpesh – Bayan Sulu” by G. Musirepov
• Panaeva from “Shokan Ualikhanov” by S. Mukanov
• Katherine from “The Storm” by A. Ostrovskiy
• Barbara from “The Love in the Dawn” by Y. Galan
• Aysha from “The Ascent to Fujiyama” by C. Aytmatov and K. Mukhamedzhanov
• Negina from “Talents and Admirers” by A. Ostrovskiy
• Kruchinina from “The Guilt of the Faultless” by A. Ostrovskiy
• Maira from “Maira” by A. Tazhibaev
• Marzhan from “On the Jamboree” by A. Tazhibaev
• Beatrice from “The Servant of Two Masters” by C. Goldoni
• Ana from “On Foreign Land” by K. Mukhamedzhanov
• Diana from “The Dog in the Manger” by L. de Vega
• The Blind lady from “The Sightless” by M. Maeterlinck
• The Mother and The Judge from “The Groom and The Bride” by M. Baydzhiev
• Siju from “The Eastern Hurry” by M. Kaoru
• Wife from “At The Lips of The Neglected Esil” by N. Hikmet All of those roles she played in the Kazakh State Academic Drama Theater in the name of M.O. Auezov. She also performed in the Shymkent Regional Kazakh Drama Theatre in the name of Z. Shanin. She played 5 roles there:

• Lyudmila from “Late Love” by A. Ostrovskiy
• Enlik from “Enlik-kebek” by M. Auezov
• Aqtoqty from “Aqan Seri – Aqtoqty” by G. Musirepov
• Zhamal from “On the Eve” by A. Afinogenov
• Luise from “Intrigue and Love” by F. Schiller She had also played core roles in theatrical performances of “Ivan The Terrible” by L. Tolstoy and “The Winners” by B. Chirskov. All of the aforementioned amounts to over 31 unique roles played in theatrical performances. That’s a great achievement, especially for an actor of that time. Not to mention the majority, if not all of the roles she played are primary characters of those performances. She possessed the ability to project vibrant characteristics, which emphasized her professionalism. Amongst her co-workers she was known for being more of a restrained type of person, that is not to say she was unable to sympathize, quite the opposite. Her meticulousness in observation is what gave her an edge over others. She was able to analyze emotions with great precision, she had a very deep understanding of feelings, she was attentive, yet quite reserved. ^[2]

Though her main career consisted of Theatrical Performance, it wasn’t long before she started playing in feature films. Her first role was Raikhan, from the movie “Raikhan” Directed by Moses Levin and Sergey Bartenev. She landed the role of the main character in her very first film.

“My first ever role in the film is Raikhan, of the eponymous film based on the script of M. Auezov. The approval was somehow unexpected. We were in the Shymkent Theatre at the time, we were asked to partake in an audition. So I came, auditioned, and left. I wasn’t really expecting anything of that, not even a thought crossed my mind. I mean, what is there to think, considering the most participation I did in the film was just for a crowd scene, we would be sent there, back when I was still in technical school. And here we have the role of the main character? What is there to expect?! And then, out of the blue, I get informed that I got approved and got signed for the role of the main character! That was a miracle for me. That’s how my path of an actress started.” -, is what Khadisha says of her first-ever role in the film.

She would then proceed to star in more films. She would even come as a cameo of herself in “Our Sweet Doctor” of 1957. The list of all of her roles in the film:

• Raikhan from “Raikhan” (1940)

• Dina from “The Burches in The Veld” (1956)
• Cameo in “Our Sweet Doctor” (1957)
• Rabiga from “The Squall” (1958)
• Muratova from “On The Wild Shore” (1959)
• The Mother from “The Trail that goes Beyond The Horizon” (1964) ^[3]

In her childhood, there were times when she had absolutely nothing to wear and the only dress she had she wore before the holes appeared on it. And in the absence of shoes, she ran barefoot until the frost. Only one cow that they had, helped their family not to die of starvation. Despite the constant difficulties that her family faced, Khadisha pretended not to notice and the lovely girl, even in an old darned dress, looked like a princess and behaved the same, her posture, the turn of her head and her entire graceful figure was full of grace and dignity. Also in her life, there were bitter losses but the first and most severe loss she felt in childhood when she was only 9 years old. Her mother fell ill and died of a serious illness, which meant that the world of little Khadisha collapsed. In the yard, there were 30 years of complete starvation and to her regret, none of her relatives took her to themselves because there was nothing to feed. Thus began her wanderings in orphanages and boarding schools. And she saw her native home again only many years later, when she became a famous artist and came to her homeland on tour. In one of these cases, the Honored Artist of the Republic of Kazakhstan, professor and at that time a student of Khadisha Rakhilyam Mashurova was next to her. "We came to some area and came to some old house. At the same time, she started hugging him and started crying violently. To be honest, I did not immediately understand the reason for her crying, and only then the actors told me that this is her native home in which she was born and grew up, " recalls Rakhilyam. After the death of her mother, she desperately missed her, besides, she had to leave her brother, since he entered the Orenburg police school and Khadisha was looking forward to when he would finish his studies and take her to him. In the end, she waited for him. My brother came for Khadisha when she was 13 years old and it was an unforgettable meeting. Together they moved to Shymkent and the small but at the same time responsible Khadisha tried to find a use for herself everywhere. At first, she was preparing to go to medical school and at the same time running with her friends on the radio. And even then, she had a beautiful, memorable voice. In one of these memoirs: "I was about 14 years old at the time. I had no idea what theatre or cinema was. Once my friends dragged me somewhere and there I was asked to portray the laundry. I began to pretend that I was rubbing something on my hands, shaking an imaginary laundry, and hanging it on an imaginary rope. I did it without much effort and did it as usual. And suddenly I saw the face of the instructors. They whispered among themselves and discussed something. I thought that I had ruined everything and quickly ran away from there, but it turned out that they were seriously interested in me," she said. ^[4]