Vera Tschechowa

Vera Wilhelmowna Rust^[1] (22 July 1940 – 3 April 2024), known as Vera Tschechowa, was a German producer, director, screenwriter, and actress of Russian descent. She appeared in more than 50 films between 1957 and 1996. She was widely known as Elvis Presley's companion, particularly in connection with his Oral Poliomyelitis Vaccine (OPV) public booster-advocacy and which they both undertook during Presley's first year in Germany with the U.S. Army (1959).

Vera Tschechowa
Tschechowa in Angel in a Taxi (1958)
Born	Vera Wilhelmowna Rust (1940-07-22)22 July 1940 Berlin, Nazi Germany
Died	3 April 2024(2024-04-03) (aged 83) Berlin, Germany
Occupation(s)	Actress, producer, director, screenwriter
Years active	1957–2024
Spouses	Hartmut Reck (divorced) Vadim Glowna ​ ​ (m. 1967; div. 1990)​ Peter Paschek
Children	1 (adopted)
Parent(s)	Ada Tschechowa Wilhelm Rust
Relatives	Olga Chekhova (grandmother) Michael Chekhov (grandfather) Alexander Chekhov (great-grandfather) Lev Knipper (great-uncle) Anton Chekhov (great-great uncle) Olga Knipper (great-great aunt) Marina Ried (first cousin once removed)

Vera Tschechowa (1959)

Her mother, Ada Tschechowa, was the daughter of Michael Chekhov (nephew of the Russian playwright and short story writer, Anton Chekov) and Olga Chekhova. Vera's name appeared, on 6 June 1971, as one of 28 women under the banner "We've had abortions!" ("Wir haben abgetrieben!") on the cover page of the West German magazine Stern. In that issue, 374 women publicly stated that they had had pregnancies terminated, which at that time was illegal.^[2]

Vera Tschechowa died in Berlin on 3 April 2024, at the age of 83.^[3]

Selected filmography

• Widower with Five Daughters (1957)
• The Doctor of Stalingrad (1958), as Tamara
• Angel in a Taxi (1958), as Camilla
• The Muzzle (1958)
• The Girl with the Cat Eyes [de] (1958)
• My Ninety Nine Brides (1958)
• And That on Monday Morning (1959), as Monika
• Der Schleier fiel [de] (1960), as Lisa Roth
• The Young Sinner (1960), as Carola
• The Bread of Those Early Years (1962), as Ulla Wickweber
• Love at Twenty (1962)
• The Curse of the Hidden Vault (1964), as Feder-Lissy
• Call Girls of Frankfurt [de] (1966), as Vera Paterny
• Liebe und so weiter (1968), as Nina Michel
• Som hon bäddar får han ligga [sv] (1970), as Kristina
• The First Circle (1973), as Clara
• Cold Blood [de] (1975), as Corinna
• Euridice BA 2037 (1975), as Eurydice
• Erika's Passions (1976, TV film), as Franziska
• The Rider on the White Horse (1978), as Vollina Harders
• Panic Time (1980), as Frau Dr. Wunder
• Desperado City (1981), as Hilke
• The Confessions of Felix Krull (1982, TV miniseries), as Maria Pia
• Dies rigorose Leben (1983), as Salka
• Thousand Eyes [de] (1984), as Victoria
• Bluebeard [pl] (1984, TV film), as Gisela
• Tarot (1986), as Charlotte
• Ein Heim für Tiere (1987–1991, TV series, 19 episodes), as Dr. Julia Gessner
• The Post Office Girl (1988, TV film), as Clara van Boolen
• Frei zum Abschuss (1989, TV film), as Marthe Ruben
• Love at First Sight [de] (1991), as Elsa's Mother