Valentina Serova, Soviet actress
Valentina Serova was a great actress, Marilyn Monroe of the Soviet cinema, the muse of the famous poet Konstantin Simonov.
Valentina Polovikova (her maiden name) was born on December 23, 1917 (according to other sources in 1919) in Kharkov. When she was 6 years old, she and her mother moved to Moscow. 10-year-old Valentina debuted in the play The Time Will Come based on the drama by Romain Rolland. She played the role of a young boy named David, the son of the main character.
Valentina studied acting at the Central College of Performing Arts (1933-1934). Teenagers who were under 16 couldn’t enter the college, so the girl corrected her birth year and December 23, 1919 became her official date of birth.
Valentina began her career at the Lenkom Theatre, where she worked from 1933 to 1941, 1943-1950, 1959-1964.
Her debut role in the movie was the role of Grunya Kornakova in her childhood (film Grunya Kornakova, 1934). However, the episode was not included in the film.
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