Russian actresses in Hollywood
Yelena Solovey
The great star of Soviet cinema glittered brightly in the 70 – 80s in films by Nikita Mikhalkov (Slave of Love, Unfinished Piece) and Vladimir Bortko (Blonde Around the Corner). She left Leningrad in the early nineties and settled in New York City. Her American filmography is not too plentiful, but impressive: three episodes in The Sopranos and quite a prominent role in the drama We Own the Night by one of the best contemporary directors James Gray. Last Solovey’s project was a film Immigrants by the same director, with Joaquin Phoenix and Cotillard Mariyon as partners.
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Elena Berkova is a Russian actress and a former participant of the television show Dom -2, singer, actress, television personality, DJ and model.
Pretty girl was born on March 11, 1985 in Murmansk (Russia). But soon her family moved to Nikolaev (Ukrainian SSR). In 2004 Berkova came to St. Petersburg. For 56 days she was a participant of the reality show Dom-2.
Elena began her career in late 2003 at the studio Sinsational / Sineplex. Her last role in the movie for adults was in the film directed by Bob Jack in 2006.
You know, she was a cover girl for many popular magazines (FHM, Penthouse, Sim). The girl was a radio presenter of the program No Doubt on the Megapolis radio station.
Moreover, Elena starred in the TV series Gangster Petersburg, in the film Yulia, The Territory of Jah and some others.
Also Berkova starred in various music videos for the songs of such bands as MinNet, BeZB, Delta Pro. In the music video for Andrey Leffler’s song I’m Sorry Elena acted along with another popular online person Svetlana Kuritsyna from Ivanovo.
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Natalia Negoda is a Soviet, Russian and American actress. She is probably best known for her role in the Soviet film Little Vera (1988) directed by Vasily Pichul. The film was one of the best movies of the late 1980s. It won numerous awards at international festivals. The film was awarded Grand Prix Golden Hugo for best film at the 1988 International Film Festival in Chicago, Grand Special Jury Prize at the International Film Festival in Montreal, FIPRESCI Prize at the International Film Festival in Venice. Also it was awarded the Blue Beach prize at the 1989 International Film Festival in Troy, the Grand Prix for the best film at the 1989 International film Festival in Angers and others.
Negoda was awarded Nika Academy Award and received awards at the 1988 International Film Festival in Bogota and at the 1989 International Film Festival in Geneva as Best Actress.
After the film beautiful actress became a sex symbol. In the late 1980s she appeared in American Playboy, becoming the first Soviet model of this iconic magazine. A few months later slogan From Russia With Love became the most popular in the western world.
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Most beautiful Soviet actresses of 60s
Zhanna Bolotova

On October 19, 1941 Soviet and Russian theater and film actress, People’s Artist of Russia, Zhanna Bolotova was born. She became famous after the film by Leo Kulidzhanov and Yakov Segel – The House That I Live In. A young actress was only 16 years old at that time. Bolotova appeared in 28 films. Among her best-known films were Humans and Animals (1962) and To Love Somebody (1972), both directed by Sergey Gerasimov.
Today Zhanna is the wife of an actor and film director Nikolay Gubenko.
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Hollywood superstar Leonardo DiCaprio was born in Los Angeles (USA) on November 11, 1974. He has Russian roots. His maternal grandmother Yelena Smirnova was born in Russia. The boy was named after the great Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci. While pregnant, his mother went to an art gallery and was looking at the da Vinci painting when the baby first kicked. His parents divorced when he was a year old and he lived mostly with his mother.
At the age of two and a half the boy first appeared on TV in the popular children’s show.
As a teenager, the future film actor began attending theater courses and studios. Then he studied at one of the universities in Los Angeles.
In childhood and adolescence, Leonardo starred in three dozen commercials. Also he appeared in the cult series Santa Barbara. Then there were TV series Rosanna and New Adventures of Lassie.
The real debut of DiCaprio was in the comic horror film Critters 3 in 1991. Soon he appeared in the film This Boy’s Life, in which he played along with great actor Robert De Niro.
Johnny Depp and Leonardo played together in the film What’s Eating Gilbert Grape in 1993. For his role DiCaprio was first nominated for Oscar. At that time, the actor was 19 years old.
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Yul Brynner is an actor who was born in Russia, lived and worked in America, and his parents had Swiss citizenship. Brynner had starred in more than forty films. He was famous throughout the world, talented, rich and handsome.
Julius Briner (his real name) was born on July 11, 1920 in Vladivostok. That year was difficult for his family, as there was a civil war in the country. And four months before the boy’s birth, his grandfather, owner of mines and a transport company, died. Parents named the son in honor of the grandfather.
The first seven years of his life, Julius spent in Vladivostok. When he was 4 years old, his father left the family because of the actress of the Moscow Art Theater.
Brynner’s mother obtained permission from the Soviet authorities to travel abroad and emigrated with children to Harbin (China). Yul studied at the best school, where he showed a musical talent. At the age of 10, he played the guitar and sang. In 1932, when Japan occupied Manchuria, the mother decided to move with her children to Paris.
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Marina Dyuzheva is a Soviet and Russian theater and film actress. You know, she has played in more than 50 films.
Pretty girl was born on October 9, 1955 in Moscow. Her father was an officer in the Soviet Army, and the mother was a housewife.
Marina’s favorite subject at school was literature. After school her friend decided to enter the Russian Academy of Theatre Arts (GITIS) and invited Marina to go together. And then a miracle happened, Marina entered the academy. It is noteworthy that the friend was frightened and changed her mind.
Early in the career she starred under her maiden name – Kukushkina. Children’s adventure film The Secret City and the melodrama Re-wedding became the first films of the actress.
The best of her roles were in the films Domestic Circumstances and Pokrovsky Gates, as well as The Tavern on Pyatnitskaya, Mimino, At the End of Summer, State Border, Moscow Holidays. These films are rightfully included in the gold fund of Soviet and Russian cinematography.
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