Russian Personalities

People well-known in art, sport, film, fashion

Category Archive: Movies and theatre

Lidia Velezheva, actress

Beautiful Russian actress Lidiya Velezheva

Beautiful Russian actress Lidiya Velezheva


Lidia Velezheva is a Soviet and Russian theater and film actress, Honored Artist of Russia (2010), TV presenter. Also Lidia is known as a public and political figure. In 2012, the actress became a member of the party United Russia and two years later she became a member of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation. By the way, Lida always wanted to play in films and now she is a talented actress. Dreams come true)
Pretty girl was born on October 2, 1966 in Kiev, USSR. She has twin sister Irina. The girls didn’t know their father and the mother had to work hard to raise her daughters. That’s why the girls attended boarding school and spent a lot of time together. Since childhood little Lidia was interested in acting and she knew she would be an actress.
At the age of 13 the girl played her debut role in the film Waiting. It was the main role. The movie was filmed by the Odessa Film Studio on the shore of the Black Sea.
Velezheva wanted to enter the Kiev Theater Institute but failed the exams. A year later, Lidia went to Moscow. In 1988, the girl graduated from the Boris Schukin Theatre Institute. Then the young actress joined the Vakhtangov Theatre, where she played a lot of bright roles. Actually, in 2010, she became a teacher at the Shchukin Theater Institute.
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Lyudmila Gurchenko, popular Soviet – Russian singer

Lyudmila Gurchenko, popular Soviet - Russian singer

Lyudmila Gurchenko, popular Soviet – Russian singer


Lyudmila Gurchenko is a famous Soviet and Russian actress, singer, film director. Films with her participation are known to millions and have firmly entered the lists of Soviet classics. To tell the truth, she became the symbol of an era in the national cinema. By the way, she was People’s Artist of USSR (1983), Laureate of State Prize of the RSFSR and received the Russian Federation State Prize in 1994. Gurchenko became a star in 1956 after starring in Eldar Ryazanov’s musical film Carnival Night. The song Five Minutes became a kind of hymn of the New Year in the USSR.
Pretty girl was born on November 12, 1935 in Kharkov, Soviet Union. Before the war, the parents worked in the Kharkov Philharmonic. Her father was a professional musician, he played the accordion and sang at festivals, and her mother helped him. Very often parents took their daughter with them to concerts, so Lyudmila had a backstage childhood.
The girl’s happy childhood was interrupted by the war. The father went to war and the little girl with her mother stayed in occupied Kharkov.
On September 1, 1943 after the liberation of Kharkov Lyudmila went to school. And in the autumn of 1944 she entered the Beethoven School of Music – her parents decided to develop the musical abilities of the child.
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Lera Kozlova – LeRanetka

Lera Kozlova - LeRanetka

Lera Kozlova – LeRanetka


Lera Kozlova (also known as Leroy Leroy, LeRa, Valeria Romantica, LeRanetka) is a Russian singer, former member of the Russian female pop group Ranetki (2005 – 2008). After leaving the popular girls-band, Lera started her solo career, created the projects LeRa and Lera Romantika. You know, the girl became even more popular when she joined the pop group 5sta Family.
Valeria was born on January 22, 1988 in Moscow. For 12 years she performed in the children’s ensemble Buratino, where she learned to sing, dance and play the drums.
By the way, Lera was the soloist and the drummer of the group Ranetki and she also starred in the eponymous television series.
In 2006 Kozlova participated in the recording of the album Masters of the Universe by Moscow punk rock band Cockroaches. Ranetki was a successful band, but Lera left it in 2008 to start her solo career.
In 2008, she received the People’s Prize of Ukraine TV Star in the Breakthrough of the Year category.
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Artur Smolianinov, Russian actor

Artur Smolianinov, Russian actor

Artur Smolianinov, Russian actor


Artur Smolianinov is Russian theater and film actor.
He was born on October 27, 1983 in Moscow. Artur has two younger brothers and a sister.
The boy was fourteen years old when he debuted in the film Who If Not Us. The film was a success at the Artek Film Festival, and the boy received a prize in the nomination Best Actor-Teenager. After this movie luck and success do not leave the young actor.
Immediately after a successful debut he played in the film Triumph. Artur became widely known as Lyuty in the film about the Afghan war The 9th Company. But TV series An Invisible Sign brought him the nationwide fame and crowds of fans. In this series youth problems such as drug abuse, sectarianism, Nazism are shown.
In 2004 Artur graduated from the Russian Academy of Theatrical Art (GITIS). And in 2006 Artur joined the Contemporary theater. Actually, he has performed in such plays as Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov, Once again on the emperor’s new clothes by Leonid Filatov, Antony and Cleopatra by Oleg Bogaev and others.
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Margarita Levieva, American actress

Margarita Levieva

Margarita Levieva, American actress


Margarita Levieva is a talented actress who has proved that there are no closed doors for a purposeful person. The girl did not just realize her own dream and began to appear in films, but also achieved the status of one of the most popular film stars. Levieva is an American actress from the USSR. She starred in the films The Invisible, Adventureland, Spread, and TV series Revenge.
Pretty girl was born on February 9, 1980 in Leningrad, Soviet Union (now Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation). She has twin brother Mikhail. At the age of three Margarita was engaged in rhythmic gymnastics. Moreover, she was a member of the Russian Olympic team.
When the girl was 10 years old her parents divorced. The following year Margarita with her twin brother and mother emigrated to the United States. They settled in Brooklyn, New York, near Sheepshead Bay, home to many emigrants from the former USSR. To tell the truth, Levieva had to quit her professional sports career.
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Mukhtar Gusengadzhiev – Snake-Man

Mukhtar Gusengadzhiev - Snake-Man

Mukhtar Gusengadzhiev – Snake-Man


Mukhtar Gusengadzhiev is a Russian actor and the most flexible man on the planet.
The boy was born on May 20, 1964 in Izberbash, Dagestan ASSR, USSR. His father was a driver and his mother was a housewife. The Gusengadzhiyevs could hardly make ends meet, and soon the head of the family was imprisoned.
The boy had to help the mother to earn money. After school he served in the rocket forces. However, at the age of 22 the boy was arrested for a street fight. In prison the young man began to work on the flexibility of the body and became interested in yoga.
You know, Mukhtar studied at the circus studio Izmailovo, Dargwa Theatre Studio, Roman Theatre Studio Raffaello Sanzio and Actors Studio Company Cirque du Soleil, Montreal.
He has been living in thirty countries around the world. There he studied and performed on the most prestigious stages. By the way, he has played more than thirty roles in films.
Also Mukhtar is fond of painting and music. Because of his flexibility he can write and paint with his feet. You know, he speaks six languages.
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Vasiliy Stepanov, Russian actor

Vasiliy Stepanov, Russian actor

Vasiliy Stepanov, Russian actor


Vasiliy Stepanov is a Russian actor, famous for the role of Maxim Kammerer in the film The Inhabited Island.
The boy was born on January 14, 1986 in Moscow. His father comes from Smolensk Oblast, village Krupeniha, he is a policeman. And his mother is a teacher, but works as a shop assistant. You know, Stepanov has younger brother Maxim. As a child Vasiliy often spent holidays in the country with his grandmother.
By the way, Stepanov graduated from the College of Physical Education and Sports, despite this he is a heavy smoker.
Vasiliy did wrestling and he is a Candidate for Master of Sports. He worked as a bartender. Then he entered the Law Institute, but quit it.
The boy studied at the Shchukin Theater School.
Also the boy was a TV presenter on TV Center channel in 2011. But the actor appeared in only a few programs, after which he completed his career as a presenter.
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