Russian Personalities

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

Category Archive: Movies and theatre

Lubov Tolkalina

Lubov Tolkalina - Russian actress

Lubov Tolkalina – Russian actress


Lubov Tolkalina is a Russian film and theater actress.
Luba was born on February 16, 1978 in the village of Mikhailovka, Ryazan region. At the age of 12, the girl played the Little Mermaid and Maria in The Fountain of Bakhchisarai. Four years later, Tolkalina became a master of sports in synchronized swimming.
In 1999 she graduated from the Theatre Faculty of the National Institute of Cinematography (VGIK).
From 1999 to 2003 she was an actress at the Theatre of Russian Army. She played the role of Sarah in Ivanov by Anton Chekhov (1999) and Desdemona in Othello by William Shakespeare (2000).
From 2003 to 2007 Lubov was an actress of Empire of Stars Theater.
In 2002 Tolkalina starred in the action movie Antikiller directed by Egor Konchalovskiy. In the film Antikiller-2 Tolkalina became one of the main characters. Gosha Kutsenko played the role of her husband. Subsequently, the actors began to appear together in other criminal dramas, including Compensation and Last Cop.
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Irina Ponarovskaya, Soviet singer

Irina Ponarovskaya, Soviet singer

Irina Ponarovskaya, Soviet singer


Irina Ponarovskaya is a Soviet and Russian singer, film actress and sex symbol of the 1980s and the 1990s. She is Honored Artist of Russia (2000).
Pretty girl was born on March 12, 1953 in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) into a family of musicians. The father of the future celebrity Vitaly Borisovich worked as a conductor and was an artistic director of the jazz orchestra. Her mother, Nina Arnoldi, worked at the music school of the Leningrad Conservatory. Irina has elder brother Alexander, who became a pianist. Since 1990 he lives in the United States and taught at the College of Music.
Young Ponarovskaya was fond of music and at the age of 6 she started playing the piano.
In September 1971 she entered the Leningrad conservatory. From 1971 to 1976 she was a soloist in the band Singing Guitars.
In 1974 she performed the role of Eurydice in the first Soviet rock opera film Orpheus and Eurydice.
By the way, she made her film debut as Regina Korabelnikova in the film It’s Not My Business directed by Gerbert Rappaport in 1976.
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Larisa Dolina, singer and actress

Larisa Dolina, singer and actress

Larisa Dolina, singer and actress


Larisa Dolina (her maiden name is Kudelman) is a prominent Soviet and Russian jazz and pop singer and an actress. She was awarded the Order of Honor in 2005.
Beautiful girl was born on September 10, 1955 in Baku, Azerbaijan SSR, USSR. The singer’s musical career began in 1971, in a pop band We Are From Odessa. In 1990 Larisa played the main male role in rock opera Giordano (music by Laura Quint).
A year later, in 1991, Larisa was awarded the title of Best Female Singer of the country at the All-Union competition Pro. In 1993 she became the Honored Artist of Russia. Then, in 1994 Dolina received the prize Crystal Dolphin at the All-Russian competition in Yalta. By the way, she won the National Music Prize Ovation in nomination The best rock singer. Moreover, in 1996, she received the Ovation again as the best soloist of the year (in the Pop Music category).
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Marina Petrenko, Modern Carmen

Marina Petrenko, Modern Carmen

Marina Petrenko, Modern Carmen


Marina Petrenko is a Russian and Ukrainian actress, producer.
Beautiful girl was born on January 19, 1987 in Simferopol, Autonomous Republic of Crimea, USSR. Little Marina was fond of music and dancing, loved sports. Also she dreamed of becoming a ballerina. But the 6-year-old girl was not admitted to the ballet school. Playing in the school play, the girl realized that the profession of an actress wasn’t worse than ballet.
At the age of 14 she made her debut in Yuri Ilyenko’s scandalous film A Prayer for Hetman Mazepa. At the Berlin Film Festival this film was recognized as a “film for sexual minorities”. The Ministry of Culture did not recommend to show the scandalous film on the territory of the Russian Federation. The next few years, the girl was invited to play the roles in Ukrainian TV series and films.
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Ekaterina Bestuzheva, model and actress

Ekaterina Bestuzheva, model and actress

Ekaterina Bestuzheva, model and actress


Ekaterina Bestuzheva is a Russian film and theater actress.
Katya was born on July 24, 1978.
In 2006 she graduated from the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography (VGIK).
By the way, Katya worked as a model at the model agency Next in Paris (2000-2004). Her photos appeared in such magazines as Vogue (Great Britain, France), Elle (USA, Italy, and France), Photo (France).
In addition, she starred in several films, including Nine Signs of Adultery (2008), Brothers Detectives (2008), Wide River (2008), The Man Who Knew Everything (2009), Be With Me (2009), Anna Karenina (2009).
Moreover, Ekaterina acted in some plays: Russian Jam, His words, Russian Traveler’s notes and others.
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Ekaterina Guseva, actress and singer

Ekaterina Guseva, actress and singer

Ekaterina Guseva, actress and singer


Ekaterina Guseva is a Russian film and theater actress, singer, Honored Artist of Russia (2009).
Pretty girl was born on July 9, 1976 in Moscow. In her childhood the girl was engaged in gymnastics, figure skating, swimming, and dancing.
She became famous thanks to her role in the television series Brigada (2002).
Katya was involved in the Georgian dance ensemble Kolkhida.
Guseva graduated from the Boris Shchukin Theatre Institute. Katya played a lot of roles during her studying, but her favorite was the 80-year-old woman from The Last Ones, a play by Maxim Gorky.
From 1997 to 2001 Ekaterina performed at the By Nikitin’s Gate theater under the direction of Mark Rozovskii.
Guseva played the role of Katya Tatarionova in the first Russian classic musical Nord-Ost.
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Natalia Kosteneva, Russian actress

Natalia Kosteneva, Russian actress

Natalia Kosteneva, Russian actress


Natalia Kosteneva is a Russian theater and film actress, radio and TV presenter. By the way, Natalia became popular after the role of Bosch’s wife in the melodrama Gioconda On The Asphalt. Then the actress appeared in a number of popular TV series: Tutor, Ermolovs and Zaitsev + 1.
Natasha was born on December 1, 1984 in Semipalatinsk. Her mother is an artist. As soon as the little girl learned to walk, she began attending ballet school and practicing rhythmic gymnastics. Actually, Natalia wanted to become a lawyer. But the mother advised her daughter to enter a theatrical high school.
In 2005 she graduated from the Boris Shchukin Theatre Institute.
Her first roles were Polina in diploma performance Profitable Place and Olivia in Twelfth’s Night (A.A. Shirvindt’s staging).
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