Rufina Nifontova, actress

Rufina Nifontova was a Soviet Russian theater and film actress, People’s Artist of the RSFSR (1962), People’s Artist of the USSR (1978). Also she was a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) since 1972. She was a leading Russian actress appeared on stage, screen and television.
Beautiful girl was born on September 15, 1931 in Moscow. Rufina had twin brother Vyacheslav (1931-1975). Her brother Alexander went missing in the early days of the Great Patriotic War. And her brother Boris was killed at the front.
When the girl was at school, she joined a drama club. Pretty Rufina dreamed of becoming a theater actress. For the first time she appeared on the stage in Ostrovsky’s play. Classmates were sure that Rufina would certainly become an actress. However, the girl was not accepted into any theater school in Moscow.

In the corridor of VGIK, Professor Boris Bibikov saw a tearful girl. He saw the potential in this red-haired girl and took her on his course.
In the 1940s, she studied at the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography (VGIK) where her classmates were such great Russian actresses as Nadezhda Rumyantseva, Maya Bulgakova and Tatiana Konyukhova.
Later, in 1955, Nifontova graduated from the department of acting of the All-Union State Institute of Cinematography and made her film debut the following year in Grigory Roshal’s Volnitsa (Lover of Freedom) (1956).
Since 1958 she had worked at the Maly Theater. By the way, she made her debut in the role of Nastia in the film Freemen (1956) for which she received wide acclaim. The film was awarded a prize at the Ninth International Film Festival in Karlovy Vary.
After the release of the three-part film The Road to Calvary directed by G. Roshal, the actress received all-Union fame.
Awesome actress spent a lot of time working on the radio. She took part in radio shows. Her partners were Rostislav Plyatt, Nikolay Plotnikov, Georgy Menglet, Evgeny Matveev, Oleg Strizhenov. Famous Soviet actresses Nadezhda Rumyantseva, Tatiana Peltzer and others worked with her.
During the 1970s, Nifontova frequently appeared in television movies based on literary works.
The Soviet actress died on November 27, 1994 and was buried at the Vagankovsky cemetery.

Personal life
The classmates remembered that Rufina had many love affairs in her student years. Each of them was like a bright performance. But the details were told neither by the actress nor by her friends.
The actress was married to filmmaker Gleb Nifontov. The husband was ten years older than the actress. Their daughter Olga graduated from the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography (VGIK).