Alisa Freindlich was born into the family of
Bruno Freindlich, a prominent actor and
People's Artist of the USSR. She is of German and Russian ancestry. Her father and paternal relatives were
ethnic Germans living in Russia for more than a century. In her childhood years, Freindlich attended the drama and music classes of the Leningrad Palace of Pioneers. During
World War II, she survived the 900-day-long Nazi
siege of Leningrad and continued her school studies after the war. In the 1950s, Freindlich studied acting at the
Leningrad State Institute of Theatre, Music and Cinema, graduating in 1957 as an actress. From 1957 to 1961, she was a member of the troupe at
Komissarzhevskaya Theatre in Leningrad. Then she joined the
Lensovet Theatre company, but in 1982, she had to leave it following her divorce from the theatre's director,
Igor Vladimirov. Thereupon, director
Georgy Tovstonogov invited her to join the troupe of the
Bolshoi Drama Theater. sci-fi movie
Stalker (1979). Another notable role was Queen
Anne of Austria in the Soviet TV series ''
D'Artagnan and Three Musketeers (1978) and its later Russian sequels, Musketeers Twenty Years After (1992) and The Secret of Queen Anne or Musketeers Thirty Years After'' (1993). In 1999, Igor Vladimirov, Freindlich's second husband, died after a long illness, and three years later, her father, Bruno Arturovich, also died.
2000–present On her 70th birthday, she was visited by
Vladimir Putin in her Saint Petersburg apartment, who awarded her with the
State Prize of the Russian Federation. She also received a
Nika Award in 2005. In the 2004 film, Freindlich starred in
On Upper Maslovka Street after a 10-year hiatus. Her partner on the set was the young actor
Yevgeny Mironov. She starred as 87-year-old sculptor Anna Borisovna, who lives out her life in an old workshop. In 2009, Freindlich starred in
Room and a Half, which won a Nika Award. She starred as the mother of the poet
Joseph Brodsky. On 7 December 2009, on the stage of the Great Hall of the Central House of Actors named after Yablochkina, the Theatrical Star 2009 award ceremony was held. Freindlich was nominated "For Best Improvisation" for her role as Madeleine in
Lessons of Tango and Love. On 5 December 2014, in honor of Friendlich's 80th anniversary, an exhibition dedicated to the history of her family, titled
Theater Dynasties of Freindlich, was opened in St. Petersburg at the Museum-Apartment of Samoilov Actors, Stremyannaya, 8. As of 2019, Freindlich was performing in nine productions of the
Bolshoi Drama in Saint Petersburg, where she is a leading actress. ==Personal life==