Zhanna Bolotova was born in the
Siberian resort
Karachi Lake nearby
Novosibirsk, on October 19, 1941. She debuted on screen while still at school, in
The House That I Live In by
Lev Kulidzhanov and Yakov Segel. In 1964 she graduated from the
Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography where she studied in the class of
Sergei Gerasimov and Tatyana Makarova, to join the Cinema Actor Studio Theatre. As a first year student she married Nikolai Gubenko; the pair soon divorced but re-united several years later. Among Zhanna Bolotova's best-known films were
People and Animals (1962) and
To Love Somebody (1972), both by Sergei Gerasimov. In 1969 she received her first international award, for The Best Female Role, at the Varna Red Cross film festival, for
24-24 Does Not Return.
The Silence of Dr. Evens (1974) earned her another award in the same category, at the
Trieste Film Festival. She also starred in several films by Nikolai Gubenko, among them
Wounded Game (1977),
Scenes from the Life of Resort Visitors (1980),
Life, Tears and Love (1984). In 1977 Bolotova received the
USSR State Prize for her part in
The Flight of Mister McKinley. In 1985 she was designated as a People's Artist of Russia. Zhanna Bolotova appeared in 28 films. She stopped filming in the 1990s but in 2005, after the 17 years absence, appeared in the small role of a university professor in
Zhmurki. ==Selected filmography==