Irina Stepanovna Mazurkevich - Soviet and Russian theater and film actress, Honored and People's Artist of the RSFSR. The audience well remembers her roles in the films: "The Tale of How Tsar Peter Got Married", "Say a Word about the Poor Hussar", "Three Men in a Boat, Excluding the Dog" and theatrical performances: "The Wicked Women of Windsor", "The Makropoulos Means" …
Today Irina Stepanovna does not often appear on the screens. The actress dislikes modern cinema and prefers to work in her favorite Comedy theater in St. Petersburg.
Childhood
Irina was born in Belarus in 1958. In addition to her, the family had two more children, and most of the time they were raised by their grandmother due to the constant employment of their parents. At an early age, the girl learned to do the housework on her own, go to the store and to the market.
Even before school, Irina began to actively engage in sports, being carried away by rhythmic gymnastics. Through sports, she acquired important qualities for herself, such as commitment, discipline and hard work. During her school years, Mazurkevich participated in amateur performances, studied music and attended a drama club.
When the girl was 15 years old, she and her friends decide to leave their hometown and start studying at the theater school, which was located in the city of Gorky. Irina was more fortunate than her friends, and the girl was admitted to the school immediately.
First roles
Becoming a student, Irina first gets on the set in her second year. She played the role of the famous gymnast Olga Korbut in the film "Miracle with pigtails", after which the girl was noticed by the famous director A. Mitta. He invited the actress to audition for the film "The Tale of How Tsar Peter Got Married". Vladimir Vysotsky became Mazurkevich's partner in the film. It was he who chose the girl from all the applicants for the main role in the film.
During the graduation performance at the school, the girl is noticed by the chairman of the commission and the head of the Theater. Lensovet - Igor Vladimirov, who invites the young actress to immediately join his troupe. This is how Irina's creative career began.
Theatre
The first time working in the theater was difficult for Irina. She, like many other young actors, participated in extras and occasionally got episodic roles. The theater staff did not immediately accept Irina, and only thanks to Alisa Freundlich, who took over to patronize the actress, and Anatoly Ravikovich, who later became her husband, she went through a difficult period. A few years later, Irina was able to get her first independent, serious roles.
In 1988 Mazurkevich moved to the Comedy Theater. This decision was indeed correct. After a while, she became one of the leading actresses of the theater and to this day she performs on stage with great success.
Cinema
Irina continued her creative biography and career in cinema at the end of the 70s. In the film Three Men in a Boat, Excluding a Dog, she starred with famous theater and film stars: A. Shirvindt, L. Golubkina, A. Mironov, M. Derzhavin, Z. Gerdt. This was followed by a role in the film by Eldar Ryazanov "Say a word about the poor hussar." She became truly stellar for the actress and gave the audience love and immense popularity.
In the 2000s, Mazurkevich performed several roles in serials and films, including: "The Collector", "Streets of Broken Lanterns", "The Agency", "Bound by One Chain", "The True Story of Lieutenant Rzhevsky", "Kazus Kukotsky".
Personal life
Irina Mazurkevich was married twice.
Her first choice was a student of the theater school, whom she met during her studies. But their marriage was short-lived. The actress's romance with Anatoly Ravikovich, who later became her second husband, led to divorce. Even a big age difference did not prevent their relationship, and in 1976 they got married. The couple had a daughter, Elizabeth. The happy life was interrupted in 2012, when Anatoly Ravikovich passed away.
