Vladimir Menshov is a Soviet and Russian actor and director, on whose account not only many truly iconic projects, but also the most prestigious international award - Oscar. The most significant films in his directorial career were the films "Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears" and "Love and Doves".
Early biography pages
Vladimir Menshov was born in 1939 in the capital of Azerbaijan, Baku, but has a Russian origin: at that time the family lived in another republic at the place of service of the father of the future actor. In 1947, the Menshovs moved to the beautiful northern city of Arkhangelsk, the nature of which greatly awakened the craving for creativity in young Vladimir.
A few years later, the family returned to their homeland - to Astrakhan. Here the future director became seriously interested in cinema. He not only watched famous Soviet films, but also read about how they were created, studied the activities of famous actors and directors. The parents of the young man accepted the decision to become an actor himself positively and sent him to Moscow. There Menshov tried to enter VGIK, but he failed. He returned to Astrakhan and began to prepare for a second admission.
Actor career
Having gained experience in the local drama theater and saved up money, Vladimir Menshov once again went to the capital in 1961. Now he was admitted to the Moscow Art Theater School without any problems, becoming a student of the acting department. In subsequent years, he managed to work at the Stavropol Drama Theater and additionally completed his directing graduate school.
In 1970 Menshov made his debut in the film of fellow student Vladimir Pavlovsky "Happy Kukushkin". Then he played in the film "A Man in His Place", which was highly praised by critics. In subsequent years, the actor starred in such popular films as "Where is the nofelet?", "Courier", "Magistral". He continues to act today: over the past decade, he was remembered by the audience for the films "Day Watch", "Brezhnev", "Legend No. 17" and others.
Director's chair
Having a director's education behind him, Vladimir Menshov for a long time wanted to start filming his own movie. For the first time he succeeded in 1976, when his film "The Raffle" was released, which became the leader of the box office and was awarded various awards.
In 1979, Menshov released his second film, which became fateful: the film "Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears" not only became the most watched and discussed film in the entire history of the USSR, but was also sent to the Oscar Film Academy to participate in the nomination "Best Film in a Foreign Language ". The film eventually won this award in 1981.
In 1984, Menshov's next well-known film was released - the comedy Love and Doves. Not immediately, but rather quickly, he also trod a path to the hearts of the audience, who stole the tape for quotes. In 1995, Vladimir Valentinovich shot another comedy "Shirley-Myrli", which turned out to be quite bold and experimental, and in 2000 - the drama "The Envy of the Gods" about Soviet life during the Cold War.
Personal life
Vladimir Menshov is a real family man. Starting from his student days, he was in love with the aspiring artist Vera Alentova. For a long time they lived sometimes together, sometimes separately, because they could not immediately arrange their life in Moscow. At the end of the 60s, the couple still managed to arrange their life and got married. In the last year of the decade, they had a daughter, Julia, who is currently also a famous actress and TV presenter.
Vera Alentova became a real muse for Vladimir Menshov. It was she who played the main role in his grandiose film "Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears", and later starred in the films "Shirley-Myrli" and "The Envy of the Gods". Today they are still one of the strongest couples on the Russian cinematic scene.
