Nonna Mordyukova

Noyabrina "Nonna" Viktorovna Mordyukova (Russian: Но́нна (Ноябри́на) Ви́кторовна Мордюко́ва; November 25, 1925 – July 6, 2008) was a Soviet actress and People's Artist of the USSR (1974). She was the star of films like director Denis Yevstigneyev's Mama and Nikita Mikhalkov's 1980s hit Family Relations She co-starred with the best actors of the Soviet era, among them Vasily Shukshin, Yuri Nikulin, Valentin Zubkov, Mikhail Ulyanov, Vyacheslav Tikhonov and others. The editorial board of the British “Who Is Who” encyclopedia has included Nona Mordyukova among the top 20 actresses of the 20 th century.

Biography

Nonna (Noyabrina) Viktorovna was born into a large family in the Cossack village of Kostiantynivka, Donetsk Region, Ukrainian SSR. Nonna spent her childhood in a settlement where her mother worked as chairwoman of kolkhoz (collective farm). In 1946 Nonna Mordyukova entered the Actors’ Faculty of VGIK and studied there under Boris Bibikov and Olga Pyzhova. After graduating she played on stage of Theatre Studio of Film Actor and was often featured by film directors. In 1948, Nonna Mordyukova was married to actor Vyacheslav Tikhonov and had a son from him (who died). The two were divorced in 1963.