Elena Yakovleva

She was born Elena Alekseevna Yakovleva on March 5, 1961, in Novograd-Volynsky, Zhitomir province, Ukraine republic of the Soviet Union (now Novohrad, Ukraine). Her father, Aleksei Nikolaevich Yakovlev, was an Army officer. Her mother, Valeria Pavlovna, was a science researcher. Her great-grandmother was an actress. Young Yakovleva was fond of theatre, she participated in school plays. In 1978 she graduated from a secondary school and took a job as a librarian at public library in Kharkov, then worked at a local electronics industry. In 1980 she moved to Moscow and enrolled in the State Institute for Theatrical Arts (GITIS). In 1984 she graduated from the class of Vladimir Andreev as an actress, and joined the troupe of Sovremennik Theatre in Moscow.

In 1983, while still a student, Yakovleva made her big screen debut as Lera opposite Innokentiy Smoktunovskiy in Dvoe pod odnim zontom: Aprelskaya skazka (1983). From 1986-1989 she was a member of the troupe at Moscow Theatre named after M.I. Ermopova, however, she was not very busy on stage. In 1989 Elena Yakovleva shot to fame with the leading role as Tatiana, a medical nurse turned prostitute because of the grim life in the Soviet Union, in Intergirl (1989), a film adaptation of the eponymous book by Vladimir Kunin. She received numerous awards and nominations for the role, and was named the "Best Actress" of 1990 in the Soviet Union. Elena Yakovleva became a celebrity in Russia after her portrayal of a compassionate prostitute, but she managed to overcome the drawback of her popularity and departed from being typecast as a "femme fatale" of Russian cinema. After the success of Intergirl (1989), she demonstrated her range and multifaceted talent playing a string of leading and supporting roles in about 20 films. Her role as Kamenskaya, a criminal investigator in modern day Moscow, turned into a six-year gig, and brought Yakovleva a new wave of popularity, becoming her most acclaimed work on television.

From 1984 - 1986, and since 1989, Elena Yakovleva has been a member of the troupe at "Sovremennik" Theatre in Moscow, under directorship of Galina Volchek. There her stage partners has been such actors as Sergey Shakurov, Dina Korzun, Valentin Gaft, Inna Churikova, Sergey Garmash, Marina Neyolova, Chulpan Khamatova and other notable Russian actors.

Elena Yakovleva has been married to actor Valeri Shalnykh, and the couple has one son, Denis, born in 1992. Yakovleva is a popular TV show host in Russia. Outside of her acting profession she spends time playing tennis, or walking her two dogs; she is also involved in public activity related to social causes. Yakovleva is residing with her family in Moscow, Russia.