Elena Solovey

Elena Solovey is a Russian-American actress of film and stage who became known through her work with director Nikita Mikhalkov. Born in Neustrelitz, East Germany, she moved to Novosibirsk then Moscow. Before entering the Soviet State Institute of Cinema (VGIK), she worked as a music teacher in Moscow; a year later she was admitted, and she studied acting with Boris Babochkin and graduated in 1970. Her earliest screen work came in 1960s short films, and in 1969 she took the part of Clarice in King of the Reindeer (1970). After joining Moscow's Maly Theatre, she played Nina in Chekhov's The Seagull. She worked at Lenfilm Studios, and during the 1970s she appeared in A Slave of Love (1976), An Unfinished Piece for Mechanical Piano (1977) and Oblomov (1980). She belonged to the Theatre of Lensoveta from 1983 to 1991, appeared in Peter Ustinov's Foto-finish, and played Kalina in We Own the Night (2007). She was designated People's Actor of Russia.