Vera Valentinovna Alentova (; 21 February 1942 – 25 December 2025) was a Soviet and Russian actress known for her leading role in Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears (1980).
Early life and career Vera Alentova was born on 21 February 1942 in the town of Kotlas in the Arkhangelsk Oblast. Her parents were the actors Valentin Mikhailovich Bykov and Irina Nikolaevna Alentova. She was named in honor of her maternal grandmother, who died at the age of 28. The actress's grandfather graduated from Tomsk State University and worked as a doctor, her grandmother graduated from Bestuzhev's courses. Her father died when she was four years old, after which her mother took her to Ukraine.
She came to Moscow in 1961, where she entered the Moscow Art Theater School in a course of Vasily Petrovich Markov's. During the second course, Alentova married Vladimir Menshov who was also studying acting at the school. She finished her studies in 1965, after which she became an actress of the Moscow Pushkin Drama Theatre. In the same year, she debuted in cinema with the film Flying Days.
Alentova appeared in a leading role as Nastya in the 1975 miniseries Such a Short Long Life about the life of ordinary Soviet families.
In 1979 Alentova starred in the popular romantic drama Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears which was directed by her husband. It won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1981. In the film she played Katya Tikhomirova, a menial factory worker who rises to the ranks of a company director.
Alentova played the ill-tempered head teacher Valendra in the 1987 film Tomorrow Was the War directed by Yuri Kara.
She acted in two more productions directed by Menshov, What a Mess! (1995) and The Envy of Gods (2000).
From 2009, she cooperated with her husband, Vladimir Menshov, in an acting and directing workshop in VGIK.
Personal life and death Vera Alentova married director Vladimir Menshov in 1962.ВИДЕО. Авторская программа Киры Прошутинской «Жена. История любви. Вера Алентова». Выпуск от 31 июля 2014 года Официальный сайт телекомпании «ТВ Центр» // tvc.ru (31 июля 2014 года) They had a daughter, Yuliya Menshova.
Alentova died in Moscow on 25 December 2025, after falling ill at a funeral service for her colleague Anatoly Lobotsky. She was 83.
Awards USSR State Prize (1981) for her role in Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears Honored Artist of the RSFSR (1982) Vasilyev Brothers State Prize of the RSFSR (1986) People's Artist of Russia (1992)Указ Президента Российской Федерации № 932 от 25 августа 1992 года // kremlin.ru Order of Friendship (2001) Order of Honour (Russia) (2007)Указ Президента Российской Федерации № 880 от 14 июля 2007 года Официальный сайт Президента Российской Федерации // kremlin.ru Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 4th class (2012) Medal of Pushkin (2019) Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 3rd class (2022)Указ Президента Российской Федерации от 3 ноября 2012 года Официальный сайт Президента Российской Федерации // kremlin.ru
Filmography 1966: Flying Days as Lidia Fyodorovna (credited as Vera Bykova) 1967: The Red and the White as nurse 1976: Delivery as Olenina 1979: Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears as Katerina Tikhomirova 1984: Time of Desires as Svetlana 1987: Tomorrow Was the War as Valentina Andronovna 1995: Shirli-myrli as Carol Abzats, Zemfira Almazova, Lusiena Krolikova and Whitney Crolikow 2000: The Envy of Gods as Sonya Anikanova 2023: Empire V as Ishtar Borisovna
References
Literature Vera Alentova. Everything is Not Accidental. — Moscow: Eksmo, 2022. — 554 p. — (Bestseller Autobiography). — ISBN 978-5-04-159459-6.
External links