Brief information
Let's start the biography of Elena Kondulainen with a brief background:
- Full name: Lembi Tutuvilhu Kontulaine.
- Date of birth: 1958, April 9 (according to the Aries horoscope).
- Place of birth: Toksovo village, Leningrad region.
- Main activity: theater and film actress, pop singer.
- Height: 170 cm.
- Marital status: married (fourth marriage).
Childhood and youth
And now - a biography of Elena Kondulainen from the very birth of the singer. She was born on April 9, 1958 in the village of Toksovo. Based on the actress's full name, one can judge that her parents were native Finns. However, at the time when the girl was born, this nation was in a disgraced position in the USSR. The recent Soviet-Finnish war and the tense situation in the state had an impact. Therefore, many Finns changed their first and last names to Russian ones in order to avoid oppression from the authorities and to hide their true origin.
But Lena's dad was not that kind of person. He not only did not hide his origin, but was also proud of it. The family of this honest and hardworking man was not touched by the authorities. However, for young Lena, such a distinction from her fellow villagers did not have the best effect. They made fun of her and gave her offensive nicknames. The actress recalls that as a child she had practically no friends.
However, she loved nature very much, tinkered with pets, and went to a music studio. Therefore, after Lena graduated from school, the family decided to send their daughter to Leningrad to continue her education. Elena Kondulainen easily entered the Institute of Music and Cinema to major in choral conductor.
Personal life
Kondulainen married four times. Her first husband was a teacher. From him the girl gave birth to a son, Alexander, but the marriage soon broke up. This situation crippled the actress; for some time there were rumors in the press about her wild lifestyle. But in the end, Elena found the strength to cope with the problem, she moved to Moscow. In the Russian capital, the artist met a businessman who became her next husband. It was he who insisted that she stop posing nude and going to social events. After the wedding, Kondulainen spent all her time within the four walls of the house, but she considered herself happy. The woman loved her husband very much and bore him a son, Mikhail. However, this marriage did not last long.
After the divorce, the actress was severely depressed. Her mother died and her son was sick. It took a lot of time and effort to restore her psychological state, but in the end Kondulainen decided to choose the acting profession rather than her personal life. However, she married for the third and even fourth time. Elena’s last lover was a 27-year-old businessman who met her at Vyacheslav Zaitsev’s show in 2010. The man immediately declared that he was a passionate fan of the artist. They began to communicate, and soon the friendship grew into something more.
Now the actress lives happily with her fourth husband. Her children have grown up long ago, they have both successfully built careers and started families. Periodically, the woman appears in various shows, and her friends post provocative photos of Kondulainen on the Internet. In 2010, she changed her image in the show “Fashionable Sentence,” but soon after filming she returned to her usual hair color and hairstyle.
Choosing a life path
The girl had every chance to succeed as a professional musician. But chance changed her fate - a convincing role in a humorous skit. Elena played Marlene Dietrich. The entire teaching staff, seeing her performance, unanimously advised the girl to transfer to theater.
After some thought, she did just that - and Elena Kondulainen’s acting biography began. It is important to note that the girl was very lucky with her mentors - Lev Dodin, Georgy Tovstonogov, Arkady Katsman. She completed her studies in 1983.
Then the girl begins active work in cinema. However, to do this she has to work under the pseudonym Ivanova. Then she changes her last name to Rusova. One of the most striking films of the Soviet period of her work is “Primordial Rus'”. There, Elena does an excellent job with the role of Mlava.
Acting talent
At the institute, Elena began to communicate with classmates, she even participated in theatrical productions. Once she had to play the role of Marlene Dietrich in the play “Ah, Those Stars!” Everyone was amazed by the talent of the modest girl, they unanimously advised her to transfer to the acting department. After some thought, Kondulainen decided to listen to the recommendations of her peers and teachers.
The actress studied with Georgy Tovstonogov, Arkady Katsman and Lev Dodin. In 1983 she received a diploma from LGITMiK. After graduating from the institute, the girl received an offer from the Lenin Komsomol Theater. She played several small roles, and in 1986 she moved to the Akimov Comedy Theater. Kondulainen's theatrical career was not very successful, but at the same time she began acting in films.
One of the first films with the girl’s participation was the film “Primordial Rus'”. Back then, Russians were distrustful of all foreign artists, so Elena had to change her last name for the credits. Senior colleagues advised her to call herself Ivanova, and then Rusova. But after perestroika, a fashion for everything foreign and unusual came to the country, so the actress was able to return her last name. She only slightly modernized it for better memorization.
The first Soviet sex symbol
And then the eighties came with their love of freedom, fashion for everything foreign. Now the girl doesn’t have to hide her last name - on the contrary, the audience likes the unusual “Kondulainen”. And for actress Elena Kondulainen, whose biography we are considering, different times are coming.
Censorship is weakening, and directors are starting to make films with rather provocative scenes. One of these was “One Hundred Days Before the Order,” a painting by Hussein Erkenov. She made Elena the first sex symbol of the Soviet state. The fact is that the film contains a scene where the girl had to appear completely naked. This was unheard of in Soviet cinema. Although the film was not released on big screens, the fame of both it and the brave actress spread to all corners of the country.
As Elena Kondulainen’s biography and photos testify (in her youth the actress was extremely pretty), we see that the girl was absolutely not shy about nude scenes. Moreover, she managed to look very harmonious and beautiful in the frame.
One after another, Elena received offers from the creators of similar provocative works with erotic scenes. Among the brightest were “Bolotnaya Street”, “Daphnis and Chloe”.
As for the acting world, those who “appeared” in erotic films were not considered outcasts. On the contrary, the actor was valued for his challenge to society.
In the creative biography of Elena Kondulainen (we will look at the actress’s personal life later), the action adventure film “St. John’s Wort” played an important role. Many viewers fell in love with this film by Andrei Rostotsky for its dashingly twisted plot, spectacular heroines, and stunt scenes. Elena Kondulainen created here the image of the incomparable blond beauty Judith Hutter.
Creation
At this time, Elena begins to act in films. One of her memorable works of that time was the film “Primordial Rus'”, where the aspiring actress convincingly played the Russian girl Mlava.
Elena Kondulainen
To film in Soviet cinema, Elena Kondulainen, on the advice of senior colleagues, changes her last name for the credits and appears under the pseudonym Ivanova, and later Rusova. In the Soviet Union in the early 80s, they were not yet entirely relaxed about non-Russian names and surnames. Soon this situation changes, since with the advent of a new government and a new system in Russia, a fashion for everything foreign appears.
The lack of censorship liberates filmmakers, and films with provocative scenes begin to appear on the screen. The first such work in the actress’s filmography, where she starred naked, was the film “One Hundred Days Before the Order” directed by Hussein Erkenov.
Elena Kondulainen in the film “One Hundred Days Before the Order”
The film was not shown on the big screen, but the film actress still gained the title of the country's sex symbol. After this film, directors invite Elena Kondulainen to films of a similar nature.
The actress herself was not shy about this image, explaining this by the fact that she, like no one else, manages to act beautifully in nude scenes. After her first erotic role, Elena starred in the films “Bolotnaya street, or a remedy against sex”, “Daphnis and Chloe”, which were full of explicit scenes.
Elena Kondulainen in the film “Daphnis and Chloe”
Many famous actors starred in erotic films of that time; this was the norm, a kind of challenge to society. Stars such as Mikhail Pugovkin, Tatyana Vasilyeva, Stas Sadalsky, Lyubov Polishchuk, Armen Dzhigarkhanyan, Boris Khimchev did not consider this art shameful.
In 1993, against the backdrop of rapidly unfolding events in Russia, Elena Ivanovna, inspired by her successes in cinema, created her own political movement, the “Party of Love.” In a patriotic impulse, she was supported by many representatives of the intelligentsia of that time: Maria Arbatova, Alexander Pankratov-Cherny, Mikhail Zvezdinsky, Alexey Glyzin. The party even had separate factions: “Love for Brunettes”, “Love for Blondes”, “Faction of Former Womanizers”.
Elena Kondulainen in the film “St. John's Wort”
One of the high-profile roles in Elena Kondulainen’s biography of this period is considered to be the image she created of the beautiful Judith Hutter in Andrei Rostotsky’s adventure film “St. John’s Wort.” The film gained popularity among viewers for many years thanks to beautiful stunt scenes, an interesting plot and spectacular heroines. In addition to Elena Kondulainen, another famous beauty of that time, Olga Mashnaya, starred in the film.
Elena Kondulainen also appeared in a relatively new genre for Russian cinema - action films. The film was called "Caravan of Death". The plot of the film was based on real events that took place during the Afghan war. Kondulainen’s staffing partners were Alexander Pankratov-Cherny, Boris Khmelnitsky, and Viktor Pavlov.
Elena Kondulainen in the theater
Gradually, the actress is giving way to younger actresses in her place as the most shocking movie heroine. Since 1995, the Luna Theater has appeared in her life, where she played in many famous performances. Possessing a good acting school and stage magnetism, Elena Kondulainen became a real decoration of the works of director Sergei Prokhanov “Lips”, “Journey of Amateurs” and “Tender is the Night”. Currently, Elena appears in this theater in the play “Casanova”.
Since the beginning of the 2000s, Elena appears on the screen again, but in TV series. In addition to Ivan Okhlobystin’s grotesque film “Down House,” Elena Kondulainen played in the famous Ukrainian serial film “Thank You for Everything.” She also appeared in the well-known Russian sitcom “Interns,” where she sparklingly played the role of Kupitman’s ex-wife Naina, a mercantile and sexy person. According to the actress, she had a lot of fun while filming this episode.
Elena Kondulainen in the series “Interns”
In 2002, Elena Kondulainen was awarded the title of Honored Artist of the Russian Federation. But the actress became famous not only for her acting talent.
In 2005, a former student of the conducting department recalled her musical calling and created the album “Lone Wolf,” the songs from which became popular. In addition to the fact that the actress herself performs her hits, the composition “Sea” falls into the repertoire of the then famous pop group “Strelki”.
The decline of a film career. Theater "Luna"
We continue to present the biography of Elena Kondulainen, whose photos are posted in the review. Gradually, the actress began to lose her position as “number one” in shocking films. New young actresses are emerging who are not afraid to appear naked.
Elena Kondulainen is moving to a new stage of her creative career at the Luna Theater. Many theatergoers remember her from famous performances. Elena is a truly talented actress with the gift of stage magnetism. She simply adorned such performances as “Lips”, “Tender is the Night”, “Journey of Amateurs” (works by Sergei Prokhanov). Until now, Elena can be seen in “Moon” in the play “Casanova”.
Biography of Elena Kondulainen
Elena Kondulainen is a bright woman, whose name is probably well known to all men who grew up in the Soviet Union.
During her extraordinary career, she played in many interesting films, but she gained the greatest popularity only in 1990, when she became the first Russian actress who decided to appear naked on screen. Video course “Spring”
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That striking act caused a huge resonance in society, but brought all-Union fame to our today’s heroine. Until now, many researchers call her the first sex symbol in the history of the USSR. But what else interesting can you tell about this blond beauty? We will try to find out this today.
Return to cinema
At the beginning of the 2000s, Elena Kondulainen returned to cinema with renewed vigor. Her re-debut was the grotesque film “Down House” by Ivan Okhlobystin, based on the novel “The Idiot” by F. M. Dostoevsky.
Then Elena Kondulainen finds herself in popular television series. Among the most striking are two parts of the Ukrainian television series “Thank You for Everything,” famous in our country, and the Russian sitcom “Interns.” In the latter, she stood out as Kupitman's bitchy and sexy ex-wife Naina. The actress herself recalls these shootings with a smile and says that it was a lot of fun.
In 2002, Elena Kondulainen was awarded the title of Honored Artist of the Russian Federation.
"Party of Love"
The versatile Elena Kondulainen decides to try herself in the political field. Inspired by success on film stages and the general politicization of the population, in 1993 she created her own movement, called the “Party of Love”.
What’s interesting is that Elena’s undertakings were supported by colleagues in the creative workshop, familiar intellectuals - Alexey Glyzin, Maria Arbatova, Alexander Pankratov-Cherny and others.
However, the direction of the association’s activities was rather ironic and humorous. There were factions of brunettes and blondes, as well as “former womanizers.”
Social activities and music
Kondulainen not only acts in films and plays in the theater. In 2005, she released the album “Lonely Wolf,” in which she performed songs of her own composition. The actress sold the composition “Sea” to the Strelki group. Elena also wrote several books and participated in the third season of the “The Last Hero” project.
The woman devotes a lot of time to social activities; in 1993 she created her own political organization. It was called the “Party of Love”, the movement was supported by such famous people as Alexei Glyzin, Alexander Pankratov-Cherny, Maria Arbatova and Mikhail Zvezdinsky. The main merit of the party is the organization of the “Family Day” holiday.
Despite her age, Elena remains a shocking star. One day she was so outraged by the amount of criticism and lies in the press that she decided to ride around the city in a topless limousine. The men walking along the Moscow streets were delighted with such an act of the artist. She also enjoyed such an abundance of attention.
