Biography of Alexandra Yakovleva
Alexandra Evgenievna Yakovleva is a Russian actress and director, best known for her leading roles in the films “Crew”, “Sorcerers” and “The Man from the Boulevard des Capuchins”.
Actress Alexandra Yakovleva in her youth (“Sorcerers”)
In the 90s, she stopped acting (the exception was the remake of “Crew” in 2020), taking up social and political activities: she held a leadership position in Russian Railways, and in 2012 she headed the Kaliningrad branch of the Yabloko party.
"Crew"
It was precisely at this time that Georgy Danelia conducted a casting among students, as they now say, for the role of the protagonist’s daughter in his future film “Autumn Marathon.” Sasha did not pass it, but it was thanks to the great master that the entire Soviet Union soon learned that there was such an actress - Alexandra Yakovleva. Because Danelia advised the girl to go to the workshop of Alexander Mitte, who was urgently looking for a replacement for Elena Proklova, who had already been approved for the role of flight attendant Tamara. Since the latter refused, fearing for her career at the Moscow Art Theater, the appearance of the young, albeit dropout, beauty Alexandra became a real salvation for the director. It was only later, after the release of “The Crew,” that it turned out that Tamara was far from a minor figure in the film. When filming began, Mitte needed a girl who would be as attractive as Proklova. And Sasha, of course, did not give in...
Childhood and youth
Alexandra Yakovleva (real name Ivanes) was born on July 2, 1957 in Kaliningrad. There was information in the media that the parents of the future actress were killed in a car accident when she was just a child, and her grandmother took her in to raise her. However, Alexandra denied this information: her parents did not die, but simply divorced early. But she was really raised by her grandparents, Pavel Kondratievich Yakovlev. The actress later took his last name as a pseudonym.
Childhood photo of Alexandra Yakovleva
As a child, Sasha Ivanes studied choreography and learned to play the violin. The baby was always attracted by the stage - even in her school years she attended an amateur club. The grandmother was also not against making a star out of her granddaughter, and the grandmother also supported Alexandra when she decided to apply to a theater university.
Alexandra Yakovleva in her youth and now
After graduating from school, the girl moved to the northern capital in 1974 and tried to enter the Leningrad State Institute of Theater, Music and Cinematography (now RGISI). The selection committee greeted her speech - the girl read out an excerpt from the poem “The Bronze Horseman” - very coolly. Alexandra could not hold back her tears and burst into tears, after which the chairman of the “jury” Georgy Tovstonogov was moved and accepted the spontaneous and emotional girl into the ranks of the students.
There must be some kind of mystery in a woman...
After “The Crew,” more films with Yakovleva appeared on the screen. But her roles in them were no longer so bright and interesting. Until, on the eve of 1982, television released a New Year’s fairy tale called “The Magicians” on the country’s screens. In it, actress Alexandra Yakovleva appeared before the viewer in two forms at once. She played, as it were, two roles - the kind and flexible Alyonushka, and her, but bewitched and evil. It must be said that the film immediately appealed to the Soviet audience. And its plot was not bad, and the cast was worthy of applause, and the songs were very good. Literally the next day, almost everyone was singing them, and Alexandra Yakovleva’s photos were again splashed on the covers of magazines.
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Career
In the mid-70s, director Alexander Mitta decided to make the first disaster film in the USSR. Contrary to expectations, the biggest problems arose not with the creation of special effects, but with the search for actors. They were looking for an actress for the role of a flight attendant for a particularly long time when Elena Proklova refused to film. When the director of the film noticed young Alexandra Ivanes, she was completely free: she was expelled from the institute for endless tardiness and disruptions to rehearsals.
Alexandra Yakovleva in the film “Crew” (1979)
Working with Yakovleva on the set of “Crew” showed the girl’s difficult character, but everyone had to endure her antics: there was no money for reshoots. But “Crew” became the first “erotic” Soviet film: Yakovleva and Leonid Filatov starred in a sex scene, which, however, by today’s standards can be called chaste.
“Bed Scene” with Alexandra Yakovleva and Leonid Filatov
In 1981, after three episodic roles, Alexandra was invited to play the main role in the series “Young Russia”.
Still from the film “Young Russia”
A year later, the film “Sorcerers” was released, after which Yakovleva, who embodied the image of the fragile Alyonushka on the screens, received a new wave of love from the audience. In addition, the actress was lucky enough to work with such famous actors as Alexander Abdulov, Valentin Gaft, Valery Zolotukhin, Emmanuil Vitorgan.
“Sorcerers”: Alexandra Yakovleva and Alexander Abdulov
In 1984, the actress again got the leading role - this time in the melodrama “Parachutists” about the difficult life of lovers in the sky.
Alexandra Yakovleva in the film “Parachutists” (1984)
Three years later, Yakovleva pulled out a lucky ticket - she was invited to shoot in the film “The Man from Capuchin Boulevard” by Alla Surikova, which later became incredibly popular. In the film about a cheerful life in a Wild West town, which was disrupted by Mr. Fest (Andrei Mironov) with his antediluvian film projector, the actress played Miss Diana Little; other roles in the film were played by Mikhail Boyarsky, Oleg Tabakov, Nikolai Karachentsov. Alas, this work is called the last bright role of Alexandra Yakovleva.
“The Man from Boulevard des Capuchins”: Alexandra Yakovleva as Diana
Until the collapse of the USSR, the actress continued to act in films, especially “The Ferry “Anna Karenina””. In 1993, the actress, like many of her colleagues, suddenly became uninteresting to directors. This difficult period was aggravated by the death of her grandmother, the person closest to the actress. Alexandra Yakovleva. Life from scratch At the funeral, which took place in Kaliningrad, Alexandra was helped by Mayor Vitaly Shipov, who offered the actress a job in the city administration. Yakovleva worked on issues of culture and tourism until she left her post in 1997.
The woman’s next place of work was Pulkovo Airport (head of the quality management service); she later held a similar position at the Oktyabrskaya Railway. Among her achievements is participation in the launch of high-speed trains of the Sapsan type between Moscow and St. Petersburg. On her initiative, a Russian-style dining car was opened on the express.
Alexandra Yakovleva’s managerial career has been successful
In 2012, Alexandra Yakovleva headed the Kaliningrad branch of the Yabloko party. At the same time, she ran for mayor of Kaliningrad, but took 5th place with 3.8% of the vote.
Movies
The very first artistic picture brought Alexandra Yakovleva fame and popularity. However, how could it be otherwise if it turned out to be the legendary disaster film “Crew”, and the partner of the young actress was Leonid Filatov. The film itself received an award at the All-Union Film Festival.
Alexandra Yakovleva in the film “The Scandalous Incident at Brickmill”
Photos of the young actress began to appear more often in film magazines. Alexandra quickly won the sympathy of the audience thanks to her external appearance (with a height of 165 cm, the girl’s weight did not exceed 60 kg) and her charming smile. Directors and colleagues called the actress a doll.
After this, Yakovleva’s road to the world of big cinema was open. The actress appeared in the drama “Second Birth,” where she played the bride of a troubled young man, Gena (Oleg Vavilov), as well as in the melodrama “Walruses Are Swimming.” In the drama “The Scandalous Incident in Brickmill” about a banker who decided to radically change his own life, Alexandra was again lucky enough to work with a stellar cast, which included Yuri Solomin, Nelly Kornienko, Emmanuil Vitorgan.
Alexandra Yakovleva in the film “Room for Maneuver”
In the series about Peter the Great “Young Russia”, the actress appeared in the role of the wife of Ivan Ryabov (Boris Nevzorov), a helmsman who accomplished a feat and led a Swedish ship into an ambush. Soon followed by work in the production drama “Room for Maneuver,” where the actress appeared before the audience in the image of a designer at an engineering bureau.
In 1982, Georgy Danelia approved Alexandra Yakovleva for the role of Lucy, Vasin’s (Evgeniy Leonov) daughter-in-law in the tragicomedy “Tears Dripped.” The main character, a sensitive and sympathetic person, suddenly becomes merciless and cruel. Such metamorphoses occurred with Vasin due to the fact that a fragment of a magic mirror got into his eye, which changes his vision of the world.
Alexandra Yakovleva in the film “Sorcerers”
Alexandra’s star work was the role of Alyonushka from the romantic New Year’s film directed by Konstantin Bromberg “Sorcerers”, where the stars of Soviet cinema Alexander Abdulov, Valentin Gaft, Semyon Farada, Emmanuil Vitorgan and Mikhail Svetin also shone. The script for the television film was written by the Strugatsky brothers, and the musical accompaniment was created by composer Evgeny Krylatov.
Later, songs from the fairy-tale musical took on a life of their own and were even released as a separate album at Melodiya studio. The film was liked by Soviet television viewers, especially since it was shown on New Year's Eve, after which it took a strong place in the pre-New Year television schedule. This success cemented the artist’s popularity, and Alexandra was already more strict in her choice of scripts.
Alexandra Yakovleva in the film “Dance Floor”
The actress played a teacher in the children's film Monomakh's Hat, a singer in the youth melodrama Young People, and a secretary in the drama Eight Days of Hope.
In 1984, Yakovleva’s filmography was supplemented by the sports drama “Skydivers,” where the actress appeared in the role of athlete Zinaida, who, after her friend Sergei’s (Boris Nevzorov) helicopter crashes in a gorge, refuses to compete and rushes to help. The artist’s repertoire was also supplemented by works in the spy action film “Ordered to be taken alive,” and in the drama about the Pentecostal sect “Captured by a Ghost.” In the melodrama “Dance Floor,” Alexandra Yakovleva appeared in a creative duet together with Evgeny Dvorzhetsky.
Alexandra Yakovleva in the film “The Man from the Boulevard des Capucines”
In 1987, another leading role followed in the drama “The White Curse.” The heroine of Alexandra Yakovleva, flight attendant Katya, dies in an avalanche in the Kushkol resort sanatorium, despite the efforts of rescuers to prevent a natural disaster. Alexandra also appeared in the drama about the restoration of the collective farm “And Live Tomorrow.”
The Western-style comedy “The Man from the Boulevard des Capuchins” gained incredible popularity among the public, in which the actress interacted with Nikolai Karachentsov, Mikhail Boyarsky, and Oleg Tabakov. It is interesting that Andrei Mironov, the leading actor, insisted on the candidacy of Alexandra Yakovleva.
Alexandra Yakovleva in the film “Goal at the Spassky Gate”
Among the subsequent works, the melodrama “Not Shot Music” and the film about football “Goal at the Spassky Gate” stand out. But in general, the actress realized that the level of cinema in the early 90s slid sharply downward. Alexandra tried to independently create her own project, “The Ferry “Anna Karenina,” where she herself played the main role, and chose another successful artist, Evgeny Sidikhin, as a colleague. But in 1993, the actress left the profession and stopped her creative biography for 23 years.
Personal life of Alexandra Yakovleva
Student Yakovleva has always been a magnet for men, but her classmate Valery Kukhareshin was especially passionate about the girl. The actress’s grandmother hinted that any kind of relationship was possible only after the wedding, and Valery immediately proposed marriage to Alexandra.
Sex symbol of the 80s
The marriage lasted about five years, which today the actress calls the most carefree in her life. The couple had two children - Lisa and Kondrat, who subsequently did not connect their lives with acting. Elizabeth gave her mother three grandchildren (Artem, Timofey and Yana). Kondrat is the boss of one of the Sapsan squads, he is married and has a daughter, Anastasia.
Alexandra Yakovleva with children
Fans of the actress bet that Yakovleva had a love relationship with publicist Alexander Nevzorov - such rumors began to appear after his public declaration of love for Yakovleva. Many attribute to Nevzorov the status of Alexandra’s second husband, but in an interview the actress several times denied this fact, as well as speculation about a “love affair” with a famous journalist.
Alexandra Yakovlev is constantly being “matched up” with Alexander Nevzorov
For a long time, Alexandra Yakovleva was married to Estonian stuntman Kalju Aasmäe, whom she met on the set of the film “Skydivers”.
Kalju Aasmäe, husband of Alexandra Yakovleva
However, in the summer of 2020, she announced her separation from her husband and at the 2017 Moscow International Film Festival she introduced the public to her new lover, the young actor Denis Bondarenko, 30 years younger than Yakovleva. The woman admitted that their acquaintance began with correspondence on the Internet.
Alexandra Yakovleva and Denis Bondarenko
Alexandra Yakovleva now
23 years after her last role, Yakovleva reappeared on the big screen, playing aviation official Tamara Igorevna in the new version of the film “Crew” with Danila Kozlovsky. In one of the episodes of the film, the viewer realizes that in front of him, perhaps, is the same flight attendant from the 1979 film.
Alexandra Yakovleva in “Crew” 2020
In April 2020, the actress also returned to the theater stage, playing the maid Bernadette in the Oscar production of the St. Petersburg Maly Comedy Theater. Anna Samokhina.
In May 2020, Alexandra Yakovleva said that two years earlier she was diagnosed with cancer. This is also related to her absence from films since the release of the new “Crew”. After hearing the diagnosis, the actress became depressed and lost the meaning of life. However, she was lucky to find good doctors who made her understand that cancer is not a death sentence. Yakovleva intends to fight for her life.
