Childhood and youth
The actress's mother Lyudmila Mordvinova worked as a school teacher. The girl’s natural father, Maurice Shlemovich Bonfeld, a Jew by nationality, abandoned the family even before the birth of his daughter, so Luda was raised by her stepfather Ruslan Parygin, who married her mother and adopted the girl, giving her his last name.
The future actress spent her early childhood in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, and as a teenager Amalia moved with her parents to Vologda. The actress recalled that in her school youth she was often teased, since she was not only bright red, but also quite plump. Only in high school did the girl manage to lose weight.
Posted by Irina Rodina on Tuesday, January 1, 2019
Amalia Mordvinova in her youth
In her youth, when receiving a passport, Lyudmila changed her name to Amalia, and instead of her stepfather’s surname, she indicated her mother’s maiden name. How Amalia Mordvinova, a performer, went to Moscow to enroll in a theater school. As is customary for applicants to creative universities, Amalia submitted documents to every metropolitan university that taught acting. Luck accompanied him at two institutes - GITIS and the Boris Shchukin Theater School.
Amalia chose “Pike” and studied until 1995 with the honored teacher Alla Kazanskaya. Having received a diploma of professional education, the young actress made her debut on the stage of Lenkom with Mark Zakharov, in the play “Royal Games”, in which she played the main role - the beloved of King Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn. Already for her first theatrical work, Amalia received the State Prize of Russia.
The award influenced the creative biography of the aspiring artist. Theater and film directors immediately drew attention to Mordvinova. Later, Mordvinova played at the Moscow Mayakovsky Theater, as well as in enterprise productions, for which she received the “Crystal Turandot” figurine.
Amalia or Lyudmila?
After birth, the girl was named Lyudmila. By the way, her last name was also not Mordvinova, but Prygina. She got this surname from her stepfather. The biological father of actress Bonfeld Roman decided to leave the family when the girl was still very young. Before receiving a passport based on her age, Lyudmila Prygina decides not only to take her mother’s last name, but also to change her name.
Naturally, such an unusual name helped Amalia attract attention. At that time, she was going to devote her entire life to the film industry. Having received a new last name and first name, she decided to move to live in Moscow. After some time, she managed to build an excellent career. After graduating from GITIS and the Shchukin School, the artist was hired to work at Lenkom and was often invited to participate in filming. Mordvinova’s track record includes more than a dozen fairly popular films. It’s worth oh - this is one of the actress’s most recent works.
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In 2009, unexpectedly for everyone, Mordvinova left Russia.
Movies
Amalia Mordvinova’s cinematic debut took place in 1993 in Karen Shakhnazarov’s film “Dreams”, where the actress, whose height was 170 cm, got a dual role - Countess Prizorova in the past and dishwasher Maria in the future. The wife of the heroine Amalia was played by Oleg Basilashvili. In the film, the Count is also transformed into a film director and a pimp.
In the same year, with the participation of the actress, the spy film “Road to Heaven” was released about a student Igor (Ivan Volkov), who becomes a KGB agent. The film takes place in 1957, during the International Students Festival in Moscow. Amalia Mordvinova appeared in an episode of the film, playing the role of a Soviet singer.
Then the performer starred in the fantastic comedy “Fatal Eggs.” The actress played the role of Doctor Rosa Lvovna, another lover of military Anatoly (Vladimir Mashkov), in the crime drama “The Thief,” which was even nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe.
In 1998, with the participation of the artist, the melodrama “Women’s Property” was released, where Amalia reincarnated as the heroine Olga. The main characters, student Andrei and teacher Elizaveta Petrovna, between whom a romance breaks out, were performed by Konstantin Khabensky and Elena Safonova.
Amalia Mordvinova in the film “The Hunt for Cinderella”
The actress became famous thanks to the series “Impostors,” which was shown on Russian channels for 4 years. In the melodrama, Amalia Mordvinova played the heroine Nina. The plot of the film is based on the story of the relationship between the venerable writer Govorov (Mikhail Ulyanov) and his student, the young writer Mitya Panin (Evgeny Stychkin). In one of the scenes, the performer appeared before the audience in a swimsuit.
At the same time, the artist took part in the thriller “The Recluse,” which was about a young student Anna, studying the work of the writer Konstantin Streletsky (Alexander Baluev). Having met her idol at a second-hand book exhibition, the girl falls in love with Konstantin.
In the tragicomedy of the German-Georgian production “27 Stolen Kisses”, Mordvinova was included in the international cast. The actress’s work partners were Georgian Nutsa Kukhianidze, Russian actor Evgeniy Sidikhin, and French film star Pierre Richard. Amalia’s most famous project is considered to be the detective story “The Hunt for Cinderella,” in which the actress played a graduate of the screenwriting department of VGIK, working at a video rental store.
In 2002, Mordvinova’s filmography was replenished with works in the films “Enter through the Window” and “Looking for a Bride without a Dowry.” In 2003, the actress starred in the musical film “A Witch’s Recipe.” In the comedy, Amalia is transformed into the wife of a businessman, Polina, who is having trouble getting pregnant. To achieve her goal, the heroine takes a lover and also attends witchcraft sessions.
Also in demand were the melodrama “Swan Paradise”, the ironic detective story “Dasha Vasilyeva - a lover of private investigation”, the musical “The Three Musketeers”, the domestic drama “Only You”, and the detective series “Chasing an Angel”. A must-see movie, in which Mordvinova again played opposite the French comedian Pierre Richard.
Amalia Mordvinova and Alexander Lazarev Jr. in the film “The Witch’s Recipe”
In 2007, the actress participated in the popular show “Dancing on Ice. The Velvet season". The performer's partner in this project was figure skater Ruslan Goncharov. In one of the episodes a scandal broke out. This time the contestants had to use additional props in their performance. Amalia and Ruslan chose a chair. At the end of the dance, Nikolai Tsiskaridze, one of the jury members, noted that for most of the program the artist simply sat on a chair.
This offended Mordvinova and made her cry. But Tsiskaridze did not let up, noting that any artist can easily “squeeze a tear out of himself.” The entire audience came to the defense of the red-haired beast, after which Nikolai was forced to leave the studio. The performer placed a bouquet in the judge's place, which the dancer threw away when he returned.
Among the actress’s works, the war drama “Kromov” and the surreal film “Generation P” based on the novel by Victor Pelevin stood out. It is worth adding that at that time the performer appeared in the credits under the unusual name Amalia & Amalia.
In 2021, Amalia Mordvinova appeared before fans in a new role. The actress released her first poetry collection, “The Concept of the Garden of Eden.” The poems of the newly-minted poetess contain philosophical reflections and lines filled with romance. The book was printed in an ancient printing house in the vicinity of Padua. The pages of the collection are decorated with illustrations by Leonid Lifshits.
Filmography
Mordvinova’s cinematic debut occurred in 1993 in the film “Dreams,” where she got a double role. In the same year, with the participation of Amalia, the film “Road to Paradise” was released on television.
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Then Mordvinova played in the comedy film “Fatal Eggs.” Amalia gained great popularity from the film “Impostors,” which was shown on domestic television channels for four years. Mordvinova’s most famous film was the detective story “The Hunt for Cinderella.”
Personal life
Amalia met her first husband, sound engineer Igor Zorin, while dubbing the first film “Dreams”. The young people lived together for six years, after which a divorce followed, which the young woman found difficult. In parallel with this, Mordvinova began an affair with a colleague in the play “Royal Games” Alexander Lazarev Jr. At that time, the actor was also married, but did not dare to leave his family.
Soon the artist’s personal life improved. Mordvinova married for the second time in 2000 to businessman Alexander Goldansky, well known for his production of doors and windows from precious wood.
It is interesting that Amalia met Alexander many years ago in the company of mutual friends, and the new meeting ended with a wedding, the birth of her daughter Diana and a change of name to Goldanskaya. Together, the couple created a production company that still exists. This family union lasted 4 years. It was after the second divorce that Amalia, who each time took the surname of her next spouse, decided to use the pseudonym Amalia & Amalia in the credits.
Amalia Mordvinova and Tilda Swinton look alike / Facebook, Instagram
But the actress was not alone for long and soon went down the aisle again with businessman Vadim Belyaev, from whom she gave birth to three children - a son, German, and daughters, Evangelina and Seraphim. In 2009, Mordvinova divorced Belyaev and moved with her younger heirs to India, to Goa. And the eldest daughter Diana, at the age of 15, went to live in America.
On the sea coast, the actress met a new life partner - spiritual teacher Igor Gnatenko, with whom she never decided on a fourth marriage. Amalia continued to engage in spiritual practices and rented a house in a large Indian village located at an altitude of 3500 m above sea level. On the territory of the rented dwelling there was an apple and pear orchard, and a holy spring flowed.
On the neighboring mountain there was a house donated by the local maharaja to the artist Nicholas Roerich. Spartan conditions did not frighten Mordvinova, she did yoga and taught children vegetarian nutrition. Later, the performer decided to move to New York. Russia, like the film industry, remained in the past, although Amalia periodically came to Moscow.
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Amalia Mordvinova with children
Life in the American metropolis turned out to be the opposite of the meditative pace of life in India. However, this did not frighten the “cosmopolitan woman”. In America, the lady was able to see her eldest daughter more often. True, over several years of living in the States, Diana acquired special eating habits that were radically at odds with her mother’s “philosophy.”
Amalia tried to show the heiress the documentary “Food Corporation” about the cruel treatment of animals raised for slaughter, but this did not change the views of the young “American”. But the actress’s younger children refuse meat, preferring plant foods.
Amalia maintains friendly relations with her ex-husbands, but the actress is not yet striving for a new union. In an interview, Amalia admitted that she does not even allow herself to flirt with members of the opposite sex. Mordvinova completely devoted herself to raising children and spiritual growth.
