When the name Vladimir Menshov is mentioned, the first film that comes to mind is “Moscow Doesn’t Believe in Tears.” This film, beloved by millions of viewers around the world, was directed by Menshov. For his work, he was awarded an Oscar, which was undoubtedly recognition of his directorial talent.
This award was very important for Menshov, because while studying at a theater university he was considered practically unpromising. And only one woman believed in his success and it was she who was involved in it, this is Vera Alentova.
She believed with all her heart in the success of the film “Moscow Doesn’t Believe in Tears” and put a lot of effort into this. Vera played the main role in the film, which also influenced its popularity.
For both Vera Alentova and Vladimir Menshov, the film “Moscow Tear Doesn’t Believe” became a landmark in their careers. But all this was much later, but for now they were young and looking for each other.
The long road to acting
Since their youth, Vladimir Menshov and Vera Alentova dreamed of connecting their lives with cinema and acting. Vladimir's father, who was a military sailor, dreamed of a completely different future for his son. He wanted his son to follow in his footsteps.
But the young man showed firmness, and after finishing school he went to enroll in VGIK. He arrived completely unprepared, because desire alone was not enough for admission, and he failed the exams.
Returning to his hometown, Volodya worked part-time in a theater, at a mine, and in general was not afraid of any work. After 4 years, the guy decided to repeat his attempt and enter a theater university. This time he succeeded and became a student at the Moscow Art Theater School. Already in his second year, he began acting in small scenes and participating in extras. Then his career only developed.
As for Vera Alentova, her future was practically predetermined. The girl was born into an acting family and it was her destiny to become an actress. After graduating from school, the girl was hired at a local theater, where her mother also worked.
Vera had already begun to be offered her first small roles in the theater, but the girl’s mother opposed this. She loved that only professionals deal with any task. It was she who persuaded her daughter to go work at a factory for a year and try to enter a theater university.
Vera listened to her mother. After a year of working as a simple worker at a factory, she entered the acting department of the Moscow Art Theater.
Wikipedia Vladimir Menshov
Vladimir Menshov's Wikipedia is an article in the World Encyclopedia, which contains exclusively reliable data. It talks about the childhood, parents, family and personal life of the future great director and talented actor.
A special place in this article is given to the actor’s filmography, work in theater and television. You can find a complete list of director's works, scripts, voice-overs for computer games and dubbed animated games.
Wikipedia contains information about awards, titles, titles and prizes, as well as political views and statements of Vladimir Menshov.
Happy verdict
It so happened that two future cinema stars studied at the same educational institution at the same time. This was the first sign of fate. And no more was needed. Already in their second year, Vladimir Menshov and Vera Alentova became husband and wife. The girl’s friends tried their best to dissuade her from such an act, believing that she was signing her own death sentence with her decision. They considered the wedding a great stupidity. But Vera did not listen to them.
After graduating from the Moscow Art Theater, yesterday's students faced adult difficulties. No one was waiting for them in the cinema with open arms, no one made them offers to act in films. I had to seriously think about how to earn a living. Vera accepted the offer from the Moscow Pushkin Theater, and Vladimir went to Stavropol.
For several years the couple lived in different cities and saw each other only occasionally, but the family survived this period. After Menshov returned to Moscow, the couple had a daughter, who was named Yulia. Despite the fact that Vera and Vladimir were able to survive a long separation, they could not be together. They decided to separate.
However, the couple did not file an official divorce, which was not beneficial for them for certain reasons. The couple corresponded, every weekend Vladimir took his daughter to stay with him. This went on for quite a long time, but when Yulia turned seven years old, the couple decided to reunite and live together.
Death
On June 22, 2021, the director was admitted to City Clinical Hospital No. 15: doctors who arrived to the call found a low saturation rate. Celebrities have been diagnosed with coronavirus infection. On July 5, Menshov died.
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Vladimir Menshov died.
The cause of death was bilateral pneumonia and the third stage of respiratory failure. Vera Alentova was also in the hospital at that time, where she was being treated for coronavirus infection.
Living and working together
Gradually, Vladimir Menshov and Vera Alentova found their niche in cinema. Menshov successfully made films, played major and minor roles in both theater and cinema. Alentova also continued to participate in productions of Pushkin’s native theater and act in various films.
She played many roles in the theater with her husband, and Vera also starred in several films, where he acted as director. As colleagues on the set responded, Menshov did not single out his wife when working on the film. He set the same requirements for her as he did for other actors and did not give any concessions.
As for family life, everything is smooth here. The couple has been living in perfect harmony for decades and they do all household chores together. Although many are surprised by the distribution of responsibilities between spouses. Vera prefers men's work, for example, hammering a nail. But Vladimir can happily cook something delicious and pamper his family.
The doors of their apartment in the center of Moscow are always open to friends. Vladimir Menshov and Vera Alentova are always ready to help friends and colleagues if necessary. They remember how hard it was for them and only thanks to support they managed to maintain the relationship.
Long-awaited reward
The couple reconciled and this had a positive effect on the actors’ film careers. In the early eighties, the film “Moscow Doesn’t Believe in Tears” became a box office hit, which awarded Vladimir Valentinovich an Oscar, and Vera Valentinovna became a favorite of the female audience.
It is believed that they are very similar to each other, they love to discuss, each has their own position. Vera has taught herself to smooth out the harsh sides over time and accepts her mistakes, many times saving relationships from breaking up.
Political position
The director is known for actively supporting the Russian President. Back in 2000, he expressed approval of Putin’s policies in the Chechen Republic.
Soon after the formation of the United Russia party, the artist joined it. Later he stated that this happened by accident, and he did not want to go out in order to avoid a scandal. Such a statement did not prevent him from becoming United Russia’s confidant in the State Duma elections in 2021.
It was a similar story with Putin’s support. In 2007, Menshov said that he had a sharply negative attitude towards the idea of a third term for the GDP, but already in the 2018 elections he was a confidant of his namesake.
Oh, supporting the annexation of the peninsula. He also spoke about the need to annex Donbass to Russia. In Ukraine, both speeches were not appreciated; the SBU banned the director from entering the country for five years.
Director's film debut
Menshov began his career as a director during his graduate studies, when he shot the short film “On the Question of the Dialectics of the Perception of Art, or Lost Dreams.” However, Vladimir Menshov's first full-length film was released only in 1976.
It was the film “Practice”, which told about a school conflict and revealed Dmitry Kharatyan to the world (he played one of the schoolchildren). The debut film was received positively: the film received the “Scarlet Carnation” prize from the Komsomol Central Committee, and the director himself, screenwriter Semyon Lungin, cameraman Mikhail Bits and actress Evgenia Khanaeva (for the role of the teacher) were awarded the State Prize of the RSFSR. Already in the 2000s, a remake of Menshov’s film was shot with Ivan Alekseev (Noize MC), in which Kharatyan also appeared.
Actor career
According to the Kinopoisk website, Vladimir Menshov’s filmography as an actor includes over 110 roles. His acting debut came in the short film “Happy Kukushkin,” where a recent graduate played the main role. This was in 1970. Two years later, the artist was cast in the leading role by Alexei Sakharov in his drama with a rural flavor, “A Man in His Place.”
In the 70s, the actor also played with Alexander Mitta in “The Tale of How Tsar Peter Married the Blackamoor,” and also had a cameo role in his own directorial debut, “The Prank.” In the 80s, he starred twice with Karen Shakhnazarov - in “Courier” and “City Zero”, and also played the main role in Gerald Bazhanov’s comedy “Where is Nophelet?” In the 90s, the artist starred with Sergei Ursulyak (“Russian Ragtime” and “Essay for Victory Day”), Anatoly Eyramdzhan (“New Odeon”), Vsevolod Plotkin (“To Survive”), Grigory Konstantinopolsky (“Eight and a Half Dollars” ) and etc.
The return to the big screens took place already in the 2000s. It all started with the series “Plot” with Sergei Bezrukov, and continued with two film adaptations by Sergei Lukyanenko. In “Night Watch” and “Day Watch” the actor embodied the image of the bright magician Geser on the screen.
He also appeared in the historical series “Brezhnev”. The main role in it was played by Sergei Shakurov, but Menshov got the role of Marshal Dmitry Ustinov, Minister of Defense of the USSR and one of the most influential people under the aging General Secretary.
In the 2010s, the actor actively starred in TV series and the “Yolki” franchise, and also appeared in the sports blockbuster “Legend No. 17.” His last film work was the war drama “The Cry of Silence” about besieged Leningrad. Among the upcoming releases with his participation are another war drama “Just One Life” and a comedy film “Ivan”, where Menshov was accompanied by Svetlana Khodchenkova, Kirill Kyaro and Maxim Lagashkin.
"Raffle"
Menshov's directorial debut was a film about the life of schoolchildren based on the script by Semyon Lungin - “The Prank”. This picture became the most successful at the Soviet box office in 1977 and won a lot of prestigious awards.
Many movie stars of that time starred in supporting roles (Oleg Tabakov, Zinovy Gerdt, Natalya Fateeva, Evgenia Khanaeva and Vladimir Menshov himself). But the main characters were assigned to young actors to play.
Most of them had no acting experience and were ordinary school students. “The Prank” became their lucky ticket to the cinema. For example, Dmitry Kharatyan (Igor Grushko) was previously an ordinary schoolboy who came to the audition with a friend. But Natalya Vavilova, who played Taya Petrova, previously starred with Sergei Bondarchuk in “Such High Mountains.” The performer of the role of Dasha Rozanova, Evdokia Germanova, and Andrei Gusev (Oleg Komarovsky) also had some experience. All these young artists after participating in the “Raffle” became famous throughout the country.
The song “Farewell Waltz,” heard at the end of the film, became the school anthem and is still popular.
This amazing picture about love, betrayal, talent and the path to success made Menshov famous throughout the USSR as a director. Now he was free to choose almost any picture, and in 1978 Vladimir Valentinovich began work on a project based on the script by Valentin Chernykh “Lied Twice.”
First roles
The hero of our article made his debut in the short film “Happy Kukushkin” by his classmate Alexander Pavlovsky. Not only did Menshov play the main role in it, he also co-wrote the script. The film received good criticism and warm responses from viewers.
A year later, Menshov appeared in the film “A Man in His Place” by Alexei Sakharov in the image of the chairman of a collective farm. After working in this film, the actor received the first award in his career - the film was presented at the All-Union Film Festival in Almaty. From that moment on, Menshov was already in demand among famous and little-known directors, and film lovers also liked his acting.
