Svetlana Kryuchkova

Svetlana Nikolaevna Kryuchkova was born on June 22, 1950, in Kishinev, Moldavia, USSR (now Chishnau, Moldavia). Her father, named Nikolai Kryuchkov, was an army officer. Before becoming an actress, Kryuchkova was a worker at ZIL automobile plant in Moscow. In 1973 she graduated from the Acting Studio named after Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, and was an actress at Moscow Art Theatre for two seasons. She shot to fame after starring in TV series The Long Recess (1973).

Since 1975, Kryuchkova has been a permanent member of the legendary troupe of Bolshoi Drama Theatre (BDT) in St. Petersburg (Leningrad) upon personal invitation from the legendary director Georgi Tovstonogov. Kryuchkova worked with Tovstonogov for 14 years, she played in many of the Tovstonogov's stage productions and was highly regarded by Tovstonogov for her commanding stage presence and effortless style. During that time Kryuchkova worked with an outstanding ensemble of actors at BDT. There her stage partners were Sergey Yurskiy, Oleg Basilashvili, Kirill Lavrov, Zinaida Sharko, Elena Popova, Vladislav Strzhelchik, Vsevolod Kuznetsov, Gennadiy Bogachyov, Andrey Tolubeev, and many other remarkable Russian actors. Her best known stage performances in BDT were the role of Kupavina in 'Volki i ovtsy', a play by Aleksandr Ostrovskiy, and Kostyleva in 'Na dne' (Lower Depths) by Maxim Gorky.

Svetlana Kryuchkova received the title of People's Artist of Russia. She was two times winner of Nika Award in 1989, and was again nominated for Nika Award in 1999. Kryuchkova played over 40 roles in film and television, and also made stage performances at Gogol Theatre and at Galina Vishnevskaya Centre in Moscow. From 1998-2003 Kryuchkova was a professor of acting school at St. Petersburg University of Humanities. In 2003, with the graduates of her acting class, Kryuchkova formed her own company, named Theatre-Studio of Svetlana Kryuchkova in St. Petersburg. There she directed such plays as 'Lysistrata' (2005), a comedy by Aristophanes, and 'Blazhenny Ostrov' (2004) among other plays. For several seasons the Theatre-Studio of Svetlana Kryuchkova has been a popular entertainment in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Svetlana Kryuchkova is a popular TV show host in Russia. She is also regarded as a connoisseur of Russian poetry. She has been giving many concert recitals of poetry to "sold out" audiences. Kryuchkova's concert repertoire includes poems of Anna Akhmatova, Joseph Brodsky, Aleksandr Pushkin, David Samoylov, Marina Tsvetaeva, Ivan Bunin, Mikhail Lermontov, Boris Pasternak and other Russian poets.

Svetlana Kryuchkova is currently residing in St. Petersburg, Russia.