Zinaida Sharko

Zinaida Maksimovna Sharko was born on May 14, 1929, in Rostov-na-Donu, Russia, Soviet Union. Her father, named Maksim Sharko, was a firefighter. From 1947-1951 she studied acting under Boris Zon and graduated from the Leningrad Institute of Theatre, Music, and Cinematography. From 1951-1956 she worked as an actress with various theatre companies in Leningrad. Sharko made her film debut in 1954, in 'My s vami gde-to vstrechalis' (We've Met Before Somewhere) as a partner of a famous Russian comedian Arkady Raykin.

Since 1956 Zinaida Sharko has been a permanent member of the legendary troupe of Bolshoi Drama Theatre (BDT) under directorship of Georgi Tovstonogov. Sharko worked with Tovstonogov for 33 years. After the death of Tovstonogov, Sharko continued her work with an outstanding ensemble of actors at BDT. There her stage partners were such stars as Oleg Basilashvili, Tatyana Doronina, Alisa Freyndlikh, Lyudmila Makarova, Svetlana Kryuchkova, Valentina Kovel, Innokentiy Smoktunovskiy, Sergey Yurskiy, Kirill Lavrov, Oleg Borisov, Vladislav Strzhelchik, Yefim Kopelyan, Evgeniy Lebedev, Vsevolod Kuznetsov, Pavel Luspekayev, Nikolay Trofimov, Georgiy Shtil, and many other remarkable Russian actors. Among Sharko's best known stage works are her roles in "Tri sestry" (The Three Sisters) by Anton Chekhov (1968), "Kholstomer" (Story of a Horse) by Lev Tolstoy, and "Revizor" (Inspector-General) by Nikolay Gogol.

Zinaida Sharko continues a busy acting career on stage and in film. Her latest film work was in 'Teatralny Roman', a TV series based on the eponymous book by Mikhail A. Bulgakov. Sharko was honored with the title of People's Artist of the USSR. She received numerous awards and decorations for his works on stage and in film. Her filmography includes over 30 roles, she also played over 100 roles on stage. Sharko is living in St. Petersburg, Russia.