Galina Karelina

Galina Karelina is a Russian character actress of the Aleksandrinka Theatre in St. Petersburg.

She was born Galina Timofeevna Karelina on 18 June 1931 in USSR. From 1951 to 1956 she studied acting at the Leningrad Institute of Theatre, Music, and Cinematography, graduating in 1956 as actress. That same year she made her stage debut at the Pushkin (Aleksandrinka) Drama Theatre in Leningrad (St. Petersburg). Since 1956, Galina Karelina has been a permanent member and the leading actress of Aleksandrinka Theatre. There her stage partners were such remarkable actors as Nikolay Cherkasov, Nikolai Simonov, Vasiliy Merkurev, Konstantin Skorobogatov, Yuriy Tolubeev, Aleksandr Borisov, Bruno Frejndlikh, Vladimir Chestnokov, Vladimir Erenberg, Konstantin Adashevsky, Nina Urgant, Olga Lebzak, Nina Mamaeva, Lidiya Shtykan, Ivan Dmitriev, Rem Lebedev, Igor Gorbachyov, and other notable Russian actors. There, Galina Karelina made memorable appearances in various classic and contemporary plays, such as, Amelia Sedley in stage production of "Vanity Fair" by William Thackeray, the Countess in "The Queen of Spades" by Alexander Pushkin, and as Arkadina in "The Seagull" by Anton Chekhov among other plays. During her stage acting career, Galina Karelina worked under such directors, as Leonid Vivyen, Aleksandr Belinsky, Vladimir Fokin, Igor Gorbachyov, Aleksandr Galibin, and many others.

Galina Karelina was designated People's Actress of Russian Federation (1980) and also received numerous awards and decorations, including the Order of Friendship from the president of Russia (2006). She is living in St. Petersburg, Russia.