Lyudmila Markovna Gurchenko^[a] (12 November 1935 – 30 March 2011,née Gurchenkova)^[b] was a Soviet and Russian actress, singer and entertainer. She was given the honorary titlePeople's Artist of the USSR in 1983.^[1]

Lyudmila Gurchenko
Людмила Гурченко
Gurchenko in 1998
Born	Lyudmila Markovna Gurchenkova (1935-11-12)November 12, 1935 Kharkiv, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Died	March 30, 2011(2011-03-30) (aged 75) Moscow, Russia
Resting place	Novodevichy Cemetery
Other names	Lyusya (Lucia)
Alma mater	Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography
Occupations	actress singer entertainer director writer
Years active	1956–2011
Notable credit(s)	Carnival Night Station for Two Love and Pigeons
Spouses	Vasily Ordynskiy ​ ​ (m. 1953;div. 1955)​ Boris Andronikashvili ​ ​ (m. 1958;div. 1960)​ Alexander Fadeev ​ ​ (m. 1962;div. 1964)​ Iosif Kobzon ​ ​ (m. 1967;div. 1970)​ Sergey Senin ​ (m. 1993)​
Partner	Konstantin Kuperveys (1973-1991)
Children	1
Relatives	Boris Pilnyak (father-in-law) Angelina Stepanova (mother-in-law) Alexander Fadeyev (father-in-law)
Awards

Lyudmila Gurchenko was born inKharkiv,USSR (nowUkraine) in 1935 as Lyudmila Gurchenkova to Mark Gavrilovich Gurchenkov (1898–1973) and Yelena Aleksandrovna Simonova-Gurchenkova (1917–1999). Her father came from aRussian peasant family, while her mother was fromRussian nobility — both from aroundSmolensk.^[2][3][4]

BeforeWorld War II they lived in a single room apartment on the ground floor at Mordvinovsky Lane No. 17 (now Gurchenko Lane #7).^[5] At that time, her parents worked at theKharkiv Philharmonic Society. Mark Gurchenko was known to play thebayan (Russianaccordion). Gurchenko spent a part of her childhood with her mom during the time of theGerman occupation of USSR in her native city, while her father joined the army and, together with his concert brigade, survived the war. Afterthe withdrawal of the German Army from Kharkiv, Gurchenko auditioned for the local Beethoven Music School, where she performed the songAbout Vitya Cherevichkin with gestures, after which she was accepted as an acting student.

She moved to Moscow, enrolling in theGerasimov Institute of Cinematography. At age 21, after starring inEldar Ryazanov's 1956 directorial debut, the musicalCarnival Night, Gurchenko overnight achieved fame as well as celebrity status. Throughout the next two years she toured the entire country with herCarnival Night-inspired musical numbers, attracting crowds of fans.^[6]

The Soviet cultural establishment, however, deemed her style too western and too out of line with Soviet standards. She was accused of receiving wages above State-set levels as compensation for her shows. She became the target of highly critical articles in several influential Soviet periodicals, includingTap Dance to the Left (Чечетка налево,Komsomolskaya Pravda, 1957,[1]) andDositheos Morals (Досифеевские нравы,Ogoniok, 1958,[2], devoted to her financial wrongdoing and her alleged lack of patriotism. The year of 1958 saw the release of another musical with Ludmila,Girl with a Guitar, shot mostly before these articles were published. The musical was not recommended for wide distribution and was a box-office flop.^[6]

In the mid 1970s, Gurchenko starred in several films, which, although only moderately successful, helped showcase her dramatic talent. In 1979 she landed a role in directorAndrei Konchalovsky'sSiberiade and in 1982 inStation for Two, once again by Eldar Ryazanov, who by then had become one of the USSR's most popular and prolific directors. The role of forty-something waitress Vera in this touching film became her long-awaited comeback as asuperstar of Soviet film. Subsequently, she starred inVladimir Menshov'sLove and Pigeons, among many other movies and TV shows. Her multifaceted talent was recognized on many occasions. She received the title ofPeople's Artist of the USSR, the highest honour that could be bestowed to a musical artist, in 1983.^[6] She carried a leading role in The Burn (Ожог – 1988) with Director Gennady Glagoliev and Director of PhotographyIgor Chepusov.^[7]

Gurchenko wrote a book about her life during German occupation in Kharkiv and about her life in the beginning of her Acting Career.

In 2010, she was awarded anOrder "For Merit to the Fatherland", 2nd Class (she received the 4th Class of the same Order in 2000 and the 3d Class in 2005),^[8] one of the highest civil decorations in post-Soviet Russia (with 3rd and 2nd Degree Orders having been awarded to very few extremely distinguished individuals, and the 1st Degree Order being nominally held by a serving President of Russia). At the age of 70, she still performed and attended galas.^[6]

Gurchenko was married six times, including a short-lived marriage toJoseph Kobzon between 1967 and 1970. She had one daughter, Maria (5 June 1959 — 8 November 2017)^[9] from her second marriage, and two grandchildren as well as one great-granddaughter.^[10]

On 14 February 2011, Gurchenko fell near her house and broke her hip. She was taken to the hospital and underwent an operation the following day. On 30 March her condition worsened due to apulmonary embolism^[11] and she died that evening. She was buried at theNovodevichy Cemetery (Moscow) after a civil funeral a few days later.^[6]

Studio albums

• 1979 —Бенефис Людмилы Гурченко(LP, «Melodiya» 33 М 60—42123-24)
• 1983 —Любимые песни(LP, «Melodiya» С60 19259 004)
• 1984 —Песни военных лет(LP, «Melodiya» С60 20825 001)
• 1992 —Да, не верится!..(LP, «Russian Disc» R60 01001)
• 1994 —Люблю(LP, «РОМ Лтд.» 0111001)
• 1995 —Хорошее настроение(CD, «General Records»)
• 1996 —Что знает о любви любовь(CD, «General Records»)
• 2000 —Прощай, двадцатый...(CD, «Extraphone», «Kvadro-Disc»)
• 2001 —Мадлен, спокойно!(CD, «Extraphone»; feat.David Tukhmanov)
• 2004 —Жизнь как дым...(CD, «Extraphone»)
• 2005 —Грустная пластинка(CD, «Extraphone»)
• 2009 —Чувство новизны(CD, no label; feat. Felix Ilynykh)
• 2009 —Музыка к фильму "Пёстрые сумерки"(CD, «Творческое Объединение «Дуэт»»)
• 2010 —Моё взрослое детство(2хCD, «Extraphone»)

On November 12, 2021,Google celebrated her 86th birthday with aGoogle Doodle.^[13]

• Lyudmila Gurchenko atIMDb
• (in Russian)Official site of Lyudmila Gurchenko
• Lyudmila Gurchenko on YouTube
• (in Ukrainian)Article at Historic Pravda (Ukrainian Pravda) dedicated to Gurchenko
• (in Russian)Bolgsite of Andrei Okara (Moscow political analyst) at Ukrainian Pravda with collection of Gurchenko's performances (video)