Ludmila Gladunko Actress Date of Birth: 31.05.1947 Country: Russia

1. Biography of Lyudmila Gladunko
2. Actress Career
3. Filmography:

Biography of Lyudmila Gladunko

Lyudmila Gladunko was born on May 31, 1947, in the city of Khmelnitsky, in the family of actress Rita Gladunko. At the age of 15, she made her debut in the film "Where Are You Now, Maxim?" directed by Edmond Keosayan. Her co-star in the film was the young Boris Tokarev. It is said that the second director, showing Tokarev the photo test of the heroine, warned him: "Be careful not to fall in love!" But as soon as Boris saw the photo of the charming girl with a short haircut, scratches on her face, and expressive eyes, he understood that he had indeed fallen in love.

In the same year, Lyudmila graduated from school externally and entered the All-Russian State Institute of Cinematography (VGIK). Boris also entered the same institute. Then there were years of study, dating, and declarations of love. Lyudmila Mikhailovna recalls that during that time: "He didn't even court me, he rather waited for me to mature for marriage. I remember Pyzhova, who taught our course, said during classes: 'Tokarev, step away from Gladunko, bide your time, you'll still have a chance.' Boris proposed to Lyudmila officially in 1969, after receiving his diploma. Lyudmila Mikhailovna recalls: "He made an official proposal, and I felt uneasy. We submitted the application, I returned home and burst into tears - I didn't understand why all this was necessary, after all, we could live just as we did before..." Their marriage turned out to be strong and happy. They have been together for many years, which is quite rare among actor couples. However, Boris Vasilyevich and Lyudmila Mikhailovna do not consider this to be something unusual. "Besides sex, Boris and I were connected by much deeper feelings. This is what keeps us together to this day," says Lyudmila Mikhailovna. And she adds: "We exist together so logically and naturally that I can't even imagine life turning out differently."

During her studies at VGIK, Lyudmila Gladunko appeared in several films. The most notable work of those years was the role of the heroic deceased pilot Evgenia Rumyantseva in the war ballad "Chistye Prudy" directed by Alexey Saharov.

Actress Career

In 1969, Lyudmila graduated from VGIK and became an actress at the Theater-Studio of the Film Actor. She regularly appeared in films, usually playing roles of her contemporaries. Among her works are: Tanya in the melodrama "Russian Field", class teacher Veta Pavlovna in the children's comedy "Kysh and Dvaportfelia", librarian Natasha, the second wife of Nikolai Kasatkin in the melodrama "The Only One", museum employee Yulia in the detective film "The Procession of Golden Beasts", police officer Lyudmila Petrovna Rozova in the detective film "Investigation", Zina in the melodrama "Still in Love, Still Hoping".

The secret to the happy married life of Lyudmila Gladunko and Boris Tokarev probably lies not only in love and respect for each other but also in their shared interests. Since Boris Tokarev graduated from the directing department of VGIK in 1977, Lyudmila has appeared in almost all of her husband's films. Their joint work began with the novella "My Angel" directed by Boris Tokarev in 1978 as part of the experimental youth creative association "Debut". This was followed by roles in the romantic drama "We Were Not Married in Church (Anna Kuvshinskaya), the historical-revolutionary film "Ploshchad Vosstaniya" (Alexandra Guryanova and Mari), the youth crime drama "Night Shift" (Nina's mother), the tragicomedy "The Hermit" (Tatiana). As Boris Vasilyevich admits, while working on the role, Lyudmila constantly changed something to fit it to herself. Eventually, this probably pushed her towards the profession of a director and screenwriter. In 2001, together with her husband, they made their first joint film - the melodrama "Don't Leave Me, Love". Their son Stepan also played a role in this film. However, he did not pursue an acting career. He graduated from MGIMO and has no plans to connect his life with cinema.

Their second joint directorial work was the TV series "Moya Prechistenka", released in 2003. In essence, the couple created a film epic covering the period from 1900 to 2000. In each episode, the fates of the main characters reflected important periods in the history of our country.

"Moya Prechistenka" featured both stars of Russian cinema and young actors to whom the series gave a "ticket to life". This includes Anna Kazyuchis, Alexander Volkov, Alexander Efimov, Olga Pogodina, and many others. Among the veterans, Valery Barinov can be noted, who agreed to play in the series even without reading the script. By the way, this is where he sang for the first time on screen.

In 2008, Tokarev and Gladunko directed the film "Distance". The prototype of the main character in the film was the famous runner, two-time Olympic champion Svetlana Masterkova. Her role was played by Olga Pogodina.

Filmography:

1964 Where Are You Now, Maxim?
1965 Thirty-Three
1965 Chistye Prudy
1967 The Magician
1969 Bridges Over Oblivion
1970 Sea Character
1971 If You Are a Man...
1972 Light Water
1972 Russian Field
1974 Kysh and Dvaportfelia
1975 The Only One
1978 My Angel (a novella from the film "Youth")
1979 The Procession of Golden Beasts
1980 Investigation
1982 We Were Not Married in Church
1984 Entrust It to General Nesterov...
1984 A Special Case
1985 Still in Love, Still Hoping
1985 Ploshchad Vosstaniya
1987 Night Shift
1990 Our Man in San Remo
1992 The Hermit
1992 Forgiveness
2001 Don't Leave Me, Love - actress, director, screenwriter
2003 Moya Prechistenka - director, screenwriter
2008 Distance - director, screenwriter