Alla Pokrovskaya

Alla Pokrovskaya is a Russian actress and acting coach at the Moscow Art Theatre (MKhAT). She was born Alla Borisovna Pokrovskaya on September 18, 1937, in Moscow, Russia, Soviet Union. Her father, Boris Pokrovskiy, was a legendary Russian opera director of Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. Her mother was director of the Central Children's Theatre in Moscow. Her parents named Alla in honor of the legendary Russian actress Alla Tarasova. Young Alla Pokrovskaya was brought up in a highly intellectual environment of her family and her parents' circle. From 1955 - 1959 she studied acting and directing under Viktor Stanitsyn, graduating in 1959 as an actress. She made her big screen debut n 1964, opposite Aleksandr Demyanenko in a popular Soviet film Gosudarstvennyy prestupnik (1964), by director Nikolai Rozantsev. From 1959 - 2003 Pokrovskaya was member of the troupe at Sovremennik Theatre in Moscow. There her stage partners were such actor as Oleg Efremov, Evgeniy Evstigneev, Galina Volchek, Viktor Sergachev, Anatoliy Romashin, Andrey Myagkov, Oleg Tabakov, Oleg Dal, Igor Kvasha, Valentin Gaft and other notable Russian actors. Her most memorable stage performances at Sovremennik were in such plays as 'Starshaya sestra' (aka.. The older sister), 'Valentin i Valentina', and 'Krytoi marshrut' (aka.. Tough road). Since 2004 Alla Pokrovskaya has been a permanent member of the troupe at Moscow Art Theatre (MKhAT) named after A. Chekhov. There her stage partners are such renown Russian actors as Oleg Tabakov, Kira Golovko, Iya Savvina, Elena Panova, Darya Moroz, Olga Litvinova, Natalya Rogozhkina, Ekaterina Semyonova, Olga Yakovleva, Evgeniya Dobrovolskaya, Anastasiya Voznesenskaya, Irina Miroshnichenko, Kristina Babushkina, Aleksei Agapov, Andrey Myagkov, Stanislav Lyubshin, Vladimir Kashpur, Viktor Sergachyov, Vyacheslav Nevinnyy, Evgeniy Kindinov, Vladimir Krasnov, Dmitriy Nazarov, Sergey Sazontev, Avangard Leontev, Igor Vasilev, Igor Vernik, Sergei Sosnovsky, Mikhail Porechenkov, Konstantin Khabenskiy, Valeri Khlevinsky, Valeriy Troshin, Mikhail Trukhin, Eduard Chekmazov, Aleksey Kravchenko, and Evgeniy Mironov among others. Her best known stage appearances include her roles in such classic plays as Saltykov-Shchedrin's 'Gospoda Golovlevy' and in Maxim Gorky's Meshchane opposite Andrey Myagkov and Kristina Babushkina, among other actors. Alla Pokrovskaya was designated People's Actress of Russia. She is professor at the Moscow Art Theatre School of Acting, as well as at Stanislavski acting school at Kembridge, UK, and at post-graduate course at Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburg, USA. In 1998 she received the Stanislavski Award for excellence in teaching. Alla Pokrovskaya was married to actor Oleg Efremov; their son, Mikhail Efremov, is an actor. Pokrovskaya is living and working in Moscow, Russia.