These awards, merits, recognition of millions, the actress of theater and cinema Alentova will receive later, having passed for this a difficult and thorny path. Meanwhile, in the family of actors living in Kotlas, the Arkhangelsk region, a girl named Vera was born, on February 21, 1942. The father died when the girl was 4 years old, and she and her mother went to Ukraine.
The childhood of the Faith, like all post-war children, was not easy: there was not enough food, various delicacies, sweets, children's toys, clothes - were in short supply, they were replaced by cardboard toys that Irina Nikolaevna mum carved, and from clothes - the only flannel dress made of mother's dressing gown. .. With housing at that time, things also were very difficult, and the Alentov family lived in the basement of the make-up theater, where daylight did not even hit. My mother worked hard, Vera went to kindergarten, to school and was often left to herself. Loneliness did not frighten her at all, for she learned very early what a real life was, full of hardship. Despite the difficult time in the country, the Faith was always saved by her fantasy. Her passion for dancing, dressing up, writing fairy tales, setting them in kindergartens with children - all this embodiment of her imagination, an early manifestation of her creative nature, helped her to quickly gain attention, interest of children who undoubtedly considered her a leader and literally worshiped for those fairy tales, which she invented and played with them, because they had wizards, beautiful princesses and knights, as well as evil forces that prevented the victory of Good. But the Good has always won, unfortunately, it has not always been the case with Vera in her adult life ..
As it usually happens in acting families, the family of Vera (her mother got married a second time) often moved: she went to school in Ukraine, then studied in Uzbekistan, graduated from school in Altai. After school in Barnaul, she decided to enter a medical institute, but because of an irresistible desire to become an actress, Vera secretly from the mother enters the position of an actress at the Barnaul Drama Theater, where her mother worked at that time. Of course, medicine was forgotten forever, and Vera felt like a real Cinderella, who finally found herself in a fairy tale. When the mother found out the "secret" of her daughter, covered by her stepfather (also an actor), a scandal broke out at home. Irina Nikolayevna was not at all against the choice of the profession of the Faith, she did not tolerate amateur work on the professional stage. Mom decided that her daughter should go to Moscow and enter the theater institute to become a professional actress. But with all this, the mother wanted her daughter to work on real, uncreative work, so she sent her daughter to work at the Barnaul melange factory, as a laborer, and a year later Vera went to conquer Moscow, just like her heroine Katya Tikhomirova ..
In 1961, the future actress entered the School-Studio. IN AND. Nemirovich-Danchenko at the Moscow Art Theater. Already in the second year she marries a student of Vladimir Menshov, with whom they are married to this day. Teachers were shocked by this act of a young and promising actress. Student Men'shov was considered at that time unpromising, all teachers believed that he would ruin the career of Alentov, and it turned out just the opposite ...
In 1965, after graduating from a school-studio, Vera Valentinovna went to work as an actress at the Moscow Pushkin Theater. A young, emotional, energetic, talented woman with a strong character quickly fell in love with the audience and was literally created for such roles as Yevlaliya after the play by A.Ostrovsky "The Slaves", for which the actress received a diploma of the 1st degree of Ostrovsky, the performance "I am a woman "In which Alentova brilliantly played her heroine Masha, as a result of which the performance gained immense popularity among Moscow theatergoers and it was impossible to get a ticket for him. In the 80s there were other, no less significant works of Faith in the theater: "Chocolate soldier", "Treasure", "Robbers", etc. These theatrical performances allowed the young actress to return to the world of her childhood fantasies, it was at the Alentova Theater that she opened all her talents, showed the sensuality of nature, exposing his soul to the audience. In the movie, Vera's debut took place in 1966 as Lydia in the film "Flight Days". In 1976, a nine-part film "Such a short long life" appeared on TV screens, which is one of the most interesting works of the actress. In this one of the first series shows the life of the heroine of Nastia, who lost her child, survived the war, found a new uneasy happiness - 20 years of life in just nine series. Alentova was never afraid of difficult roles, where it was necessary to show emotions, pain, suffering, love and hatred - after all it was tempered by life itself, when she was still a child. A talented actress could not help but arouse the envy of her colleagues, but still they could not resist her ability to play when they completely did not recognize Vera Valentinovna as Nastya.
With her film debut, the actress herself, like many TV viewers, considers the film "Moscow does not believe in tears" (1979), directed by Vera Valentinovna's husband Vladimir Menchov, who once, according to the assumptions of the teachers, could ruin the career of an aspiring actress. The film was released in 1980, it was bought by more than 100 countries, only in 1980, in our country it was watched by 90 million people. This was a tremendous success, which came after severe criticism from journalists, politicians and other figures. In the same year, Vera Alentova won the "San Michele" prize for the best female role at the international film festival in Brussels, and in 1981 she won the USSR State Prize, the film received an Oscar award - for such a stunning success they could not believe for a long time.
Its success is due not only to the talent of the director and the magnificent actors' play, but also to the 100% coincidence of the fate of the actress and her main character, Kati Tikhomirova. Both came to Moscow from provincial cities to succeed, to prove first of all to themselves that they were worth something, they both lived in hostels, went to their goal for a long time, both brought up their daughter. When in 1969 Alentova gave birth to her daughter Julia, they lived together in the dormitory of the Pushkin Theater. The husband Vladimir Menshov lived in another hostel, where he received a second higher education. The young state was not in a hurry to provide housing, which played its negative role in their relations. Menchov and Alentova officially divorced, the only thing that connected them is Yulia's daughter, whom her father could only see on weekends-to take her to the theater, the zoo, and restaurants.
Spouse Vera Valentinovna believes that it was the daughter who brought them together again, and the separation, which lasted for several years, only strengthened their marriage and made both spouses wiser. After "Moscow does not believe in tears," Menchov did not take off for a long time, and Alentova continued her work in the theater. In the main role, she appeared again in the mid-1990s in the eccentric comedy "Shirley-Myrli", but this picture did not arouse any fuss or stormy criticism. In 2000, the movie "Envy of the Gods" is being screened, which is discussed and condemned with great enthusiasm and with a huge share of negative malice. In this picture, Alentova plays Sonya, who is much younger than the actress herself, which does not prevent her from playing passionately and beautifully in frank scenes with a French journalist, who loves her madly.
Vera Alentova is always in good shape. To support the form of an actress (and the weight of a 20-year-old girl) it is not the fitness halls that helps her, but the real willpower. The actress is very attentive to her weight (the floor scales are an integral part of her interior), because for all her life she recovered only once - when she quit smoking, she learned a lesson from this. Get rid of excess weight helped Mom's advice: if you want to lose weight, eat one-third of what you've eaten all day, but do not starve. According to Vera Valentinovna, it is extremely difficult to smoke in a frame or in a theater and not to smoke in real life - only willpower helps.
After the film "Envy of the Gods", there were other works in the cinema, such as: "Mamuka" (2001), "Silver wedding" (2001), "Samara-town" (2004), "Balzac age or all men its .. »(2004-2007),« And still I love »(2007) and other films.
In addition to her career, Vera Valentinovna, she does not forget to cultivate herself. In the last time, the actress actively improves her computer skills - she wants to master the Internet in order to keep pace with the times. In parallel, he learns English, with the goal - to master it in perfection. French actress perfectly mastered in her student years, which helped her communicate with the French on the set of "Envy of the Gods." Faith by the same passionate driver - driving for 6 years. The first car - the Volga (its Vera called the tank) was bought for a fee from the hire "Moscow does not believe in tears," later, working in the theater of Leonid Trushkin, a more modern car was bought, because I had to travel on different sites.
To this day, Vera Alentova with her husband, live in a more modest (by the standards of domestic actors) apartment in the center of Moscow, near the Belorussian station. The Menshovs' family adored their dog, Gavryusha, whose recent death was experienced as a real tragedy. Men'shovs are very hospitable and are always very kind to their friends and colleagues. In their family there is an interesting feature - Vera performs male work at home: she is engaged in repair, design (the craving for which was manifested in childhood, when she came up with children's suits) apartments. And in the kitchen is always dominated by Vladimir. Men'shov was born in Baku, so he can cook deliciously and quickly, his wife calls him "culinary virtuoso". Yulia's daughter cooks well, like her father, but Vera, like her mother, has not mastered this art.
And the question arises: what is the secret of Vera Alentova's spiritual and physical youth? Why so much energy and love of life? Maybe it's in her philosophical attitude to her age, because at the age of 23 she believed that much had to be done. But with age she realized that she lives a beautiful life, because she already has these things, "great" not in the scale of the country, but within her life is a family, close and beloved work. And maybe because Alentova is a fatalist, who hopes not for chance, but for the fact that life itself will present surprises, and there is absolutely nothing to think about.
One thing is for certain, Vera Alentova is an example of a real strong woman (if you will, a real Russian woman) who lives in modern society, every day, proving to herself that she is an accomplished person who is not going to stop there, a woman without age who enjoys every day and sincerely loves what she has been doing all her life since her childhood ... That's it, Vera Alentova's personal life.