Vera Alentova, 1942 – 2025

Russian actress Vera Alentova, 83, died on Dec. 25. She was best-known for her starring role in the 1980 film Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears, which won a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. Born to show people, Alentova attended the Moscow Art Theater School and acted with the Moscow Pushkin Drama Theater. She married director Vladimir Menshov (who helmed Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears). Between 1966 and 2023, Alentova appeared in more than 30 movies and TV series (she costarred on TV in Samara-Gorodok, Balzakovskiy Vozrast, ili Vse Muzhiki svo..., and I Vsyo-Taki ya Lyublyu...). She specialized in playing midlife women with career and love problems (think mid-career Crawford or Davis). Her daughter, Yuliya Menshova, is also an actress.