Distinguished Artist of Russia

Velyamonova graduated from the Leningrad State Theater Institute named after A. Ostrovsky in 1952 (Ye.I. Timeh’s course). Admitted to the Pushkin Theater right after the institute, she started to work on its stage while still a student. She was invited to play a bit part role of a young gypsy girl in “The Living Corpse” performance after L. Tolstoy. Surprisingly strong voice of the young actress, her sincere and inspired performing, stage temperament, beauty and charm immediately attracted attention to her. The old Gypsy song which her personage had been singing in the performance turned into culmination of the episode with gypsies. Later on, in 1954, Velyaminova impersonated Masha, one of the main characters, in the same “Living Corpse;” Nickolay Simonov, who played Fedor Protasov, was her partner on the stage.  

The talented actress became actively involved into a whole number of performances, entrusting her with bit part and major roles of the most various character – from lyrical to acute character and comedy roles. The ever-evading dream-girl Frazee Grant in the romantic A. Grin’s fairy tale “Running over the Waves” (1960),  strong and authoritative Qween Maria Tudor in the V. Hugo’s drama of the same name (1964),  circumspect and arrogant vulture Paula in the “Before the Sunset” by H. Hauptmann (1962),   Eurydice in Sophocles’ tragedy “Antigone” (1968), Kvashnya in M. Gorky’s play “The Lower Depths” (1973), Vasilisa the Wise in “Live and Remember” by V. Rasputin (1980), fearless captain’s wife in “The Captain’s Daughter” by A. Pushkin (1984) were among her personages. Luminous, perfect, stylish Vera Velyaminova has never been afraid to look funny, letting out her actor’s fantasies and inventing finely tuned drawing of the role for her characters. In “The Green Bird” by C. Gozzi (1976), directed by Nikolay Sheiko in the traditions of Italian comedy, the actress played Tartagliona.

The actress loves all her stage characters (and she had over seventy of those!); she endowed them with her charm and passion to life, never mind if this were the aristocratic Lady Jedburgh in Oscar Wild’s comedy “Lady Windermere's Fan” (1998), the old house keeper Fominishna in A. Ostrovsky’s comedy “Scratch My Back and I’ll Scratch Yours” (1990), the wicked Step-Mother in “Cinderella” (1988), or the little gang leader in the fairy tale “Dreading Woes Will Never Have Luck.” But the performance “Let’s Give a Bow to those Great Years” dedicated to the Great Patriotic War and presenting together war songs, front lyrics, fragments of the besiege diaries and memoirs of actors of the senior generation remains her most precious and important piece. Every time, a special confidential dialogue appears between the audience and the stage about the changing time, the memory, love and human benevolence.

In 2006, Vera Velyaminova was awarded with the the second degree Order “For Distinguished Service to the Motherland.”