Tatiana Samoilova

Tatiana Samoilova was a Russian actress who became an international star in the 1950s and 60s through her roles in Soviet films like The Cranes Are Flying, Letter Never Sent, and Anna Karenina. Her performance in The Cranes Are Flying earned her a special mention at the Cannes Film Festival. She was slim, with brown hair and brown eyes, and her beauty and screen presence led some to call her "the Soviet Audrey Hepburn."

Born in St. Petersburg in 1934, Samoilova died in 2014 at the age of 80. During her career, she received several awards, including being named a People's Artist of Russia in 1993 and a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2007 Moscow Film Festival. She had several major roles in the 1960s before disappearing from public life, but she made a comeback in the 2000s.

While promoting The Cranes Are Flying, Samoilova met Pablo Picasso, who predicted she would soon be driving through Hollywood. She did receive offers from Hollywood and other foreign film industries, but the Soviet government forbade her from accepting them because she was still a student. That prediction remained unfulfilled, but her legacy as a celebrated actress endures.