Biography

Galina Jovovich is a Russian-American actress and the mother of Milla Jovovich.

She was born Galina Loginova in 1950 in Russia, Tuapse, Soviet Union. Her father was a Red Army officer; her mother was a homemaker. Her parents divorced and she was raised by a single mother. She studied acting in Dnepropetrovsk, then moved to Moscow and attended the prestigious acting school at VGIK (Soviet State Institute of Cinematography). In 1971, while still a student, she made her film debut in the popular TV series 'Teni ischezayut v polden'. In 1972, she graduated from VGIK as an actress, from the master-class of V. Belokurov. She worked on stage as well as in film and on television in the Soviet Union. Her most notable works were such roles as Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing (1973), a film adaptation of Shakespeare's 'Much Ado About Nothing', and as Molly in criminal drama Milliony Ferfaksa (1981).

In 1973, she left Moscow and returned to Ukraine on assignment as a staff actress with Dovzhenko Film studio in Kiev. In a popular Ukrainian restaurant there, 'Libed,' she met Serbian medical doctor Bogdan Jovovich, and they fell in love. At that time she was interrogated by KGB officers who threatened to destroy her career and demanded that she quit her romance with a foreigner. However, Galina Loginova and Bogdan Jovovich got married, and on 17 December 1975, in Kiev, their daughter Milla Jovovich was born.

In 1980, Galina Loginova-Jovovich and her family emigrated from the Soviet Union. The Soviet authorities immediately banned all Galina Loginova- Jovovich films so she could not have any income from her works made in the Soviet Union. For a few years she lived with her family in London, England, then they moved to Sacramento, California, United States and finally settled in Los Angeles. There Galina invested all her talent and energy in raising her daughter Milla. During the 1980s she also worked as a housekeeper in the home of Hollywood director Brian De Palma. Eventually she became her daughter's agent and was instrumental in building her successful career. She also played in several Russian and American films during the 2000s.
- IMDb mini biography by: Steve Shelokhonov