Biography

Antonina Nikolaevna Shuranova was one of three sisters raised by a single mother. Her father, named Nikolai Shuranov, was a Navy officer; he died when she was 3 years old. Her mother moved with three daughters to Leningrad just before the beginning of the siege of Leningrad during the Second World War. The Shuranovs were lucky because they were evacuated out of Leningrad at the very beginning of the siege. They returned to Leningrad after the end of WWII.

Young Shuranova was fond of art. She studied painting at children's studio at the Hermitage Museum in Leningrad (St. Petersburg). There she had her first acting experience at the Hermitage Theatre. During the 1950's she studied at Leningrad Horticultural College; after graduation she worked at the Leningrad Department of Parks and Gardens for three years. From 1958-1962 Shuranova studied at the Leningrad Institute of Theatre, Music, and Cinematography with professor Tatiana Soinikova, and graduated with honors as an actress.

From 1962-1988 she was a permanent member of the Bryantsev Theatre for Young Audience in St. Petersburg. There she worked with the renown theatrical director Zinovi Korogodsky. During the 1960's and 1970's she was at the height of her film career. In 1976, Shuranova left her husband, a medical doctor, and married her stage partner actor Aleksandr Khochinsky. Their home at Pokrovsky area in St. Petersburg was an informal meeting place for the St. Petersburg cultural milieu.

Shuranova shot to fame in 1966 after her film debut as Princess Mariya opposite Anatoli Ktorov in War and Peace (1965) by director Sergey Bondarchuk. She made a remarkable performance as Nadezhda von Mekk opposite Innokentiy Smoktunovskiy in _Chaikovskiy (1969)_. Shuranova was designated the title of People's Artist of Russia (1980). She was awarded the "Golden Seashell" for her role in Unfinished Piece for the Player Piano (1977). She played over 20 roles in film and television, and also played over 50 roles on stage.

From 1995-2003 Shuranova was a permanent member of the troupe at Theatre of Satire on Vasilevsky in St. Petersburg. Her last work on stage was her remarkable performance in the role of Vassa Zheleznova in the eponymous play by Maxim Gorky. Antonina Shuranova died on February 5, 2003, in St. Petersburg, Russia and was laid to rest in Serafimovskoe Cemetery in st. Petersburg, Russia.
- IMDb mini biography by: Steve Shelokhonov

Antonina Shuranova is a Soviet and Russian theater and film actress. People's Artist of the Russian SFSR.

During her school years, she attended a young naturalists' club at the zoo. In addition, she attended art history classes at the Hermitage. She took singing lessons. After the seventh grade, she decided to go to technical school. After technical school, she worked as a gardener in the Vyborg district for three years. However, Antonina's dream of the theater did not leave her. And she decided to enter the theater. She entered the Leningrad Theater Institute named after Aleksandr Ostrovskiy on the first try, which she graduated from in 1962. After graduating from the university, she accepted invitation to work at the Youth Theater.

She made her film debut in 1961. Her first notable role was Princess Marya Bolkonskaya in Sergey Bondarchuk's film War and Peace (1965). Among her best works in cinema is the role of Anna Petrovna Voynitseva in Nikita Mikhalkov's film Unfinished Piece for the Player Piano (1977).
- IMDb mini biography by: Tango Papa