Lyudmila Markovna Gurchenko[a] (12 November 1935 – 30 March 2011, née Gurchenkova)[b] was a Soviet and Russian actress, singer and entertainer.

[2][3][4] Before World War II they lived in a single room apartment on the ground floor at Mordvinovsky Lane No.

Gurchenko spent a part of her childhood with her mom during the time of the German occupation of USSR in her native city, while her father joined the army and, together with his concert brigade, survived the war.

After the withdrawal of the German Army from Kharkiv, Gurchenko auditioned for the local Beethoven Music School, where she performed the song About Vitya Cherevichkin with gestures, after which she was accepted as an acting student.

At age 21, after starring in Eldar Ryazanov's 1956 directorial debut, the musical Carnival Night, Gurchenko overnight achieved fame as well as celebrity status.

Throughout the next two years she toured the entire country with her Carnival Night-inspired musical numbers, attracting crowds of fans.

She became the target of highly critical articles in several influential Soviet periodicals, including Tap Dance to the Left (Чечетка налево, Komsomolskaya Pravda, 1957, [1]) and Dositheos Morals (Досифеевские нравы, Ogoniok, 1958, [2], devoted to her financial wrongdoing and her alleged lack of patriotism.