Klara Rumyanova

Klara Rumyanova was a famous Soviet and Russian voice actress and singer, who became the first pop singer to be awarded the prestigious title of People's Artist of the USSR in 1965. Her childlike and endearing voice was easily recognized by generations of Soviet people from their early childhood, because she voiced numerous Russian animated films and sang countless children's songs. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union her songs have been heard even more, because of numerous releases of compact discs and tapes of children's songs from cartoons of the Soyuzmultfilm studio. She also played roles in several films, such as The Rural Doctor, They Were the First, and The Twelve Chairs. She was born in Leningrad in 1929, and moved to Moscow in 1947, where she entered VGIK and studied under Sergei Gerasimov and Tamara Makarova. She discovered her ability to speak with a high-pitched voice after recovering from a serious illness that left her voiceless for half a year. She became an actress of the National Film Actors' Theatre and started working at the Soyuzmultfilm studio in 1962. She voiced many famous characters, such as Cheburashka, Hare from Well, Just You Wait!, Ellie from The Wizard of Oz, and Malysh from Junior and Karlson. She also sang many popular songs, such as "Clouds - White Horses", "Song of the Mammoth", and "Song of the Fears". She died of heart failure in 2004, and was buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow.