is a Soviet and Russian film, stage and voice actress who received the title of People's Artist of Russia in 1994. She received two Nika Awards as the best supporting actress and the 2014 Nika Honorary Prize.
Akhedzhakova was born in Dnepropetrovsk (modern-day Dnipro, Ukraine). She grew up in a theatrical family in Maykop. Her step father, Medzhid Salehovich Akhedzhakov (1914–2012), was a Circassian nobleman[1] who served as the Principal Director of the National Theatre of the Republic of Adygea. Her mother, Yuliya Alexandrovna Akhedzhakova (1916–1990), was also an actress at the same drama theatre. At the age of 10, when her mother and aunt were suffering from tuberculosis, she wrote a letter to Joseph Stalin with a request for help. In response, a rare drug was delivered to her family.
In 1956 she entered the Moscow Institute of Nonferrous Metals and Gold where she studied for eighteen months. She first appeared on stage in 1961 at Moscow Youth Theatre. In 1962, she graduated from Lunacharsky State Institute for Theatre Arts (GITIS). Her first film appearance was in Ishchu cheloveka (1973) (Russian: Looking for a Man). Her debut in this drama was awarded several prizes at international film festivals in Locarno, Switzerland and Varna, Bulgaria. In 1977 she joined the Sovremennik Theatre. In 1986 she played four main roles in the play Apartment Columbine directed by Roman Viktyuk.
As a film actress Liya Akhedzhakova became widely known due to her roles in Eldar Ryazanov's films, including Tania in The Irony of Fate (1975), Verochka in Office Romance (1977), Malaeva in The Garage (1979), and Fima in Promised Heaven (1991). In the 2000 film Old Hags she played alongside her stepfather.
