Her creative biography is full of conflicts with colleagues.
Natalia Selezneva is remembered as the big-eyed actress from Leonid Gaidai's comedies. In 2025, the beloved character of Shurik's good girl Lida turned 80, but age has no power over the celebrity, who, despite her reclusiveness, remains a light and radiant person.
Actress Natalia Selezneva, details of her personal life, and interesting facts about the performer of the role of good girl Lida, which you may not have known - in this material.
The admissions committee saw the actress Natalia Selezneva's talent during the entrance exams, and then the teachers convinced the student that she was a comedic artist. Therefore, despite her dramatic talent, the choice of further direction in work for Natalia Igorevna was obvious. Selezneva joined the Satire Theater and remained loyal to its stage for six decades.
The star hour in cinema for the actress came after the role of good girl Lida. Natalia Selezneva got the role in Gaidai's comedy while studying at the theater university. Later, several bright characters were associated with the director's name, including the "boyar" who was "beautifully lovely" from the project "Ivan Vasilyevich Changes Profession" and Tanya in "It Can't Be!"
The most beloved role in cinema turned out to be that of museum employee Sasha in Gleb Panfilov's film "Tema." Actress Natalia Selezneva admitted that it was not about the role, but about the interesting filming. Her co-stars included Inna Churikova, Yevgeny Vesnik, and Mikhail Ulyanov. The Vakhtangov actors were role models, and the director urged them to trust their intuition, and this phrase became a spiritual testament for the performer.
Her favorite television role turned out to be the image of Mrs. Katarina from "Cabaret '13 Chairs.'" The heroine was considered a trendsetter, which cost actress Natalia Selezneva a lot of nerves, as she was fined for overly daring outfits.
Natalia Igorevna considers herself a conservative person. The celebrity remained faithful to one theater, and in the "marital status" section, there was only one stamp. Even her perfume, as the artist admitted in 2025, had not changed for 40 years.
Moreover, the celebrity remained loyal to the football club CSKA. The actress Natalia Selezneva began to support the army team in her youth. She transitioned from basketball to hockey and then to football. The actress compared players to actors and fans to viewers.
Natalia Igorevna enjoyed attending home matches, where she cheered beautifully and without negative emotions. She perceived her favorite team's defeats philosophically and reminded herself that life is a game.
By the way, the CSKA football players were considered family by actress Natalia Selezneva. The club always congratulated the star on her birthday and other holidays. In the celebrity's home collection, there are items with the army team's symbols, including those with the surname Selezneva.
For more than half a century, Natalia Selezneva was alongside her husband Vladimir Andreev. The love story of the spouses began on the set of the fairy tale "Kalif-Aist," where Natalia Igorevna played the princess, and her future husband played the prince.
At the time of their first meeting, Andreev was married to Natalia Arkhangelskaya. Their relationship lasted seven years, and a month before their acquaintance, the couple legalized their relationship. However, love at first sight turned the artists' personal lives upside down.
Selezneva and Andreev tried to resist their forbidden feelings and agreed not to meet, but they managed to keep their distance for only a week. Then love proved stronger than conventions, and the lovers got married. The marriage lasted 52 years. In this relationship, their son Yegor Andreev was born. No more children appeared in the family.
Later, Natalia Igorevna was tormented by pangs of conscience and believed that life's trials were the price for love. Over the years, the feeling of guilt dulled, as the marriage with Andreev turned out well, and the couple shared similar views on life.
Half a Kingdom for Pushkin
Another man with whom actress Natalia Selezneva was ready to give half a kingdom for communication was Alexander Pushkin. Her fascination with the poet began with "The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish." During her student years, she bought a collection of the poet's works for 28 rubles with her entire scholarship.
In difficult times, these works became a salvation. After suffering from a coronavirus infection that affected her memory, the actress relearned "Eugene Onegin" and was proud that she succeeded.
Grievance Against Varley
In one interview, the actress shared her grievance against Natalia Varley, who accused director Leonid Gaidai of harassment during the filming of "The Caucasian Captive" in her book "The Tightrope Walker."
Actress Natalia Selezneva denied her colleague's accusations and shared a story from a trip to Cyprus. Natalia Igorevna admitted that one night the director persistently knocked on her door and asked to be let into her room. The actress refused for a long time but then yielded to his requests. It turned out that the director wanted to borrow "a bottle of cognac" and had no other intentions in mind.
Natalia Igorevna was offended by her colleague and believed that betraying the memory of the genius director was sacrilege. Selezneva also noted that if Gaidai had harassed actresses, she would have been the first.
Monuments During Life
The list of interesting facts about actress Natalia Selezneva continues with six monuments that appeared during her lifetime.
A plaster sculpture of good girl Lida along with Shurik is installed in Karelia, near a school in the city of Landenpohja. Monuments also appeared near the Economic Institute in Moscow, in Ryazan, Prokopyevsk, and Krasnodar. The most original and ambiguous was the fiberglass monument in the village of Yutanovka in the Belgorod region.
Conflict with Tatyana Peltzer
Actress Natalia Selezneva got into cinema thanks to Agnia Barto, who was the screenwriter for the film "Alyosha Ptitsyn Forms Character." As a result, after meeting the young performer, Agnia Lvovna insisted that Selezneva be cast in the project.
The screenwriter was urged to abandon this idea since a third of the film had already been shot. But the authoritative Barto insisted on her own.
Earlier, Tatyana Peltzer had been included in the cast, playing the girl's grandmother. A different actress, Valentina Sperantova, was found for the new performer, and Peltzer lost her role.
Later, when Natalia Selezneva came to serve in the Satire Theater, Peltzer became resentful of the young colleague and did not forgive the actress for losing the role.
Relationship with Alexander Demyanenko
Actress Natalia Selezneva knew how to be friends with her colleagues. On the set of the film "Operation 'Y' and Other Adventures of Shurik," the performer met Alexander Demyanenko. The experienced colleague was a taciturn and introspective person. At that time, it was not possible to establish friendly relations.
In the mid-90s, Alexander Sergeyevich was losing his sight and was left without work. During this difficult period, Natalia Igorevna extended a helping hand to her colleague. As a result, thanks to the actress's efforts, Demyanenko underwent surgery on his retinal eye. After that, Selezneva suggested they work together at creative evenings and meetings. Ultimately, in the last years of Alexander Sergeyevich's life, the artists became friends.
Health Problems
Vladimir Andreev passed away on August 29, 2020. The actress experienced her husband's death painfully. Natalia Igorevna temporarily refused to communicate with journalists and withdrew into herself.
In recent years, the celebrity faced health problems. In 2018, the actress broke her femoral neck, requiring a long recovery. After the coronavirus infection, complications arose that affected her joints.
For the last two years, Natalia Igorevna has remained a recluse in an apartment with a view of the Kremlin, where Catherine Furtseva once lived, and rarely leaves home. In 2023, a performance featuring the actress took place. Selezneva appeared on stage in an office chair and, after surgery to replace her knee and hip joints, was unable to stand for a bow. The media reported on the celebrity's rheumatoid arthritis.
In a 2024 interview with the publication "KP," Natalia Igorevna denied rumors about a wheelchair and insisted that her legs work. Now actress Natalia Selezneva occasionally appears on television, and viewers freeze in front of their screens, admiring the incredibly feminine, big-eyed, and smiling star, over whom time has no power.
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