The People's Artist, famous Soviet and Russian actress Tatyana Samoilova passed away on Sunday night, May 5, Russian Guild of Cinema Actors reports.

      The public mourning ceremony will take place on May 7 in the House of Cinema in Moscow. Samoilova is to be buried at the Novodevichye cemetery in Moscow.

      Sergey Lazarchuk, the first vice-president of the Russia's Union of Cinematographers, told the press that Samoilova had been taken to the hospital on her 80th birthday, May 4. According to some information, Samoilova suffered from ischemia and hypertension.

      Tatyana Samoilova was born on 4 May 1934 in Leningrad (St. Petersburg currently), then moved to Moscow with her family. Samoilova graduated from Stanislavski and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Academic Music Theatre's ballet school and from Boris Shchukin Theatre Institute in 1956.

      Samoilova was propelled to stardom in 1957, when she played the leading role of Veronika in "The Cranes Are Flying". The film was an international success, winning the Palme d'Or at Cannes and a special prize for Samoilova. She received an "Orange Tree" prize from the jury as "the most modest and charming actress".

      Tatyana Samoilova also played the leading role of Anna Karenina the 1967 Soviet version of Tolstoy's novel. She is famous by her roles in "The Unsent Letter" (1959), "Italiani brava gente" (1965), "Moscow Saga" (2004) and many other movies. In 1993, she was named a People's Artist of Russia.