Jeanna Friske

Her father Vladimir Kopylov (later known as Vladimir Friske) is of German descent; his mother Paulina Friske was born to a Black Sea German family in the Odessa Oblast in the then Soviet Union. She graduated from secondary school No. 406, Perovo District, Moscow, in 1991. She studied journalism at Moscow University, but abandoned it.[2]

Friske's common-law husband was Russian singer and television personality Dmitry Shepelev. They announced via Friske's official Web site on 7 April 2013 that Friske had given birth in Miami, Florida to a son.[3]

She first became famous when she joined the band Blestyashchie in 1996, which she left in 2003 to embark on a solo career as a singer, actress and occasional model. She was best known for her roles in such films as Night Watch and Day Watch as Alisa Donnikova. A 20-minute love scene involving Friske was edited from Day Watch by the director, Timur Bekmambetov, the last installment of the trilogy, Final Watch.

Her most successful single was "Я была/Ya byla/I Was", which reached the top of the Russian charts; her album was also a major success reaching the top in all Russian-speaking countries. In 1996, she started her creative career by joining the singing group Blestyashchiye which recorded four solo albums and issued 3 solo programs for their fans. In 2003 she took part in the reality show The last hero-4 up to its final moment. Immediately after returning from that island shooting she announced her withdrawal from Blestyashchiye to begin a solo career. In 2005, she participated again in the reality show The last hero-5.

In 2008, she skated with Vitaly Novikov and Maxim Marinin in Ice Age 2. On 4 October 2005, her first solo album was released under the name of Jeanna. Some of the songs have been released as music videos: I am Flying Into the Darkness, La–La-La, Somewhere in Summer.

She appeared in Night Watch (2004) as Alisa Donnikova. Although most of her scenes were cut, she had a more prominent role in the sequel, Day Watch, and appeared on its posters. She performed many stunts. She played herself in the film What Men Talk About (2010), a performance of the popular play Conversations of the middle-aged men by the Kvartet I. She played a major part in the detective story Who am I?, released in 2010.[4]

She also performed the Russian voice for Holley Shiftwell in Pixar's Cars 2.

On 20 January 2014,[5] her husband, Dmitry Shepelev, announced via Friske's website that Friske had been diagnosed with cancer.[6]

Other sites reported that Friske had been diagnosed with a stage IV glioblastoma, a malignant brain tumor.[7] She was diagnosed with cancer two months prior to giving birth to her child. She was offered chemotherapy during her pregnancy but she refused treatment to save her baby.

In April 2014 she gave birth to a son.[5] Her cancer worsened, and, on 15 June 2015, she died at age 40.[8]

Albums

• Zhanna (2005)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Zhanna Friske.

• Jeanna Friske at IMDb
• Official Website of Jeanna Friske
• Russian Actors Website
• Jeanna Friske at the Forbes
• Jeanna Friske discography at Discogs