Alisa Freindlich was born into the family of Bruno Freindlich, a prominent actor and People's Artist of the USSR. She is of German and Russian ancestry. Her father and paternal relatives were ethnic Germans living in Russia for more than a century. In her childhood years, Alisa Freindlich attended the drama and music classes of the LeningradPalace of Pioneers. During the Second World War she survived the 900-day-long Nazi siege of Leningrad and continued her school studies after the war. In the 1950s she studied acting at the Leningrad State Institute of Theatre, Music and Cinema, graduating in 1957 as actress. From 1957 to 1961 Alisa Freindlich was a member of the troupe at Komissarjevskaya Theatre in Leningrad. Then she joined the Lensovet Theatre company, but in 1982, she had to leave it following her divorce from the theatre's director, Igor Vladimirov. Thereupon director Georgy Tovstonogov invited her to join the troupe of BDT in which she works to this day. Although Freindlich put a premium on her stage career, she starred in several notable movies, including Eldar Ryazanov's enormously popular comedy Office Romance, the long-banned epic Agony and Tarkovsky's sci-fi movie Stalker. Another notable role was the Queen Anne of Austria in the Soviet TV series D'Artagnan and Three Musketeers and its later Russian sequels, Musketeers Twenty Years After and The Secret of Queen Anne or Musketeers Thirty Years After. On her 70th birthday, Freindlich's apartment in St. Petersburg was visited by Vladimir Putin, who awarded her with state decoration of the Russian Federation. She also received a Nika Award in 2005. As of 2019, Freindlich is performing in nine productions of the Bolshoi Drama in St. Petersburg, where she is a leading actress.
Order of Friendship – for services to the people associated with the development of Russian statehood, the achievements in labour, science, culture, arts, strengthening friendship and cooperation between nations
Russian Federation State Prize in Literature and Art in 1995 – for the outstanding performance of roles of the classical repertoire
Russian Federation State Prize in Literature and Art in 2000 – for the performance of the Russian State Academic Bolshoi Drama Theatre Tovstonogov "Arcadia" play by Tom Stoppard
Russian Federation State Prize, 2007 – for creating artistic images that have become classics of domestic theatrical art and film
Order of Meritfor the Fatherland, 3rd class – for outstanding contribution to the development of domestic theatrical art and many years of fruitful activity
Order of Merit for the Fatherland, 2nd class – for outstanding contribution to the development of domestic culture and arts and many years of fruitful activity
