Born on June 18, 1931.
People's Artist of Russia.
In 1956 she graduated from the Leningrad Theatre Institute named after A.N.Ostrovsky. And she was invited to the troupe of the A. S. Pushkin Academic Drama Theater.
For 50 years on the stage of the Alexandrinsky Theatre, Galina Karelina played more than 60 roles of modern and classical repertoire, which were notable milestones in the theatrical history. Olga ("Years of wanderings" by A. Arbuzov, 1959), Poliksen ("Truth is good, and happiness is better" by A. Ostrovsky, 1959), Donna Anna in Pushkin's "Little Tragedies" (1962), Inken Peters in "Before the sunset" by G. Gauptman (1963), "Ordinary History" by I.A. Goncharov, 1965), "Inkhottov's" (" by Alexander, (1976), "A. "ov, "" by Olga, "ov, "" by Mikhailov, " (1976;;;) Do not count the heroines, our contemporaries, who happened during his creative life to play on the Alexandrina stage Galina Karelina. The actress was especially good at strong, domineering characters, for a restrained, slightly cold manner, her heroines were always guessed by a passionate, active nature, capable of subjugating circumstances and overcoming the blows of fate. These qualities are inherent in the actress herself, who does not lose an acute sense of time. In 1980, she was rightfully awarded the honorary title of “People’s Artist of the RSFSR”.
Galina Timofeevna Karelina belongs to a galaxy of remarkable masters of the Alexandrin scene, who are an example of selfless service to the profession, the theater that educated them and became a laboratory of constant creative search for them. In the 1990s, the talent and skill of the actress were in demand by modern avant-garde directing. The scandalous postmodern “Seagull” of Igor Larin (1996, Monplaisir Theatre) sounded like a kind of manifesto of the theatrical avant-garde of the 1990s, bringing the actress well-deserved success at many international theater festivals (Grand Prix of the International Theatre Festival “Piatra Neamts”, Romania, 1998). In this unusual experimental production, Galina Karelina played a generalized image of the Woman, which absorbed all the female roles of the play - from Nina Zarechna to Arkadina. In the inflamed consciousness of the main character, the heroine Galina Karelina appeared then as a vision of the World Soul, then a young lover, then mourning for her son, an all-forgiving mother, or then turned into a suddenly mocking, acting comedian, leading an endless dialogue with the “tyrant”-director. The creative union with Igor Larin continued in the play The Queen of Spades by A.S. Pushkin (1998, Theatre Monplaisir), where Galina Karelin grotesquely and acutely played the role of the infernal Countess. First, the stage will burst and freeze in the proud pose of the Countess in a satin cape and a pointed high wig of the XVIII century. To say about Countess Galina Karelina - "old woman" - the language does not turn. First of all, she is an aristocrat, hot-tempered and arrogant, it costs her nothing to whip a round-faced boy in a wig with a whip... At night, like a werewolf, the countess will turn into a laughing half-crazy old woman with grayish hair, who hides a doll behind her back, as a child shows her hands to Lisa: they say, there is nothing. (Helena Strogaleva. "Square anecdote"// PTZ No 17. 1999). For the role of Countess Galina Karelin was awarded the prize "for the best female role" at the International Festival "Christmas Parade" (1999).
Beneficial was the role of Grandma in the play "Trees die standing" A. Kasony (2001, directed by Vladimir Golub). "Culmination scene - the heroine kicks out of the house the prodigal grandson who turned out to be a villain - the actress spends with such drama that in the hall reigns tense silence. Grandma does not cry, does not shed tears, she looks like a stone, even becomes shorter with grief. And when the decisive wave of the umbrella points to the grandson’s door, the hall explodes with sympathetic applause. (Helena Alekseeva. "Love in Argentine, die in Gascon" // St. Petersburg Gazette. 2001 No. 23, 6 February). An interesting work was also the role of Mrs. Sedley in the Vanity Fair (2002, directed by Alexander Belinsky).
Today in the repertoire of Galina Karelina the role of the old wise nanny - Anna-Maria in Ibsenovskaya "Nore" (directed by Alexander Galibin, 2005) and the role of mother Clara Olsufyevna in the play of Valery Fokin on the St. Petersburg poem by F. M. Dostoevsky "Double" (2005).
In 2006, Galina Karelina was awarded the Order of Friendship (Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 392 of April 17, 2006).