Era Garafovna Ziganshina was born on February 1, 1944, in Kazan,
Tatarstan, USSR. From 1960-1963 she studied acting at Shchukin Theatre
School in Moscow, then she studied acting with
Georgi Tovstonogov at the Leningrad
Institute of Theatre, Music, and Cinematography and graduated as an
actress in 1965.
Since 1965 Ziganshina has been a permanent member of the troupe at
Lenkom Theatre in Leningrad, now Theatre Baltiysky Dom in St.
Petersburg, Russia. During the 1990's she enjoyed successful
performances at the Theatre of
Roman Viktyuk in Moscow, and also played
on stage at various theatres in Moscow and St. Petersburg and toured
about Russia. Her stage partners were such actors as
Roman Gromadskiy,
Igor Dmitriev,
Tatyana Piletskaya,
Alla Balter,
Irina Konopatskaya, Klavdiya Belova,
Nadezhda Maltseva,
Regina Lialeikite,
Natalya Popova, Nataliya
Nesterova,
Yulian Panich,
Emmanuil Vitorgan,
Aleksandr Slastin,
Igor Tikhonenko,
Vladimir Tykke,
Petr Shelokhonov, and other notable
Russian actors.
Era Ziganshina was designated the title of People's Artist of Russia.
She was awarded the Stanislavsky State Prize of Russia in 1997. Era
Ziganshina teaches an acting class in St. Petersburg, Russia.