Sholpan Zhandarbekova

Sholpan Isabekyzy Zhandarbekova (1 January 1922 - 14 September 2005) was a Kazakh actress and teacher. People's Artist of the USSR (1982).

Early life and education
Sholpan Zhandarbekova was born on January 1, 1922 (according to other sources, on January 2, 1923) in Milibulak village, now Karkaralyn district, Karaganda region, Kazakhstan. In 1942, she graduated from the Theater and Art School in Alma-Ata.

Career
Since 1941, Zhandarbekova was an actress at the Mukhtar Auezov Kazakh Drama Theater, where she worked until the end of her life. Zhandarbekova played more than 200 roles.

Since 1968, Zhandarbekova has been engaged in teaching activities. Since 1978, she has taught Actor's Mastery at T.K. Zhurgenov Kazakh National Academy of Arts, thereby significantly contributing to the training of future theater artists. She became a Professor in 1982.

Zhandarbekova acted in movies. She worked with film director Shaken Aymanov. For 17 years, she was the head of the local committee in the Mukhtar Auezov Kazakh Drama Theater. For ten years, Zhandarbekova was a military chief in the Almaty region, twice elected as a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the Kazakh SSR.

Sholpan Zhandarbekova died on September 14, 2005 in Almaty. She is buried at the Kensai Cemetery.

Family

 * Husband - Zhandarbekov Kurmanbek (1904-1973) - theater and film actor, director, and singer. People's Artist of the Kazakh SSR (1936).
 * Daughters Aktoti and Botha and son Akkozi.

Awards and honors

 * Honored Artist of the Kazakh SSR (1945)
 * People's Artist of the Kazakh SSR (1959)
 * People's Artist of the USSR (1982)
 * State Prize of the Kazakh SSR (1980) — for the role of Azhar in the play Stronger than Death by Saken Zhunusov
 * Order of the Red Banner of Labour, twice
 * Order of Otan (2005)
 * Medal "For Distinguished Labour"
 * Four Certificates of Honor of the Supreme Soviet of the Kazakh SSR.

Filmography

 * 1945 - Abai Route - Magysh
 * 1954  - Daughter of the Steppes - Ziyada
 * 1954  - A Poem about Love - Bayan Sulu
 * 1962  - Crossroads

Commemoration
In 2013, a memorial plaque was opened in honor of Sholpan Zhandarbekova on the wall of house No. 42 on Zhambyla Street in Almaty, where she lived.