Galina Viktorovna Belyaeva (Russian: Гали′на Ви′кторовна Беля′ева, born April 26, 1961) is a Soviet and Russian film and theatre actress, best known for her leading roles in A Hunting Accident (1977) and Anna Pavlova (1983). Galina Belyaeva, the Meritorious Artist of Russia (2003), has been one of the leading actresses at the Moscow Mayakovsky Theatre since 1983.
Galina Belyaeva was born in Irkutsk and spent her childhood years in Nevinnomyssk, Northern Caucasus, raised with her younger sister by a single mother, who worked at a local construction site. At age thirteen she went to Voronezh to study classical ballet at the Choreography College. It was there that she was spotted by the assistant of film director Emil Loteanu who was at the time looking for a teenage actress for the role of Olya Skvortsova in A Hunting Accident.
Belyayeva's performance next to Oleg Yankovsky earned her critical acclaim and an epithet 'Russian Audrey Hepburn'. Yankovsky stated later that it was her presence that imparted the film its unique, haunting atmosphere. During the shooting Belyaeva became romantically involved with Loteanu, who two years later married the 18-year-old actress.