Inna Churikova was born on October 5, 1943. She studied at the Shchepkin Higher Theater School, where she was a student of L. Volkov and L. Tsygankov. She graduated in 1965. She achieved her first major cinematic successes by playing in Panfilov's films A Ford in the Fire and The Beginning.
From 1975 she acted at the Lenkom Theater. She played in Ivanov, The Optimist Tragedy, Three Girls in Blue. In Hamlet she played the role of Ophelia in Tarkovsky's production and that of Gertrude in Panfilov's production. She will also play several roles from the classical Russian repertoire, including Mamaeva in Ostrovsky's The Wise Man, Arkadina in Chekhov's The Seagull.
Having become the wife of Gleb Panfilov, she played one of the main roles in all of his fiction films with the exception of The Romanovs, a Crowned Family, for which she is co-writer.
Inna Churikova is a People's Artist of the Soviet Union and a laureate of the national prizes of the Soviet Union and Russia.