Born on August 27, 1896 in Taganrog.
She graduated from the Taganrog Mariinsky Women's Gymnasium. She was interested in theater since the age of 14. After graduating from high school, she took classes at the private theater studio of A. Jagiello (A.N. Govberg).
In 1915, she left for Moscow. Ranevskaya lived in a small room on Bolshaya Nikitskaya. It was during these years that she met Marina Tsvetaeva, Osip Mandelstam, Vladimir Mayakovsky and had her first acquaintance with Vasily Kachalov.
Since 1915 - actress in theaters of the Moscow region, Crimea, Rostov-on-Don, Arkhangelsk, Smolensk and other cities.
1918 - 1923 - Simferopol City Theater.
1923-1924 - Kazan Theaters.
In 1929-1930 she was an actress at the Baku Workers' Theater.
In 1931-1935 she was an actress at the Chamber Theater.
In 1935-1939 she was an actress at the Central Theater of the Red Army.
From 1943 to 1949 she was an actress at the Drama Theater (now the Vl. Mayakovsky Theater).
In 1949-1955 and In 1963-1984 she was an actress at the Moscow Academic Mossovet Theatre.
From 1955 to 1963 she was an actress at the Moscow A.S. Pushkin Theatre.
She made her film debut in 1934 in Mikhail Romm's film "Pyshka".
She participated in the dubbing of cartoons (Miss Bock in "Karlson is Back").
Honored Artist of the RSFSR (1937).
People's Artist of the RSFSR (1947).
People's Artist of the USSR (03.03.1961).
She died on July 19, 1984 in Moscow after a heart attack and pneumonia. The actress is buried at the Donskoye cemetery in the capital (section 4).
In her hometown of Taganrog, a street is named after the actress, a monument was erected to her, and a memorial plaque was placed on the house where she was born.
The editorial board of the English encyclopedia "Who is Who" included her in the top ten most outstanding actresses of the 20th century (1992).
