Jeanna Vladimirovna Friske (Russian: Жанна Владимировна Фриске) (8 July 1974 – 15 June 2015), better known under her stage name Zhanna Friske, was a Russian film actress, singer, and socialite.

Family

Her father Vladimir Friske is of German descent; his mother was born to a Volga German family in the former Volga German Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in the Soviet Union. Her mother is part Ural Cossack ancestry. Her family lives today in Moscow.

Jeanna graduated in 1991 from secondary school No. 406, Perovo District, Moscow, where she participated in amateur art activities. She was fond of ballet and rhythmic gymnastics since her childhood. She studied journalism at Moscow University, but abandoned it.

Friske's common-law husband is Russian singer and television personality Dmitry Shepelev. They announced via Friske's official Web site on April 7, 2013 that Friske had given birth in Miami, Florida to a boy which the couple named Platon (Платон).

Career

She first became famous when she joined the all-girl pop singing group Blestyashchie in 1996, and left in 2003 to embarked on a solo career as a singer, actress, and occasional model, and keeps enjoying strong media interest.

Internationally Friske is known for her roles in the films Night Watch and Day Watch as Alisa Donnikova. Although the 20-minute love scene involving Friske was edited from Day Watch by the director, Timur Bekmambetov, she will reappear in the last installment of the trilogy, Final Watch.

Her most successful single is "Я была / Ya byla / I Was", which reached the top of the Russian charts; her album was also a major success reaching the top of all Russian-speaking countries.

In 1996 she started her creative career by joining the singing group Blestyashchiye. Her younger sister Natalia participated in Blestyashchiye for some time as well [2]. Here Jeanna was quite popular both in Russia and abroad. Blestyashchiye members along with Jeanna have recorded 4 solo discs and issued 3 solo programs for its fans.

In 2003 she took part in the reality show The last hero-4 up to its final moment. Immediately after her returning from that island shooting she announced her withdrawal from Blestyashchiye to begin a solo career. In 2005 Janna participated again in the reality show The last hero-5. Afterwards she took part in such projects as The heart of Africa, The Empire, The circus starring, The Circus. In 2008 she skated with Vitaly Novikov and Maxim Marinin in the Ice Age 2 project.

On 4 October 2005 her first solo album was released under the name of Jeanna. Its sound producers were such persons as Andrey Grozny, composer and producer, and Sergey Kharuta. Some of the songs have been released as music videos: «Лечу в темноту» (Lechu v temnotu, "I am flying into the darkness"), «La–la-la», «Где-то летом» (Gde-to letom, "Somewhere in summer").

She acted in the movie Night Watch (2004) as Alice Donnikova, the witch and mistress of Zavulon, the principal character. Although most of her scenes were cut, she had a more prominent role in the sequel Day Watch, and appeared on its posters. She performed many stunts.

Jeanna played herself in the film What about the men are speaking of (2010), a performance of the popular play Conversations of the middle-aged men by the Kvartet-I.

Jeanna also played a major part in the detective story Who am I? to be released in Fall 2010. Jeanna Friske has been photographed for various glamour magazines such as Penthouse, Maxim and Elle. She appears frequently in society columns though she guards her privacy from journalists. Jeanna presents a lot of advertising campaigns for such corporations as Orient Watch, "Rexona".

Illness

On January 20, 2014, Friske's husband Dmitry Shepelev announced via Friske's Web site that Friske had been diagnosed with cancer. Other sites reported that Friske has been diagnosed with a stage IV glioblastoma, a malignant brain tumor. She was diagnosed with cancer two months prior her childbirth. She was suggested to start chemotherapy during her pregnancy but she refused in order to save her baby. In April she had a baby boy. According to Zhanna Friske's father Vladimir Friske, a clinic in Los Angeles is “much better”, because “instead of practising chemotherapy, they used cutting edge experimental nanovaccine, designed specifically for impact on glioblastoma. So, now she feels better and even “quietly up.”

However afterwards, her cancer got worse, and on June 15, 2015, she passed away at the age of 40.

Singles

• Ла-ла-ла/La-La-La (2004)
• Где-то летом/Gde To Letom (Somewhere in Summer)(2005)
• Мама Мария/Mama Maria (2006)
• Malinki (feat. Diskoteka Avariya) (2007)
• Я была/Ya bila (I Was) (2007)
• Жанна Фриске/Jeanna Friske (2008)
• American (2009)
• Портофино/Portofino (2009)
• Vestern (with Tanya Tereshina) (2009)
• Пилот/Pilot (2011)
• Ты рядом/Ty ryadom (feat. Geegun) (2011)
• Навсегда/Navsegda (2012)

Discography

• Jeanna Friske (2005)