Regina Zbarskaya, born Regina Kolesnikova, was the daughter of a regimental quartermaster and Russian language teacher. In 1935, she was born in Vologda, and went on to study in the Vologda school. In 1953, at the age of seventeen, she went to Moscow and joined the faculty of economics.
Regina Kolesnikova tried to attend different parties and fashion shows frequented by the Moscow elite. At one of such shows, she met with the artist and fashion designer Vera Aralova, who invited her to cast, and Regina found her way to the podium.
In the early 1960s, Regina married a Moscow artist named Lev Zbarsky, the son of a scholar, Boris Zbarsky. When she became pregnant in 1967, Lev Zbarsky refused the child, and Regina unwillingly had an abortion and then got on antidepressants. Lev Zbarsky had an affair with actress Marianna Vertinskaya, and then Lyudmila Maksakova, who gave birth to a son in 1970. As a result, Regina was taken to a psychiatric hospital with signs of severe depression.
A Yugoslav journalist published a book in German called One Hundred Nights with Regina Zbarskaya. It described erotic scenes, including details about Regina's cooperation with members of the Central Committee and anti-Soviet propaganda. The book was soon withdrawn from sales, following a political scandal. Regina Zbarskaya unsuccessfully tried to commit suicide twice.
She spent her last days in a psychiatric hospital. On November 15, 1987, the official version of the report claims she ended her life at the psychiatric hospital, while other sources infer that she died at home with a phone receiver in her hand.
