Elmira Balahuseyn gizi Shabanova was born on 1 November 1940 in Baku. Her father was first a factory director and later a deputy of the USSR Supreme Soviet. She graduated first from the acting faculty (1958-1962) and then from the directing faculty of the M. A. Aliyev Azerbaijan State Institute of Arts. From 1962 to 1997 she worked as a lecturer and associate professor. She appeared in nearly 30 feature films at the "Azerbaijanfilm" film studio. After appearing in two films, the actress did not appear on screen again until 1977 due to a ban imposed by her husband, Rufat Shabanov. She returned to cinema in 1977 with the short feature film "On the Threshold of Misfortune", and especially during the 1980s created a series of interesting characters in film, radio and television one after another. Among these, her skilful portrayal of Hamida khanum in the film "The Window of Sorrow", written and directed by Anar, holds an important place.
