Igor Matveevich Kostolevsky was born in the family of the "Eksportles" of the Ministry of Foreign Trade director, Matvey Matveevich Kostolevsky and Vitta Semyonovna Kostolevskaya. After the graduation he worked for two years as a tester in the Research Institute of Quartz Industry. Then, in 1967, he entered the Moscow Engineering-Building Institute. On his third year he left the institute and, after failing the exams of School-Studio of the Moscow Art Theatre, entered the Russian Academy of Theatre Arts. After graduating in 1973 (he was among the three best final-year students) Kostolevsky joined the company of the Mayakovsky Theater. He debuted as a film actor in 1970 in the movie called "Family Like Family".