Valentin Gaft (actor) biography, photo, personal life and his family. Gaft's wife Olga Ostroumova. Valentin Iosifovich Gaft: biography, personal life, creativity Valentin Gaft in the "Temporarily available" program

The name of Valentin Gaft was recognized by the whole country in the mid-seventies. But before the release of the film "Garage" and the performance of his first star role, the actor was widely known among connoisseurs of theatrical art. The work of this actor is a continuous struggle, numerous ups and downs. The fate of Valentin Iosifovich is a worthy plot for a dramatic work.

The life story of Valentin Gaft began in Moscow. His family was by no means an actor. The father worked as a lawyer. Mother was a housewife. Despite the fact that the boy's childhood had a difficult period national history, it was surprisingly happy and cloudless. Love for the theater was born in the soul of the future actor very early. Back in the fourth grade, he watched a production of the play "Special Assignment". What is happening on stage made a strong impression on the guy.

And later he got the opportunity to realize his strength in the art of reincarnation. However, the first roles of the most courageous actor of Soviet cinema were, as a rule, female images. The fact is that Valentin Gaft began to perform for the first time in amateur performances within the walls of the school, where mostly boys studied.

Theatre

After school, the young man decided to enter the Moscow Art Theater School. There is a legend according to which the then-famous actor Sergei Stolyarov helped Valentin Gaft to get into one of the most prestigious theater universities. The future student allegedly met the performer of the role of Sadko on the street and asked to listen to him and evaluate his acting abilities. The request was fulfilled. Perhaps this story is nothing but fiction, but, one way or another, the future actor became a student of the famous theater studio.

The actor gained wide popularity in quite adulthood. And before Soviet viewers began to associate the name of Valentin Gaft with the image of a characteristic and talented personality, he had to change several theaters, wait for many years for a long-awaited real role, and prove his professional viability.

After graduating from high school, Valentin Iosifovich worked for a short time in the theater of the Moscow City Council. Then there was the theater of Satire. The roles were, as a rule, episodic and insignificant. The actor was not given a chance to express himself for a very long time. The first significant work in the career of an actor was the role of Count Almaviva. For ten years, Gaft changed several theaters. In 1991, he starred with Evgeny Evstigneev in the film "Night Fun". He managed to truly open up only under the leadership of Oleg Efremov. The path to the cinema was even more thorny for the actor.

Movies

In Russian cinema, perhaps, there is no such second actor who would evoke such a mixed storm of feelings. His temper, according to relatives and friends, is quite unpredictable. And since character is destiny, then life biography Valentina Gafta resembles a stormy stream.

On the set of Eldar Ryazanov's film, Valentin Gaft happened to be by accident. At the most crucial moment, the performer refused to work leading role- Alexander Shirvindt. And she suggested that the director invite Gaft, to which Ryazanov agreed far from immediately.

The role of the obsequious, cunning and dodgy Sidorkin has become a landmark in the fate of Gaft. The image of the chairman of the cooperative not only helped the actor to take a worthy place in the cinema. Participation in the filming of the film "Garage" was reflected in the personal life of the actor. It was then that Valentin Iosifovich met Olga Ostroumova, a woman with whom he could find happiness.

In the seventies, in the acting biography of Valentin Gaft, a number of events occurred that affected his future fate. He played several bright roles, among which it is worth highlighting the unforgettable image of Brasset in the film "Hello, I'm your aunt." The roles of the actor, as a rule, were given difficult and contradictory ones, and therefore his talent was revealed in full force. This actor gained wide recognition among colleagues and spectators thanks to his joint work with Eldar Ryazanov.

Personal life of Valentin Gaft

Both in the profession and in his personal life, Valentin Gaft could not achieve harmony for a long time. He was married three times before he met a woman with whom he could find happiness. This woman is an actress. They met on the set of the film "Garage", but in those years both were not free. And therefore, their relationship began only after many years.

The first marriage of Valentin Gaft was early and short-lived. His chosen one was a fashion model. Young spouses did not seek to be faithful to each other, and therefore this relationship did not last long.

The second wife was the ballet dancer Inna Eliseeva. The woman had a complex character. In addition, Valentin Gaft developed difficult relationship with his wife's relatives. From Inna, the actor had a daughter, Olga, with whom he did not communicate as closely as he should have. Olga followed in her mother's footsteps. She performed for about ten years on the stage of the Kremlin Theater, graduated from Gitis. But her personal life was overshadowed by constant scandals with her mother.

The actor's daughter made several suicide attempts. The latter turned out to be successful ... Valentin Gaft found out about Olga's death late in the evening, after the next performance. The death of his daughter, the actor experienced extremely hard. And a few years after Olga's death, he learned that he already had a fully grown son, whose existence he had no idea.

The third wife of the actor was the cellist Alla, and before meeting her, he had a short affair with a thirty-year-old artist. Relations did not work out. And the woman soon gave birth to a son and left with him for Brazil. Acquaintance of the stars of the Soviet and Russian cinema with his own son served for several years as a plot for numerous programs and talk shows. For the first time, Gaft's son visited Russia after he learned about tragic death his half-sister. But they were destined to meet only a few years later.

For more than twenty years, the role of wife, muse and girlfriend in the personal life of Valentin Gaft has been played by Olga Ostroumova. And, perhaps, despite the many vivid film images she created, it is this role that is the main one for her.

Today, September 2, 2015, Valentin Gaft celebrates his 80th birthday. It is probably difficult to list all the films and wonderful roles for which the viewer remembers him. Each role of Valentin Gaft was unique, thanks to his game, and it is unlikely that anyone would have taken up the embodiment of these images. Although now Gaft no longer needs to play so much - the audience will clap even when he enters the stage once.

THE EARLY YEARS AND THE ROAD TO THE THEATER

Your pre-war childhood Valentin Gaf t spent in Moscow. In those years, nothing foreshadowed his future acting career. Father, Joseph Romanovich, was a lawyer. And the mother, Gita Davydovna, always taught her son to be organized and keep order in everything, because then the family lived in a small room in a communal apartment on Matrosskaya Tishina Street.

June 21, 1941 - the day the war began, the family was supposed to move to the City of Priluki, in Ukraine, but due to the heavy workload of their father, they decided to change tickets a day later. And it became a fatal decision in their lives. On June 22, Molotov announced the beginning of the war on the radio. Father and cousin Valentina Gafta went to war. At the end of the war, Joseph Romanovich returned as a major.

Valentin Gaft in his youth

And for the first time, Valentin met the theater only in the fourth grade, when he was taken to the children's theater to watch Sergei Mikhalkov's play "Special Task". And though Valentin Gaf t was very impressed with what was happening on stage, but he did not yet have a desire to become an actor. The first thoughts about choosing an acting career appeared when he first appeared on the school stage himself. By the way, since the school was only for boys, Valentine had a chance to play many female roles.

And yet the profession of an actor was far from what others expected from him. Therefore, he decided to secretly submit documents to two universities at once - to the Shchukin School and the Moscow Art Theater School. Gaft later said that before the exams he was lucky to meet the actor Sergei Stolyarov. And then Valentine was not afraid, he asked the idol of the public to listen to him first and give some advice. The actor, although he was surprised by such a request, decided to help. And, although Gaft was able to go through only one round in Pike, he entered the Moscow Art Theater on the first try.

His parents reacted ambiguously to this. As he remembers Valentin Gaft, his father then said: “Valya, what kind of artist are you? Look at Misha Kozakov - he has both a suit and a bow tie, and what about you? That's what an artist should be." Then he did not imagine that the first film role in Valentina Gafta will be in the film with Kozakov. Then everyone dreamed of getting on the screen. And the first success in this area smiled at Gaft in the last years of the institute, although these were episodic roles, almost without words, in the films “Murder on Dante Street” and “Poet”.

First screen appearance in Murder on Dante Street

LONG SEARCH FOR "OWN" SCENE

But after graduating from the institute, they did not want to take Gaft to any theater. The famous reader, Dmitry Zhuravlev, helped in finding a job. Thanks to him Valentina Gafta took to the theater of the Moscow City Council. True, the actor did not stay there for a long time: during the very first tour, he left the troupe, as he did not like the proposed roles. After some time, Erast Garin offered him a job at the Satire Theater, but he was expelled from there after his first debut. Then no one knew that a few years later on the stage of this theater Valentin Gaft will perform one of his best theatrical roles - Count Almaviva in Crazy Day, or The Marriage of Figaro.

Valentin Gaft - actor of the Sovremennik Theater

During this period, jobs Valentina Gafta are replaced one after another. First, he works in the theater on Malaya Bronnaya, then with A.A. Goncharov in a small theater on Spartakovskaya Street, and in 1964 Gaft got to Anatoly Vasilyevich Efros at the Lenin Komsomol Theater. And, even in latest actor also did not stay long, but it was here that he gained experience that formed the basis of his subsequent career, because the theater played a lot of classical productions that helped Gaft find his talent.

Five years later, Oleg Efremov invites him to work at Sovremennik. And it was this theater that became dear to him and remains so to this day. Among the best roles played on this stage are Glumov "Balalaykin and K", George "Who is afraid of Virginia Woolf?"

Scene from the play "Balalaykin and K"

AND FINALLY A MOVIE

Career in cinema Valentina Gafta didn't go very well either. For a long time he played only in episodes. And even when, by the end of the 60s, the actor began to appear more and more on the screen, he still did not get interesting and memorable roles. As Gaft himself said about this: “The cinema did not spoil me. Not only that, my type was not the same. Non-Russian, strange appearance. In those days, the hero had to be different. This is natural. In the 50s, 60s, 70s, I was not suitable for any role, with rare exceptions. Most often it was like this - they did screen tests, and it seemed that they were about to take on the role, but then someone came, and it was not me who was shot in the picture.

In the 70s, luck began to smile Valentin Gaft, and he played his first bright film roles: Brasset in the comedy "Hello, I'm your aunt!" and Stewart in the political drama Night at the 14th Parallel. And even then his cinematic style began to develop. intellectual games, with a deep drawing of the image.

A frame from the film "Hello, I'm your aunt!"

But true popularity came to Gaft after meeting Eldar Ryazanov. It was with him that he played his classic roles. Their first joint work became in 1979 the film "Garage", where Valentin Gaft played the role of chairman of the garage-building cooperative Sidorkin. His game perfectly portrayed the ironic character in the spirit of the times.

This was followed by more than one role in Ryazanov's films: the father-commander in the tragicomedy "Say a word about the poor hussar ...", Odinokov in the film "The Forgotten Melody for the Flute", the leader of the homeless named "President" in the tragicomedy "Promised Heaven". Each of these roles was completely different from the previous one, and it was with Ryazanov that Gaft was able to show that he was able to play completely different characters. In each of these films, the actor created a unique and memorable for a long time image.

Shot from the film "Garage"

After that to Valentin Gaft popularity came. In the 80s he was lucky to play many interesting roles. Among them are the roles of recidivist thief Alexei Dedushkin, nicknamed Baton, in Alexander Muratov's detective story "Vertical Racing" and a role in the detective series "Visit to the Minotaur." Also famous were the roles of Valentin Gaft in such films: “Magicians”, “On the Main Street with an Orchestra”, “Visit of a Lady” and “Anchor, more Anchor!”. And in 1994, Gaft played Woland in the film adaptation of The Master and Margarita directed by Yuri Kara, but the film was never released to wide screens.

Frame from the film "The Master and Margarita

LITERARY WORK OF VALENTIN GAFTA

But Valentin Gaft rich not only in his acting talent. One day, unexpectedly for himself, he began to compose epigrams. And then Oleg Efremov invited him to compose several such epigrams about famous actors. They were ironic and sometimes very caustic, but their purpose was not to insult colleagues, but simply a fun look at their work. Many of them have been frequently cited. Here is some of them.

Dzhigarkhanyan:

There are much fewer Armenians in the land,

Than films where Dzhigarkhanyan played.

Irina Alferova:

You won't be successful

After all, you, beauty, are not Piekha.

Make your success in bed -

Doing it on stage is a sin!

And among the most intimate pleasures

Irina is better b .... th of all.

Stop walking through the torments

Play with art you separation.

Mikhail Boyarsky:

Why are you yelling like that

Like a robbed Jew?

Do not disturb D "Artagnan,

He is a nobleman, not a plebeian.

By the way, already at that stage Valentin Gaft began to ascribe some lines written or spoken not by him. After that with epigrams Valentin Gaft quickly finished, but nevertheless decided to improve his poetic abilities. So today there are even several collections of lyrical poems Valentina Gafta. In addition to poetry, there are other books by Gaft dedicated to the theater and his life.

THREE WIVES OF VALENTIN GAFTA

Personal life Valentina Gafta ball much more eventful than you can imagine now, because in his youth he was considered enough interesting man. The actor entered into marriage three times, and his chosen ones were very attractive women. First wife Valentina Gafta became a fashion model Elena Izorgina. The second is the ballerina Inna Eliseeva. And although the couple had a daughter, Olga, they still divorced in the 80s.

One of the biggest tragedies in the life of an actor is connected with this marriage. After their divorce, the daughter took her mother's surname and stayed with her, but nevertheless maintained a warm relationship with her father. But the older Olga got, the more her relationship with her mother deteriorated. In September 2002, the girl unexpectedly committed suicide, blaming her mother in a suicide note. Inna Eliseeva, however, did not outlive Olga much, having died on January 31, 2003 from stomach cancer.

Valentin Gaft with his daughter

But with his third wife, actress Olga Ostroumova, he is happy to this day. But their relationship was not so easy. They first met on the set of the film "Garage", and, although Olga immediately liked Valentin Gaft, at that time she was married, and Valentin Iosifovich decided not to even try. “I felt so bad,” the actor said. - I realized that I was tired of lying, tired of hearing lies from others, I was tired of the contradictions in which I got confused. And suddenly Olya appeared on the screen - I just stared at the image, I could not take my eyes off her wonderful face. But soon Olga Mikhailovna broke up with her husband, and then the path to their happiness was open.

Valentin Gaft and Olga Ostroumova

In filmography Valentina Gafta to date, there are more than a hundred roles, many of which have become classics. But, despite this, he always considered himself primarily a theater actor. For more than 40 years he has been faithful to his temple, the Sovremennik Theater, on the stage of which he has played countless wonderful roles. In my 80s Valentin Gaft is still active. Soon the actor plans to stage his own play, in which he has invested everything he would like to pass on to future generations. As the actor himself says: “I think that each generation lives for the next. Life gives a person happiness and rewards him for the fact that he, with all the difficulties of life, remains a man.

The famous and beloved by many actor Valentin Gaft became famous in the mid-seventies. Although his creative biography began much earlier. They paid attention to the actor thanks to his roles in the films: “Garage”, “Hello, I am your aunt!”. The personal life of the actor will be interesting to his fans. The life of Valentin Iosifovich, his wife and children will be discussed in the article.

Valentin Iosifovich Gaft was born in the capital of Russia. His biography began in 1935. Personal childhood memories are associated with Matrosskaya Tishina Street (here Jewish family, in which the future actor was born, came from the Poltava region). There were several important various institutions on it (a mental hospital, a market, a student hostel and a prison). “All life is in miniature,” the actor himself later joked.

Valentin remembers well the morning on which the war began. He and his parents were then going to go to Ukraine to visit relatives. But then an unexpected announcement changed everything.

Valentine studied at male school. Then the children were taught separately. Already in school years Valya showed his artistic talent. He performed in amateur performances, playing female roles in performances (because there were no girls at school).

Valya wanted to become an actor after watching the play "Special Assignment", although before that no one in the family had been connected with the world of cinema or theater. The father of the family worked as a lawyer, mother was a housewife.

After receiving secondary education, Valentin decided to enter the Moscow Art Theater School. But, he was not confident in himself and was very worried before the exams. The famous actor Stolyarov helped him to enter. Many remember him in pre-war films and films about the war.

Once Valentine noticed Stolyarov walking down the street. He caught up with the famous actor and asked him to give him a few minutes to assess his artistic abilities. The actor was surprised, but did not refuse. Thus, an acquaintance took place, which turned out to be very useful.

The beginning of a creative career

Valentin Gaft entered the Studio School on the first try. Although before that he unsuccessfully tried to enter the Shchukin school. V. Toporov became his teacher.

In 1957, Gaft graduated from the Theater Institute, and began his intense acting biography. The famous actor Zhuravlev helped the novice actor get a job at the Theater. Moscow City Council. Gaft worked in it for only a year and left at his own request. But, during this year of his life, he managed to perform many roles in this theater. These were the performances:

• "King Lear";
• "Lisey McKay";
• "Cornelia";
• "Favorable Groom".

Then, Valentin Gaft moved to the Theater of Satire. The theater was very popular then, famous actors worked in it, whom even children know: Andrei Mironov, Anatoly Papanov and others.

But even in this theater, Valentin Iosifovich could not resist for a long time, however, having managed to play the well-known role of the count in the play Crazy Day or The Marriage of Figaro. The mother of the novice actor assessed her son's game in a peculiar way: "How thin you are, Valya!"

The peak of the actor's popularity

The next page in the creative biography of Valentin Gaft was the Moscow Drama Theater. In it, the actor worked for a little over five years. It was there that Valentin Iosifovich attracted the personal attention of director Anatoly Efros. He called the actor to his Lenkom Theater, where he worked for two years.

Then, in his life there was the Theater on Malaya Bronnaya, where the actor was again destined to not last long. And, finally, he met Oleg Efremov, who lured the actor to his Sovremennik theater.

It seems that Valentin Iosifovich liked this theater. Because he stayed there forever. It was there that the actor received professional recognition. Now he is known and loved by adults and children, viewers of any age and gender. In this theater, the actor performed many roles, from classics to plays by contemporary authors.

With Leah Akhedzhakova in the production of The Gin Game

Among them:

• "The Cherry Orchard" by Chekhov;
• "Inspector" Gogol;
• "Blach" by Aitmatov;
• "Three Sisters" by Chekhov;
• "Valentin and Valentina" Roshchin;
• "Pygmalion" B. Shaw and many others.

AT last time The actor took to the stage in 2013. He was 78 years old! He played Martin in The Gin Game.

Now Valentin Iosifovich is 82 years old. He no longer plays in the theater, is on a well-deserved rest. However, last year he still acted in films. Fame came to the actor precisely because of his work in the cinema.

Work in cinema

The debut of Valentin Gaft in the cinema took place immediately after graduation theater university. His cinematic biography began with the film "Murder on Dante Street". There he played a very small role, but it was the first time in his life, and he was very happy.

For a long time, the actor played minor roles in films. Usually he got negative characters, however, with personal charm.

A frame from the film "Say a Word About the Poor Hussar"

In the early seventies, the actor appeared the main roles. Popularity came to him after participating in the films of Eldar Ryazanov. In 1979, the film "Garage" was released, where Gaft played the role of the chairman of the cooperative. After that, the actor became famous, even children recognized him.

No less talented was the role of the butler in the teleplay "Hello, I'm your aunt!". The audience also remembered the role of Gevernitz in "Seventeen Moments of Spring". In 1980, the musical comedy “Say a Word About the Poor Hussar” was released, where Gaft remarkably played the colonel.

Shot from the film "Garage"

In the film "Black Hen or Underground inhabitants The actor talentedly played the role of the teacher of the French king.

The musical "Magicians" is still popular, where Gaft played Sataneev, a very cunning hero. In Ryazanov's wonderful film "Forgotten Melody for the Flute", the actor amazingly played the role of an impoverished official who sang in the cars.

It is impossible not to recall the role of Gaft in the TV series "The Life of Klim Samgin", "Thieves in Law". And of course, "The Master and Margarita", where the actor played the wise and mysterious Woland.

Valentin Gaft in the film "Anchor, more anchor!"

Gaft knew how to play comic and serious roles with equal talent. In 2013, the elderly actor played a lonely pensioner.

Also, Gaft worked a lot on voicing cartoons. It was with great pleasure that he voiced Noble in the popular cartoon "Dog in Boots", the King in "The Magic Bell", Raven in "The New Adventures of Grandma Yozhka". And in the cartoons: “Like cats with a dog” and “The Birth of Hercules”, the actor reads the text.

Once Gaft tried himself as a director on the stage of his beloved Sovremennik Theater.

Literary works

Actor Valentin Gaft, in addition to artistic, also has a poetic talent. Many are familiar with his poetry. Basically, these are epigrams on famous actors. They have a rather caustic humor, even satire sometimes.

For this, many disliked him. Some wrote him response epigrams. Gaft wrote one of the epigrams on himself. It's called Autopigram.

Gaft also has several collections of poems. A song was written for one verse, which was performed by Sati Casanova. It's called "Me and You". The author of lyrical poems has a lot. Some of them are dedicated to his beloved wife Olga Ostroumova.

Awards

For the entire creative biography Valentin Gaft has many personal awards received in different time life. He has various degrees Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" And also, the Order of Friendship. He became a truly beloved folk hero, revered by adults and children.

In 1978, Valentin Iosifovich became an honored artist, in 1984 - People's Artist Russia.

He is the winner of many awards. Among them - "Crystal Turandot", "Golden Eagle", the Prize. Andrei Mironov "Figaro", "Star of the Theatergoer", etc.

Valentin Gaft: family

There were four marriages in the biography of Valentin Gaft. The personal life of the actor did not develop very well before meeting with the last, beloved woman. Two children were born from the marriages: a daughter, Olga, and a son, whose existence Valentine did not suspect for a long time. But first things first.

Gaft's first wife is fashion model Elena Izorgina. But, soon the marriage broke up due to adultery.

The second marriage in the biography of Valentin Gaft took place with the ballerina Inna Eliseeva. The actor had a daughter, Olga. He loved children. Personal life seems to have improved. However, the constant rehearsals of both spouses, great employment, performances led the marriage to breakup. In addition, the wife turned out to be a non-peaceful character. Relatives from the wife's side finally undermined the relationship.

The divorce of the parents had a bad effect on the psyche of the daughter. In addition, she constantly experienced misunderstanding on the part of her mother. In the end, Olga committed suicide. The mother did not much outlive her daughter. She soon died of cancer.

After the divorce, Valentine had an affair with an artist. But she left the country. As it turned out later, in Brazil, a woman gave birth to a son from Gaft. But she didn't tell him anything about it. The actor found out about the existence of his son many years later, when he came to Russia on a talk show to meet his father.

Later, Valentine married a third time. Alla became his wife, she played the cello. But this marriage also failed.

Finally crushed by worldly tragedies, Valentin unexpectedly met with Olga Ostroumova. He confessed to her that he had loved her for more than twenty years, from the filming of the film Garage. By that time, the actress also suffered a personal setback and even tried to commit suicide.

Many people know the beautiful Olga Ostroumova from her roles in popular films: “The Dawns Here Are Quiet”, “We'll Live Until Monday”, etc. The actors got married right in the hospital where Valentin was after surgery. Last marriage significantly influenced the life of the actor. The beloved woman was able to resurrect the dying soul of Gaft. Thanks to her, he converted to Orthodoxy and now lives, enjoying the remaining days of his life.

Before the war, the Gaft family lived in Moscow, in a five-story building on Matrosskaya Tishina Street. The Gafts lived more than modestly, in a communal apartment, like everyone else. They had one room and everyone was happy. Valentin's parents had nothing to do with the theater. Father, Joseph Romanovich (1907-1969), was a lawyer by profession. He was surprisingly modest, but strong and proud man. From his mother, Gita Davydovna (1908-1993), Valentin learned organization, she instilled in him a love of order.

Very well, a day that could become fatal in the fate of the family crashed into Valya's childhood memory. On June 21, 1941, they had to go to Ukraine, to the city of Priluki. However, for some reason, the parents changed the tickets for Sunday the 22nd. The next day, Molotov spoke on the radio with a message about the beginning of the war ... I remember the farewell to the front of my father, then my cousin. My father went through the entire war, ending it as a major.

The very first impression of the theater came to him in the fourth grade while watching Sergei Mikhalkov's play "Special Task" in the children's theater. He believed everything that happened on stage. But by his own admission, there was no desire to become an actor then. It appeared a little later, and he began to participate in school amateur performances, where Valentin had to play exclusively female roles, because only boys studied at the school then.

Moscow Art Theater

But even playing in school performances, Valentin was embarrassed to admit to someone that he wants to become an artist. Therefore, he decided to act in secret from everyone. Valentin decided to try his luck at once both at the Shchukin School and at the Moscow Art Theater School. Two days before the exams, Gaft accidentally met the idol of all moviegoers, Sergei Stolyarov, on the street and asked to "listen" to him. Stolyarov was surprised, but did not refuse. Lessons famous actor were not wasted. True, he passed only the first round at the school. But Valentin entered the Moscow Art Theater on the first attempt, passing the exam with excellent marks. When they accepted him, he was shocked, he could not believe what was happening.

Like all students of the Moscow Art Theater, Valentin Gaft dreamed of immediately getting into the cinema. Once (this was in 1956) he was invited to join the film crew of the film "Murder on Dante Street", where Mikhail Kozakov was approved for one of the main roles, and they gave an almost wordless role. So the debut of Valentin Gaft in the cinema took place. In the same year, he appeared in a cameo role in the romantic drama The Poet.

Parents reacted in a peculiar way to the artistic activity of their son. When he studied at the Moscow Art Theater School, his father told him: "Valya, what kind of artist are you? Look at Misha Kozakov - he has both a suit and a bow tie, and what are you? That's what an artist should be." Mother, seeing him in the play "The Marriage of Figaro", said: "Valya, how thin you are!"

Best of the day

Theatre

After graduating from the Moscow Art Theater School in 1957, Gaft could not get a job for a long time, he was not taken to any theater. The famous reader, Dmitry Zhuravlev, helped. With his light hand, Gaft ended up in the Moscow City Council Theater. However, a year later he left the theater during the tour - he did not like the roles that were offered to play.

After some time, Erast Garin offered him a job at the Satire Theater. The debut failed, he was kicked out, but a few years later, on the same stage, Valentin Gaft played one of his best roles - Count Almaviva in Crazy Day, or The Marriage of Figaro, who was subsequently played by Alexander Shirvindt for many years.

For some time, Gaft worked in the theater on Malaya Bronnaya. Then new transition- to A.A. Goncharov, who then headed a small theater on Spartakovskaya Street.

In 1964, after working at the Goncharov Theater, Gaft came to Anatoly Vasilyevich Efros at the Lenin Komsomol Theater. This is a special page, because it has become perhaps the most important in his artistic biography. The best performances of the Efros Theater have forever remained theatrical classics. Gaft worked for Efros for a relatively short time and did not play so many roles. But it was this experience that formed the foundation of his skill.

He came to Sovremennik at the invitation of Oleg Efremov in 1969. Many of his roles in this theater are associated with the name of the chief director of the theater Galina Volchek. Gaft's whole life is now connected with this theater, and he considers it his home.

Among his best roles: Glumov ("Balalaikin and K"), Lopatin ("From Lopatin's Notes"), Gorelov ("Hurry to do good"), George ("Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"), Rakhlin ("A Medium Fluffy Home Cat ").

Difficult road to the cinema

To the cinema long years Gaft played only episodes or inexpressive roles. And although by the end of the 60s he increasingly appeared on the silver screen, there were practically no bright, memorable roles.

Valentin Gaft himself explains it this way: “The cinema did not spoil me. Not only was my type not the same. Non-Russian, strange appearance. In those days, the hero had to be different. This is natural. was not suitable for any role, with rare exceptions. Most often it was like this - they did screen tests, and it seemed that they were about to take on the role, but then someone came, and they didn’t shoot me in the picture. "

Only in the 70s did the first notable roles begin to appear, such as Stewart in the political drama Night at the 14th Parallel (1971), Lopatin in the television production of the play From Lopakhin's Notes (1975), Brasset in the comedy Hello, I your aunt!"

Even then, Gaft's creative manner manifested itself, distinguished by intellectualism, subtle psychological study of the image, freedom and sharpness of the plastic drawing, and subtle humor. In each character, he revealed the depth of feelings and inner experiences, this even applied to small or ironic film roles: Kramin ("For the rest of my life" - 1975), Znamensky ("The Tale of an Unknown Actor" - 1976), fellow traveler ("Almost funny story"- 1977), Georges ("Circus Boy" - 1979).

Cooperation with Ryazanov

However, real popularity came to Gaft only after collaborating with Eldar Ryazanov. The roles played by Gaft in the films of this outstanding film director became the best in the actor's biography.

In 1979, he played the chairman of the garage-building cooperative Sidorkin in the comedy Garage. The character is rather grotesque, farcical and ironic, thanks to Gaft's artistic flair, he was played in such a way that he made it possible to translate the entire film into the realistic direction the director needed.

In 1980, Gaft starred in Eldar Ryazanov's tragicomedy "Say a word about the poor hussar ...". Father-commander, selfless brave man, noble colonel, who conquered many cities and women, run wild from barracks life, but with a heightened sense of honor, lonely, without a family and home, a warrior who bows neither to bullets nor superiors, dashing cavalryman, hussar , devoted to the homeland - this is how the hero of Gaft Pokrovsky appeared to the audience.

Odinokov turned out to be completely different - the hero of Gaft from Eldar Ryazanov's painting "Forgotten Melody for Flute" (1987). The actor surprisingly juicy created the image of a bureaucrat and campaigner from the Ministry of Free Time. With a great sense of humor, he performed the song of a bureaucrat laid off from work.

Finally, in Ryazyanov's tragicomedy "Promised Heaven" (1991), Gaft managed to create an integral pure character of the leader of the homeless, nicknamed "President", for whom it is clear what is mean in life and what is noble. His hero is a truly intelligent and educated person, tender to friends and intolerant of bureaucrats.

Popularity

Many interesting roles were played in the 80s by other directors. So in the detective film by Alexander Muratov "Vertical Racing" (1982), he appeared as a recidivist thief Alexei Dedushkin, nicknamed Baton. The psychological duel of the investigator (A. Myagkov) and the charming thief keeps you in suspense throughout the film.

No less interesting role went to Gaft in another detective series "Visit to the Minotaur" (1987). Another psychological duel, this time between an investigator played by Sergei Shakurov and Ikonnikov, who is suspected of stealing. Gaft's character, a musician in the past, who never became the first violin, not resigned to the second role, switched to breeding snakes.

Also, notable roles were played by Gaft in the musical comedy "Magicians" (1982), the tragicomedy "On the Main Street with an Orchestra" (1986), the action movie "Thieves in Law" (1988), "The Lady's Visit" (1989), "Night Fun" (1991), "Anchor, more Anchor!" (1992).

In 1994, Valentin Gaft played Woland in the film The Master and Margarita, which was never released.

An actor of a wide creative range, Valentin Gaft is distinguished by freedom and naturalness of stage and screen behavior, inner nervousness. With voice recognition and expressive sharp features face, he is fluent in a variety of genres in the profession. As stated in the theatrical encyclopedia, "Gaft is characterized by a sharp and accurate embodiment of the image of a modern intellectual, a combination of analyticity and temperament, the depth of revealing a dramatic conflict, and an attraction to major problems and characters."

Epigram Master

In parallel with the acting takeoff, another fame came to Gaft. He became famous as the author of sharp, sometimes poisonous epigrams. At the suggestion of Oleg Efremov, Gaft suddenly, quite unexpectedly, both for himself and for others, began to compose epigrams. It was irony over himself, over others. He did not want to offend, rebuke or quarrel anyone. I just wanted to tell my own truth in this way.

Among them were ironic ones, such as Dzhigarkhanyan:

There are much fewer Armenians in the land,

Than films where Dzhigarkhanyan played.

or Oleg Efremov:

Oleg! Not a century - half a century lived!

You look at the face!

And there were also very sharp ones, such as, for example, Irina Alferova:

You won't be successful

After all, you, beauty, are not Piekha.

Make your success in bed -

Doing it on stage is a sin!

And among the most intimate pleasures

Irina is better b .... th of all.

Stop walking through the torments

Play with art you separation.

or Mikhail Boyarsky:

Why are you yelling like that

Like a robbed Jew?

Do not disturb D "Artagnan,

He is a nobleman, not a plebeian.

Now Valentin Gaft says that he no longer writes epigrams - this hobby has ended. However, he still writes poetry. He has published several collections of lyric poems.

Personal life

Gaft was married four times. The first wife of Valentin Iosifovich was a fashion model Elena Izorgina.

Unsuccessful was the marriage with the ballerina Inna Eliseeva. They had a daughter, Olga. But in the early 80s, Gaft and Eliseeva divorced.

Currently, Valentin Gaft is married to actress Olga Ostroumova. With Ostroumova, he found true happiness, although the relationship between the actors did not improve immediately. Olga Mikhailovna liked Valentin Iosifovich for a long time, even during the filming of the film "Garage". However, she was married, and he did not take care of her ...

Once Gaft saw her on TV. “I felt so bad,” says the actor. “I realized that I was tired of lying, tired of hearing lies from others, I was tired of the contradictions in which I got confused. And suddenly Olya appeared on the screen - I just dug into the image, could not take my eyes off from her wonderful face.

Olga Mikhailovna then just broke up with her husband, and she needed support. They met at some event, and from that moment Gaft began to look after her.

Despite the considerable age of both, Gaft and Ostroumova are childishly happy.

Tragic death of daughter

After the divorce of Valentin Gaf from Inna Eliseeva, his daughter Olga stayed with her mother, taking her last name. But throughout her life, Olga maintained a warm relationship with her father. After graduating from the Moscow Choreographic School, Olga danced in the troupe of the Kremlin Ballet, and not so long ago she entered Russian academy theatrical art.

But a tragedy suddenly occurred ... "My daughter's relationship with Inna did not work out since childhood," a concierge in former home Valentin Iosifovich. - And who could bear it? The character is creepy, although a written beauty. " Inna Sergeevna, who never had an angelic disposition, with age increasingly began to take out her anger on Olga. The reason was dependent on the beauty and youth of her daughter. Humiliation alternated with beatings ... The poor girl could not stand it and in September 2002 In 1999, she committed suicide, blaming her mother in a suicide note.Inna Eliseeva did not outlive her daughter much.On January 31, 2003, she died of stomach cancer.

After the misfortune, Valentin Gaft withdrew into himself. For a whole year he refused any interviews ...

Filmography:

1956 Murder on Rue Dante

1958 Oleko Dundich

1960 Russian souvenir

1961 Submarine

1965 We, the Russian people

1967 First courier

1968 intervention

1968 Caliph-Stork

1968 New Girl

1969 Wait for me, Anna

1969 Avenger (K ​​/ a "Family Happiness")

1970 Road to Rübetzal

1970 About love

1970 Ordinary story

1970 Man from the other side

1971 Night on the 14th parallel

1971 Let take off!

1973 Just a few words in honor of M. de Molière

1973 Seventeen Moments of Spring - TV series

1973 Cement

1974 Dombey and Son

1974 Lot

1974 Pickwick Papers

1974 Ivan da Marya - lyrics, actor

1974 Moscow, my love

1974 Sergeev is looking for Sergeev

1974 Pigtail Miracle

1975 Hello, I'm your aunt!

1975 From the notes of Lopakhin

1975 For the rest of my life...

1975 Olga Sergeevna

1976 Crazy Gold

1976 Day train

1976 Tale of an unknown actor

1977 Girl, do you want to act in films?

1977 Almost funny story

1977 Fight in a snowstorm

1978 Players

1978 Centaurs

1978 Kings and Cabbage

1979 Men and women

1979 Today and tomorrow

1979 Morning round

1979 Circus

1980 The story of the Chevalier de Grieux and Manon Lescaut

1980 Say a word about the poor hussar

1980 Edwin Drood Mystery

1980 Three years

1980 Black chicken, or Underground inhabitants

1982 Vertical Racing

1982 If the enemy does not surrender...

1982 Adventures of Count Nevzorov - reads the text

1982 Hurry to do good

1982 Saturday and Sunday

1982 Customs

1982 Wizards

1983 Romeo and Juliet

1984 Eight days of hope

1985 Contract of the century

1985 About a cat...

1986 Year of the Calf

1986 My dearly beloved detective

1986 Along the main street with an orchestra

1986 Journey of Monsieur Perrichon

1987 Bolsheviks

1987 Visit to the minotaur

1987 Time to fly

1987 Life of Klim Samgin

1987 Forgotten melody for flute

1988 Aelita, don't pester men

1988 Thieves in law

1988 Expensive Pleasure

1989 Visit of a lady

1989 Feasts of Belshazzar, or a night with Stalin

1990 Suicide

1990 Football player

1991 Lost in Siberia

1991 Promised Heaven

1991 Nightlife

1991 Terrorist

1992 Anchor, more Anchor!

1992 Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

1993 I want to America

1994 Master and Margarita

1994 I'm free, I'm nobody

1996 Arturo Ui's career

1997 Orphan Kazan

1999 Sky in Diamonds

1999 The Secret of Nardo, or the dream of a white dog

2000 Home for the rich

2000 Tender age

2000 Old nags

2001 Clock without hands

2002 Beyond the Wolves

2006 Master and Margarita - series

Valentin Gaft is a talented, bright and charismatic actor who has undeniable merits to Soviet cinema. The actor is no longer young, but, nevertheless, he continues to delight his audience with the fact that films with his participation can be reviewed again and again. Acting abilities helped him conquer the cinema, become popular, and arouse the sympathy of the audience. But where did it all start? How, in general, was this person able to start acting in films, what roads did he have to go through? Did he succeed through connections or did he achieve everything on his own? Let's look at all this carefully, starting with his childhood time.

Height, weight, age. How old is Valentin Gaft

As mentioned above, Valentin Gaft is no longer young. But this does not mean that he has lost his natural charm and acting talent. To date, this good actor is already 81 years old, his height is 187 centimeters, and his weight is 75 kilograms. That is, despite his age, the man looks very dignified. The actor himself said that, despite the fact that he is already aged, you still need to continue to take care of yourself, do everything possible to look good. And he does it very well, and it’s not even that he really looks after himself, but also that he always tried to smile and be in good mood. The man tried to always be positive, realizing that by his example he charges positive emotions spectators. Therefore, answering the questions height, weight, age. How old is Valentin Gaft, we can say that he is all right with this. True, in his old age he fell ill with a very unpleasant disease, but we will talk about this later.

Biography and personal life of Valentin Gaft. Actor's illness

The biography and personal life of Valentin Gaft, the illness of the actor, all this deserves special attention, because in his fate there were many twists and turns, tragedies and everything else that could only temper the actor, make him stronger, learn to withstand life's hardships. And all this allowed him not only to be strong in life, but also to conquer the cinema. What other people couldn't do, this one did. strong man. Although at this point there is information that Valentin Gaft is ill with Parkinson's disease, he is still not going to give up and live on. In fact, his love for the theater manifested itself in the fourth grade, when he took part in school plays.

After school, the actor managed to enter the theater, after which he very successfully began to go on stage. But he wanted to play in the cinema too, therefore, without hesitation, he began to storm the cinema, go to auditions. His first role was in a wordless version in the film "Murder on Dante Street". After that, he managed to light up other films, and in each role he managed to distinguish himself, show himself with the most better side. And although, initially, young man there were no significant roles, then the situation improved, because the directors saw the potential of a talented guy, as a result, he began to work with Ryazanov himself. As for the actor's personal life, there were problems, ups and downs. Rumors about the actor's illness can hardly be called true, but maybe they have a place to be.

Family and children Valentina Gaft

I must say that the family has always played a huge role in Gaft's life. At one time he was married to Inna Eliseeva, they had common daughter. For some reason, the couple went their separate ways, and this led to a huge tragedy. The fact is that his daughter Olga eventually committed suicide, in a note blaming her mother for this. After that, Inna also did not live long, a few months later she died of stomach cancer. Today, the actor lives with a woman, Olga Ostroumova, and son Misha, a boy he adopted. Only these people helped the actor to come to his senses after he closed himself off for a whole year from the grief that overtook him. The family and children of Valentin Gaft are the most precious thing he has.

Son of Valentin Gaft - Mikhail

The son of Valentin Gaft, Mikhail, in fact, is not his biological son. The fact is that in the life of an actor, the boy appeared after Gaft got along with Olga Ostroumova, for him it turned out to be his second marriage. After Gaft's life happened terrible tragedy, Olga and Mikhail did their best to support him. As a result, Valentin was able to come to his senses again, return to work and a normal life. Today, Mikhail is already an adult, but it’s hard to say exactly what he does. The actor himself says that it is very important for him that next to him are people close to him.

Daughter Valentina Gaft - Olga

The daughter of Valentin Gaft Olga was born from her first marriage with Inna Eliseeva. But this story is very sad, because it entailed a strong tragedy. The fact is that after the parents decided to divorce, for the girl it was a huge blow. True, it cannot be said that it was the divorce of the parents that caused the girl's suicide, but she blamed the mother for everything, writing about it in a note. After the death of his daughter, as well as after the death of his first wife, the actor for a long time did not want to communicate with anyone at all, did not want to give interviews. Only after a long time, thanks to his current family, he was able to return to life again.

Wives of Valentin Gaft - Inna Eliseeva, Olga Ostroumova

The wives of Valentin Gaft, Inna Eliseeva, Olga Ostroumova, were his chosen ones, who played a rather large role in the life of the actor. His first marriage was very unhappy, because first of all, they divorced, then, she committed suicide. The first wife survived her daughter for a short time and after a few months she died of stomach cancer. Because of this tragedy, the actor could not recover for a long time, and only thanks to the presence of his second wife Olga and her son Misha, they helped the actor return to a full life again. Today, the actor is happy with his family, trying to enjoy every day he lives. And although there are rumors that Valentin Gaft and Olga Ostroumova broke up, there is no reliable information about this.

Wikipedia Valentina Gaft

Wikipedia Valentin Gaft will help viewers and fans get better acquainted with the life of an actor. If you would like to know more about it, visit personal page on Wikipedia (https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaft,_Valentin_Iosifovich), where general facts about his childhood, personal life, creative career. In addition to the Wikipedia page, you can use various sites, but this particular source is the most popular and will always be at hand. Valentin Gaft - a man who lived long life, in which there was a lot of good and bad, but he always tried to cope with everything that happened to him. Go to the Internet, choose the information that will be of interest to you.