Valeri Sergeevich Zolotukhin was born on June 21, 1941, in Bystry Istok, Altai region, Russia. His father was the Chairman of a Collective Farm; a powerful man in that remote Siberian region. His mother was a housewife. Young Zolotukhin went to school in his village, but he was dreaming of becoming an actor; because he was inspired by the touring drama troupe. Upon his graduation from the village school, Zolotukhin went straight to Moscow. There he passed the admission tests to the Department of Musical Comedy at the Moscow Theatre Institute (SITIS). While being a student he made his name as a singer of popular folk songs. They were often risqué vernacular lyrics and very funny. Zolotukhin married his girlfriend from the acting class, Marina Shatskaya, on the Valentine's Day, February 14, 1963. On the same year he graduated from the Department of Musical Comedy of the Moscow Theatre Institute (GITIS).Zolotukhin was hired by Yuri Lyubimov almost simultaneously with the famous singer-songwriter Vladimir Vysotsky and the two actors became best friends. From 1964 Zolotukhin was permanently employed by the Taganka Theatre, working mostly with the famous director Yuri Lyubimov. His stage works include leading roles in such plays as 'Medeya', 'Marat i Markiz de Sad', 'Dobry chelovek is Sezuana', 'Tsena', 'Teatrlny roman', 'Faust', 'Pavel Pervy', 'Vladimir Vysotsky'. Zolotukhin shines on stage and in film as an actor of multifaceted talent and great versatility. He is particularly proud of his works in 'Sharashka', after Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, and in 'Zhivago', based on the novel by Boris Pasternak.Valeri Zolotukhin was once asked by the Taganka director Yuri Lyubimov to play the role of Hamlet instead of Vladimir Vysotsky, who was very busy with concert tours and traveling abroad. Zolotukhin had several rehearsals as Hamlet, and he was confronted by Vysotsky, "Valery, if you ever play Hamlet, I'll leave this theatre on the day of your premiere. I'll leave and go to the worst theatre." Hamlet was a dream role for any actor. Finally Vysotsky won. Zolotukhin generously stepped aside and never played Hamlet. Later Vysotsky summarized: "Zolotukhin is aware that he is the best. That's why he is never jealous."He shot to fame after his film roles in 'Khozyain taygi' (1968) and 'Interventsiya' (1969), where his film partner was Vladimir Vysotsky. Zolotukhin was best known for the leading role in 'Bumbarash' (TV 1971). His latest film works are the role of father-vampire in 'Nochnoi Dozor' (The Night Watch, 2004) and its sequel 'Dnevnoi Dozor' (The Day Watch, 2006). He also played a small, but beautifully performed role of 'Bosoy' in the popular TV-series 'Master i Margarita', directed by Vladimir Bortko and based on the eponymous novel by Mikhail A. Bulgakov. Zolotukhin created his character in a masterful interplay with a stellar ensemble of actors; such as Oleg Basilashvili, Aleksandr Abdulov, Kirill Lavrov, Anna Kovalchuk, Aleksandr Galibin, Sergei Bezrukov, Aleksandr Filippenko, Valentin Gaft, Vladislav Galkin, Aleksandr Bashirov, and other Russian film stars.Zolotukhin recently published a two-volume edition of his memoirs. He presented many unusually candid observations in his well-written memoirs; sincere, sharp, generous and insightful comments about his career and about some of his stage and film partners. This included such stars as Vladimir Vysotsky, Veniamin Smekhov, Leonid Filatov, Anatoli Efros, Yuri Lyubimov, and many other Russian celebrities. He was the closest friend of the famous singer-songwriter Vladimir Vysotsky, who was arguably the biggest star in the 60's and 70's Russia. Zolotukhin was asked to say the last word when Russia buried Vysotsky.Valery Zolotukhin received numerous awards for his film and theatre performances. His acting career is spanning 44 years. He appeared in more than 40 feature films, 20 TV works, and played over 60 roles on stage. He was honored with the title of the People's Actor of Russia in 1987. Valeri Zolotukhin is living in Moscow, Russia.
|
