Valentin Iosifovich Gaft (born People's Artist of the RSFSR.
There are many interesting facts in Gaft's biography, which we will talk about in this article.
So, before you is a short biography of Valentin Gaft.
Gaft's biography
Valentin Gaft was born on September 2, 1935 in Moscow. He grew up and was raised in a Jewish family. His father, Iosif Ruvimovich, worked as a lawyer, and his mother, Gita Davydovna, ran the farm.
Valentine's artistic abilities began to manifest themselves in childhood. He took part in amateur performances with pleasure and played in school productions. Having received a certificate, he wanted to secretly enter a theater school.
Gaft applied to the Shchukin School and the Moscow Art Theater School. An interesting fact is that a couple of days before the entrance exams, he accidentally met the famous actor Sergei Stolyarov on the street.
As a result, the young man approached Stolyarov and asked him to "listen" to him. The surprised artist was a little confused, but not only did not refuse Valentine's request, but even gave him some advice.
After Gaft failed the exams at the Shchukin School, he managed to successfully enter the Moscow Art Theater studio and moreover from the first time. When the parents found out about the choice of their son, they were unhappy with his decision to connect his life with acting.
Nevertheless, Valentin still graduated from the Studio School in 1957. It is curious that his classmates were such famous actors as Igor Kvasha and Oleg Tabakov.
Theatre
Having become a certified actor, Valentin Gaft was accepted into the troupe of the Theater. Mossovet, where he worked for about a year. Then he moved to the Theater of Satire, but stayed there even less.
During the biography of 1961-1965. Gaft performed on the stage of the Moscow Drama Theater, and then worked for a short time at the Theater on Malaya Bronnaya. In 1970 he moved to Sovremennik, where the talented actor was invited by Oleg Efremov.
It was in Sovremennik that Valentin Iosifovich was able to fully reveal his creative potential. Here he performed his best roles, playing key characters in dozens of performances. In 2013, the actor took part in one of his last productions, appearing in the play "The Game of Gin".
Over the years, Valentin Gaft has received many prestigious awards. In 1978 he was awarded the title of Honored Artist of the RSFSR, and 6 years later he became People's Artist.
Films
Gaft first appeared on the big screen in 1956, playing a supporting character named Rouge in the military drama Murder on Dante Street. After that, he was often asked to play military personnel and various criminals.
Valentin got his first prominent role in 1971, when he was transformed into an American pilot in the film "The Night of April 14". After 4 years, he got a key role in the TV show "From Lopatin's Notes".
Nevertheless, the really great popularity came to Gaft after cooperation with Eldar Ryazanov. The director appreciated the guy's acting talent, as a result of which he often trusted him with leading roles.
In 1979, the premiere of the tragicomedy "Garage" took place, where Valentin played the chairman of the garage cooperative, whose phrases were analyzed into quotes. The next year Ryazanov offered the actor the role of Colonel Pokrovsky in the film "Say a word about the poor hussar."
The next iconic film in Gaft's creative biography was the melodrama "Forgotten Melody for the Flute", where he perfectly portrayed the official Odinkov.
In the 90s, the man took part in the filming of the cult tragicomedy Promised Heaven. Valentin Gaft's partners were such stars as Oleg Basilashvili, Liya Akhedzhakova, Leonid Bronevoy and many other Russian artists.
After that, viewers saw the man in the films: "Anchor, another anchor!", "Old Nags" and "Kazan Orphan", where he got the leading roles. It is curious that Gaft twice starred in The Master and Margarita with different directors. In the first case, he played Woland, and in the second, the high priest Kaifu.
In 2007, Valentin Gaft received an invitation from Nikita Mikhalkov to star in the thriller 12, which was later nominated for an Oscar in the category of Best Foreign Language Film. The actor brilliantly played one of the jury.
3 years later, Gaft again accepted the offer from Mikhalkov, transforming himself into a Jewish prisoner Pimen in the film Burnt by the Sun 2. Imminence. During the biography of 2010-2016. he participated in the filming of 9 television projects, the most successful of which were "The Life and Adventures of Mishka Yaponchik" and "The Milky Way".
Many people know Valentin Gaft as the author of many witty epigrams. Over the years of his life, he published about a dozen books with epigrams and poems. He also participated in dozens of television and radio performances, and also voiced many cartoons.
Personal life
Valentin Gaft was married three times. His first wife was a fashion model Elena Dmitrievna. Their union broke up after Elena fell in love with film critic Dal Orlov.
After that, Gaft had a fleeting affair with the artist Elena Nikitina, who became pregnant and gave birth to a boy, Vadim. The artist found out about the birth of his son only 3 years later. The girl did not demand anything from Valentine, and later flew with Vadim to Brazil, where her relatives lived.
When the boy grew up, he also became an actor. For the first time, Valentin Iosifovich saw his son only in 2014. Their meeting took place in Moscow.
The second wife of Gaft was the ballerina Inna Eliseeva. In this marriage, the girl Olga was born. In 2002, Olga took her own life due to a conflict with her boyfriend.
For the third time, Valentin went down the aisle with actress Olga Ostroumova, who recently divorced her husband. An interesting fact is that under the influence of his wife, the man converted to Orthodoxy.
Gaft's health has raised concerns for years. In 2011, he had a heart attack, and after 3 years he underwent a major operation. In 2017, due to a careless fall, he had to be urgently hospitalized again. In recent years, the artist has been suffering from Parkinson's disease, which is typical for many elderly people.
Valentin Gaft today
Now the author of the epigrams is mostly at home with his family. Nevertheless, he periodically appears on the theater stage of Sovremennik in the play As Long as Space Exists.
Gaft also agrees to attend various programs, where he is happy to share interesting facts from his biography. For example, he was a guest of such programs as “Hello, Andrey!”, “Let them talk” and “The fate of a man”.
It is worth noting that in the last TV program, Valentin Iosifovich had to be brought in a wheelchair, as his health deteriorated even more.
Gaft Photos
