TV quiz “What? Where? When?”, which appeared on Soviet TV in the seventies, had already become a cult program by the early eighties. On the days the games were shown, millions of television viewers gathered at the screens, and the next day questions and answers were discussed with the same fervor as the games of the football team at the World Cup.
Of course, the brightest of the experts also became stars and favorites of the public. What was the fate of those who shone at the gaming table “What? Where? When?" in the eighties and nineties?
Alexander Byalko
The surname “Bialko” among connoisseurs and fans of “What? Where? When?" became as iconic as “Friends”. Comedians who make parodies of intellectual games almost always remember Alexander Byalko.
The MEPhI graduate appeared in the TV club of experts in 1979 and was very quickly remembered by viewers for both his sharp mind and his constant beard.
Perhaps the most striking episode with Bialko's participation was the final game in 1982, where on the decisive question he had to make fire using the method of ancient people: friction. When Alexander completed the task, presenter Vladimir Voroshilov remarked: “I can say that the two of the savages made fire! And the civilized Alexander Byalko alone produced fire!”
Even before this, in 1981, Bialko became the winner of the “Sign of the Owl”: the first individual prize established for connoisseurs. Alexander Byalko also took part in the first international games “What? Where? When?" as part of the USSR national team against the Bulgarian team.
Then he left the television club for a long time, concentrating on other activities. Alexander Byalko speaks eight languages and, in addition to his specialty as a nuclear physicist, also has a diploma in journalism. At one time, Bialko, a candidate of physical and mathematical sciences, prepared the current presenter of “What? Where? When?" Boris Kryuk .
Bialko returned to the gaming table in 2000, during the anniversary games. It was then that he was awarded the well-deserved “Crystal Owl”. Subsequently, he participated in several more games, but in 2010 he finally left the club.
Alexander Byalko with his wife. 2013 Photo: RIA Novosti/Ekaterina Chesnokova
The reasons for leaving became clear three years later, when Byalko appeared on Andrei Malakhov’s program. Then it became known that Alexander Andreevich, who was already over 60, left his family and married a 24-year-old girl. Byalko's ex-wife worked for many years in the program “What? Where? When?”, and TV director general Natalya Stetsenko , to put it mildly, did not appreciate such an act by a connoisseur. She honestly admitted this in Andrei Malakhov’s program. In general, we can say that Alexander Byalko broke up with “What? Where? When?" for family reasons.
At the beginning of 2020, Bialko supported one of the candidates in the election of the head of the Russian Chess Federation, but the victory went to another. The latest news from the life of the star connoisseur is that he and his wife were named among the guests of the First Moscow Newlyweds Festival on September 8, 2020 in the capital’s Pechatniki Park on the banks of the Moscow River.
Excerpt characterizing Hook, Boris Alexandrovich
After some time, I felt someone else’s presence and mentally prepared to greet the new “guest”... But instead of the usual soft breeze, I was almost glued to the back of the chair, and my book was thrown to the floor. I was very surprised by such an unexpected violent manifestation of feelings, but decided to wait and see what would happen next. A “disheveled” man appeared in the room, who, without saying hello or identifying himself (which everyone else usually did), immediately demanded that I “immediately go with him” because he “urgently needs me”... He was so nervous and “boiling” that it almost made me laugh. There was no smell of sadness or pain, as happened with the others. I tried to pull myself together to look as serious as possible and calmly asked: “Why do you think I’ll go somewhere with you?” - Don’t you understand anything? I'm dead!!! – his voice screamed in my brain. “Well, why I don’t understand, I know perfectly well where you’re coming from, but that doesn’t mean at all that you have the right to be rude to me,” I answered calmly. “As I understand it, it’s you who need help, not me, so it would be better if you try to be a little more polite.” My words gave the man the impression of an exploding grenade... It seemed that he himself would explode right away. I thought that during his life he must have been a very spoiled person by fate or simply had a completely creepy character. – You have no right to refuse me! Nobody can hear me anymore!!! – he yelled again. The books in the room spun like a whirlwind and fell together on the floor. It seemed as if a typhoon was raging inside this strange man. But at this point I, too, became indignant and slowly said: “If you don’t calm down now, I will leave the contact, and you can continue to rebel alone if it gives you so much pleasure.” The man was clearly surprised, but “cooled down” a little. It seemed that he was not used to not being obeyed immediately as soon as he “expressed” any of his desires. I never liked people of this type - neither then nor when I became an adult. I have always been outraged by rudeness, even if, as in this case, it came from a dead person... My violent guest seemed to calm down and in a more normal voice asked if I wanted to help him? I said yes, if he promises to behave normally. Then he said that he absolutely needed to talk to his wife, and that he would not leave (from the earth) until he could “get through” to her. I naively thought that this was one of those options when the husband loved his wife very much (despite how wild it looked to him) and decided to help, even if I didn’t like him very much. We agreed that he would return to me tomorrow when I was not at home and I would try to do everything I could for him. The next day, from the very morning I felt his crazy (I can’t call it anything else) presence. I mentally sent him a signal that I couldn’t rush things and would leave the house when I could, so as not to raise unnecessary questions among my family. But that was not the case... My new acquaintance was again completely unbearable, apparently the opportunity to talk to his wife again made him simply insane. Then I decided to rush things and get rid of him as soon as possible. Usually I tried not to refuse help to anyone, so I did not refuse this strange, eccentric entity. I told my grandmother that I wanted to take a walk and went out into the yard. “Well, lead the way,” I mentally said to my companion. We walked for about ten minutes. His house was on a parallel street, very close to us, but for some reason I didn’t remember this man at all, although I seemed to know all my neighbors. I asked how long ago he died? He said that it had been ten years already (!!!)... It was completely impossible, and in my opinion it was too long ago!
Fedor Dvinyatin
A graduate of the philological faculty of Leningrad State University, Fyodor Dvinyatin made his debut in the television club of experts in 1990. His career at the club lasted 15 years. Dvinyatin's best games came when he played in the same six with Alexander Druz . In football terms, it was Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi on the same team.
During his time at the club, Dvinyatin was awarded the Crystal Owl prize four times: only Alexander Druz was awarded more often. Unlike his explosive and emotional colleagues, Fyodor Dvinyatin always knew how to control himself: even when his correct answers were rejected for one reason or another. He left “What? Where? When?" intelligently and almost unnoticed, playing the final game of 2005.
As a radio host, Fyodor Dvinyatin worked at Radio Russia, where he hosted the “Bookshelf” section in the Krugozor program, introducing listeners to new items in the book market.
The same Fedor Dvinyatin pic.twitter.com/SGyPdijXJ4
— Alex Uralov (@alexmeshcherr) July 29, 2020
Today Dvinyatin does not strive for publicity, but, as far as we know, he is doing well both in his personal life and in his professional activities. The latest information about Fyodor Nikitich - on September 11-13, 2020 in Smolensk he will give a report at the third international scientific conference “Abrahamian Week-2018”.
The popularity of the expert is evidenced by the fact that one of the most original KVN teams of the early 21st century was named after him.
Nurali Latypov
A graduate of Rostov State University, Nurali Latypov, is well remembered by those who started watching “What? Where? When?" in the first half of the eighties. He was distinguished by his ability to find the right answers in situations when the rest of the team, as they say, found themselves in a stupor. This was the case with the legendary question about the pit: there was no correct answer at the table, and insight came to Latypov already during the answer. Vladimir Voroshilov did not hide his shock.
In 1984, Nurali Latypov became the first winner of the Crystal Owl prize. From “What? Where? When?" he left at the turn of the eighties and nineties. Subsequently, Latypov worked as an adviser to the Russian government, which was headed by Ivan Silaev , was an adviser to Deputy Prime Minister for regional and national policy Sergei Shakhrai , and an adviser on innovative technologies to Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov. Latypov could also be seen as a TV presenter on one of the TV channels.
Nurali Latypov: “There should be romance in politics” https://t.co/3yr5Cf6SGU pic.twitter.com/Ylzy7w2FIY
— Komi News (@kominewsru) July 3, 2020
Interesting fact: Latypov is a multiple winner of the Grand Prix at international cartoon exhibitions. Most recently, Nurali Latypov, director of the Institute for Strategic Monitoring, appeared as an expert in the “Time Will Tell” program on Channel One.
Andrey Kamorin
Andrey Kamorin.
Frame youtube.com The stellar period of MGIMO journalism graduate Andrei Kamorin in “What? Where when?" occurred in the late seventies - early eighties. Together with Alexander Byalko, Kamorin was one of the main favorites of the public of that time. Kamorin’s six were the best in the club, and he himself became the owner of the honorary title “Best Club Captain”.
In the 2000s, Kamorin returned to the club to participate in anniversary games. Unlike the works of other game stars of past years, almost everyone is familiar with the fruits of Andrei Kamorin’s professional work, although they don’t even know about it. As a producer, he created such series as “National Security Agent”, “Truckers”, “Secrets of the Investigation”, “Kamenskaya” and many others.
Andrey Kamorin is a member of the Union of Journalists of Russia, a member of the Russian Academy of Cinematographic Arts and a member of the Academy of Russian Television.
Filmography: Actor
- Show about love (2020)
- Cuckoo (2016), TV series
- Cult (2016), TV series
- Run away, catch up, fall in love (2015)
- The Real Screenplay (2015), short film
- Moon Moon (2015)
- Bartender (2015)
- Sacred Blood (2015)
- One left (2015)
- Mystery of the Dark Room (2014)
- Sex, coffee, cigarettes (2014)
- Spiral (2014)
- Runaways (2014)
- Champions (2014)
- It's Always Sunny in Moscow (2014), TV series
- Studio 17 (2013), TV series
- This is love! (2013)
- What are men doing! (2013)
- No Woman's Business (2013), TV series
- Without a Trace (2012), TV series
- The Second Revolt of Spartacus (2012), TV series
- Swallow's Nest (2012), TV series
- It's Simple (2012)
- Happy New Year, moms! (2012)
- Cucumber Love (2011)
- Medicine for Grandma (2011)
- Goddesses (2011)
- Generation P (2011)
- Odnoklassniki (2010)
- On hook! (2010)
- Stradivari Pistol (2009)
- Pickup: No Rules Picking (2009)
- Star of the Empire (2007), mini-series
- Zero Kilometer (2007)
- Mothers and Daughters (2007), TV series
- Three Half-Graces (2006), mini-series
- 9 months (2006), mini-series
- HEAT (2006)
- 9th company (2005)
Georgy Zharkov
Yesterday, the famous expert on #whatwherewhen, Georgy Zharkov, died suddenly. Everlasting memory! pic.twitter.com/tdOu0KtpTY
— Game Show Blog (@gs_blog) February 29, 2020
A graduate of the history department of the Vladimir State Pedagogical University, Georgy Zharkov appeared in the television club “What? Where? When?" in 1994, when Vladimir Voroshilov reformatted it into an “intellectual casino”. Zharkov felt confident in playing for money and in 1998 he was awarded the Crystal Owl prize.
Such a bright rise in the early 2000s gave way to a fall. In 2004, he was disqualified from the sports version of “What? Where? When?”, accusing him of fraud in order to gain access to answers to questions. And this was followed by a criminal charge: a candidate of psychological sciences, Zharkov, was suspected of sexual assault against a young man with mental retardation. On August 22, 2007, the court found Zharkov guilty and sentenced him to 4.5 years of suspended imprisonment. Georgy Zharkov did not admit guilt and considered the case to be ordered. He was removed from playing in the television club of experts.
Since 2020, he has worked at the Public Chamber of the Vladimir Region. At the beginning of 2020, Zharkov suffered a heart attack, from the consequences of which he never recovered. On February 28, 2020, the owner of the Crystal Owl passed away. He was 49 years old.
JEWELRY MAKING
Konstantin early began to help his father in business as a specialist in stones, and his desire for creativity led him to the profession of a jeweler. He made his first piece of jewelry at the age of 17 for his mother. It was a diamond ring. Since then, Kryukov began to design jewelry for friends and family.
In 2007, Konstantin created his own jewelry brand. Two years later, he released the “Choice” jewelry collection, which was presented in stores. The actor says that the topic of choice in a person’s life has always been very interesting to him, and a piece of jewelry can not only have a beautiful shape, but also carry some meaning. For example, the collection included cufflinks in the shape of masks, which is very symbolic. According to Kryukov, he is inspired not by any particular style, but by information.
Despite working in films, the actor is still actively involved in the jewelry business, developing his brand and making jewelry for loved ones. He gave his bride Alina a unique ring with a secret for her wedding.
Boris Burda
In terms of erudition, Boris Oskarovich Burda is one of the few who can compete with the legendary Anatoly Wasserman. It’s interesting that both Odessa residents made their debut in “What? Where? When?" in 1990 as part of the same team. But if Wasserman’s career in the television club of experts did not work out, then Boris Burda became one of the most successful players in “What? Where when?" late 1990s - early 2000s.
Burda has three Crystal Owls to his name, which is perhaps too few for him. In 1998, he received the Golden Chip Award as the best player of the year. He also bore the unofficial title of “Mr. Encyclopedia” at the club. Among other things, Burda managed to play against experts as a TV viewer. Boris Oskarovich is considered one of the most prolific authors of questions for the sports version of “What? Where? When?”: their number is measured in thousands.
In addition to various intellectual games, Burda at one time managed to play in KVN, and also became a laureate of several bard song festivals. But Boris Burda's most famous hobby is cooking. By his own admission, it all started with the fact that his beloved wife did not know how to cook at all, and therefore her husband had to take over the cooking.
As a result, Burda, who has a diploma with honors as a heat power engineer in automation, became a famous culinary specialist. For many years he hosted the program “Tasty with Boris Burda” on Ukrainian television. Boris Oskarovich still successfully shares his recipes on social networks.
Burda's eldest son Vladislav is a well-known businessman in Ukraine. At the beginning of September 2020, Boris Burda shared the good news: he married his eldest grandson.
