Height, weight, age. How old is Valentina Tolkunova
With the growing popularity of this unique singer, she began to have more and more fans and admirers who were interested in a lot of things about the performer. Including her height, weight, age. How old is Valentina Tolkunova? This is a question that few people ask.
The woman died at the age of 63. That is why it is impossible to compare the photos of Valentin Tolkunova in his youth and now. Of course, for such a talented person this is quite a bit. And if it weren’t for the brain tumor that brought her to the grave, Valentina Vasilievna would have delighted us with her songs for a long time. As for height and weight, it is only known that the singer was small - only 163 centimeters.
Biography
Tolkunova Valentina Vasilievna was born on July 12, 1946 in the small town of Armavir in the Krasnodar Territory. Tolkunova’s father was a military man, and her mother worked at a railway station. According to the memoirs of Valentina Tolkunova, in the life of the family there were always songs with a guitar at the table in a cozy kitchen and mother, who played the most important role in the life of little Valechka.
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When the girl was one year old, her father was transferred to serve in Moscow, and the happy family settled on the outskirts of the capital next to a large park. The noisy and colorful city won Valentina’s heart forever, becoming a source of creative inspiration.
As Valentina Tolkunova said in an interview with journalists, her biography as a singer began with participation in an ensemble led by Semyon Dunaevsky. The famous teacher Ovchinnikova, who at one time raised many children's pop stars, worked on vocals with Tolkunova. Valentina Tolkunova first shone on stage when she was not yet 10 years old, and since then the girl decided to connect her life with music.
After graduating from school, Valentina Tolkunova immediately went to enter the Moscow Institute of Culture, where she chose the conducting and choral direction. Studying was easy for Tolkunova, but in order to expand her capabilities, after graduating from the institute she immediately entered Gnesinka.
Jazz, popular in those years, fascinates the singer; she persistently strives for the perfect sound, breaking her gentle and sweet voice. A year later, Valentina Tolkunova successfully auditions and becomes a soloist of the very popular group “VIO-66”.
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Jazz brought her her first success, gradually VIO-66’s performances begin to be broadcast on all channels and even in such programs as “Blue Light”. Over the course of five years, Valentina Tolkunova performed many songs, and six of them became real hits of the youth subculture of the Soviet era. However, the singer understood that the jazz repertoire did not use all her vocal abilities, and decided to leave the group. Another reason for leaving was disagreements with the artistic director, who was Tolkunova’s ex-husband.
Biography of Valentina Tolkunova
Valentina was born on July 12, 1946, in the town of Armavir. And a year after her birth, she and her parents moved to the capital.
Her father, Vasily Tolkunov, and mother, Evgenia Tolkunova, were ordinary people who had nothing to do with the stage, but music was constantly playing in their house. This is what prompted the little girl to decide to become a singer. When the girl was 3 years old, she had a younger brother, Seryozha, who, like her sister, became a singer in the future.
Little Valya studied diligently not only at a regular school, but also at a music school, and performed in Dunaevsky’s musical ensemble. Her first serious performance took place when the girl was only 10.
After school, the girl in love with music decided to enter the Moscow Institute of Culture, where she was accepted into the conducting and choral department. But the constant desire for perfection forced Valentina not to stop there, and therefore Tolkunova received her second higher education in Gnesinka. In addition, the girl managed to audition for the group VIO-55.
The most famous composers of those years soon drew attention to the talented young singer, which brought enormous success to the future star.
In 1973, Valentina became a soloist of the Mosconcert, and she began to sing only Russian folk songs.
Seventeen years later, a recognized Russian pop star suffered a misfortune - she was diagnosed with breast cancer. The disease went away thanks to timely treatment. But sixteen years later, the cancer returned - this time, affecting the brain.
The biography of Valentina Tolkunova was filled with bright moments, but ended tragically. The singer refused to take treatment and performed on stage until the last day. In 2010, Valentina Vasilyevna was hospitalized in Mogilev. Already in the hospital, she fell into a coma and died just a couple of hours later, without regaining consciousness. She was buried at the Troekurovsky cemetery.
Illness and death of Valentina Tolkunova
In 1992, the first blow came - breast cancer. There was a course of chemotherapy and surgery. In 2009, the next blow was brain cancer, which became the cause of death. It so happened that Tolkunova was touring and after one of the concerts in Mogilev she was hospitalized - she first ended up in the intensive care unit of a local hospital, and then in Botkinskaya. At 6 a.m. on March 22, 2010, Valentina Tolkunova died: she fell into a coma and never woke up. They managed to administer unction to her right in the hospital room. We said goodbye to the people's favorite at the Variety Theater. The grave is located at the Troekurovsky cemetery. At the end of August 2011, a monument was unveiled there. Second husband Yuri Paporov lies nearby.
Personal life of Valentina Tolkunova
Valentina Tolkunova's personal life was impressive and eventful. Like any other performer with a beautiful appearance and many fans, there were rumors about her. Allegedly, Valentina started affairs with influential people from the government, but these rumors were never confirmed.
The girl had her first relationship back in her school years, but this relationship did not last long.
Valentina Vasilievna had two husbands. Interestingly, both were called Yuri. After her divorce from the first of them, there were rumors that one of her loyal fans was Lev Leshchenko himself, but this turned out not to be the case.
When her second husband went abroad for work, she remained faithful to him for a long time, but eventually gave in to another particularly persistent admirer, who, by the way, was also named Yuri.
“She is not of this world”: Valentina Tolkunova was dying of cancer and continued to care for her husband
Several years ago, Valentina’s brother spoke in detail in an interview about her two husbands. The first was a composer. Now many people know his name. “For her, there was no one higher than this man. Saulsky was 18 years older, experienced, educated. What feelings there were! It seems to me that the intensity of that feeling was the strongest in Valentina’s life,” says Sergei Vasilyevich.
According to him, Valentina lived with Saulsky for five years in an ideal marriage. And she worked in his team. But Yuri succumbed to new feelings. Valentina found out and filed for divorce. “How worried she was! Outwardly she held on, but we saw how bad she was. In addition, it became more difficult financially - I had to pay money for the cooperative apartment alone,” says the singer’s brother. After leaving her husband, Tolkunova also quit his orchestra.
The artist’s second husband was also named Yuri. They met at the Mexican Embassy, where Valentina's future husband worked as a translator that evening, and she sang at a concert.
“Yuri charmed Valentina with his knowledge and intelligence. In 1977, their son Kolya was born - his parents decided to name him in honor of our grandfather. Valya was happy. She dreamed so much about a child, about a family! Over the years of loneliness, of course, I suffered,” says a relative of the Soviet pop star.
A few years later, Tolkunova’s husband left for the USA to write a book about Leon Trotsky. He stayed in America for 12 years. “Valechka, of course, was worried about the breakup. But she refused the offer to move overseas. She said: “Who will need me there?” recalls Sergei Vasilyevich.
1992 was the year from which a dark streak began in the singer’s life. She was diagnosed with breast cancer. “Until this, she had not been to a doctor for six years. There was no time, I was traveling, working. Maybe if the disease had been found on time, the terrible tragedy would not have happened later,” says Valentina’s relative with bitterness.
And then, in his words, the singer made a fatal mistake - she did not complete the course of treatment: “The tumor was cut out for her then, but Valya refused chemotherapy - she was afraid that her hair would start to fall out. How then to go out in public? And she began to be treated with some folk remedies. At the same time, I began to attend church more often and learned prayers.”
When Tolkunova’s husband returned to his homeland, he was already an old, sick man, because he is 23 years older than the artist. “My heart is already weak, my hearing is gone, my vision has deteriorated. He was also diagnosed with cancer. Valechka, forgetting about herself, looked after her husband. She hired nurses, took him to doctors, arranged for him in hospitals,” Sergei Vasilyevich said in his interview with the Sobesednik portal.
Perhaps her penchant for self-denial allowed her to survive for 14 years. “In 2006, Valya was again diagnosed with breast cancer. And again the operation, a course of chemotherapy... Three years later, Valya began to suffer from terrible headaches. They carried out an examination - a brain tumor.” After this she did not have long to live.
In one of the people’s most beloved songs, she sang: “If you get sick, I’ll come. I will spread the pain with my hands. I can do everything. I can do anything. My heart is not a stone." This is exactly how her family, friends and loved ones remembered her - kind, selfless and loving people. Photo: Personastars
Family of Valentina Tolkunova
Valentina Tolkunova’s family did not treat art and creativity professionally in any way. The girl’s father built a military career, which is why they rarely stayed in one place for long. Valentina's mother was an employee of the railway service.
But they all loved music very much. Songs of popular performers were always playing in their house. For the most part, they are folk, which is why little Valechka understood all their beauty as a child. The qualities of a singer began to appear in her at a very young age. She remembered many songs by heart and often held home concerts for friends and guests.
Her brother, Sergei Tolkunov, following his sister, devoted his life to the stage and became an Honored Artist of Russia. He often performed on stage with Valentina.
Children of Valentina Tolkunova
The children of Valentina Tolkunova, or rather her only son, could have become a source of joy and support for their famous mother, but that did not happen.
Valentina could not say about herself that she was a happy mother, and did not hide this fact. The boy, who appeared in his second marriage, having become an adult, completely did not care about Tolkunova. Preferring passion for alcohol and drugs to caring for his mother. By the way, he could have been imprisoned because of drugs, but only Valentina Vasilievna’s fame saved him from prison.
Even after her death, he did not repent.
Valentina Tolkunova - did not believe that she was dying
Fragile in appearance, in fact Valentina Tolkunova was a woman with a steel core inside.
But sometimes even the strongest can’t stand it. When Valentina Vasilievna was informed about the need for chemotherapy, she refused without hesitation. The doctors insisted: without it, the operation would be ineffective. But the singer stood her ground. My head was spinning: her hair, her gorgeous hair...
They say that chronic stress often triggers the development of cancer. Valentina Vasilievna thought about this more than once when she first heard her diagnosis in 1992. Breast cancer...
She was only 46 years old, her career was at its peak, and the audience doted on her. When she went on stage, the singer always smiled. In fact, this is all a mask: the singer simply did not consider it possible to show her experiences to those gathered.
She had an unsuccessful first marriage behind her. Composer Yuri Saulsky became her first man, the man with whom Valentina fell madly in love at the age of 19. They immediately tied the knot. Five happy years flew by unnoticed, and then - “I fell in love with someone else”... Words cannot express what was in Valechka’s heart. She dreamed of children, of growing old together, and then... Tolkunova let her beloved go.
Having met her second husband, international journalist Yuri Paporov, she forgot about the past. It seemed that now we would definitely have a strong family! Moreover, a year later the couple had a son, Kolya. And when the boy turned four, Paporov was dumbfounded - he was leaving on a business trip to Mexico. And Valya let go again... Only to a close friend did she once say in her hearts: “I will never forgive Yura for leaving us!”
She tried to independently raise her only son: Paporov no longer participated in his upbringing. My mother, Evgenia Nikolaevna, helped. Only the childhood resentment towards his mother, who paid too little attention to him, only grew stronger in Kolya over the years.
Endless tossing between home, son, mother and the stage completely exhausted the singer. When the doctor hinted to her that she should be less nervous, Tolkunova barely held back her tears. She understood: this was impossible.
After the diagnosis was made, the artist was offered surgery. She had no choice. But when chemotherapy was required after the intervention, Valentina Vasilyevna refused. The only thing the doctors were able to persuade her to do was take pills. But could they overcome cancer? And Tolkunova herself did not seem to notice the seriousness of her diagnosis. The only thing is that she turned to God and began to pray more often, believing that she should wait for help not here on earth, but from above.
Despite her deteriorating health, the singer returned to the stage, to her beloved spectators, who never ceased to be amazed at her perseverance. For many, Tolkunova was an example of a real woman - meek and weak. All her songs were about and for women. It was as if she was talking to them through texts, and her melodious voice penetrated into the very heart. Valentina called one of her albums, released in 1985, “Conversation with a Woman.”
“I’m standing at a stop,” “Talk to me, mom,” “I can’t do otherwise,” “If only there were no winter”—her songs were known by heart. And how many children's compositions she performed! “Snub noses”, “Tired toys are sleeping”... Alas, her own son Kolya rarely listened to them. He grew up a difficult boy. Being eternally offended by his mother, he called her work nothing more than a “booth” and took gifts from her for granted.
In the 2000s, Kolya Tolkunov was caught red-handed - drugs were found in his pocket. But the matter did not progress: the mother took care again. Tolkunova, by the way, in the gangster circles where her son lived, was known, not touched, and respected. Valentina Vasilyevna sent her son for treatment: it turned out that he had long been addicted to alcohol and illegal substances. Kolya began to recover, but the singer herself fell ill again. Turning to the doctors again, she heard: “The cancer has returned...”
Valentina Vasilievna learned that the tumor not only returned, but also grew, in 2006. And again the operation, treatment... The only joy for the woman was the stage. And she didn’t even tell her beloved son about the diagnosis - why upset the boy in vain, he has enough problems of his own.
She fought the disease alone, and then her husband returned from Mexico. Yuri repented and realized how vile he had acted towards his family. Tolkunova cried listening to his apology, but... she couldn’t forgive.
The couple were about to separate, but life presented them with a new test. Paporov was in a car accident and ended up in the hospital. The damage was serious: the man remained disabled for the rest of his life, and over time he began to go blind. Could Valentina Vasilyevna leave him? Of course not. Her kind soul again gave way, and the singer settled her husband in her apartment. From now on, on her shoulders was an old mother, a sick husband and a son who brought more problems than joy.
In order to somehow arrange Kolya’s fate, Tolkunova took him to her theater as a lighting designer. But, as eyewitnesses said, he never showed up at work...
In 2009, the singer received a terrible diagnosis for the third time. Now the cancer has affected the brain, and metastases have spread throughout the body. At the same time, not many colleagues knew that the artist had health problems - she did not like to complain.
Tolkunova turned to American doctors for help, but they quoted such a fabulous sum that the singer immediately refused treatment. She has a family, relatives, she needs to provide for them...
Valentina Vasilievna agreed to all performances. She bought her son a house in Bulgaria - she really wanted him to not need for anything. Even feeling bad, she went on tour to Belarus. At a concert in Mogilev on February 16, 2010, the artist became ill. She was taken from the hall to the intensive care unit of a local hospital, and from there she was transported to Moscow.
Tolkunova spent a little over a month in the Botkin hospital. Until the last moment I hoped that she would pull through! I was preparing a new concert program right within the hospital walls. She discussed it with Lev Leshchenko, who came to visit her. Once again we agreed that in a couple of days he would come again to look at her sketches. But just two days later the singer passed away - having fallen into a coma, she died on the morning of March 22.
The funeral service for Valentina was held in the Church of the Ascension, and she was buried at the Troekurovsky cemetery. The deceased was placed in the coffin in her favorite cream dress, sewn 15 years before her death. They also placed with her a string of pearls, which she never parted with during her lifetime.
Some say that the son managed to say goodbye to Valentina Vasilievna and even ask her for forgiveness. Others claim that he learned about his mother’s death after the fact. The main thing is that Tolkunova herself never forgot about Kolya. She did not leave a will, but even without him, her son inherited everything that she had acquired through backbreaking labor.
According to rumors, Kolya has now come to his senses - he has settled down and leads a healthy lifestyle. Whether he remembers his mother is unknown, but I would like to think that he does.
Son of Valentina Tolkunova - Nikolai Paporov
Valentina Tolkunova’s son, Nikolai Paporov, appeared in the singer’s second marriage to journalist Yuri Paporov.
As can already be understood from what was described earlier, the boy grew up as a disobedient hooligan, and studied poorly at school. Although in fact he was not deprived of maternal attention. Unlike my father's. Nikolai saw his father extremely rarely, for the reason that he was often on the road and lived in Latin America.
The guy did not strive to get a higher education. And Valentina helped him financially all the time, despite her son’s devil-may-care attitude.
Currently Nikolai Paporov lives in Bulgaria.
Valentina Tolkunova's son lives on his mother's inheritance
Recently, the weekly magazine “KP” wrote about a new book of memoirs, which was published on the occasion of Valentina Tolkunova’s 70th birthday. The singer admitted that the main love of her life is her son Nikolai. But she noted that they have different views on life. In fact, the conflict between the singer and her only heir had deep roots.
Forgave my husband who ran away
“Valechka Tolkunova was not very lucky in her personal life,” says her friend Lyudmila Kareva. “Actually, she wasn’t quite the person she said she was.” Sweet, reverent on stage and very tough and tenacious in life... Her second husband was Yuri Paporov, an international affairs writer, with whom she gave birth to her only son, Kolya. He bears his father's last name.
Paporov did not treat Valentina in the best way. He went to Mexico, where he lived for 12 years, and found a woman there. Valya and her four-year-old son remained in Moscow: she could not leave Russia - this would mean the collapse of her career. Paporov did not send money and did not participate in raising the child. Valya provided for the family completely. Her mother helped her raise her son.
But in public, Tolkunova said that everything was fine in their family.
“She once told her director that she would never forgive her husband for running away to Mexico...
“Then she finally forgave him.” Yura returned to Moscow and got into a car accident here. He received a concussion, remained disabled, and began to go blind. Valya took him in, looked after him, and hired a nurse for him. Even after her death, her husband continued to live in her apartment. And his mother-in-law, Valentina’s old mother, took care of him... He died a few months after Valya left. Paporov was buried next to Tolkunova.
Rare footage: little Kolya with his father, writer Yuri Paporov. He went to Mexico and no longer participated in raising his son. Photo: family archive.
"Talented but lazy"
“Valya was constantly saving,” her friend continues. — I bought several apartments in Moscow. She built a house in Diveyevo, whose monasteries she loved to visit. She has accumulated a lot of property. (See "Specifically.")
Then it all went to Nikolai. Tolkunova herself grew up in poverty. And she said that she would do everything so that her son would not need anything. He really had everything he wanted: the best toys, trips to the sea. But Valya sometimes did not have enough time to raise Kolya. She toured constantly. Little Kolya was offended by his mother because she always left him.
At the same time, the singer unnecessarily spoiled her son. When Kolenka was sent to Artek, the boy wanted to run away from there - he could not stand the discipline. Then the singer paid for a trip to the camp for his friend, so that her son would not be bored. Plus she sent her director to keep an eye on the guys. I sent them food. Kolenka Tolkunov told the director: “Don’t try it - it’s all for me.” Just for fun, I spread condensed milk on bread and put sprats on top...
Valya had high hopes for her son. But Kolenka, having natural talents, did not develop them much. He inherited his mother's beautiful voice. But I didn’t want to go on stage. He loved rock, and called his mother’s singing an amateur performance, a farce, and this, of course, offended Valentina.
Nikolai learned English and understood the exact sciences. Tolkunova helped him enter Moscow State University. And he dropped out of school. Then the singer added him to her team. But Nikolai worked formally. His mother suggested that he go out and sing at concerts, but he didn’t want to. Later, Valentina got a job with her team at Mosconcert and ensured that her son was also hired.
“The son of Valentina Tolkunova was only registered at Mosconcert, but did not actually work,” Alexander Belenky, general director of Mosconcert, told KP.
Nikolay Paporov. Photo: Ruslan VORONOY, Express newspaper
Detained with drugs
In 2000, when Nikolai was 23 years old, police detained him with heroin. The fate of Kolya Paporov hung in the balance. A criminal case was opened... But the story was hushed up - not without the help of Tolkunova. After this, the artist began to work closely on the treatment of her son. And Nikolai was put on special registration with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and was classified there as a “criminal element.”
Law enforcement officers note that Paporov communicated with bandits. In any case, his contacts were found in the phone books of criminals. He was connected with drug dealers, with a certain authority nicknamed American, and also with a bandit from Irkutsk, who was killed in the capital in a criminal showdown (extracts from the police data are in the editorial office).
“I knew Kolya, the son of Valya Tolkunova,” former crime boss Valery Bogdanovsky told KP. — He visited our companies. Nice, kind guy. He loved to take walks and sit in restaurants. We sometimes gave him money. And his mother was respected. There was a period when bandits demanded bribes from artists. No one touched Valya Tolkunova - everyone liked her.
“It was no secret to anyone in Valentina’s circle that her son, at the age of 20, was addicted to alcohol and, as they said then, became addicted to drugs,” says Lyudmila Kareva. “Valya threw all her strength into fighting his illness. In order not to break down, I took him with me on tour. But Nikolai was irritated by his mother’s guardianship; they used to quarrel. Valya confessed to me: “I cried so many tears because of Kolya.” But she forgave him everything - she loved him very much.
“Kolya became pious”
At one time, Kolya worked part-time in a pawn shop - it turned out that he was attracted to trade. Then he said that he wanted to start a small business and live in Bulgaria. Valentina bought him an apartment there. Kolya went to Bulgaria with his girlfriend Diana. But he rarely thought about his mother. I didn't even know she was terminally ill.
As family friends said, Valentina’s son came to the intensive care unit shortly before his mother’s death and asked her for forgiveness. Tolkunova made Nikolai promise that he would finally give up his bad habits.
According to relatives, Kolya was very worried about his mother’s departure. He said that he regretted that he devoted so little time to her.
He kept his promise. In 2012, he became an individual entrepreneur and began renting out real estate, which my mother had bought during her lifetime. In Bulgaria, he helped the parents of his girlfriend Diana, who had their own business installing fences around cottages. But in 2020, Nikolai broke up with his girlfriend.
— Kolya maintains almost no contact with anyone. And he avoids journalists altogether, assure friends of Tolkunova’s family.
As the singer’s brother Sergei Tolkunov said, Nikolai now lives in Bulgaria almost all the time. He rarely comes to Russia.
— As far as I know, he is not married. We hardly communicate with him. “He used to call when he had problems,” Sergei Tolkunov admitted to KP. “But I haven’t been in touch for a long time.”
— They wrote that after the death of Valentina Tolkunova, Nikolai allegedly forcibly evicted his grandmother, Valentina Vasilievna’s mother, from their Moscow apartment?
- I don’t know what happened there. But my mother later returned to her apartment. It was probably not Kolya who did it, but the people who were next to my mother, and they forced her to move to a new place. It was hard for a 90 year old man...
According to Nikolai’s close friend, Paporov has become devout in recent years, visits churches, and prays a lot. Complies with church canons...
It turns out that he radically reconsidered his life precisely after the loss of the person most dear to him - his mother.
SPECIFICALLY
Singer's real estate
This housing belongs to Tolkunova’s son Nikolai:
Apartment in Moscow on Malaya Bronnaya, area - 92.5 sq. m. m.
Apartment in Moscow on Tsvetnoy Boulevard - 60 sq.m. m.
Apartment in the village of Krasnovidovo, Istrinsky district, Moscow region, area - 48 sq. m. m.
A dacha and a plot of land in the city of Chekhov, Moscow region, plot area - 600 sq. m. m.
A two-story mansion (four rooms) in Diveevo, Nizhny Novgorod region, not far from the monastery.
Apartment in Burgas, Bulgaria.
House in Montenegro.
Nikolai also owns a Mercedes-Benz car.
Valentina Tolkunova's ex-husband - Yuri Saulsky
Valentina Tolkunova’s ex-husband, Yuri Saulsky, was a famous composer and conductor, by the way, twice Valentina’s age. When they met, Tolkunova was only 19 years old.
Their family relationship lasted only five years. Almost all these years, Valentina Vasilievna was happily married, but later frequent scandals began for the reason that Yuri turned out to be a “Casanova” and often cheated on his wife. So, having started another affair with a young actress, he finally left Valentina, leaving her the apartment after the divorce.
Valentina Tolkunova's husband - Yuri Paporov
Valentina Tolkunova’s husband, Yuri Paporov, met with Tolkunova at the Mexican embassy. The man himself was an international journalist. Valentina's next chosen one again turned out to be much older than herself, but this did not prevent either marriage or the subsequent birth of a son.
Although the couple did not officially divorce, their marriage collapsed when Paporov returned to Mexico, and Valentina refused to go with him. However, when Yuri was in a car accident, Valentina took him in with her.
Yuri Paporov died a month after his wife.
Personal life
Valentina Tolkunova and Yuri Saulsky often stayed alone after rehearsals to work on the most difficult moments.
And then he took Valentina home, on the way he talked about jazz, about great musicians and famous orchestras... She listened to him as if spellbound. He seemed to her like a god who had descended to mere mortals from the inaccessible Olympus. One day, Yuri Sergeevich invited Tolkunova to a restaurant. Accustomed to a Spartan life since childhood, she felt very awkward in a luxurious environment. It seemed to her that in her simple dress she looked out of place and was behaving somehow incorrectly. This time the beloved leader was not talking about music. He asked Valentina about her family, how she spends her free time, what her hobbies are. He managed to make Valentina relax, and after his casual compliments she stopped thinking that she looked worse than others.
Tolkunova fell in love with him more and more, although she herself did not understand what was happening. She had too little life experience to distinguish admiration for a teacher from love for a man. And when I realized what was happening, I was scared. How could she hope for anything?
He is eighteen years older than her, and also a celebrity, fans follow him, and she... is just an aspiring singer. The marriage proposal came as a complete surprise to her. “Yes,” Valentina whispered and froze in the arms of her lover, trying to hide the tears of happiness that appeared in her eyes.
The five years Valentina spent with Yuri flew by like in a fairy tale. The best man on earth loved her, she performed with the famous orchestra, learned a lot and learned a lot. Finally, for the first time in her life she lived in material prosperity. They had an apartment in the center, a car, and on tour they stayed in the best hotel rooms.
And one day Valentina returned home from her mother ahead of time and found her husband with someone else. The betrayal of her beloved was a real shock for Tolkunova. The husband asked for forgiveness and explained that this was a casual relationship. But is it possible to do this if you truly love?
Tolkunova gave up everything - her prosperous life, her job in the orchestra. She went to the village to be alone, not to hear words of sympathy, not to see eyes filled with pity. It seemed to her that this was the end, and ahead there was only hopeless darkness...
She had no job, no money, no hope. But there was a wonderful voice and an unforgettable manner of performance, which was noticed not only by Saulsky. Soon Valentina Tolkunova received an offer to perform at the anniversary concert of Vladimir Shainsky. To appear on the same stage with Muslim Magomayev and Lyudmila Zykina, and most importantly, with her childhood idol Claudia Shulzhenko - she could not even dream of this!
And now Valentina is behind the scenes of the House of Unions, preparing for her performance, standing in front of the mirror. The dress seemed okay, but the shoes... Tolkunova looked at her feet and almost burst into tears. The shoes, which she did not throw away only because there was no money for new ones, looked simply terrible: scuffed, worn out, with broken toes. Is it possible to wear these on stage?
- Well, are you worried? - asked the young artist Lyudmila Zykina.
And Valentina Tolkunova completely forgot about the excitement. All thoughts were occupied by the ill-fated shoes!
“Yes,” she said, lowering her eyes. — My shoes don’t seem to be very good...
- Oh my God! - exclaimed the singer. - Come with me.
In Zykina’s dressing room, she found a pair of suitable shoes, and Valentina, happy, ran onto the stage. When the audience applauded her after the end of her performance, she thought of only one thing: not to forget to thank Lyudmila Georgievna.
Valentina thought that she could no longer trust any man. And, of course, he would never love anyone again: the pain from the insult inflicted by Yuri was too strong. She was alone for several years, although fans, who appeared more and more, constantly showed her signs of attention. Tolkunova was already 28 years old, she really wanted a child, but could not open her heart to anyone.
They met Yuri Paporov at the Mexican Embassy. She sang, he acted as a translator. Valentina was captivated by his calmness and unshakable self-confidence. He looked after her beautifully, behaved like a real gentleman and did not rush her to answer. His name was the same as her first husband, he was also much older than Tolkunova. Maybe she unconsciously hoped for a continuation of her first love?..
Valentina married Yuri, and they had a long-awaited child, son Kolya. The young mother could not breathe on her little blood. She didn’t want to let him go, she didn’t want to go to concerts, but she had no choice - such was the fate of the artist. It’s good that his son had a wonderful grandmother - Valya often had to leave the baby in her care.
My husband, an international journalist, was writing a book about Leon Trotsky, and therefore went on a business trip to Mexico. He stayed there for twelve long years, coming only occasionally, no more than twice a year. At first, he invited his wife with him: he wanted her to leave her favorite job and become a housewife. But for Valentina, a singer from God, life outside the stage was simply unthinkable. Yuri could not understand this.
Gradually they became complete strangers. Officially Valentina Tolkunova was married, but in reality she was alone. People call such women straw widows. She raised her son alone, torn between her child and constant tours, she made all the important decisions alone, she spent her rare free evenings alone...
“Valentina, you should have been a people’s artist for a long time,” her concert director once again told Tolkunova.
- I’m already a people’s person, aren’t I? — the singer smiled calmly. — They love and know me from Kamchatka to Kaliningrad.
- But the title also provides some opportunities. You would have made a fuss: met the right people, sung at the anniversary... Look, they would have shown it on TV more often.
“I don’t need any television.” The main thing is that I have a tour.
For her, this really was the most important thing - personal contact with the viewer, the opportunity to see people's eyes, to feel that she was heard and understood. She found her niche on the stage and a place in the hearts of millions of listeners.
But still, a woman’s heart cannot do without love and warmth. They were presented to the singer by nuclear physicist Vladimir Baranov. In public they behaved like good acquaintances - both were not free. Valentina did not want to get a divorce because of her son, Vladimir had a daughter. We met secretly, not very often. And then for months they remembered these dates, warming up with their late feelings.
Vladimir was terminally ill. After working at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, he quickly developed cancer. Valentina did not want to believe that his days were numbered. She convinced her beloved that he would pull through, because he was so strong and she needed him so much... The disease won. Her Volodya died, and she couldn’t even come to his funeral - she didn’t want to cause gossip.
Soon Valentina’s husband returned to his homeland. The man she once married was impossible to recognize. After a car accident, he began to lose his sight and hearing, and other diseases appeared. Valentina accepted it without hesitation. She hired a nurse and surrounded her with care and attention. “I can’t do otherwise,” she answered with a line from her song to her acquaintances, who were surprised at such forgiveness. After all, he actually abandoned her!
At that moment, Tolkunova already knew that she had cancer. She knew, but didn’t tell her loved ones so as not to worry. She agreed to the operation, and after it she went on tour again, although the doctors strongly advised her to rest. But she could not rest, she could not remain alone within four walls. Only at concerts did Valentina Vasilyevna feel that she was still living, that people needed her.
Relatives believe that this dedication crippled her, exhausted her, exhausted her, and made her defenseless against illness. Tolkunova did not know how to work half-heartedly, and at the same time she did not feed off the energy from the audience, as most artists do...
Photo by Valentina Tolkunova in Maxim magazine
Of course, you won’t find any photos of Valentina Tolkunova in Maxim magazine. They simply don't exist. The same applies to those photographs where the famous performer is captured naked or in a swimsuit.
If you come across such footage on the Internet, their reliability will be in great doubt. Candid photos of Valentina Tolkunova have never been published anywhere. Especially if you take into account the morals of the Soviet era. Thus, if you see such pictures, which is unlikely, do not doubt it is Photoshop.
Instagram and Wikipedia Valentina Tolkunova
Instagram and Wikipedia of Valentina Tolkunova are easy to find on the Internet. On the page of the famous performer in the Internet encyclopedia, you can read all the available information about Valentina’s biography, her personal life, and find the most complete lists of her works, including audiography. Among other things, it also contains information about Valentina’s husbands and her numerous awards.
Tolkunova’s Instagram is maintained by her admirers. There you can see memorable photos and videos of Victoria Vasilievna, but they all relate only to performances. Article found on alabanza.ru
