Valentina Pugacheva

Biography

Valentina Ivanovna Pugacheva is a Soviet and Russian film actress, known to millions of television viewers for her role as Zina in the Soviet film hit “Spring on Zarechnaya Street.” The artist’s filmography includes 4 dozen roles, from main roles to cameos, but she felt the taste of fame only after the release of the star-studded melodrama, which attracted more than 30 million viewers at the box office.

Actress Valentina Pugacheva

Finding herself at the peak of popularity and all-Union love in the 1950s, the actress starred in the wonderful films “Height”, “The Light in the Window”, “Night Guest”, but she could only remember Pugacheva’s past glory.

Biography

The actress became famous for her role as Zina in the film “Spring on Zarechnaya Street.”
“She dreamed of new roles”: Valentina Pugacheva died in St. Petersburg.

It became known that on April 13, at the age of 74, the actress who played the main role in the cult Soviet film “Spring on Zarechnaya Street” died. Valentina Pugacheva refused to go to the hospital and died in her apartment in St. Petersburg in the arms of her daughter Ksenia.

Before her death, Valentina Pugacheva told her daughter that she wanted to spend the last hours of her life next to her, with her mother and grandchildren. Ksenia says that on the last day she did not leave her mother’s bedside for a minute.

The famous Soviet actress suffered from pulmonary failure and asthma. She didn’t act at all and spent all her time with her family. Valentina Pugacheva raised her grandchildren Aliya, Timur and Damir. For the children, the death of their grandmother, who paid them so much attention, was a real tragedy.

The actress’s last work was a cameo role in the TV series “Streets of Broken Lights” in 1998. Ksenia, the daughter of the actress, says that despite her illness, Valentina Pugacheva dreamed of new interesting roles until her last days.

Valentina Pugacheva was born on May 14, 1935 in Leningrad

e. She graduated from VGIK and built most of her creative career at the Lenfilm film studio. The young actress starred in such famous films as “Height”, “The Night Guest”, “Long Day”, “After the Wedding”, “Mother and Stepmother”, “Snow Maiden”, “The Strogoffs”, “Here is My Village” and many others.

But of Pugacheva’s more than 30 film works, viewers best remembered her role in the film “Spring on Zarechnaya Street.” The image of Zinochka in the love story of a young teacher at a school for working youth and her student became the most successful and most striking image created by Valentina Pugacheva. For this role, the actress received an apartment in St. Petersburg, where she lived until her death.

Valentina Pugacheva's relatives took her death very hard. The actress's 92-year-old mother, Milania Pugacheva, cannot believe that she outlived her own daughter. Having learned about Valentina's death, she fell ill, did not get out of bed and did not talk to anyone.

Only family and friends came to see the actress off on her last journey. There was no fuss about the death of the legends of Soviet cinema. According to the will of Valentina Pugacheva herself, she was buried next to her husband in the cemetery in Repino near St. Petersburg.

Childhood and youth

The future movie star was born in the spring of 1935 in the Kharkov region, in the village of Malinovka not far from Chuguev. There were no artists or people of art in Valentina Pugacheva’s family. Mom, housewife Melania Ivanovna, provided comfort and a strong rear for military technician Ivan Timofeevich and raised her daughter.

The family moved to Leningrad before the war, when Valya was 5 years old. The Pugachevs met the alarming news about the beginning of the Great Patriotic War in the city on the Neva. The father went to the front, and the mother and daughter were evacuated to the Perm region, where they lived in the village of Kudymkar until Kharkov was liberated from the Nazis.

Valentina Pugacheva in her youth

In August 1943, Valentina Pugacheva returned with her mother to her native Ukrainian Malinovka, and in 1945 the family moved again to the northern capital, where the future artist graduated from school.

In 1953, Sergei Gerasimov and Tamara Makarova came to Leningrad: they were looking around the country for talented young people to join their acting workshop at VGIK. Valentina Pugacheva, having read the announcement about auditions for boys and girls at the Gigant cinema, also tried her hand. The 18-year-old brown-eyed beauty received an invitation from eminent masters and soon went to Moscow. Got in on the first try.

In 1958, Pugacheva was awarded a diploma from VGIK, but the actress did not find work in the capital’s theaters. She returned to Leningrad, where she was taken on the staff of the Film Actor Studio at Lenfilm.

Movies

The actress’s cinematic biography began in her first year of study at a theater university. Gerasimov used almost the entire course in the short film “Nadezhda,” which he filmed in 1954. The main characters of the film were played by Zinaida Kiriyenko and Nikolai Dovzhenko, the youth got episodes.

Valentina Pugacheva in the film “Nadezhda”

The names of the beginning actors were not included in the credits, so Pugacheva’s debut role is considered to be her work in the film, which soon after the premiere took its place in the golden fund of Soviet cinema.

The role of Zinochka, the odd one out in the love triangle of the heroes Nikolai Rybnikov, Nina Ivanova and Valentina Pugacheva, opened the door to cinema for the young actress. The melodrama premiered in 1956. After the release of the film, Rybnikov and Ivanova became idols of youth.

People lined up at the kiosks for photographs of the actors; fashionistas dyed their hair and did hairstyles like the blonde teacher Tanechka's. The designation “sex symbol” had not yet been invented, but the actors who played the main characters were quite suitable for it.

Valentina Pugacheva and Nikolai Rybnikov in the film “Spring on Zarechnaya Street”

The fame that Valentina Pugacheva gained was not as loud as that of Rybnikov and Ivanova, but “Zinochka” was recognized on the street and asked for an autograph. The artist developed excellent relationships with her colleagues in the film. With everyone except Ivanova, who looked down on the “secondary” Pugacheva.

Nikolai Rybnikov, according to his friend Valentina Ivanovna, was fascinated by the beautiful Valya, sociable and funny. But there was no romance between the actors - Rybnikov remained faithful to his bride Alla Larionova.

After graduating from VGIK and starring in the cult film Marlena Khutsieva, Pugacheva believed that her career would develop brilliantly, and under the wing of Lenfilm she would not be left without star roles. Valentina Pugacheva's hopes were only partially justified. Directors called the actress the queen of episodes and trusted her mainly with minor or episodic work.

Valentina Pugacheva in the film “Height”

Viewers saw the people's favorite in two bright films released in 1957. In the drama “Height” by Alexander Zarkhi, Valentina Pugacheva met again with Rybnikov. But the main character, as in “Spring on Zarechnaya Street,” was again played not by Pugacheva - such an honor was given to Inna Makarova. Valentina appeared in the episode as a fellow countryman of Rybnikov’s hero.

But in Mikhail Schweitzer’s drama “Tight Knot” with Oleg Tabakov and Viktor Avdyushko, the artist got the main role - Katya Zelentsova. As in Khutsiev’s star-studded melodrama, Pugacheva’s heroine is a girl from a love triangle.

Valentina Pugacheva in the drama “Long Day”

In the social and ethical film drama “The Night Guest,” filmed by director Vladimir Shredel at Lenfilm, Valentina Pugacheva appeared in a constellation of colleagues whose names the whole country knows - she played with Innokenty Smoktunovsky, Georgy Zhzhenov, Lyubov Sokolova.

In 1968, Pugacheva starred in the full-length fairy tale film “The Snow Maiden” by Pavel Kadochnikov, an adaptation of the play of the same name by Alexander Ostrovsky. She reincarnated as the sweet Radushka. The director entrusted the role of Kupava to Irina Gubanova, and Lelya to Evgeny Zharikov.

The actress got bright and memorable roles in the films “The Light in the Window”, “Long Day”, “After the Wedding”, “Mother and Stepmother”, “Here is My Village”.

Valentina Pugacheva in the series “Streets of Broken Lanterns”

In the 1990s, Valentina Ivanovna appeared in episodes of the full-length films “A Dog's Feast”, “White Horse”, “Russian Symphony” and “Under the Sign of Scorpio”. The latest film project for Pugacheva was the detective series “Streets of Broken Lanterns”, where the artist was seen in four episodes.

The rare appearance of the actress on screen in the last decade was explained by ill-wishers by the fact that the star of the 1960s and 70s rejected sent scripts, not seeing a worthy role for herself. In fact, Pugacheva was ill, and, seeing the state of Valentina Ivanovna, the directors were afraid to take her on grueling film expeditions.

The mysterious world of cinema

Pugacheva easily entered VGIK. While still a student, Valentina starred in the film “Nadezhda” by her teacher Gerasimov, who then involved his entire course in the filming.

Debut in the film “Nadezhda”, 1954. Source: 24smi.org

Of course, the role was small and the artist’s name was not indicated in the credits, but it was a good start.

And soon a truly stellar role awaited her. Unfortunately, almost the only memorable one in the actress’s career. Having starred in the role of Zinochka in the debut film adaptation of F. Mironer and M. Khutsiev “Spring on Zarechnaya Street”, Pugacheva was able to be remembered by the audience. Although here, too, many are sure that she was eclipsed by the strict teacher played by Nina Ivanova.

But Valentina’s minor work was not lost against the background of more experienced artists.

The actress became very good friends with her on-screen love Nikolai Rybnikov. And they could even make a good couple, but the actor’s heart was forever given to Alla Larionova.

After graduating from university, the girl, matching her first film, consoled herself with the hope that now the doors to big cinema were open to her.

But not a single theater in the capital invited the young actress, and they didn’t take her to Mosfilm.

Having pushed around in search of work, Valentina bitterly returned to Leningrad, where she joined the staff of Lenfilm.

In the film "Height", 1957. source: kino-teatr.ru

Here the actress was noticed and they began to offer her the same minor roles. But Valentina did not refuse and happily played the acquaintance of the main character N. Rybnikov in the film adaptation of “Height”, and appeared in a duet with I. Smoktunovsky in the film “The Night Guest”.

She embodied the image of Radushka in the fairy tale “The Snow Maiden”.

Personal life

On the set of the film “The Night Guest” in 1958, Valentina Pugacheva met her future husband, Lenfilm cameraman Vladimir Burykin, 7 years older. A romance broke out, soon culminating in marriage.

In 1959, Pugacheva gave birth to a daughter, Ksenia. The girl did not follow in the footsteps of her mother and father - she graduated from a technical university.

Valentina Pugacheva in old age

The woman lived with Vladimir Burykin, as relatives and friends say, in perfect harmony for 40 years. Such a happy and friendly couple among actors is very rare.

Valentina Ivanovna waited for her grandchildren - Aliya, Damir and Timur. She got along with her son-in-law Shamil.

There were rumors that the actress was given an apartment in Leningrad for her role in the cult Soviet melodrama. But Pugacheva’s relatives and friends say that Valentina Ivanovna, like all Soviet citizens, waited in line for many years before she was given the keys to the house in which she lived until old age.

Death

The famous actress has suffered from asthma attacks and pulmonary failure in recent years. She spent her free time from filming with her family, caring for her elderly mother and raising her grandchildren. The children adored their grandmother.

Anticipating death, the actress asked her daughter to stay at her bedside. Valentina Pugacheva died in the midst of spring 2008 in the arms of her daughter Ksenia, surrounded by her family, having flatly refused to go to the hospital. The cause of death was pulmonary failure.

Valentina Pugacheva's grave

The death of Valentina Ivanovna was a terrible blow for her family. Melania Ivanovna’s mother did not survive her daughter’s death: after the funeral she fell ill and soon died.

The actress outlived her husband by 9 years. Valentina Pugacheva's grave is located in the cemetery in Repino near St. Petersburg. My mother is buried nearby.

Last will

Valentina Pugacheva, whose personal life was never publicly displayed, was ill for a long time and seriously. She had asthma and pulmonary failure. And despite the seriousness of her situation, she did not want to go to the hospital, preferring to stay at home. For the last ten years, she has not acted at all (her last film work was a cameo role as a psychiatric patient in the TV series “Streets of Broken Lanterns” in 1998), spending all her time with her family, helping to raise her beloved grandchildren - Aliya, Timur and Damir. It was in them, in her daughter and mother, that she found solace and reassurance. After all, after the death of her husband, it was they who supported her.

As if anticipating her death, Valentina Ivanovna asked her daughter not to leave her for a minute. The elderly woman wanted to spend the time allotted to her, but so irrevocably leaving, with the people most beloved and dear to her. And she succeeded: she died at home, in the arms of her daughter. Her grandchildren took this tragedy especially hard, because her grandmother devoted almost all her time to them, spending every day with them.

Ksenia, Pugacheva’s daughter, later recalled that despite her serious condition, her mother dreamed of an interesting role until the last, hoping that at least once she could eclipse the success of ’56. But this, unfortunately, never happened...

She was accompanied on her last journey only by her family and friends, who did not want to make an enchanting spectacle with paparazzi and television cameras out of the grief that had befallen them. Once upon a time, Valentina Pugacheva bequeathed to bury her next to her husband in Repino (near St. Petersburg). The family complied with her wishes.

Filmography

1956 — “Spring on Zarechnaya Street”
1957 — “Height”
1957 — “Tight Knot”
1958 — “Night Guest”
1958 — “Oleko Dundich”
1961 — “Long Day”
1963 - “Two Sundays”
1968 — “The Snow Maiden”
1970 - “Seven Brides of Corporal Zbruev”
1976 - “The Long, Long Thing”
1979 — “We’ll be back in the fall”
1983 - “In Broad Daylight...”
1985 - “Here is my village...”
1988 — “Presumption of Innocence”
1990 — “Dog Feast”
1993 — “White Horse”
1998 — “Streets of Broken Lanterns”