Soviet and Russian theater and film actor, People's Artist of the Russian Federation.

"An artist from God, with a voice of a unique timbre, moreover, a writer who believes in the power of his native language, a man of irrepressible passions, a life-lover who works for wear and tear."(Galina Volskaya, President of the V.S.Zolotukhin International Charitable Public Foundation for the Support of Creativity).

Scale: from stage to temple

Valery Sergeevich Zolotukhin was born in the village of Bystry Istok, Altai Territory, a day before the start of the Great Patriotic War. Despite his humble peasant origin and a serious illness that ruined his early years, Zolotukhin built a bright life on overcoming. He lived passionately, was friends and worked with celebrities, gained all-Russian fame, conquered beauties, was loved by the audience.

Since the early 1990s, he has been relentlessly involved in charity work. He helped raise money for the restoration of the church in his native village. He headed the foundation supporting creative talents. As an artistic director for the last decadeAltai Youth Theater(MTA) and four years - International Theater and Film Festival in Yekaterinburg. He sang beautifully, toured with concerts, published autobiographical books. He can handle all the roles - this is how his colleagues spoke about the Altai nugget.

Career: 147 jobs in 143 projects

After graduating from the department of musical comedy of GITIS, a year later Valery Zolotukhin linked his life with the drama theater. He gave almost half a century (from 1964 to his death in 2013) to the famous metropolitan Taganka. On his main stage, he embodied about 30 of the four dozen most diverse roles he played on the stage.

At the turn of the 1960s-1970s, he became widely known for his leading roles in the films "Master of the Taiga", "Bumbarash", "The Only One". Bender and Georges Miloslavsky sing in his voice in Gaidaev's "12 chairs" and "Ivan Vasilyevich is changing his profession." The cinema mainly exploited the folk type of Zolotukhin, the images of a simpleton and a jester, often occupying the actor in episodes (he has about 100 films on his account). And the theater allowed to unfold in full growth, offering deep dramatic and tragic roles - Faust and Salieri, Paul I and the Marquis de Sade, Doctor Zhivago and Mephistopheles, Creon and Grigory Otrepiev.

Since the early 1990s, the actor has been expanding his own repertoire by participating in productions of several Moscow theaters (Soviet Army, Anton Chekhov, Modern, Theater of the Moon, Moscow Independent), and since 2003 - also the Youth Theater of Altai. Over the past two years, Valery Sergeevich has been the director and artistic director of Taganka, staging about six performances there.

In the new century, Zolotukhin returns to television and film screens, having played more than 40 roles (the series "Plot", "The Master and Margarita", Bekmambetov's Night and Day "Watch", "Viy" and many others).

His "chronicles" - personal and theatrical era - were published 36 times. Valery Zolotukhin published the first of 13 books (“To the source-river, to my childhood”) in 1978. And the story of Zolotukhin the philanthropist began with the fee from the story "Bounce" (1991), transferred to the restoration of the church in Bystry Istok. Before consecrationChurch of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, built under his care in the Bystry Istok, will take 12 long years. And after another 10 years he will be buried in his native land next to the temple that he raised by his efforts. After all, “There is no other place like Altai in the world” (V.S. Zolotukhin).

Memory

• They said goodbye to Zolotukhin three times - in Moscow on Taganka, in Barnaul in MTA and in Bystry Istok, where he bequeathed to bury himself. About two thousand people gathered at the actor's last journey in his native village. They say that those who dug a hole forgraves of Zolotukhinfound under it the foundation of the old - destroyed village church.

• After the death of the actor, the International Charitable Public Foundation for the Support of Creativity, which Valery Sergeevich headed since 1994, and the Altai Youth Theater, which he headed since 2003, were named after him.

• Two theater festivals - the All-Russian Youth Festival at MTA andRegional children's in Bystry Istok- also bear the name of Zolotukhin.

• The name of this man, who, in the words of Governor Alexander Karlin, “did a lot for the Altai Territory like no one else,” received the Governor's Prize, which has been annually awarded since 2014 to promising talents of the local scene - actors, directors, screenwriters and students.

• The Valery Zolotukhin Prize for his contribution to theatrical art is awarded at the International Festival of Theater and Cinema "In the Circle of the Family" in Yekaterinburg. This is a figurine-symbol of the national spirit: a bronze accordion with a cap on one side.

• In February 2016, relatives and colleagues of the People's Artist established the Valery Zolotukhin Cultural Foundation, and in June it was opened in Bystry IstokMemorial museum.