Connoisseurs of Soviet films undoubtedly know this "actor of one role." Valentin Popov became famous after the screening of the film "Zastava Ilyich". He never appeared in full-length films again.
Biography
Valentin Vasilievich was born on May 30, 1936 in Moscow. He was from an ordinary working-class family, after school he even worked a little at a factory. Not far from his place of residence was the Palace of Culture ZiL, in which a very good folk theater functioned at that time. It was here that Valentin Popov showed himself. Roles he often got romantic (his appearance also contributed to this), and he also moved well and had fencing skills.
He studied acting science together with V. Vysotsky, G. Epifantsev and V. Nikulin in the studio school at the Moscow Art Theater, this was the course of P. Massalsky. That is why you can still find at least some autobiographical information about him in the mentions of Vysotsky's biographers.
Fellow students described Valentine as an independent person, not particularly fond of company. But he always participated in skits, and as a partner he was distinguished by accuracy and pliability.
He took part in the productions of Sovremennik and the Theater on Malaya Bronnaya. But the actor's career did not work out, so Valentin Popov decided to change direction and took up directing. He received his education in this profile at VGIK, which he graduated in 1969.
Zastava Ilyich
The fate of the film, which brought fame to Popov, cannot be called simple. The film was ready back in 1959, but the State Committee for Cinematography did not like it, and it was not released. According to some reports, the lack of ideology of the actors was not to the liking of N. Khrushchev, who ordered to cut out certain scenes and reshoot them. While the tape was being redrawn, Khrushchev resigned from his post. The director had to delete those scenes that gave references to his figure. The audience saw the director's idea in its original form only in the 80s, when "Ilyich's Outpost" was shown at the House of Cinema.
The director of the tape M. Khutsiev noticed Popov at the ZiL folk theater. I wanted to take him into the acting group for "Spring on Zarechnaya Street", but it did not work out. When selecting actors for Zastava, I remembered Valentin Popov and approved him for the role of Sergei Zhuravlev.
Only five years later the film "I am twenty years old" was released - this was the name of the reworked "Ilyich's Outpost". Later, the tape will be called one of the symbols of the "thaw" era - about the life of young people in the Soviet Union after the XX Party Congress.
The film was included in the program of the Venice Film Festival, where it was a great success. He was awarded a prize from the magazine "Cinema nuovo", and Valentin Vasilyevich was awarded a special prize. Despite the success, Valentin Popov did not associate his further career with acting. It was difficult for him to make "necessary" acquaintances for the actor. And in general, he did not tolerate dependence on another person, so he switched to directing. As an actor, he can be seen in the short film "Turyndyka", released in 1973.
Directing activity
In the new field, not everything was smooth either. Popov's scripts (those that he considered worthwhile) were very difficult to pass the approval of various commissions. He did not want to shoot hack. Therefore, in the end, few works were removed from him. "Shadowboxing", "Have you seen Petka?", "In a new place" and unfinished "Date with youth" - that's the whole list. The best picture is considered to be the picture "Shadowboxing", filmed in 1972.
Removing the tape "In a New Place", Popov survived a heart attack. Then, in 1982, a stroke. His health was weakened, he was given the third group of disability. I had to leave my work as a director. Valentin Vasilyevich at this time wrote scripts for cinema ("In the azure steppe") and theatrical performances. After the second heart attack in December 1991, Valentin Popov passed away. The director was buried at the Troekurovsky cemetery in Moscow.
Personal life
Popov was married to Martha Kostyuk, who later became an opera singer and worked at the Bolshoi Theater. The couple had a son, Dmitry, who in some way became the successor of his father's business - he is employed in the film industry.
In 2015, the publication "Nevskoe Vremya" collected materials related to the painting "Ilyich's Outpost". This was done for the 50th anniversary of the screening of the film. Then the authors managed to talk a little with the widow of Valentin Popov, Martha Hollier (she married an American in 1997 and left for the States for permanent residence). Marta recalled V. Popov as a very vulnerable person, envy and anger were completely uncharacteristic for him. It was difficult for him to "bend", which led to his leaving the acting profession and created inconvenience when working as a director. At the same time, he was very bright, his imagination knew no bounds. In addition to the scripts for the films, after him there were fairy tales and light notes that he did not have time to bring to mind.
For many years, Valery Lonskoy, a film director, was close to Popov. They met during the filming of "Ilyich's Outpost", then together they entered VGIK. Lonskoy speaks of Valentin Vasilievich as a very principled person. According to him, “what he didn’t like, he didn’t take, and what attracted him, he was not allowed to do”. Because of his character, Popov was always under stress. Unrealization sometimes forced them to deviate from their beliefs, otherwise the family would be left completely without money. This dissatisfaction became the main reason for his early death - he was only 55 years old.
