Valentin Gaft

Valentin Iosifovich Gaft was a Soviet and Russian actor, born on 2 September 1935 in Moscow to Jewish parents, Iosif Ruvimovich Gaft, a lawyer, and Gita Davydovna Gaft. His family had roots in Poltava or Pryluky, Ukraine, before relocating to Moscow. He had one sister, Rima Iosifovna Gaft-Shtrom. During World War II, his father served in the Red Army and attained the rank of Major.

Gaft developed an interest in theater during his school years, participating in amateur stage productions before enrolling at the School-Studio of the Moscow Art Theatre, where he studied from 1953 to 1957. His classmates included actors Oleg Tabakov and Maya Menglet. Following graduation, he held positions at several prominent Moscow institutions, among them the Mossovet Theatre, the Lenkom Theatre under director Anatoly Efros, and the Theater of Satire. In 1969 he joined the Sovremennik Theatre, where he remained until 2019.

His screen career began in 1956 with Mikhail Romm's film Murder on Dante Street. Over the following decades he appeared in a wide range of productions, including The First Courier (1968), Mad Gold (1977), Centaurs (1979), Black Hen, or Underground Villagers (1981), and Fuete (1986). Significant roles came through his collaborations with director Eldar Ryazanov: in 1979 he portrayed the garage cooperative chairman Sidorkin in the comedy The Garage, followed by Say a Word for the Poor Hussar (1980), Forgotten Melody for a Flute (1987), and Promised Heaven (1991). He also appeared in the musical comedy The Sorceress (1982), the tragicomedy Through Main Street with an Orchestra (1986), the action film Thieves in Law (1988), The Visit of the Lady (1989), Night Fun (1991), and Encore, Once More Encore! (1992). In 1994 he played Woland in Yuri Kara's adaptation of The Master and Margarita, a film that was not released until 2011.

Television work formed another substantial part of Gaft's output. His roles in that medium included the lead in a series based on Thomas Mann's novel Buddenbrooks, Lopatin in Lopatin's Notes, Jasper in the four-part Edin Druid's Secret, Kramin in For the Rest of His Life, Prince Borescu in The Archipelago Lenoir, and the Butler in Hello, I'm Your Aunt!, among others. Teleplays featuring Gaft included Just a Few Words in Honor of M. de Moliere, Widow's Home, Players, Aesop, and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

In 1996, Gaft appeared on Broadway in the play The Three Sisters. That same year he married the actress Olga Ostroumova, a union that lasted until his death. He converted to Orthodox Christianity in 1990 at his wife's encouragement. Beyond acting, Gaft was known as the author of sharp epigrams directed at figures in theater and film, and in the 2013 film Yolki 3 he recited selections of his own poetry.

Among the honors Gaft received were the title of Honored Artist of the RSFSR in 1978 and People's Artist of the RSFSR in 1984. He was awarded the Order of Friendship in 1995 and received the Order for Merit to the Fatherland in its third class in 2005, second class in 2010, and fourth class in 2016. In 2016 he was banned from entering Ukraine following statements deemed contrary to Ukrainian national security interests. Gaft died in Moscow on 12 December 2020 at the age of 85.