Valery Garkalin
“When I stand before the Almighty, I will have a big and serious conversation with him,” said Valery Garkalin, People’s Artist of the Russian Federation, in an interview. He did not hide the fact that in life he repeatedly lost the fight once morest temptations. He knew firsthand regarding addictions and did not look for excuses for himself. On April 11, a wonderful actor might have turned 69 years old. However, fate measured him only 67.
“I went out and sobbed”
We might never have known the artist Garkalin if not for his perseverance. Valery grew up in a simple family. Mom worked as a cashier in a canteen, and her father was in charge of a car repair shop. Both were not happy with their son’s desire to become an actor.
Valery’s attempts to enter a theater school ended in failure. The incident that occurred at the audition at the Shchukin school was especially vividly imprinted in my memory.
After listening, Garkalin was asked to stay. He, was, cheered up and did not expect what followed next.
“The teacher says to me: “Young man, I really liked you. But if you see a theater institute on your way, go around it for a kilometer!”. I went out and sobbed, ”said Valery.
And yet he got through. I was able to get into the faculty of puppet art at the Musical College. Gnesins. The experimental course was then recruited by Leonid Khait and Sergey Obraztsov. Graduates in the 1970s created the theater “People and Dolls” and traveled throughout the Soviet Union.
Later in the fate of Garkalin was GITIS, the faculty of directing mass performances. The actor was finally accepted into the troupe of the Moscow Theater of Satire.
Came into the life of the artist and cinema. Particularly glorified Garkalin in the 1990s participation in the comedy “Shirley Myrli” by Vladimir Menshov. Valery himself believed that this picture served him and not very good service.
“The plume of a comedian is still trailing behind me. Attempts to shoot me in other heroic, dramatic plans do not come at all, ”Valery Borisovich once complained.
“I felt like I was going crazy”
“It seemed to me that she reconciles me with reality,” Garkalin said regarding vodka. As is often the case, the actor did not have time to notice, and alcohol began to control his life. What began as a mischief, eventually turned into a serious problem.
“We allowed ourselves to drink right in the classroom. Someone under the desk poured a forty-degree drink into a tea cup or a thermos lid, apologized to the teacher, saying that someone had a sore throat and needed to drink hot. The imaginary patient sipped from the cup in small sips, without grimacing and, of course, without eating, ”the actor recalled.
There came a time when drunkenness began to lead to disruption of filming and performances.
“At some point, I stopped managing reality altogether. Once, being somewhat drunk, I realized that I did not understand exactly where I had come. I felt like I was going crazy, ”the artist shared.
He fought the war on alcohol addiction for the rest of his life. I tried to hold on, first of all, for the sake of loved ones. Explained:
“Unfortunately, people die because of alcoholism. You can order yourself not to do this. If I drink a glass, I will die. I can’t drink.”
Valery managed to experience for himself what it means to be a gamer. I succumbed to this addiction when I was able to give up alcohol for a long time. It all started with a random win of a large amount.
“This is really a trap, following which there were such undressings, such undressings that it would not seem enough. People think: if they lose, they will return this money. Not a single casino, not a single machine will do this. He will always beat you. According to the theory of probability,” Garkalin warned others once morest embarking on a slippery slope.
Valery managed to get out of the trap. Nearby was the faithful wife Catherine. Their love, which lasted more than 30 years, was legendary. Catherine died in 2009 from cancer. The actor did not marry once more. He said: “I’m not afraid to die – Katenka is waiting for me there.”
One in ten thousand
And yet, when covid entered our lives, Valery Borisovich tried his best to avoid infection. Garkalin had a weak heart, he suffered several heart attacks and clinical death.
“Valera was very afraid of getting sick, all the time he sat in a mask. There was a case that he was waiting for his appearance on stage in a mask. He enthusiastically followed what was happening on stage. So he went out wearing a mask. It is amazing that the audience was not very surprised, ”said colleague Daniil Spivakovsky.
Garkalin was not opposed to vaccination and vaccinated. But, alas, the actor did not develop antibodies. As the doctors said, this is a rather rare case. There are regarding one in ten thousand.
Doctors fought for the life of the actor for almost two months, but the disease turned out to be stronger. Garkalin developed septic shock, one by one his internal organs began to fail. “The doctors hoped to pull him out, although they said bluntly:“ The situation is bad – both age and blood vessels, ”Nika’s daughter shared.
Valery Borisovich passed away on November 20, 2021. He found his last shelter at the Miussky cemetery in the capital, not far from his wife’s grave.
