Victoria Tokareva, known in literary circles not only for her talented prose regarding the female lot, but also as a screenwriter of the cult films “A dog walked along the piano”, “Mimino”, “Gentlemen of Fortune”, celebrated her 85th birthday on November 20. In honor of the anniversary, Victoria Samuilovna revealed unknown details regarding the beginning of her career in 1963, in which influential men helped her.
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“I came to the editor-in-chief of the Young Guard publishing house Alexander Rekemchuk with the story “A Day Without Lies,” Tokareva said in the program of her colleague Tatyana Ustinova “My Hero” on TVC. – Since I was young, pretty, then Rekemchuk drew attention to me. Then he was 40 years old – so fat, red. He laid eyes on me. For the preface, he sent it to the influential poet Konstantin Simonov. Gave him his home address. I dressed up, took jewelry from a friend. The door was opened by a very handsome man, with luxurious gray hair and brown eyes. Later I learned that Simonov dyed his hair with ordinary blue.
Victoria Samuilovna to this day cannot forget the reluctance of the author of the legendary poem “Wait for me” to even touch her:
– Simonov declared from the threshold: “I can’t shake hands with you, they are in my vodka. I’m doing a compress for the dog ”… In the morning, lying in bed with my good husband (engineer Viktor Tokarev. – E.F.), I hear a call. Simonov’s voice is on the phone. He wrote a preface to my story and offered to meet at the monument to Pushkin. He politely handed over the manuscript and left. I didn’t need him. I came into his life at the wrong time. Surely he knew regarding his beauty, fame, that everyone pestered him, and I turned out to be one of them. That was the first time I felt rejected. The ground is gone from under your feet. It seemed that life was over. In this state, I came to Rekemchuk, told regarding “hands in Simonov’s vodka”, and soon my story was published.
In those years, Konstantin Simonov had a hard time with the alcoholism of his ex-wife, the star of Soviet cinema, Valentina Serova. Once, the poet carried her out of the building of the Maly Theater in his arms following a friendly court expelled the actress from the troupe for drunkenness. Despite the fact that he had a new wife, Larisa Zhadova, the daughter of a Hero of the Soviet Union, a general, and he raised a daughter from Serova, Maria, his soul did not know joy and peace.
As for Tokareva, she soon found new patrons and famous lovers. For example, film director George Danelia. He became the artistic director of the adaptation of the writer’s work “A Day Without Lies”, and at the same time her intimate friend. Their relationship, which Victoria did not even try to hide from her husband, lasted 15 years.
“Yes, I had other men, and my husband knew regarding it,” the writer in a skirt repeatedly repeated.
But her daughter Natalya might not save her marriage to director Valery Todorovsky when he had an affair on the side with a young actress Evgenia Brik. But once fell in love with Natalia at first sight.
– My Natasha is very beautiful, all the men looked back at her and look back, smart and modest, – says Tokareva. – When Valerka Todorovsky first saw her in the dining room of VGIK (they studied together), he immediately decided: “I need such a beautiful wife.” And he got married. Natasha became a psychoanalyst. She is my main adviser in everything.
A little less than a year ago, Valery Todorovsky became a widower. His second wife Evgenia Brik died of an incurable disease at the age of 40.
Meanwhile, at one time Tokareva often called the spirits of dead people.
“I talked with the spirit of Korney Chukovsky,” Viktoria Samuilovna shared with Express Gazeta. His answers are still in my head to this day. To the question: “Who did you love the most?” Chukovsky replied: “Myself.” To the question: “Who did you hate the most?” also named himself. I summoned spirits and other celebrities. In particular, Konstantin Simonov. But over time I realized: spiritualism is a great sin. And finished with this fascinating occupation.
Secret passion of Galina Polskikh
In the wonderful film by Georgy Danelia “I’m walking around Moscow”, the record saleswoman Alena was played by Galina Polskikh. But the director did not shoot it anymore. A period of alienation has come between them, which is now for the first time explained by the People’s Artist of Russia Yevgeny Steblov:
– With the film “I’m walking around Moscow” we traveled all over the country. And they began to walk and celebrate right on the second day following the completion of filming. But Galya Polskikh never participated in our events and feasts. Never! She avoided our company, although we were all very friendly on the set. Polskikh began to evade in order to avoid meetings with Georgy Nikolaevich. He liked her.
In his autobiographical book Stowaway, Danelia confessed his feelings for Polsky:
– Galya was nice to me, and all the time I was emphatically dry and official with her, so that she would not notice this – otherwise she would decide that I was flirting, taking advantage of my official position.
When the actress and director happened to go to the Cannes Film Festival, they walked around the city together, gave press conferences, and at night Danelia, leaving Galina alone, went to a striptease.
– I did not refuse, I drank, – and the more I “cured”, the more tenderness I felt for the “actresses” (strippers. – E. F.), – wrote Danelia. – And I felt sorry for them: my poor sisters, what are they forced to do …
Polskikh, finding Danelia in a “bad condition” in the morning, bought him a beer and said everything she thought:
– You spent all your money yesterday on flowers, for these … sisters of yours.
Later, Danelia filmed the philosophical comedy “Autumn Marathon”, where he spoke regarding a man torn between his wife and his mistress and thereby driving himself into a corner. The wife of the hero Oleg Basilashvili, as you know, was played by Natalya Gundareva, the mistress – Marina Neelova. The director chose Neyolova because of the same plump lips as those of Polsky. He admitted this to Marina, and she voiced it in an interview.
Galina Polskikh has been living alone since the age of 28, following the death of her first husband and an unsuccessful short marriage with her second. The other day she turned 83. She devoted her life to her daughters and grandson. And two years ago, she admitted to Express Gazeta that “the main love of her life was the famous director, whom she might not forget and who stole her heart.” Didn’t you mean Georgy Nikolaevich?
With his third wife, the namesake of the Polskys, Galina Yurkova, the director lived until the end of his days. He passed away in 2019 at the age of 88. Yurkova, like Polskikh, is blonde and very similar to her.
Photo source: Personal archive, Legion-Media, Larisa Kudryavtseva, Boris Kudryavov, Evgeny Volkov / Archive “EG”
