Professor Yarinka: Why did the star of the film "Wedding in Malinovka" disappear from the screens, and in what did she find her calling?

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Most viewers hardly know the name of this actress, but the film in which she performed the main role has probably been seen by everyone. "Wedding in Malinovka" is still one of the most popular Soviet comedies among the people. The role of Yarinka became the only major film role in the acting biography of Valentina Lysenko (Nikolaenko). In the 1980s. she disappeared from the screens and, after a long pause, returned only in the 2000s. True, by that time she managed to realize herself in another area and for a long time did not consider the acting profession as the main one.

Valentina Lysenko had many hobbies at school age, and no one could have imagined that she would ever become an actress. She studied at a music school, performed at school evenings, but she was especially pleased to go after classes to the radio engineering plant in Serpukhov, where she was born and raised. Valentina even became a first-class turner and planned to continue working at the plant. In addition, she worked in the flying club and jumped with a parachute. Parents dreamed that their daughter would get a "serious" profession, and after leaving school, Valentina went to Moscow, where she got a job as a court clerk in court, and at the same time attended preparatory courses at the university in order to enroll in law.

But then a chance intervened in her fate: one of her friends saw an ad on the street about recruiting an operetta studio, Valentina was immediately accepted there, and a new hobby captured her so much that she no longer dreamed of any law school. The girl was not accepted to any of the theatrical universities, but she was not going to retreat - she went to Leningrad, and there she was able to go through a competition to a theater institute. Soon after admission, the 20-year-old student was offered a cameo role in the film "Don't Forget … Lugovaya Station." Of course, she could not refuse the opportunity to make her film debut. However, the teachers at the institute categorically did not approve of the participation of students in the filming, and Valentina was expelled.

Later, the actress recalled: "".

The success of The Wedding in Malinovka was simply overwhelming: after the premiere of the film in November 1967, more than 74 million viewers watched it a year! In an instant, the debutante, expelled from the theatrical institute, suddenly became a star of the all-Union scale. It was really difficult for her on the set - against the background of Mikhail Pugovkin, Vladimir Samoilov, Zoya Fedorova, Mikhail Vodyanoy, it was difficult not to get lost. One of the local residents, who witnessed the filming, said: "".

After filming ended, Valentina entered the Shchukin School, where she studied with Natalia Gundareva, Vladimir Tikhonov, Natalia Varley and Konstantin Raikin. Later, she also received a director's education. After graduation, Valentina Lysenko was accepted into the troupe of the Taganka Theater. However, artistic director Yuri Lyubimov believed that the young actress should first gain theatrical experience, and did not trust her with big roles. This went on for several years, and one day Valentina could not stand it and literally pressed the artistic director to the wall: "" In response, he admitted: "" After that Lysenko left the theater.

In the cinema, her creative fate also did not work out: from time to time she was offered episodes, but after 1988 the actress completely disappeared from the screens. She herself explained her failures in cinema by the fact that she “analyzed” too much: “”.

For several years Valentina Lysenko worked at Mosfilm, where she met her other half - the actor and director Georgy Nikolaenko. The actress married him and took his last name, the couple had a daughter. In 1986, Valentina returned to the Shchukin School, already as a teacher, since 2001 she is a professor at the Department of Actor's Skills at VTU im. B. V. Schukin.

Today she is called one of the best teachers of this school, among her most famous students are Ekaterina Guseva, Elena Zakharova, Daniil Strakhov, Alexander Semchev. In the 2000s. Valentina Nikolaenko returned to the screens, playing in several seasons of the series "Code of Honor".

This film is still called Valentina Nikolaenko's calling card: Behind the scenes "Weddings in Malinovka".