Now the actor and his wife live in a spacious apartment in Presnya and pay a mortgage for a house in Spain.
“Before, I had to wander around Moscow. They rented a house for a year, lived in a one-room apartment for 12 years. We’ve been together with Lida for 20 years, we’ve been in different situations, ”says Valentin Georgievich.
Now the apartment of the legendary Porthos is all in flowers – the other day the artist’s wife, Lydia, had a birthday. And the actor himself celebrated his 10th birthday on June 75.
Valentine: Lid’s birthday was celebrated in St. Petersburg, but he did not want to celebrate his anniversary, the figure is no longer happy. We left for Spain to rest, and on June 10 we went to a restaurant with Volodya Dolinsky and friends, and sat there. In Moscow, with old comrades, they also celebrated. I don’t like birthdays anymore, and my friends support me. Just the other day I spoke with Misha Boyarsky, he is 70 years old this year, he also does not want to celebrate – he fights back with his hands and feet. Yes, and in my youth, such holidays flew by somehow imperceptibly.
This year you have an anniversary of your marriage – 20 years. Remember how you met?
Valentine: It’s corny. Lida worked at the Theater of the Moon as a deputy director, I played one entertaining performance there, then a second … We met and fell in love. What attracted you to Lida? Some kind of chemistry, I guess. Although she was married, had two daughters, and I was not yet completely free.
Lydia: At first, we developed purely friendly relations. Vali then had family troubles. We were in the same situation with him: marriages have already exhausted themselves.
Valentine: 90th. The situation is awful. I am 54 years old, romantic romantic. There is no work, and at that time I was left, roughly speaking, with only one suitcase: no apartment, nothing, although a native Muscovite. Lida also has no housing. So we started our life together hard, there were no bright prospects. Then he began to work in the troupe of the Theater of the Moon, a few years later, in 1999 (after the crisis), the theater helped to buy an apartment, everything began to improve.
It was difficult in a one-room apartment on Borisovskiye Prudy, traffic jams, it took two hours by car to get to the center. With my “face” in the subway, you can’t hit it, it’s hard for our brother there, they will recognize him. It’s easier here on Presnya, everything is close.
Lydia: When we moved into this apartment, we felt incredible happiness. The view from the windows is wonderful.
Valentine: Space, not like in a one-room apartment. During the renovation, Lida did an excellent job of being a designer. We were on a tight budget, so the ideas here are all hers. She wanted everything light and white, it turned out great.
How did you rub against each other?
Valentine: We are still grinding in.
Lydia: Valentine is emotional – an actor’s temperament. But I’ve already learned not to react.
Lydia, did your girls take Valentine normally?
Lydia: The daughters understood me. There were no conflicts.
Valentine: Over the years, the girls have become dear to me.
Lydia: Our eldest, Elvira, is a renowned stylist. She works with Kristina Orbakaite, Katya Varnava, girls from Comedy Woman … She is 33 years old. And the youngest, Marina, a theater producer by education, works in the CTC Media holding. She is 31. We still have wonderful contact with the girls, especially Valentin.
You have registered your marriage after three years of marriage. Who was the initiator?
Lydia: I. It was indecent already. The girls were growing up. And we registered the relationship on Valentine’s Day. The Gagarin registry office was closed, as I remember now, it was Tuesday. It was specially opened for us. Everything was fun: a wedding with artists – Valentine’s colleagues, our friends, dances, rituals, Russian folk songs …
Have you gone on your honeymoon?
Lydia: There was no travel, but we love to travel. The play “I Want to Buy Your Husband” based on the play by Mikhail Zadornov, in which Valentin plays, is in great demand. For 20 years they traveled with him almost all over Europe, were in Germany, Sweden, Spain, England, Holland, Czech Republic, America …
How did the idea of buying a home in Spain come about?
Valentine: We did not have a country house in the Moscow region, in 2006 we came on tour to the south of Spain, to the city of Torrevieja and fired up with this idea. I compared prices – there the cost of housing is lower. I starred in two TV series, in short, they collected the first installment.
Lydia: In Spain, we had three sold-out shows in a hall for 700 people. And after each performance there was a queue for autographs. We were amazed at how many Russians there are. Then it was possible to deposit 10 thousand euros for housing and take out a mortgage at a favorable interest rate, we, by the way, still pay it off. We talked with realtors. I wanted an apartment with a sea view, and they bought it. Everything would be fine, but it turned out to be unbearable on the beach, there are a lot of our compatriots, it is impossible for Vale to relax. And we decided to buy a house on good terms. It is, however, a few kilometers from the sea, five minutes by car. But there is not a soul on the beach.
Both of you have had bad experiences with family life. What is now helping to keep the relationship?
Valentine: After three previous marriages (the first wife is the actress Lyudmila Pashkova, the second wife is the translator Irina Kovalenko, the third is the economist Elena Shaporina. – Approx. “Antennas”) I thought, why in alliance with Lida everything suddenly somehow settled down? In my profession, it is difficult to find mutual understanding if the other half has a different job. And Lida is still from this environment. I have never welcomed purely acting marriages, there is some kind of inexplicable envy on a subconscious level, creative competition, but we have a different situation: complete mutual understanding. Lida knows the whole kitchen from the inside.
At the everyday level, some conflicts may arise, but they quickly fade away. We are both emotional. Whatever one may say, for many years together, you can’t get away from each other. I am surprised at some colleagues of my age (older and younger) who went on a romantic spree. A man who lived for many years in a family left his wife for a young girl. I never condemned such actions, but they amazed me. And then what? Marriages with spouses from different generations are still cracking. There is no mutual understanding, different mentality …
Lydia: To maintain a relationship, you need to be positive and not lose your sense of humor. Valya is an absolute Gemini, in fact, a gloomy person. I try to be active. One should not be discouraged, if the husband notices, then he also begins to be depressed. Now Vali has a lot of work, she keeps him in good shape.
Have you ever been jealous of each other?
Lydia: Never. Valya, although he was married three times before me, in essence, is not a walker. He is a family man. Maybe at the very beginning there was some kind of jealousy when I saw that young actresses were spinning around him. Like, my man, and they hug. Now I’m calmly letting my husband go on tour, we constantly call each other, and I don’t have any thoughts of jealousy. Valya does not control me, we give each other freedom. This is an important aspect of marriage. I can go somewhere with my friends, and he – with friends.
Valentine: We met already at an age when it is even indecent to be jealous. These passions have already passed, and in adulthood, other relationships.
What are your plans for the summer?
Valentine: Soon I will start filming in two series: for Channel One and for “Russia 1″. Now we are rehearsing a play based on the play by the American playwright “Hot Turkey. Midnight”. It is played by Volodya Sterzhakov, Lena Safonova is my generation. In the near future, the premiere will take place in St. Petersburg, and then in Moscow.
Lydia: By winter we begin to dream of traveling, in autumn we want to fly to Portugal. We are comfortable when Elvira joins – she knows English well and knows her way around the border perfectly. I would like our daughters to continue to delight us and make us grandparents.