The voice of "Irony of Fate": Valentina Talyzina died

Valentina Talyzina, remembered by viewers of several generations for the warm, soulful films of the Soviet years - "Athos", "The Irony of Fate", where the heroine of Barbara Brylsky also speaks in her voice, "The Big Change", died at the age of 91. She rarely got the main roles, and yet her heroines were always remembered for their soft femininity, natural kindness and charm, which the actress so generously shared with the audience throughout more than half a century of career in theater and cinema. Izvestia remembers a wonderful actress.

Family ties

Valentina Talyzina was born on January 22, 1935 in Omsk, in the family of sales workers Illarion and Anastasia Talyzin. She was already her father's second child: he left his first wife and daughter for the mother of the future actress. However, he did not stay in the new family for long either: after a few years, Valentina's parents divorced. After the divorce, he reappeared in his daughter's life several decades later, when Talyzina was already serving at the Mossovet Theater. And she immediately forgave him for his long absence — she sent him postcards from the tour, supported him, and visited him in the hospital...

Unlike many stars who dreamed of an acting career since childhood, Valentina Talyzina was not at all drawn to fame. After school, she planned to enroll in the history department of the local pedagogical institute, but the modest life of the family dictated its own requirements. She needed a reliable profession and a decent income. So, after graduating from high school in 1952, Valentina went to study economics at the Omsk Agricultural Institute. At the same time as studying, the girl had a new hobby — she began studying at a local theater studio. Valentina did not suspect that just a couple of years later, a casual hobby would completely capture her and become a vocation. After the second year, after dropping out of college, she went to enroll in the capital's GITIS, getting into the workshop of Nikolai Petrov on the first attempt.

After graduating from university in 1958, the actress joined the Mossovet Theater, to which she remained faithful until the end of her life. In the theater, Talyzina was actively introduced into popular performances from the first months — "Masquerade", "Three", "The Windsor Mockers", "Battle on the Way" — first in the second and then in the first cast. The actress' demand on the theater stage even gave rise to rumors that Talyzina was having an affair with the theater's chief director, Yuri Zavadsky. However, the gossip was never confirmed. At the same time, even those who considered Talyzina not beautiful enough for a successful acting career spoke with respect about the high professionalism of the young actress.

The star of the episode

Valentina Talyzina's first film was "The Man Who Doubts," which was released in 1963. However, the role of the receptionist of the photo studio and the chairman of the local committee of Alevtina in the film by Eldar Ryazanov "Zigzag of Luck" became really stellar for her. As the actress recalled, working on the set with Irina Skobtseva and Evgeny Evstigneev was scary at first. But Evstigneev turned out to be a great partner on the set, who did everything so that the young actress could really open up. And Talyzina succeeded. Although, as she admitted later, after filming, she was haunted by the thought that from now on she was doomed solely to the roles of ugly comic heroines.

However, neither she nor the director hid that Talyzina got the role in the "Zigzag of Luck", in general, by accident. Ryazanov was going to offer the role to his favorite actress Alice Freundlich, but she could not act, and the role went to Talyzina. The actress herself later stated that Ryazanov did not like her. Nevertheless, this did not stop him from inviting her to another stellar cameo role as the girlfriend of the main character in the comedy "Irony of Fate, or With a light steam!" — and this image became her next acting success.

Valentina Talyzina was called the "queen of the episode" — and she rightfully bore this title. In total, she starred in more than 140 films. Her track record includes such audience-favorite films as "Athos", "Old Robbers", "Taimyr is calling you", "French Lessons", "Marriage", "And this is all about him", "Big Change", "Put in a word about the poor Hussar", "Guest from the future". As a rule, she got small roles, but she was able to make even the most modest episode vivid and memorable. A subtle, emotional actress with the appearance of a girl from a neighboring yard was quickly remembered and loved by the audience for many years.

The voice that everyone knows

In the film "The Irony of Fate, or With a light steam," Valentina Talyzina appeared in only two episodes on the screen, but she also sounded the whole picture — it is her voice that Nadia herself speaks. Barbara Brylskaya had too strong an accent, and Ryazanov asked the actress to re-sound the main character.

Valentina Talyzina's voice was known to all children of the Soviet Union and Russia — she voiced Uncle Fyodor's mother in the cartoons "Three from Prostokvashino" and "Holidays in Prostokvashino". And in the film "The Long Road in the Dunes", the main character Marta speaks in the voice of Valentina Talyzina. She also sang the famous lullaby from this film, "The Cricket Sings behind the Stove," although in an interview she recalled how Mikael Tariverdiev lamented during the filming of "Irony of Fate" that it was impossible to teach her to sing.

The vicissitudes of fate

In the early 1960s, a student of the Surikov Art College, artist Leonid Nepomnyashchy, began to take care of Valentina Talyzina. After several years of courtship, they got married, and soon a daughter, Ksenia, was born. Alas, in her personal life, Talyzina was destined to repeat the fate of her mother: after 12 years of marriage, Nepomnyashchy left the family, meeting a new love. As the actress later admitted, the shock was so great that she was hospitalized with a nervous breakdown. The actress never married again. Her daughter Ksenia also became an actress, as did her granddaughter Anastasia. Later, Talyzina said that she did not regret her loneliness: in her opinion, she often becomes a companion of true devotion to the acting profession.

Recent years

In recent years, Valentina Talyzina has increasingly experienced health problems. Problems with her legs led to the fact that the actress began to move in a wheelchair. She tried acupuncture treatment at a Chinese clinic, but after treatment, her condition only worsened. And in 2019, Talyzina suffered a stroke, the consequences of which doctors struggled with for a long time. The recovery process turned out to be long and difficult, but in 2022 she returned to the theater stage, continued to participate in performances and appear at events. According to people who knew her, her optimism and positive mood did not leave her until the very end.

She celebrated her 90th birthday on stage on January 22, 2025: on that day she played the landowner Murzavetskaya in the play "Wolves and Sheep" at the Mossovet Theater.She continued to be the leading actress of the theater until recently, also embodying the image of Countess Anna Fedotovna in The Queen of Spades.

On June 21, 2025, Talyzina's death was announced by the press service of the Theater. The Moscow City Council.

The farewell to Valentina Talyzina will take place at the Mossovet Theater, said Evgeny Marcelli, artistic director of the theater. A close friend of the family, producer Vladek Darman, told TASS that the funeral would most likely take place on Tuesday.