Valeri Zolotukhin

Who was Valeri Zolotukhin?

Valeri Sergeevich Zolotukhin was a Russian theatrical and cinema actor from the Taganka Theatre. He was named a People's Artist of Russia in 1987.

Zolothukhin graduated from the Russian Academy of Theatre Arts and worked in Yuri Lyubimov's Taganka Theatre since its inception in 1964. He was a close friend of the theatre's major star, Vladimir Vysotsky, and published several memoirs about their friendship. After Lyubimov was ousted from the theatre in 2011, Zolotukhin was appointed its artistic director.

After starring in the 1971 film Bumbarash, Zolotukhin also pursued a distinguished cinematic career, playing many eerie or sinister characters.