The son of Valentina Leontyeva spoke about long-term family feuds. Dedicated to Valentina Mikhailovna Leontyeva The son of Valentina Leontyeva lives in France

For millions of little TV viewers, the legendary TV presenter Valentina Leontyeva was just Aunt Valya. On her programs “Visiting a Fairy Tale” and “ Good night, kids,” more than one generation has grown up. The People's Artist of the USSR herself has repeatedly admitted that what she likes most is working with children, because the young audience charges her with positive energy.

But Valentina Mikhailovna’s relationship with her own son Dmitry did not work out. At least, this was the opinion of many journalists who, after the death of the announcer in 2007, accused her only heir of all mortal sins. The man himself only fueled rumors about a conflict with his mother, refusing to comment on family problems in any way.

Only a whole decade later, the heir to the legendary TV presenter decided to give an interview. Communicating with the host of the “Let Them Talk” program, Dmitry Borisov, he noted that he sincerely loved his mother.

“I lived with my mother until I was 45 years old. For many this seems strange, but it is true. We had a good relationship, I also communicated well with my dad. Mom was very gentle and always spoiled me, but dad, on the contrary, was strict. All these nasty things about us on the Internet were simply beneficial to someone. They wanted to denigrate her image, to erase from people’s memory that her mother was a great announcer, so that the focus would be on the story of a bad son and an alcoholic husband,” said Dmitry.

IN last years In his life, Vinogradov indeed rarely visited his mother, but this was not due to their conflict, but to Dmitry’s long-standing enmity with his relatives. After a spinal injury that Valentina Mikhailovna received due to negligence at Ostankino, her relatives living in the Ulyanovsk region took care of her. However The only son Leontieva claims that the true goal of the relatives was money and valuables of the legendary announcer.

“After she died, they drove a KAMAZ to the house to take out all my mother’s things. They literally took everything away. Moreover, my mother wanted her to be cremated and her ashes buried in Moscow, but they insisted on a ceremony in the Ulyanovsk region. I didn't come to the funeral because I wasn't sure I could control myself. I was afraid that I would kill one of these scoundrels, and then it would be a criminal case. But justice still prevailed: I wished them death, and they died. You can say that I cursed them,” said Dmitry.

The revelations of the son of the Soviet star amazed many present in the studio. In their opinion, it is still difficult for Dmitry to remember the family tragedy, and therefore anger speaks in him.

Valentina Mikhailovna's friends and colleagues were quick to note that she adored her only heir, but due to constant filming, she simply could not pay enough attention to him. Dmitry himself emphasized that he never felt deprived. “She spent enough time with me. Of course, I was often busy, but I understood that,” Vinogradov emphasized.

Now Dmitry himself is raising his son. The boy is growing up incredibly artistic, and according to family friends, he will be able to make a career on television. Moreover, his name is Valentin, just like the legendary grandmother, whose fate still raises a lot of questions among her fans.

Dmitry Vinogradov spoke about his relationship with the famous TV presenter and about his current life

Ten years ago, on May 20, 2007, the most beloved TV presenter of the Soviet Union died. Aunt Valya from “Visiting a Fairy Tale”, Valechka from the program “With all my Heart” and news television programs. And according to the passport - Valentina Mikhailovna Leontyeva. It’s rare for a person on TV to be adored by both adults and children. However, Aunt Valya is just such a special example of universal love.

But it is possible that she would gladly exchange popular worship for the love of one and only herself. important person in life - my own son.

In the last years before her death, Valentina Mikhailovna lived as a hermit in a small village near Ulyanovsk. There were various rumors about their relationship with their son - even the most monstrous ones. They gossiped about the unbearable character of Dmitry Vinogradov (the boy took the surname of his father-diplomat), even about cases of assault on his part towards the legend of Soviet TV. And when Leontyeva died, her son disappeared for 10 for long years. It was rumored that he had gone abroad. But MK managed to find the heir to the first lady of the Soviet television screen very close to the capital. And even call him for a frank conversation.

I am sitting in a beautiful two-story house more than a hundred kilometers from Moscow. In front of me is a huge gray-bearded man with steely eyes, somewhat similar to a Viking. This is the son of Aunt Valya, Valentina Leontyeva, Dmitry Vinogradov.

- Why did you leave Moscow, given that you are a purely urban person and have lived in big cities all your life?

I was planning to leave Moscow back in 2005. And he asked my mother to leave. I live in a very beautiful big house in the forest in an old Russian city, environmentally friendly, wonderful. I left because everything normal people at a certain age they leave to live in nature. And those who remain in Moscow are banal losers.

-What are you doing here?

With my creativity, my work, I draw pictures, read books, ride a bike, swim in a kayak, walk in the forest - I enjoy life. In all its manifestations.

They said that journalists played an important role in your departure from Moscow. They annoyed you greatly when Valentina Mikhailovna chose to move away from you, to live with a relative in Novoselki.

When the journalists began to pester me, I had already bought this plot. I brought this house to fruition over the course of two years. And what seems to journalists is normal, because they always seem to have something. That's why they are journalists.

If you remember how many times your name was splashed around in the media, did you want to justify yourself? Just to say: everything is wrong, guys.

Those who feel guilty are justified. And to whom should I justify myself? In front of journalists, in front of relatives? I don’t see a group to which I have to justify myself, and in general I don’t really care what they think about me.

- Then let's go in order. It is believed that you had a strained relationship with your mother.

We had a wonderful relationship with my mother. She never scolded me, for example, for bad grades, never got irritated, never raised her voice at me, and was always an absolute diplomat. The fact is that she is an extremely well-mannered and educated woman; she could not afford to behave the way some boorish people behave. And as a result, we had a wonderful relationship. And the large apartment allowed us to live completely independently and not disturb each other.

How different was Valentina Leontyeva in life from her image on the screen? For example, did she have any bad habits?

She was a bright, independent woman. In our family, when I was little, there was a black Chevrolet car - “Chevy”, as the Americans call it. Valentina Mikhailovna even rode it to the south herself. She smoked a lot, sometimes up to two packs a day. True, she smoked Marlboro - but her ligaments never sat down, her voice always remained young and sonorous. My mother was a purebred person.

- And at the same time surprisingly soft and friendly... Or is this part of the TV image?

I was told that my mother is a rather tough person. But this is natural! She worked on television since the late 50s - and a non-tough person cannot survive there. Valentina Mikhailovna had a large number of enemies, like any famous person. Moreover, when the so-called perestroika began, I immediately explained to my mother: most of the roads on television were ordered for her. She is a person of one country, and now she is a completely different country. Therefore, people like Leontyeva, Kirillov, Shilova, Morgunova, Zhiltsova, Vovk, Vedeneeva - all talented announcers - were left out of work, because we followed the path of American television. Thank God that times are changing now and our country is becoming a great empire again.

-Are you a supporter of the empire?

I am definitely a supporter of the empire, because my father was a diplomat, my mother was a troubadour of the regime, and I was brought up in the understanding that we have the biggest, best and greatest Motherland.

They loved to portray you as a lonely boy who developed complexes because famous mom. For example, he was jealous of Valentina Mikhailovna towards other children to whom she told bedtime stories from the television screen.

It was just some fool who wrote it, and other fools picked it up. I felt completely normal Soviet child. I went to Soviet pioneer camps Until the sixth grade, I spent a lot of time outside with my friends. Not only was there no pressure on me from the burden of my mother, but no one blamed me for her fame - everyone cared by and large doesn't matter.

- And that's why you, son famous parents, ended up in a school at the Kalibr plant?

There was just a school from the Kalibr plant next to our house.

- Did you change schools often?

Well, how often... I went to first grade on Shabolovka. In the second grade - already on Mira Avenue, where there were three houses for television workers.

- Were your parents called to school? How did you generally behave at school?

At school I behaved normally, because every “goiter” - specifically with the letter Z - poked me in the face: they say, you have such a mother, and you act so badly. And, like any normal boy, I wanted to do even worse. I was the only non-Komsomol member of the three classes.

- What motivated you?

In no way dislike Soviet power. We never had transistors at home that broadcast Radio Liberty. The fifth column never took root in our home, and therefore non-joining the Komsomol was not connected with politics. Just a charter - it was bullshit that had to be memorized. But I can’t afford to teach bullshit.

- And you told this to the teachers?

I told them that the Komsomol is a voluntary matter. Then, of course, I joined the Komsomol. Before entering college, I worked in television as a lighting technician. And one Monday they pushed me into some stuffy, smoky room, someone voted there, and after some time they gave me a Komsomol card - so nominally I was still a Komsomol member. But I was never opposed to Soviet power. In general, I think that being opposed to power is tantamount to madness and, sorry, urinating on exposed wires.

- But your parents were party members?

Mom was non-partisan.

- I wonder how it was possible to work as an announcer on Soviet television without being a member of the CPSU?

Apparently, this was a case where talent outweighed the significance of it. In addition, in our empire there were such people as demonstrative non-party people - that is, they were allowed to travel abroad. On the other hand, I suppose that in the personnel department, when she was sent abroad, they were so sure that she was a party member that they did not even question this fact. That is, there is some kind of political anecdote here - I can say that many non-partisan people occupied high positions. And you didn’t have to be a communist to be in power.

With my father, a diplomat.

Well, your father, an employee of the USSR diplomatic mission in New York, could not be non-partisan. By the way, you are incredibly similar to him, incredibly simple.

My father is a cheerful, educated, intelligent, encyclopedically savvy person in all respects. Who was never a snob, never surrounded himself with special the right people. He went on vacation for forty years - and even more - to a small seaside town. He was surrounded by academics, drivers, and retired boxers. It was he who taught me to enjoy communicating with all people, without dividing them into classes or castes... Dad ate and lived by large tablespoons in all respects.

-Which parent had a greater influence on the formation of your character?

Of course, dad. How can a mother influence a boy?

- Sometimes this happens.

This is in painful cases. And so the son takes everything from his father, it cannot be any other way.

- They wrote that your parents’ divorce had a hard impact on you. After all, you were already an adult when they divorced.

I was so worried that I even went south with my dad and my dad’s future wife.

“She wasn’t his wife yet?”

I already understood that dad was going to marry her. The fact is that in our family everything was built on respect for each other and freedom. If I were a stupid egoist and wild man, I could tell dad: how is it, like mom, and so on. But, on the other hand, what difference does it make to me who my dad communicates with? That is, it didn’t bother me at all; I didn’t feel any negative emotions towards my dad’s passion in advance.

-Have you talked to Valentina Mikhailovna about this? She was probably worried...

She probably didn’t find out right away, and she didn’t even ask me, because she understood that I would never betray my dad.

- Do you maintain relations with that family of his?

I don't support it. I have a sister, she works somewhere abroad, probably married. I think everything is fine with her. Probably, if dad had a son, I would communicate with him, but I’m somehow not interested in my sister.

You said at one time that the only thing you wanted to keep in memory of your dad was the stack (a small stick used as a whip - author's note) given to him by Jawaharlal Nehru. Why?

You never know what I wanted... I would have been glad to get it when I had stupid ambitions, but in reality it no longer matters. I don’t have my mother’s and father’s photographs placed in my house - I think about them, they are in my head and in my heart, and showing them to someone, demonstrating that I remember them, is stupid and some kind of posturing.

In general, about the carnival in which I lived since childhood, I would not say that it was so much fun. Mom always played a little - it was in her blood.

I want to touch on that painful story - Valentina Leontyeva’s departure to relatives in Novoselki three years before her death. Why did this happen?

Mom left for Novoselki because she received a classic injury for people of that age - she broke her femur.

Did you just fall? In fact, there is a common version that during your family quarrels it came... how to put it mildly... to the use of force.

Listen, I blow men away with one blow, but my mother was small, fragile... how do you imagine that? What nonsense?! In general, relatives began to spread rumors that I beat my mother after they failed to get half of my mother’s apartment.

- Okay, let's return to Valentina Mikhailovna's injury.

She had an operation in the Kremlin, everything went well, but the question arose: she needed to invite a nurse, and this would inevitably attract the attention of journalists and so on. And then Aunt Lyusya, mother’s sister, and her daughter Galina offered Valentina Mikhailovna to live with them for a while.

-Have you already separated then?

No, we lived together, we were just getting ready to leave. Accordingly, when my mother left for Novoselki, I began to send her entire pension and salary, quite decent money. In addition, Galina took a bunch of furniture from our apartment. She arrived in Novoselki with a KamAZ truck, which was packed to capacity. The Romanian retreating army would not have collected so many trophies. In general, I didn’t care - we were changing apartments, I had to leave it all somewhere.

Now about housing. At first it was said that there would be enough space in her sister’s apartment for everyone - and, of course, Valentina Mikhailovna too. After some time, Galina called me and said that an apartment in their building on the same floor was for sale and it would be nice for my mother to buy it. I was somewhat surprised by the price of this apartment, but I had no idea that my sister could play some kind of dishonest game with me, and I sent the money. But then I was extremely surprised to learn that this apartment was allocated by the local administration.

- How did you find out?

This was mentioned on one of the TV shows. And all this turned into a banal tale about a fisherman and a fish. And in the end it ended sadly, because ill-gotten things never bring happiness, and especially in such a situation. After some time, Galina’s two sons died, who simultaneously crashed in an accident, and less than a year after that, Galina herself died.

- She died of a heart attack, as they say.

Well, what difference does it make how the gods take it? They break on the asphalt and stop the heart. Because you must always measure your actions with the wishes of the gods.

- Was your strained relationship with your relatives one of the main reasons that you did not go to your mother?

We talked on the phone, communicated, I was going to come there, but, on the other hand, she was going to return, everything was already prepared.

- The apartment was exchanged. Where would she return?

I bought her an apartment on Tverskaya, and myself on Bolshaya Akademicheskaya.

Journalists made the greatest number of complaints against you because you did not come to Valentina Mikhailovna’s funeral in May 2007.

No one, especially greyhound writers, has the right to judge what I should and should not do. But speaking of her death... she wanted to be buried next to her mother. A place at the Vagankovskoye cemetery has already been allocated. And her relatives violated her will. And in the future they simply used my mother’s popularity to achieve their own personal interests.

- Did they try to communicate with you after the death of Valentina Mikhailovna? Did you call?

Yes. As I understand it, after my mother’s death they were extremely upset that I did not give them half of the Moscow apartment. As the French say, appetite comes with eating.

- Well, they still had an apartment in Novoselki, which they bought.

And a lot of money too. They received both an apartment and money. They received an apartment, money... and death.

- And you, it turns out, don’t even know where Valentina Mikhailovna is buried?

I visited my mother’s grave one day - this was before I left for the Moscow region, in 2012. Naturally, I didn’t visit my relatives.

Dmitry Vinogradov leads a secluded lifestyle.

Aunt Valya was worried that you didn’t have children. Nevertheless, there are rumors that she still has a grandson. Can you say something about your son?

Yes, she has a grandson. I have a wonderful son, and I am very lucky that he was born when I was not 20 or 30 years old, but 45. Very smart, very kind, very attentive - the most important being for me in this world. I have no one except my son, and besides my son, nothing interests me. He comes to me on vacation and lives with his mother. Mom is a very good professional makeup artist, and there is simply no work for her here. Here we ride bicycles with him, swim kayaks, walk in the forest, read books, and my greatest achievement is that I weaned him from the computer. Nobody believes me, but in fact it is very simple: you just need to do it. And we give a computer, as a rule, when we cannot and do not want to take care of the child. I want and I can, so he doesn’t need a computer at all.

- How would you like to see him when he grows up? Similar to you?

I want him to be who he wants to be. I have no right to indicate here.

- But every parent dreams of some kind of future for the child...

This is ordinary primitive parental egoism. He has the right to live his life as he sees fit. I can give him some advice, but under no circumstances put pressure on him. The pressure is on people who are squeezed, enslaved, who live in some kind of non-existent cliches that they have built for themselves; therefore, whatever he wants, he will do.

- From what moment could you call yourself an artist? Or have you always been one?

Probably always. This is part of me, but no one is interested in me as an artist (Vinogradov began painting professionally in 2011 - that’s when they bought his first painting. - Author’s note).

- Do local residents know whose son you are? Did this somehow affect your communication with them?

They found out about this not so long ago. And this had no effect, because the further a person lives from Moscow, the more decent he is, everyone is used to this. There are a lot of comrades whom I have known for 12 years and who have no idea about my mother. This knowledge hindered me more than it helped.

One of Vinogradov's paintings. As one of his close friends says, Dmitry, being the rightful heir of the Russian avant-garde, more specifically Suprematism, managed to catch the pace modern life and not lose the philosophy. It’s good to meditate under his paintings; you either really like them or cause sharp rejection. Vinogradov’s paintings have an extremely unique energy, and a very strong one at that.

- What is your social circle like now? Has it narrowed?

Over the years, the number of friends of any normal person decreases. If the number of friends increases, he is an aggressive schizophrenic. Over the years normal person becomes more and more self-sufficient and selects people who are closest to him. Accordingly, before death, a normal person must find himself completely alone.

Who on current television can you put next to Valentina Mikhailovna - in terms of professionalism and manner of presentation?

I am not very familiar with modern TV - I have cable television, I watch some historical TV channels, but I don’t watch federal channels at all. Probably in Lately something began to change, because we are starting to build a completely new society with a completely new country. will appear national idea- Television will also change. When we build an Empire, then we will have programs like “With all my heart,” and people like Valentina Leontyeva will appear. Because the Empire gives birth to such people. And creates the Empire.

May 20 will mark ten years since the death of the star of the programs “Visiting a Fairy Tale” and “With All My Heart” Valentina Leontyeva. She was an idol for adults and children, but there were persistent rumors in the media that she had a very tense relationship with her own son Dmitry. Moreover, allegedly in her old age, Leontyeva suffered beatings from her only heir. Dmitry Vinogradov commented on the most common rumors about himself and privacy to his mother.

ON THIS TOPIC

Now the man lives more than 100 kilometers from Moscow in his own house. Dmitry is engaged in creativity - since 2011 he has been a professional artist. According to Vinogradov, he “enjoys life” - reads books, rides a bike, kayaks, walks in the forest, works.

To begin with, Dmitry denied the information that he and his mother had a strained relationship. “We had an excellent relationship with my mother. She never scolded me, for example, for bad grades, never got irritated, did not raise her voice at me and was always an absolute diplomat. The fact is that she is an extremely well-mannered and educated woman, she is not I could afford to behave like some boorish people behave. And as a result, we had a wonderful relationship. And the large apartment allowed us to live completely independently and not interfere with each other,” Dmitry noted.

According to Vinogradov, his mother was a bright, independent woman who smoked a lot and even drove a car herself. In addition, Valentina Leontyeva had a very tough character. Dmitry also noted that his mother had many enemies, “like any famous person.”

The man said that he had no complexes because of his famous mother and he did not feel lonely, as journalists presented him to the public. “Not only was the burden of my mother not pressing on me, but no one blamed me for her fame - no one, by and large, cared,” Vinogradov said.

Dmitry is sure that it was not his mother who had a great influence on him, but his father, an employee of the USSR diplomatic mission in New York, Yuri Vinogradov. “My father is a cheerful, educated, intelligent, encyclopedically savvy person in all respects. He was never a snob, never surrounded himself with the special right people. He went on vacation for forty years - and even more - to a small seaside town. He was surrounded by and academicians, and drivers, and retired boxers. It was he who taught me to enjoy communicating with all people, without dividing them into classes or castes... Dad ate and lived by large tablespoons in all respects,” said Dmitry.

In the 70s, Valentina Leontyeva and Yuri Vinogradov divorced. However. according to Dmitry, he was not worried about their breakup. However, he does not maintain relations with his father's other family. “I don’t have my mother’s and father’s photographs placed in my house - I think about them, they are in my head and in my heart, and showing them to someone, demonstrating that I remember them, is stupid and some kind of posturing. In general, about the carnival in which I lived since childhood, I would not say that it was so much fun. Mom always played a little - it was in her blood,” Moskovsky Komsomolets quotes Dmitry Vinogradov.

Three years before Valentina’s death, Leontyeva went to stay with relatives in Novoselki. Vinogradov explained that the mother suffered a fracture of the femoral neck. The presenter's sister Lyudmila and her daughter Galina volunteered to look after her, inviting her to live with them for a while. There are rumors that this happened as a result of an alleged violent clash between Leontyeva and her son. “Listen, I’m a boxer, I demolish men with one blow, and my mother was small, fragile... how do you imagine this? What nonsense?! In general, relatives began to spread rumors that I beat my mother - after they failed get half of my mother’s apartment,” Vinogradov is convinced.

As Dmitry said, after his mother left, he began sending her her entire pension and salary. Galina also took a lot of furniture from her Moscow apartment. And then interesting things began to happen. “At first it was said that there was enough space in my sister’s apartment for everyone – and, of course, Valentina Mikhailovna too. After some time, Galina called me and said that an apartment in their building on the same floor was for sale and it would be nice for my mother to buy it. I was somewhat surprised by the price of this apartment, but I had no idea that my sister might be playing some kind of dishonest game with me, and I sent the money. But then I was extremely surprised to learn that this apartment was allocated by the local administration,” - the presenter's son said.

The unpleasant story ended tragically. “Ill-gotten things never bring happiness, and especially in such a situation. After some time, Galina’s two sons died, who simultaneously crashed in an accident, and less than a year after that, Galina herself died,” said Vinogradov.

It is no secret that while Leontyeva lived with relatives, her son did not come to see her. He explained it this way: “We talked on the phone, communicated, I was going to come there, but, on the other hand, she was going to return, everything was already prepared.” It turns out that Dmitry bought two apartments for himself and his mother.

When the presenter died, Dmitry Vinogradov was not seen at the funeral. “She wanted to be buried next to her mother. A place at the Vagankovskoye cemetery had already been allocated. And her relatives violated her will. And in the future they simply used my mother’s popularity to achieve their personal interests,” Dmitry said. At the same time, he noted that he visited his mother’s grave “one day,” before he left for the Moscow region.

Leontyeva was worried that Dmitry did not have children. However, Vinogradov became a father at the age of 45, which he does not regret at all. The man dotes on his offspring. “Very smart, very kind, very attentive - the most important being for me in this world. Apart from my son, I have no one, and besides my son, nothing interests me. He comes to me on vacation, and lives with his mother. Mom - a very good professional makeup artist, and there is simply no work for her here. We ride bicycles with him, swim kayaks, walk in the forest, read books, and my greatest achievement is that I separated him from the computer. but in fact it’s very simple: you just need to do it,” Vinogradov is convinced. At the same time, Dmitry does not know how he sees his son in the future.

Vinogradov explained: “I want him to be the way he wants to be. I have no right to dictate here. He has the right to live his life as he sees fit. I can give him some advice, but in no case put pressure on him.” . The pressure is on people who are squeezed, enslaved, who live in some kind of non-existent cliches that they have built for themselves; therefore, whatever he wants, he will do.”

Valentina Mikhailovna Leontyeva (nee Alevtina Thorsons). Born on August 1, 1923 in Petrograd (now St. Petersburg) - died on May 20, 2007 in the village of Novoselki, Ulyanovsk region. Soviet and Russian TV presenter. Announcer of the Central Television of the USSR State Television and Radio in 1954-1989. People's Artist of the USSR (1982).

Alevtina Thorsons, who became widely known as Valentina Leontyeva, was born on August 1, 1923 in Petrograd (now St. Petersburg) into a family of native St. Petersburgers.

Father - Mikhail Thorsons.

Sister - Lyudmila.

Uncle - architect Vladimir Shchuko.

“Dad was 20 years older than mom, I loved him madly. Years later, both my sister and I, when we got married, kept our maiden name in memory of him. I remember wonderful musical evenings with competitions, balls and masquerades in our house, when dad played on the violin," she said.

WITH early years I studied in a theater group at the Youth Theater.

The Leontyev family survived the Leningrad blockade. At the age of 18, Valentina signed up to become a sanitary worker to help the wounded and sick in the besieged city. Her father died during the siege. In 1942, my mother and two sisters left Leningrad for evacuation to the village of Novoselki, Melekessky district, Ulyanovsk region.

After the war, she studied at the Moscow Institute of Chemical Technology and worked in a clinic.

Then she graduated from the Stanislavsky Opera and Drama Studio at the Moscow Art Theater, course of V. O. Toporkov.

After graduating from the studio in 1948, she served at the Tambov Drama Theater for several seasons.

In 1954, after passing competitive selection, Valentina Mikhailovna came to work on television. At first she was an assistant director, then she became an announcer.

Sometimes she acted in films in small roles - as a TV presenter.

Valentina Leontyeva in the film "Behind the Department Store Window"

Valentina Leontyeva in the film "Northern Rhapsody"

She regularly appeared in the Blue Light programs.

Over the years of her long-term work on television, Valentina Mikhailovna hosted both “Blue Lights” and many holiday broadcasts, the program “From the Theater Box” (together with Igor Kirillov), as well as many other favorite and popular television programs at that time.

Valentina Leontyeva - Blue Light 1962

From 1965 to 1967 she lived in New York with her diplomat husband and son. Upon arrival from the USA, he returns to television.

More than one generation of Russians grew up on Valentina Leontyeva’s children’s programs, such as “Visiting a Fairy Tale,” “Good Night, Kids,” “Alarm Clock,” and “Skillful Hands.” Millions of children were waiting for these programs.

Valentina Mikhailovna earned the honorary title - Aunt Valya.

Valentina Leontyeva - Visiting a fairy tale

The peak of her creativity was the program “With all my heart,” which was awarded the State Prize. The TV show first aired on July 13, 1972. The transfer lasted 15 years. In 1975, she was awarded the USSR State Prize for these programs. The last 52nd graduation took place in July 1987 (from Orenburg). Valentina Mikhailovna remembered her heroes until the end of her life.

Valentina Leontyeva was the first and only female announcer of the USSR Central Television to be awarded the title of People's Artist of the USSR. Throughout history folk artists The USSR became two announcers - she and Igor Kirillov.

During work, funny things happened more than once. For example, during the broadcast of one of the “Ogonki” shows, the heel of Leontyeva’s shoes became firmly stuck on the floor during a live broadcast, putting Leontyeva in a very difficult position. During one of the programs about animals, Leontyev was bitten by a bear cub. But she didn’t even show it and brought the program to the end - she understood that in live everyone is looking at her Soviet Union, and when the program ended, they had to call an ambulance - she was very ill.

Since 1989 - television announcer and consultant.

In the 1990s, a difficult period began in the life of Valentina Leontyeva. All of her programs were closed, and no new offers were received. She tried to independently revive the “With All My Heart” program, but all her efforts did not produce results.

In 1996, together with I. Kirillov, she participated in the “Telescope” program.

In 2000, the TV presenter was awarded the TEFI Prize in the category “For personal contribution to the development of domestic television.”

Since 2004, she lived in the village of Novoselki, Melekessky district, Ulyanovsk region, with her relatives (she moved in with her sister Lyudmila), who took care of her.

She was buried, according to her will, in the same place, in the village cemetery.

In July 2007, the Ulyanovsk Regional Puppet Theater was named after People's Artist of the USSR Valentina Mikhailovna Leontyeva.

Valentina Leontyeva: fairy tale and reality

Personal life of Valentina Leontyeva:

She was married twice.

The first husband is director Yuri Richard. She met at the Tambov theater, who also transported Leontyeva to Moscow. We lived together for 3 years.

Second husband - Yuri Vinogradov, diplomat, employee of the USSR diplomatic mission in New York. We met in one of the Moscow restaurants. The couple had a son, Dmitry Vinogradov. The marriage broke up in the mid-1970s.

Dmitry Vinogradov - son of Valentina Leontyeva

August 1, 2018, where he told the details of his relationship with his mother, and also talked about his relatives, because of whom he missed his parent’s funeral.

“I lived with my mother until I was 45 years old. For many this seems strange, but it is true. We had a good relationship, I also communicated well with my dad. Mom was very gentle, she always spoiled me, but dad, on the contrary, was strict,” he said.

In the last years of Leontyeva’s life, Vinogradov rarely visited his mother. But this was not connected with their conflict, but with Dmitry’s long-standing enmity with his relatives. After a spinal injury that Valentina Mikhailovna received due to negligence at Ostankino, her relatives living in the Ulyanovsk region took care of her. The son is sure that the true goal of the relatives was the money and valuables of the legendary announcer.

“After she died, they drove a KAMAZ to the house to take out all my mother’s things. They literally took everything away. Moreover, my mother wanted her to be cremated and her ashes buried in Moscow, but they insisted on a ceremony in the Ulyanovsk region. I didn't come to the funeral because I wasn't sure I could control myself. I was afraid that I would kill one of these scoundrels, and then it would be a criminal case. But justice still prevailed: I wished them death, and they died. You can say that I cursed them,” said Dmitry.

Dmitry is raising a son, whose name is Valentin - almost like the legendary grandmother.

I was in love with Valentina Leontyeva. He courted her very persistently, but never achieved reciprocal feelings; both had families. This went on for 10 years. She said: “It was just not my person! It was interesting to communicate with Arkasha, but as a man I don’t like him!”

Filmography of Valentina Leontyeva:

1955 - Behind a department store window - television announcer (uncredited)
1962 - Blue Light-1962 (film-play) - presenter of "Blue Light"
1962 - Without fear and reproach - television announcer (uncredited)
1964 - Blue Light. 25 years of Soviet television (film-play) - presenter
1965 - In the first hour - guest of "Blue Light"
1967 - Kremlin Courier (film-play) - episode (uncredited)
1974 - Northern Rhapsody - TV presenter
1993 - Just... Aunt Valya (documentary)

Voiced by Valentina Leontyeva:

1968 - Baby and Carlson (animated) - Baby’s mother
1970 - Sweet Tale (animated) - television announcer (uncredited)
1970 - Tymancha’s friend - reads Russian text

When the famous television presenter Valentina Leontyeva turned 65 years old, all her programs were closed. In order to stay on screen, she did plastic surgery, because of which she almost died. But it didn't help. She was written off... The last consolation was her only son. But he, according to relatives, robbed his mother completely and did not even come to the funeral.

The life of the legendary TV presenter is like a roller coaster - ups and downs. She made a dizzying career on Soviet television, but then it was very painful for her to fall from this peak... And the star of the programs “Good night, kids!”, “With all my heart” and “Visiting a fairy tale” ended up in the “box” by accident. She could have died as a schoolgirl in Leningrad blockade.

“Our father died of hunger psychosis, our mother beat us so that we would not lie in a hungry faint,” she recalled Native sister TV presenter Lyudmila. “Valya worked in the sanitary detachment, picked up the corpses of the dead, and helped the exhausted. One day she fed a captured German by donating him a bowl of soup. At that time, such an act could have resulted in a 10-year sentence if someone had reported... In 1942, we the last ice Ladoga left for evacuation. They settled in the Ulyanovsk region and began to get used to peasant labor. Valya was very strong, she could easily cope with bulls, chop wood...

But as soon as the war ended, Valentina left for Moscow to become an artist. But I didn’t have time - enrollment in theater universities ended. First she had to study at the Institute of Chemical Technology, then she worked in a clinic. But she couldn’t resist and again began to storm creative universities. She entered the opera and drama studio at the Moscow Art Theater, and was assigned to work at the Tambov theater, where she married director Yuri Richard, with whom she lived for four years. True, before that, when she was studying in Moscow, she had a chance to go abroad forever!

One day, a man knocked on her door and came to “match” with her mother. In broken Russian, he explained the situation to her - it turned out that this was the same captured German whom she fed during the blockade! For ten years he sought permission to come to the USSR, miraculously found that same schoolgirl who had already turned into a girl... The story is romantic, but Valentina refused him. She always knew what awaited her unusual fate, and I was not mistaken.

“Valentina Mikhailovna took part in a competition for announcers at Ostankino, but did not pass,” recalls actor Yuri Grigoriev. “But she was allowed to carry headphones behind the director. One day the announcer got sick, and Leontyeva replaced her. Thus began her career!

Behind short term Leontyeva became a star of the first magnitude. Fans bombarded her with letters, and among her suitors were famous people. Bulat Okudzhava wrote poetry to Valentina in his youth, but she turned him away. They met again only 40 years later; Okudzhava hardly recognized his first love in the famous TV presenter! He again told her that he was ready to do anything for her, but a month later the famous songwriter passed away. The famous cosmonaut Boris Egorov, for whom the whole country was crazy and because of whom two beautiful actresses Natalya Fateeva and Natalya Kustinskaya competed, literally pursued Leontyeva for several years.

Comedian Arkady Raikin almost abandoned his family for the sake of a TV presenter; his unrequited love lasted ten years! But she only accepted friendship from Raikin... In the end, her heart enviable bride gave it to diplomat Yuri Vinogradov, who took it all over the world. They spent more than 20 years together. True, her husband drank and cheated on Leontyeva, but she still loved him. And at the age of 37, as if having come to her senses, she finally gave birth to a child - a son, Mitya. True, I couldn’t give up my career for him. For the first two years, Mitya lived with his grandmother, then his parents took the boy with them to America. When Leontyeva returned to the USSR with her son, she was again on a wave of success. She took Mitya to meetings with children who simply tore her apart. In the end, he told her: “You are not my mother! You are their mother! Thus a deep crack was laid in the relationship between son and mother...

In 1982, Valentina Leontyeva was awarded the title of People's Artist of Russia. She decided to celebrate this event with her family and went to her mother and sister in the Ulyanovsk region. The mother, having learned about the award, became very excited and told her daughter: “Now I can die in peace!” A few days later, the TV star’s mother actually died. When leaving, Valentina Mikhailovna said: “My home is now television.” She could not even imagine that with the advent of the commercial format, she would simply be “written off” at the television center. However, this is exactly what happened. All its programs that did not meet the standards of the new television were closed. And the TV presenter herself was offered to retire quietly and peacefully. To the surprise of the bosses, the “old lady” resisted. She told the management: “I will now hang a sign on my chest with the inscription “Blame the boss for my death” and lie down under the tram at VDNH!” Everyone knew her determination, she really could do it.

Leontyeva told her family that she was going to poison herself due to the loss of her beloved job. At the same time, she kept hoping for a return and fought. She walked around the offices again and again, even recorded a video message for Yeltsin... They pitied her on television. To begin with, they left him “behind the scenes” - they made him an assistant director. Then Leontyeva was engaged in sign language interpretation... Thinking that the reason for her dismissal was her appearance, the TV presenter underwent plastic surgery.

Naina Yeltsina, to whom Leontyeva complained about wrinkles, helped her find doctors. Using a special technology, the TV presenter burned the top layers of skin along with wrinkles. The whole face was burned, a plaster mask was put on it with a hole near the mouth, through which she was fed broth and allowed to smoke. After the operation, Leontyeva was very weak, yet her age made itself felt. But she endured everything courageously, thinking about the moment when she would go into Ostankino again and everyone would gasp...

– When Valentina Mikhailovna appeared in the corridors of Ostankino, it was a real sensation! – recalls Yuri Grigoriev. – She just looked 20 years younger! Everyone asked her what happened, what she did to herself. They whispered about the operation... But Leontyeva ordered her friends to remain silent about it. She created a legend that she had been in bed for a long time due to illness and that was why she was so refreshed. Nobody, of course, believed... But the most offensive thing is that there were no new offers from television!

Rejuvenation did not return the presenter to the “frame”. The channel management simply did not know how to “fit” her into new format television, and after 1997 Leontyeva finally retired. By that time, her husband had already died, and her grown son Mitya was not happy. His career didn't work out. Leontyeva assigned Mitya to Vyacheslav Zaitsev’s fashion studio. But when, before going on the podium, they announced: “And now Aunt Valya’s son will come out!”, he lost his temper and never returned to the studio... Later, Dmitry tried to organize a business. He regularly “cleaned out” his mother’s savings, persuaded her to exchange their four-room apartment, then asked her to hand over documents for her one-room apartment... And in 2004, Leontyeva was taken to the hospital with a traumatic brain injury. There were persistent rumors that this was the work of her son. Be that as it may, since the TV presenter left Moscow, he called her only when he needed money, and did not come to the funeral.

The TV presenter spent her last years in the Ulyanovsk region, with her sister. From here she left as a girl to conquer Moscow. And she returned here as an 80-year-old woman, whom her native television had even forgotten to congratulate on her birthday.

“He gets up in the morning, sits by the window and looks at one point,” recalled the sister of the TV presenter. – She answered all questions: “I don’t need anything!” She didn't want to live. She was worried that everyone had forgotten her.

Who else was at odds with children?

Ladynina was embarrassed by her adult son

In old age, the actress's character deteriorated greatly. Therefore, she could not be friends with anyone and her only son Andrei, born from Ivan Pyryev, was forced to leave her apartment; they even communicated little. The fact is that the 90-year-old actress was embarrassed by her adult son - after all, he gave away her advanced age!

“The mother tried unsuccessfully to hide her age. Mentioning how old she was could lead to hysterics, recalled son Andrei. “For example, when she found out that she would be given the Nika Award, her first reaction was: “What bastards!” Now everyone will know how old I am!” At the same time, the mother herself no longer needed anything. Her life consisted only of overcoming terrible pain every day. Her legs hurt, she had a pacemaker, and she could hardly see. Even getting out of bed was a problem for her... At the same time, my mother did not want my help and did not expect it.

Samoilova did not forgive the heir for betrayal

In her youth, while living in a marriage with Vasily Lanov, the actress had an abortion, but could have given birth to twins... She regretted this act all her life and therefore, after thirty years, she gave birth to a child from almost a random man, with whom she was not married. The actress devoted a lot of time to her son, but, unfortunately, he did not repay his gratitude. Ever since school, Mitya dreamed of going abroad and did it as soon as he graduated from college. After this, the relationship with her son went wrong and she started drinking.

“5 years after my son left, I stopped missing him,” the actress admitted. “I let him go and realized that there was no such love anymore. And I couldn’t forgive him for his betrayal...

Okunevskaya traded her daughter for men

The star of the 40s Tatyana Okunevskaya did not get along with her daughter Inga. While the girl was at school, the mother was busy social life. Then she was sent to prison.

“I was fifteen years old when my mother was arrested. And when she returned, I was already an established person: with a husband, with two children,” says the actress’s daughter. – Our relationship did not work out because my mother still perceived me as small, she did not understand that I had grown up. And she strictly dictated the terms to me. And I tried to communicate with her as equals, which did not suit her. In the end we separated. Moreover, the mother last days life was surrounded by young admirers who were literally her “slaves.” Communication seemed more important to her than me and my life.