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LOVE STORIES.
ARKADY RAIKIN AND RUTH IOFFE Arkady Raikin and Ruth Ioffe. / Photo: www.fastpic.ru
The people's favorite Arkady Raikin has enjoyed constant popularity and popular love for many years. The power of his charm was so strong that it was impossible to resist. People constantly fell in love with him, and he fell in love back. But Arkady Raikin’s only love forever remained his wife, Ruth Ioffe, his Roma.
Acquaintance
Arkady Raikin drew attention to the attractive, very serious girl Ruth while still in high school. Already in his youth, the future great actor was truly in love with the theater. And of course, Arkady also took part in school amateur performances.
One day, the theater group of a future all-Union celebrity was invited to perform at a nearby school. In the audience among the spectators, Raikin saw Ruth for the first time, or, as everyone around her called her, Roma. Later, the young man met a girl he liked on the street several times. However, out of modesty, he did not dare to approach her then.
Arkady invited Ruth on their first date only when the young people were already studying at the Leningrad College of Performing Arts. Raikin accidentally saw Roma in the college cafeteria and finally decided to talk to her, inviting the girl to the cinema.
Treason and reconciliation
In his youth, Arkady Raikin was amorous. Female beauty drove the young man crazy. The growing popularity became the reason that enthusiastic girls hovered around the actor, ready to go through fire and water for the sake of their idol. Raikin’s most significant and dangerous hobby for the family was the comedian’s acquaintance with the Vakhtangov Theater actress Garen Zhukovskaya.
Note: Actor Konstantin Raikin might not have existed. Pregnant Ruth, wounded to the depths of her heart by her husband's serious affair, decided to have an abortion. But at the last moment I changed my mind.
Garen also did not smile at the role of a predator who breaks up families. The woman decisively advised Arkady to return to his wife. Born in 1950, Kostya brought the family together. In the post-war years, Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev seriously pursued the beautiful Ruth.
Then he was young, stately, black-browed. The young actress did not like the party leader, but in order to trick her husband and avenge his betrayal, she favorably accepted the advances of the future General Secretary.
Ruth plays with her husband in the play “Love and Three Oranges”
Wedding
A stormy romance between the young people began from the very first meeting. However, unfortunately, the girl’s parents opposed the relationship between Arkady and Ruth. In their opinion, the daughter of a famous doctor, who is also the brother of academician physicist Ioffe, should not date the future “circus clown.”
In order to get Raikin away from Ruth, her father and stepmother even took her away from the city - to the dacha they had. But such a trivial obstacle, of course, could not stop the young lover Raikin. Somehow, using carts and carriages, the future actor reached Ruth’s dacha.
All the way, Raikin rehearsed a fiery speech, with the help of which he intended to gain the favor of his beloved’s parents. However, in the end, the young man was not even allowed on the threshold.
Be that as it may, after Ruth returned to Leningrad, the young people began to meet again - this time in secret from their parents. Ultimately, Roma’s stepmother and father were forced to come to terms and stopped interfering with the lovers’ relationship.
There is a legend in the theater world about how, upon graduating from college, Raikin invited Ruth’s parents to his graduation performance. Admiring the talent of their daughter's chosen one, Roma's stepmother and father allegedly immediately agreed to the marriage of the young people.
The wedding of Arkady Raikin and Ruth Ioffe took place in 1935. Immediately after the wedding, the young couple moved to live in the rich house of Roma’s parents.
Marriage and family life
The daughter's decision was a blow to the respected doctor Mark Ioffe. The father thought that acting education was just a girlish whim of his daughter, which would pass as soon as the girl married a “respectable” man. But having a comedian son-in-law?
The enraged father hid his daughter in the country, hoping for the saying about girls “out of sight, out of mind.” It didn't work. Arkady found out the address and came to the dacha. The guy was not even allowed on the threshold, but Ruth ran away and met her beloved.
The father could not keep his daughter at the dacha forever - the school year had begun. In 1935, 24-year-old Arkady and 20-year-old Ruth got married, presenting the bride's parents with a fait accompli. The doctor did not let his beloved daughter go to the poor Raikin family, so Arkady came with one suitcase to his wife’s house.
Subsequent years showed the correctness of the saying “Heaven is in the hut with the darling.” The doctor's rich apartment turned into hell for the lovers, thanks to Arkady's mother-in-law and Ruth's stepmother. The woman ate her son-in-law, causing a scandal with or without reason. The birth of her granddaughter Katya (1938) did not soften the mother-in-law’s heart.
It ended with the lovers picking up the girl in their arms and leaving in their clothes to Arkady’s parents. There, in cramped conditions, but in a warm, spiritual atmosphere, the couple lived until they received a room in a communal apartment. Numerous neighbors became the prototypes of the heroes of Raikin’s humoresques.
Troubles
Raikin’s relationship with his beloved’s parents did not work out right away. The actor, who was already gaining popularity at that time, really did not like the fact that Ruth’s stepmother treated him like a child. In addition, Arkady, who was born into a poor family, was irritated by the constant conversations about new acquaintances, fashion and the prices of expensive clothes.
Due to constant tension and quarrels with his stepmother Ruth, Arkady Raikin’s health soon even began to deteriorate. At the age of only 26, the artist suffered a heart attack. Moreover, the parodist’s illness was so severe that doctors practically gave him no chance. It was after suffering a heart attack that Raikin’s famous gray strand appeared in his hair.
Tired of constant scandals, at one point Arkady simply took the couple’s daughter, Katya, who had already been born then, from his mother-in-law’s house and went with her to his parents. As soon as Ruth found out what had happened, she immediately followed her husband.
Raikin's parents received the young couple very warmly. In addition, the actors were soon given their own room in a communal apartment. Ruth and Arkady subsequently lived in this small room for many years.
On the eve of the war, Arkady Raikin began to court his wife....... Leonid Brezhnev
Arkady Isaakovich Raikin (October 11 (24), 1911, Riga - December 17, 1987, Moscow) - an outstanding Soviet theater, stage, film actor, theater director, and humorist. People's Artist of the USSR (1968). Hero of Socialist Labor. Lenin Prize laureate (1980)
“Garen Konstantinovna Zhukovskaya told Raikin: “Now you are rushing from Leningrad to Moscow, to me. And if you get divorced, you will rush from me to them, to Leningrad. Nothing will change!" And Arkady Isaakovich listened to her. And soon he and his wife had a son, Kostya, and a shaken world returned to the house,” says Elizaveta Uvarova, a friend of the Raikin family.
Parents of Arkady Isaakovich
“Raikin hid his jewelry in the coffin of his deceased mother and sent them to Israel, where he himself plans to escape soon.
And his children are already there...” - this rumor spread throughout the country in the early 70s, they talked about it not just in kitchens - even at political meetings. As a reliably established fact. No one cared that Arkady Isaakovich’s children, Katya and Kostya, lived and studied in the USSR. And Raikin’s mother died five years earlier and was buried in Leningrad. However, the neglected rumor grew at breakneck speed, acquiring more and more new details. For example, that Raikin finances the Zionist organization in Ukraine. Or that he is already in prison, under investigation. When the Raikin Theater came on tour without him, people nodded their heads understandingly. Meanwhile, Arkady Isaakovich was lying in the hospital, recovering from a heart attack. But conversations reached him there too. He was very worried, and he was especially offended by rumors about emigration, because he had never even thought about leaving somewhere. It was then that he finally turned gray - previously he had only a gray strand in his dark brown hair.
Raikin knew who organized these rumors. Having recovered a little, he personally came to the office of the then head of the cultural department of the Central Committee and told him everything frankly, and he did not even deny it. This was the same man who not so long ago gave Raikin a heart attack, calling him to his place and accusing him of being “anti-Soviet”, demanding to “change his profession.” No one had ever talked to Raikin like that before. It happened that censorship demanded that something be cut out of his numbers, to which Arkady Isaakovich usually replied: “Cut it out, please. I will convey this meaning without words, with my eyes! And, have no doubt, the audience will understand everything!” And the audience understood. And they continued to come to his performances - the queues at the box office were sometimes controlled by mounted police. Raikin tickets were a kind of currency for Soviet people. Which can be used to pay for any deficit, for the services of a hairdresser, for an extraordinary purchase of furniture...
The only surviving photograph of Raikin as a child.
Rybinsk, 1920. Arkady Isaakovich’s father at one time categorically forbade him to become an artist, “a clown.”
The eldest boy in the family (Raikin had a brother Max and two sisters - Sophia and Bella), the hope of his parents, he was supposed to get a serious profession. Isaac Davidovich himself in pre-revolutionary times worked in the Riga seaport, engaged in wood rejection, and already in Soviet times he worked at a sawmill for many years. But young Arkasha, instead of studying, kept running to the theater. It was not a very popular, unprepossessing Rybinsk theater (the Raikin family, having fled from Riga due to the First World War, ended up in Rybinsk after much ordeal). And then one day my father broke in right during the performance and took Arkasha out of the hall, cursing terribly. And at home he gave a thrashing. But it was impossible to dissuade Raikin from the theater. Over time, the boy was even entrusted with the “role”. He represented the murdered merchant - lying motionless on the stage.
The father, seeing that art attracted his son more than science, made a last attempt to return Arkasha to traditional national activities and bought him a violin. But Arkady rode down the hill on this violin, or rather on its case, in winter. I never learned music! At the age of 13 (the family had moved to Petrograd by that time), trouble happened to Arkady - while skating, he caught a cold. And a common cold developed into a serious illness - Raikin almost died. Any movement caused him pain, and the 13-year-old boy lay motionless in bed for many months. His mother did not leave his side, and his father sometimes put him on his shoulders and carried him out into the yard to get some fresh air. Pain in the joints did not allow the boy to take more than a few steps on his own. At the same time, he, like all children, did not want to take medicine, which his parents had difficulty obtaining for him. I especially didn’t like castor oil, it tasted disgusting. Arkady hid the bottles behind the closet. Much later, during the blockade, my parents chopped this cabinet into boards to burn in the stove. And they found bottles. The “healing elixir” came in very handy - it supported the health of exhausted people.
Course by V. N. Solovyov at the Institute of Performing Arts.
Raikin - in the center next to his beloved teacher 1935 True, the blockade still killed Raikin’s father - Isaac Davidovich was taken out of Leningrad along the Road of Life, but in the hospital he, who had not seen food for many months, immediately ate his fill, and his body could not withstand such a load. But my mother survived, and Arkady took great care of her later... I must say that Raikin remained a little wary of his father throughout his life. On the contrary, he was very close to his mother and loved her very much...
As soon as he graduated from school, Raikin wanted to look at the capital's artists. And in the spring of 1928 he went to Moscow. Further in his biography there is a year-long gap - further events are described only from the end of 1929. <…> Reluctantly (this can be heard on a tape recording that I have preserved), but still Raikin admitted: he was in Butyrka prison.
It was like this: due to lack of money, Arkady adapted to sneaking into performances and concerts without a ticket. And one day he managed to sneak into a closed government concert. And at the exit, all spectators' passes were checked. So the ticketless young man was arrested. On the one hand, many hours of grueling interrogations (for what purpose did he infiltrate members of the government? Who sent?), on the other, the harassment of cellmates, mostly criminals. They mistook him for an “informer,” and Raikin had a hard time. In the end, he was acquitted and released. Raikin hid this fact of his biography for many years, and during the war years he suddenly demonstrated to his colleagues the ability to knock on the wall. That’s when everything opened up... He couldn’t stand prison slang, he never used it, except in the famous humoresque about a communal apartment.
Future wife Ruth Ioffe (Roma). 1933
Arkady first saw Ruth Markovna (he called her Roma) as a schoolboy, when, against the wishes of his parents, he entered the school drama club and began to travel to perform in neighboring schools.
At one such concert, a beautiful girl in a red beret sat in the front row. They did not meet, but Arkady remembered the girl. A few years later he met her at the Leningrad College of Performing Arts, in line at the student canteen. He invited me to the cinema. And right there, in the cinema hall, he proposed. Ruth first responded, “I’ll think about it!” - and the next day she agreed.
Arkady Raikin after graduation.
1935. But her family didn’t want to hear about the groom.
The girl’s parents, as well as Arkady’s own parents, did not consider the profession of an artist suitable for a man. Ruth's father was a famous doctor in Leningrad. A relative of Academician Ioffe. When Raikin, with great difficulty, came to meet them on some passing carts (in the summer, Ruth’s family lived in a dacha in Luga), he was not even allowed into the house. The bride's stepmother especially did not like the poor student. Well! The lovers began to meet secretly. Later, the girl’s relatives accepted her choice. They got married in 1935. After which Arkady moved to his wife - with one suitcase. But Joffe treated him like a child.
MKhET.
With German Novikov. 1947 Meanwhile, Arkady already felt like a successful artist; he was known in artistic circles. In addition, it was difficult for him to accept their way of life, when colleagues, neighbors and who bought what at the market were discussed at the table. And the conflicts with my mother-in-law did not stop. She figured that since her son-in-law did not bring any wealth into the house, he should take care of everyday life. Instead, Raikin disappeared all day long at rehearsals. And I didn’t want to live according to my mother-in-law’s orders!
In 1937, Raikin, exhausted by work and worries due to family troubles, had a heart attack - and such a force that there was almost no hope for recovery. That’s when the famous Raikin lock turned grey. At 26 years old! But Arkady pulled out. And in 1938, the young couple had a daughter, Katya. And so, after another quarrel with his mother-in-law, Raikin took the child and left the house in what he was wearing. He went to live with his parents, who still lived very modestly. His faithful Roma, having returned home and learned what had happened, followed him without a moment’s doubt.
The Raikins' daughter Katya with her brother Kostya.
1950 Fortunately, very soon the young family acquired their own housing - they were given a room in a communal apartment. For the thirties this was a huge success. The Raikins lived in this communal apartment for many years, side by side with a variety of neighbors, so Arkady Isaakovich had no shortage of types for scenes.
Well, Roma followed her husband everywhere. He's on tour - and she's with him. Even during the war, she was not afraid to travel with Raikin to front-line concerts, although to do this she had to leave her three-year-old daughter in Tashkent in the care of a stranger. She, unfortunately, took poor care of Katya. Her husband and two sons were hiding in the underground from being drafted to the front. It was for their maintenance that the money sent by Raikin was used. And Katya became completely frail from hunger - fortunately, her parents took her in time.
Among relatives.
From left to right, E. M. Ioffe (Roma’s sister), R. M. Ioffe, A. I. Raikin, M. M. Derzhavin, E. A. Raikina with her nephew in her arms, Kostya Raikin stands in the center. 1957 Once, already as an adult, Katya asked her mother why she left her to strangers. And she heard in response that it was necessary so as not to lose her husband. Well, Roma couldn’t let Raikin go alone! She provided her husband with a living during his endless travels and fully participated in the affairs of the theater. The actors treated Ruth as an intercessor, she always asked for them... But that’s not the only thing. Ruth Markovna also had other reasons for accompanying her husband everywhere...
No matter how attached Arkady Isaakovich was to his Roma, for some time now he began to have fleeting romances on the side. God simply gave him such power of charm that everyone was drawn to him. They say there was not a single woman who could refuse him! And Arkady Isaakovich himself needed to fall in love from time to time in order to create, in order to feel youth...
The actress of the Theater of Miniatures Tamara Kushelevskaya admitted after Raikin’s death that they had an affair. She told me how he sat in the car under the windows at night and, without waiting, sent a note: “If you don’t come out, they’ll take me to the hospital, which means the performances will be disrupted, and I’ll even die!” One day he invited Kushelevskaya to go on tour, and only on the train did it become clear that there were no tours and that she and Raikin were alone in the compartment. However, such stories ended the same way - Arkady Isaakovich quickly grew cold and ended the relationship. Because there was a line beyond which he did not cross - Raikin did not allow himself to get carried away in such a way that it became dangerous for his family. Except for this one time...
On the tennis court with L. S. Maslyukov.
Sochi. 1949 The beautiful actress of the Vakhtangov Theater Garen Zhukovskaya was later exposed by Raikin’s colleagues as some kind of predator who grabbed onto him.
But she was a very worthy woman - it was not for nothing that people like Alexander Vertinsky, Mikhail Zharov, Lyudmila Tselikovskaya were friends with her. Garen even corresponded with Marina Tsvetaeva’s sister Anastasia. She had some kind of special, antique beauty, and many went crazy about her - Garen always had a lot of fans. Her husband was the famous aircraft designer Alexander Mikulin, he was many years older than her. Even before Zhukovskaya, he had affairs with actresses, but Mikulin married her. A daughter was born. Even during the war years they lived in abundance: aircraft designers were very wealthy people even in those days. Everything ended in the late forties, when Garen found out that her husband had another passion. She broke up with Mikulin, who immediately married again - again to an actress (he even got a nickname: “the husband of the most beautiful actresses”).
“Arkady Isaakovich became interested in Garen and was even ready to leave the family.
Ruth Markovna sobbed in despair.” Garen Zhukovskaya And Garen met Arkady Isaakovich. At first, she apparently just wanted to numb the pain. But it was impossible not to fall in love with Raikin! Arkady Isaakovich also became carried away and was even ready to leave the family. Ruth Markovna sobbed in despair. And then Garen Konstantinovna showed wisdom. She told Raikin: “Now you are rushing from Leningrad to Moscow, to me. And if you get divorced, you will rush from me to them, to Leningrad. Nothing will change". And they parted. One can only imagine what it cost them. And then Raikin’s son was born, and the relationship between husband and wife warmed up again. Kostya, with his birth, returned peace to their family.
As for Zhukovskaya, she lived to be 95 years old and remained silent about Raikin all these years. And his letters and telegrams were handed over to the RGALI archive under the heading “Secret”. 27 letters and 52 telegrams! They will only be readable in 2030, when the secrecy will be lifted. I'm sure this will become a sensation...
Ruth Roma and Arkady Raikin.
Early 1950s It is interesting that once Ruth Markovna made Raikin jealous.
In 1941, on the eve of the war, Leonid Brezhnev began to court her. Then still young, black-browed, courageous, cheerful... And yet Roma, who passionately loved her husband, accepted Brezhnev’s advances only out of politeness. And Raikin, although at some point he lost his temper, quickly calmed down and maintained a warm relationship with Leonid Ilyich for the rest of his life. It was Brezhnev, at the beginning of the war, which found the Raikin family on tour in Dnepropetrovsk, who got a separate carriage for the theater. In this carriage, Raikin and his troupe traveled around the fronts throughout the war with concerts.
Interview with a war correspondent.
1943 Raikin’s relations with the authorities have always developed in a peculiar way.
The big bosses loved him and the middle ones hated him. In 1939, he unexpectedly came to the attention of Stalin. This happened after young Arkady Isaakovich became a laureate of the All-Union Variety Artists Competition, where he presented two miniatures. After that, he was included in the list of participants in the concert for the 60th anniversary of the leader. Raikin was very worried when he was preparing. But Stalin suddenly said that he did not want any concert, and the artists were given the all clear. Then Arkady Isaakovich agreed to perform in another place. And when he returned to the hotel, it turned out that they were looking for him - they needed to go to Stalin in the Kremlin. And this at three o'clock in the morning! Raikin quickly collected the props - noses, wigs, beards... They sent a car to pick him up.
Variety number “Conversation with a dog.”
1930s This is how Arkady Isaakovich got to the government banquet. He was planted directly opposite Stalin. Raikin showed several skits right at the table and the leader really liked it. After that, all Stalin’s toasts were for him, the young talented artist Raikin. Seven whole toasts! Arkady Isaakovich felt awkward, besides, he never drank. Stalin's feast was the second topic that Raikin spoke about reluctantly. For example, he never told me how the feasts took place at Stalin’s dacha, to which he was later invited more than once.
Well, in 1942, he dared to invite the leader to a performance that the theater troupe, while on tour in Moscow, played for the soldiers of the military units guarding the Kremlin. The answer was delivered to him in a package marked “Top Secret”. The note read: “Thank you for the invitation. Unfortunately, I can’t be at the performance: I’m very busy. I. Stalin." After all, at that time the battles were still going on not far from Moscow... Be that as it may, this note for a long time served as something of a safe conduct for Raikin. Despite its popularity, there was danger, because in the late forties, during the fight against cosmopolitans, there were persistent rumors that Jews would be evicted from big cities. Later, friends showed Arkady Isaakovich a copy of the plan of his apartment, which was kept in the NKVD - there was, in particular, a fire exit marked there in order to catch the fugitive if something happened. But it worked out.
With M. V. Mironova and I. S. Kozlovsky.
Yalta. 1954 Only once did Raikin receive a summons: he was summoned by the head of the Leningrad police.
Ruth Markovna and Arkady Isaakovich did not sleep all night. Although this was after Stalin’s death, people were still afraid of summonses from the authorities. And even more so those who allowed themselves to make any risky jokes from the stage. And so Raikin came to the boss’s office. It turned out that he only wanted to reproach him for the scene where Raikin portrayed an unlucky policeman who, while drawing up a report, still could not pronounce “Gnezdnikovsky Lane”. Raikin calmed down the boss for an hour and a half and defended the scene.
Variety number "Charlie Chaplin" at the First All-Union Competition of Variety Artists.
1939 Every year the Raikin Theater of Miniatures gained more and more popularity.
And where there is success and fame, of course, there is money. Arkady Isaakovich's rate was high, and there was considerable extra money. Of course, compared to ordinary people, Raikin was a rich man. But at the same time he made amazingly little money. True, he got a car quite early - first a Pobeda, then a Volga. But for a long time this was the only luxury item owned by Raikin. His name thundered, and Arkady Isaakovich with his wife and grown-up children lived in a communal apartment year after year. This did not bother Raikin - he still disappeared on tour for many months.
“Ruth followed her husband everywhere.
Even during the war, she was not afraid to travel with Raikin to front-line concerts, although to do this she had to leave her three-year-old daughter in Tashkent in the care of a stranger.” Arkady Raikin with his wife on the stage of the Theater of Miniatures. 1963 Photo: ITAR-TASS Over time, of course, they got their own apartment.
And when Brezhnev, having become Secretary General, moved the Raikin Theater to Moscow out of old friendship, Arkady Isaakovich was given a five-room apartment. They were furnished with antiques and beautiful paintings hung on the walls. Mostly gifts from friends. But Raikin never got a dacha. Not to mention bank accounts or some collection of diamonds... It’s not even clear what Raikin spent his money on. He lived generously: he dressed beautifully and did not deny anything to his family - both small and large, which was the theater for him. However, it was easy to fly out of this family - Raikin was distinguished by his touchiness.
First tour. A.I. Raikin next to the director of the Variety Theater I.M. Gershman. Odessa.
1939 Take, for example, the story with Zhvanetsky.
They met during a tour of the Raikin Theater in Odessa. There Arkady Isaakovich looked after two young actors - Ilchenko and Kartsev. Moreover, Kartsev was an amateur actor - he worked as a sewing machine adjuster and had no stage education. At one time he was not even accepted into the circus school. But Raikin took both him and Ilchenko with him to Leningrad. But for some reason Zhvanetsky, who wrote jokes for Kartsev and Ilchenko in Odessa, was not invited.
Raikin, Zhvanetsky, Kartsev...
But Mikhail himself followed his friends.
Moreover, for a long time Zhvanetsky traveled with Raikin’s team at his own expense, without having any position. Zhvanetsky believed that it was this instability and lack of money that led to his divorce from his wife. But Mikhail Mikhailovich still achieved his goal: he received the position of head of the literary department of the theater. He then wrote a lot for Raikin and greatly influenced his work. Over time, fame came, Zhvanetsky became fashionable, his performances were listened to on tape recorders - much like Vysotsky’s songs. Raikin began to worry that Zhvanetsky was giving many “leftist” concerts. And at some point he ordered the preparation of documents for his dismissal. Mikhail Mikhailovich accidentally found out about this and decided to forestall events: he himself wrote a letter of resignation. He hoped that Raikin would come to his senses and persuade him... But he just said: “You did the right thing.” Usually in such cases it was Ruth Markovna who saved the situation. She managed to return many of those expelled to the theater. But those who had the imprudence to incur his wrath no longer had the former friendship with Raikin. So Zhvanetsky eventually resumed work for the Theater of Miniatures - he wrote texts for Raikin. But I hardly saw Arkady Isaakovich himself.
And yet, it is absolutely impossible to call Raikin a tough and unresponsive person. For example, there was this story. One spring morning in 1953, in the Hermitage garden, where Arkady Isaakovich often walked and rehearsed on the go, a young man approached him. He turned out to be the son of the former USSR ambassador to Czechoslovakia, who was shot and his entire family was sent to camps. The boy escaped from exile and made his way to the capital to prove his father’s innocence. Raikin said: “Go get in my car!” Then he hid it for two weeks. But the boy went to the post office to send a letter to his mother saying that everything was fine with him, and he was arrested. True, during interrogations he never admitted with whom he lived in Moscow.
And in 1975, great trouble came to the Raikin family. Ruth Markovna became seriously ill. As a result of treatment, she was able to walk, but her speech could not be restored. Oddly enough, this did not in the least weaken the love and harmony between the spouses - on the contrary, Raikin became especially tender towards his wife. I remember that every summer they went together to the Riga seaside and walked there arm in arm - silently. However, they didn’t need words...
Arkady Raikin with his wife
And yet Ruth Markovna outlived her husband.
Raikin was not in good health... And then there were the grueling efforts associated with the new theater building. Having received the building of the Tajikistan cinema, Raikin began to re-equip it. It turned out to be a troublesome and nervous affair. During breaks between performances, Arkady Isaakovich now often lay, exhausted, in the dressing room. When he felt really bad, they called Juna. Raikin trusted this healer and believed that she was the only one helping him. I don’t know if it was true or self-hypnosis, but it really helped...
Yuri Gagarin (far left), German Titov (second from left), Arkady Raikin and Pavel Popovich (right) in the artist’s dressing room.
The last time we saw Arkady Isaakovich was two weeks before his departure, in the hospital.
He was very animated, joked and shared new plans. I remember we were sitting on a bench at the entrance to the hospital, when Raikin suddenly drew attention to a man who was standing in the snow in a sheepskin coat and slippers. “A sheepskin coat and slippers - you need to remember this, it might come in handy,” Raikin rejoiced. Now I’m still trying to imagine what kind of scene he would have composed around this...
"Motley Ribbon" Arkady Raikin
Arkady and Konstantin Raikin
Arkady Isaakovich Raikin and Ruth Markovna Ioffe in the interlude Dark Case of the Leningrad Theater of Miniatures.
Arkady Raikin and the main Cinderella of the USSR, Yanina Zheimo, in the film “Doctor Kalyuzhny” (1939)
Arkady Raikin with his son Konstantin Raikin. 1987
Arkady Raikin with his son Konstantin. 1957
Arkady Raikin with his son Kostya.
Arkady Raikin reads a monologue The Story of a Love. 1964
Arkady Raikin and Gina Lollobrigida at the II International Film Festival in Moscow. 1961 Photo: RIA Novosti
The actor's daughter Ekaterina
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War
During the Second World War, Arkady Raikin toured the front a lot, speaking to the soldiers. Ruth Joffe accompanied him on these trips, taking part in his performances and performances.
Their daughter Katya, who was not yet 3 years old at the time, was left by her parents to be raised by a stranger in Tashkent. Unfortunately, Katya was not taken very well in this house. The woman hid her husband and sons, who were hiding from mobilization, in her basement and spent all the money sent by the Raikins mainly on them.
Katya received practically nothing and in the end she became very weak. However, the war soon ended, and the parents took the exhausted girl home.
War years
From 1941 to 1944, Arkady Raikin traveled along the front roads, giving performances to the soldiers. And his wife followed him like a shadow. The woman was not afraid of military adversities, bombings, and artillery attacks.
Her mother left 3-year-old Katya in the care of a woman during an evacuation in Tashkent. Having an acting education, Ruth also performed as part of the Miniature Theater troupe. Therefore, in 1945, the artist and her husband received the medal “For Military Merit.”
Arkady and Ruth with their son Konstantin
Hobbies
The charming Raikin was never too much of an exemplary family man. The actor had many hobbies throughout his life. Ruth Markovna, like a wise woman, took her husband’s affairs calmly, knowing that Arkady caught fire easily and cooled down quickly.
Only once did Raikin start a serious affair with the dazzlingly beautiful actress Garen Zhukovskaya and even wanted to leave the family. Ruth Markovna, who at that time was already carrying her second child under her heart, was very worried about her husband’s betrayal and cried a lot. However, in the end, Raikin still decided to stay in the family.
Son Kostya, who was born soon, completely reconciled the couple. Subsequently, Ruth Markovna never reminded Raikin about his affair.
At one time, Roma herself gave the actor cause to worry. The fact is that before the war, Leonid Brezhnev himself began to court Raikin’s wife, although he had not yet been appointed to the post of Secretary General. For some time, out of politeness, Ruth Markovna accepted the advances of Leonid Ilyich, but still always remained faithful to Raikin.
Roma Ioffe and Arkady Raikin lived a long and happy life. Ruth Markovna outlived her husband by several years and until her death she spoke of him with great warmth and love.
Together forever
Since then, Roma has always and everywhere been there. After she graduated from the institute, Arkady and Roma began working together in the miniature theater, where the actor’s wife performed under the pseudonym R. Roma. It was she who was an inspirer, critic and partly even a teacher for the great artist. On stage she was an ideal partner, and in life she was a faithful, reliable, loving and caring wife. When he toured at the front during the war, she was also nearby. She, as far as conditions allowed, always tried to provide him with comfort and almost homeliness. And she was always ready for her husband to need her help. And he invariably received it.
Arkady Raikin. / Photo: www.fenixclub.com
Later, rumors began to arise about his hobbies with other women, about his frequent falling in love. Perhaps this was the case. But it never had a continuation, because he experienced the strongest feelings only for one person - his beloved Roma.
Arkady Raikin with his son. / Photo: www.visionary.ru
In 1950, Arkady Isaakovich and Ruth Markovna had a son, Kostya, Kotya, as he was affectionately called at home. With his birth, an almost youthful ardor returned to the family, enhanced by mature love.
Film career
Since 1992, Elena Ivanovna Butenko-Raikina began acting in films. She played her first small role in the film “The Death of a Senator.” And the very next year, Elena Ivanovna played the main role in the detective story “Russian Singer”.
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In 2002, she talentedly played the role of Konyaeva in the film Ice Age. Her filming partner was Alexander Abdulov.
After this there were other films where Elena Ivanovna proved herself not only as a wonderful actress, but also as a wonderful director. Currently, she has already starred in fourteen films.
last years of life
In her declining years, Ruth Markovna suffered a stroke. The woman survived and was even able to walk. Coherent speech did not return to her. Arkady Raikin devoted all his efforts to the treatment and recovery of his wife. Every summer, the husband took the sick woman to the Riga seaside.
Arkady Raikin and Ruth Ioffe
However, Ruth outlived her husband. At the age of 13, Arkady fell ill with a dangerous sore throat, which complicated rheumatic heart disease, which tormented the genius all his life. The actor died on December 17, 1987 in Moscow from a heart attack. Upon learning of her husband’s death, the previously silent Ruth suddenly said coherently: “I want to die.” The woman died 2 years later, in 1989.
The marriage of Ruth and Arkady Raikin demonstrates the power of love. As the actors’ daughter Katerina recalls, her mother never made a scene for her husband, although she often cried because of cheating. However, passion for women flared up and went out; and love for his only one kept the great humorist close to his wife.
