She called him an idiot.
Innokenty Smoktunovsky is still considered one of the outstanding Soviet artists. He talentedly played in films, but he considered theater to be the main thing for himself. It was on stage that the actor played the main roles in his career. Fans did not miss a single production with Smoktunovsky’s participation. Women sighed languidly in the hall as soon as they saw the handsome artist.
However, there was also one who had a skeptical opinion about him. Actress Rimma Bykova called Smoktunovsky mediocrity. But in 1950 she left her husband for him. The actor joined the theater troupe in Dagestan and immediately charmed his colleague. Bykova succumbed to the artist’s advances, divorced and married him.
The couple lived peacefully for three years, and then the actress began to be annoyed by her young husband. She drew attention to the fact that Smoktunovsky does not leave the character even at home, allowing himself to be excessively theatrical. She was tired of his complaints about unsuitable roles, especially since her husband’s acting abilities seemed very modest to her.
After some time, Bykova was already calling her husband an idiot in front of others. And then she started an affair with a theater artist. In 1955, the actors divorced. When, a few years later, Smoktunovsky’s name thundered throughout the USSR after the role of Prince Myshkin in “The Idiot,” his ex-wife did not change her opinion.
“What can he even play?” – That’s all Bykova said.
