People’s Artist of the USSR and State Prize laureate Oleg Basilashvili, who celebrated his 90th birthday on September 26, told KP-Saint Petersburg in an interview that a fortune teller predicted that he would live longer than 90 years. According to the artist, the only thing he regrets is that in his youth he was not attentive enough to his grandmother, father and mother. The actor added that his colleague Alisa Freindlich, with whom he has been playing in the same play “side by side” for many years, helps him go on stage at such a venerable age.
Earlier, he said that he was not going to give up work and leave the stage. The artist emphasized that he continues to give concerts, and only death can end his career .
When asked about his health, he responded with a quote from the poet Vladimir Mayakovsky: “I’m walking – handsome, twenty-two years old.” He noted that now, in his opinion, a different era is coming to the Russian theater and that he would not like to talk about the reasons, so as not to seem like a “grumpy old man.” The artist expressed confidence that the theater will always exist, regardless of the times.
Basilashvili’s creative career began in 1956, when he began performing on stage at the Stalingrad Drama Theatre. In 1959, he moved to the BDT, where he still works today.