Soviet and Russian theater and film actor Valentin Gaft died on Saturday, 12 December, at the age of 85.

The death of the actor was announced by his wife Olga Ostroumova. “Yes, he’s gone. It happened today," she said, reports TASS.

According to Interfax, the cause of Valentin Gaft’s death was a stroke he had suffered earlier, from which the actor tried to recover for several years.

The death of the actor was also confirmed at the Moscow Sovremennik Theater. "Today our Valentin Iosifovich Gaft is gone ...", - written on the theater’s official Facebook page.

Valentin Gaft was born on 2 September 1935 in Moscow. Since 1969, he served in the troupe of the Sovremennik Theater, actively acted in films.