It would seem that everything is known about him. Soviet pop and theater actor, director, screenwriter, comedian. People's Artist of the USSR, Hero of Socialist Labor, Lenin Prize laureate. An entire generation of people grew up on his satirical miniatures; his speeches were instantly dissected into quotes. He was considered unusually brave, balancing on the edge of what was permitted. He was perhaps the only one of all Soviet satirists who had the right to criticize the Soviet system. And yet, many “dark spots” and inaccessible pages remained in his biography. The great satirist experienced ups and downs, he was both at the peak of popularity and in severe disgrace. And yet he was lucky with fate. Arkady Raikin passed away on time. He did not have the “fortune” to live in “Telema Abbey” and see the horrors that began during the years of perestroika. And he did not have to make a painful choice, renouncing the current legalized triumph of human vices, which he hated all his life...