Valentin Ivanovich Zubkov was born on 12 May 1923 in Peschanoye Settlement of Ryazan Province. He finished Armavir Military Aviation School (1941—1943) and served as a pilot at frontlines of the Great Patriotic War.

He came to the cinema straight from amateur theatricals, without any special education. However, Zubkov’s appearance, in particular his kind and open face and well-built figure attracted filmmakers’ attention.

In the late 1940s Valentin Zubkov studied in the studio of Konstantin Voynov and later played the leads in his films Three Came Out of the Woods (Troe vyshli iz lesa) (1959) and The Sun Shines for All (Solntse svetit vsem) (1959), as well as episodic roles in Time of Summer Vacations (Vremya letnikh otpuskov) (1960) and Dream of an Uncle (Dyadushkin son) (1966).

He played his first role in 1955 in the film It Began This Way (Eto nachinalos tak...) (1956) by Lev Kulidzhanov and Yakov Segel.

From 1960 he played at Theatre Studio of Film Actor.

In 1957 Valentin Zubkov played episodic roles in two films destined to become cult: those of a front soldier in The Cranes Are Flying (Letyat zhuravli) (1957) and a cowardly villain in The Communist (Kommunist) (1958).

The actor’s most famous roles include those in the films Our Father's House (Otchiy dom) (1959) , Leon Garros Is Looking for His Friend (Leon Garros ishchet druga) (1961), Northern Story (Severnaya povest) (1960), Ivan's Childhood (Ivanovo detstvo) (1962), and A Day of Happiness (Den schastya) (1963).

In the Hospital Train (Poezd miloserdiya) (1964) Zubkov played together with his son Sergey.

In summer 1977 tragedy befell the actor’s family: his only son Sergei Zubkov died in an accident at the age of 23. Right after serving the army he went to his aunt for a country vacation and drowned in a river. It is still not clear how that happened. Sergei and his friend were in a boat and when it somehow turned upside down both of them could not come to the surface. Only next morning tourists found their bodies that had been dragged far away.

The actor sank under this blow and soon he fell badly ill: doctors diagnosed him with deep sclerosis. The actor could not remember anything, even the name of his wife Nina, with whom they had lived for thirty years. His wife had to put a note with their home address into his pocket when he went for a walk. Valentin Zubkov died in a hospital on 18 January 1979.