Yuri Vladimirovich Nikulin

Yuri Nikulin

Juri Wladimirowitsch Nikulin ( Russian Юрий Владимирович Никулин , scientific transliteration Jurij Vladimirovič Nikulin ; born  December 18, 1921 in Demidow , Soviet Russia ; † August 21, 1997 in Moscow ) was a Russian clown and film actor .

Life

Nikulin was the son of a journalist and satirist. He did military service in the Red Army from 1939 to 1946 , where he was discovered during the Second World War in 1944 by a political commissioner for the support of the troops due to his comedic talent . After the end of the war, Nikulin applied unsuccessfully for admission to a drama school when he became aware of the Zwetnoi Boulevard Circus through a newspaper advertisement and trained as a circus clown there until 1950.

In 1958 he made his feature film debut in The Girl with the Guitar . Nevertheless, he did not become one of the most popular film stars in the Russian-speaking world through major productions, but rather through a few short films directed by Leonid Gaidai , in which he was able to play out his physical comedy in a trio with Georgi Wizin and Yevgeny Morgunow . In 1983 he played the grandfather on the side of Kristina Orbakaite in the film Scarecrow .

As a solo artist, Nikulin became famous primarily through comedy films such as Der Brillantenarm ( Бриллиантовая рука , Brilliantowaja ruka ). He also had a small role in Gaidai's comedy 12 chairs ( 12 стульев ). But he also played in films about war such as When the trees were tall ( Когда деревья были большими ), Twenty Days Without War ( Двадцать дней без войны ).

He was also a busy TV comedian and host of the TV show White Parrot ( Белый попугай ), in which celebrities had to tell jokes to each other.

The popularity of the double bearer of the Order of Lenin was unbroken after the end of the Soviet Union . Nikulin, a close friend of the former Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov , was also involved as a supporter of Boris Yeltsin in his re-election in 1996.

From 1982 until his death, Nikulin was also director of the Moscow Circus on Tsvetnoi Boulevard , his former training place, which today bears his name, as does the asteroid (4434) Nikulin .

Filmography (selection)

• 1958: The girl with the guitar (Dewuschka s gitaroi)
• 1959: Try Love (Nepoddajuschtschijesja)
• 1961: When the trees were big (Kogda derewja byli bolschimi)
• 1963: Without fear and blame (Bes stracha i uprjoka)
• 1965: From someone who set out to learn the lies (Fantasjory)
• 1965: Operation "Y" and other adventures of Shurik (Operazija "Ы" i drugije prikljutschenija Shurika)
• 1965: Please, the complaint book (Daitje schalobnuju knigu)
• 1965: Police dog Muchtar (Ko mne, Muchtar!)
• 1966: The Little Runaway (Malenki beglez)
• 1966: Andrej Rublev (Andrej Rublev)
• 1967: Kidnapping in the Caucasus (Kawkasskaja plennitsa, ili Novyje prikljutschenija Shurika)
• 1969: The diamond arm (Brilliantowaja ruka)
• 1971: The old people, those robbers (Stariki-rasboiniki)
• 1975: They fought for their homeland ( Они сражались за родину )
• 1976: Trawka's Adventure (Prikljutschenija Trawki)
• 1976: 20 days without war (Dwadzat dnei bes woiny)
• 1986: Scarecrow (Tschutschelo)

Web links

• Yuri Nikulin in the Internet Movie Database (English)