Yuri Nikulin

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Yuri Vladimirovich Nikulin (Russian: Юрий Владимирович Никулин; 18 December 1921 – 21 August 1997) was a well-known Russian clown and actor who played in many popular films.

Nikulin served in the Soviet Army during the Great Patriotic War and the Winter War with Finland. Once the war ended, he applied to several acting schools and theatres but was rejected due to "lacking artistic talent". Then he got accepted into the Moscow Circus on the Flower Boulevard and worked there for more than 50 years, rising from clown to CEO. His most popular films include comedies Brilliantovaia Ruka, 12 Stulyev, Stariki-Razboiniki, and many others, but he was also acclaimed for his roles in Andrey Tarkovsky's Andrei Rublev and several films on the World War II themes (Sergei Bondarchuk's They Were Fighting for Homeland). In Russia, he's also well-known for his playing 'Balbes' in popular film series about a petty criminal trio (Operation Ы).

He was awarded the title of People's Artist of the USSR in 1973, and of Hero of Socialist Labour in 1990. He was succeeded in his office at the Moscow Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard by his son. There is a bronze monument to him in front of the circus, which now bears his name. He is buried in Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow.