Yuriy Nikulin

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia Yuri Vladimirovich Nikulin Russian ???? ???????????? ??????? 18 December 1921 21 August 1997 was a wellknown Soviet and Russian actor and clown who starred in many popular films He was awarded the title of Peoples Artist of the USSR in 1973 andHero of Socialist Labour in 1990 He also received a number of state awards including the prestigious Order of Lenin which he received twice in his lifetime Nikulins effortless style and precise delivery as well as his mastery of timing and his hilarious masks made him an outstanding comedian arguably the best Russian comedian ever Nikulin showed his range in a variety of genres from slapstick comedy to romance and war drama His most popular film partners were Georgiy Vitsin Yevgeni MorgunovNatalya Varley Rolan Bykov Anatoli Papanov Sergei Filippov Mikhail Pugovkin Aleksandr Demyanenko Leonid Kuravlyov Andrey Mironov Evgeni Evstigneev Vasili Shukshin Vyacheslav Tikhonov Sergei Bondarchuk Nikolay Burlyaev Viktor Pavlov Boris Novikov Vladimir Etush Saveli Kramarov Nikolai Grinko and many other notable Russian actors In the ring Nikulin presented a phlegmatic temperament slow and unsmiling and to many in the West his personality was reminiscent of the great silent film comedian Buster Keaton Rich in mimicry doleful of expression Nikulin was hailed as a brainy clown outside Russia Simple in style and gentle with children his only vestiges of makeup were a reddened nose and black lines around his eyes much different from the grotesquely painted faces of Western clowns Nikulin affectionately called Uncle Yury by Russian children relied mainly upon his wits to earn his place in history as one of the best clowns of the 20th century