• Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard was opened in 1880 and immediately became popular with Muscovites.
• Circus business card on Tsvetnoy - numbers with the participation of unusual animals that are difficult to train.
• Always at the highest level staged performances of aerial gymnasts
• Yuri Nikulin they didn’t take him to any theater school in Moscow, so he went to the clowning studio at the circus on Tsvetnoy.
• Nikulin is here worked with the famous clown Pencil. Over time, Nikulin became the director of the circus, and later as its director.
• There is an opportunity to visit a unique excursion"Behind the scenes of the circus", which must be booked in advance.

The Yuri Nikulin Circus is one of the most famous in Moscow and has been operating continuously for more than 100 years. It carefully preserves the traditions of Russian circus art and boldly combines them with modern means of expression. Talented artists, unique performances with rare animals, bright rich performances and a special homely atmosphere - this circus has always been a forge of real arena stars: Vladimir and Anatoly Durov, Kornilov, Oleg Popov, Pencil, Kantemirov, Yuri Nikulin and Mikhail Shuydin and others.

Repertoire and auditorium

The circus is located in the center of Moscow, on Tsvetnoy Boulevard (it is often called “the circus on Tsvetnoy”). During its long history, it has never changed its location, although the building has been overhauled and renovated several times. The latest reconstruction made it possible to fully adapt it for performances at the modern level of circus art.

The Nikulin Circus is famous for its bright charismatic artists, new forms of expression and thematic performances dedicated to the holidays (New Year and Christmas, Victory Day). He does not stand still - on his arena you can always see what you have never seen anywhere else. The calling card of the Circus on Tsvetnoy is numbers with participation that are difficult to train: elephants, porcupines, llamas, ostriches, lemurs, camels. A storm of delight is also caused by the performances of aerial gymnasts, which are invariably performed at a very high level - for example, the “Pinwheel” numbers and tightrope walking with a ladder.

The auditorium is not very large - about 2000 seats - cozy, with a good view. Often it cannot accommodate everyone, so it is better to purchase tickets in advance. A child under six years old can go free with an adult if he sits on his lap. When choosing seats, you need to take into account that in the first rows the light of spotlights interferes; it is not very comfortable to observe the rooms under the dome from here. The most comfortable seats are located on the third row and above. The most sought-after and expensive tickets are in the area opposite the artists' exit, under the orchestra - they are sold out first.

It is better to come to the performance early, because it is difficult to find a parking place on Tsvetnoy Boulevard, and because of the small area of ​​the circus building, there are queues in the cloakroom. In the lobby you will find souvenirs, traditional circus attributes (clown noses and funny costumes, for example), sweets. Here you can see exotic animals up close and take pictures with them. There is a buffet. However, queues will be waiting for you everywhere.

Spectators can also visit the unique “Behind the Scenes of the Circus” tour – see with their own eyes the rehearsals of artists, visit the dressing rooms and the museum, the stable, learn how costumes are sewn, communicate with animals and, perhaps, even ride an elephant elevator. This short journey is often no less exciting than the performance itself. You need to book an excursion in advance through the form on the official website of the circus or by mail: [email protected]

Circus history. Yury Nikulin.

The circus on Tsvetnoy has a long and interesting history. It was opened in 1880 and immediately became popular with Muscovites. Children were also introduced to the culture of the circus - separate morning performances were arranged for them. The circus continued to work after the revolution and in the years. Artists constantly traveled to the front, where they performed for soldiers on the front lines and in hospitals. Many members of the troupe volunteered themselves and died in battle.

The circus got its current name in honor of Yuri Nikulin, one of the most beloved actors of Soviet cinema. In his youth, the future artist was not accepted into any theater school - someone did not like the appearance, it seemed to someone that there was no talent. Then Nikulin went to the clowning studio at the circus on Tsvetnoy. Here he worked with the famous and extremely beloved by the public clown Pencil (M.N. Rumyantsev). Then he met Mikhail Shuidin - and a famous creative duet was formed, whose numbers are still the best examples of their genre. Over time, Nikulin became the director of the circus, and then - its director. Now the circus is headed by the son of Yuri Vladimirovich - Maxim Nikulin. Near the circus building there is a monument to Yuri Nikulin (sculptor A. Rukavishnikov). The actor, depicted in a clown costume, gets out of the car - the same as in the movie "Prisoner of the Caucasus".

Total marks: 2 , average rating: 4,00 (out of 5)

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Inside the Garden

Tsvetnoy boulevard

Moscow, Tsvetnoy Boulevard, 13

Mon: 11.00 - 19.00
Tue: 11.00 - 19.00
Wed: 11.00 - 19.00
Thu: 11.00 - 19.00
Fri: 11.00 - 19.00
Sat: 11.00 - 19.00
Sun: 11.00 - 19.00

Break from 14.00 to 15.00 (if there are daily performances - from 12.30 to 13.30).

Depends on the program.

Publications section Theaters

A native Muscovite from Tsvetnoy Boulevard

Magicians and trainers, jugglers and equestrians, acrobats and clowns. In 1880, a whole new world appeared in Moscow. The circle of the arena and, like rays, the rows of seats in the auditorium. A circus was opened on the site of the booths near the flower market. Not the first in Moscow, but from the very first performances it became a favorite. Natalia Letnikova collected 10 facts from the history of the first state circus of the USSR.

From booths to circus art. The Moscow circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard has Italian roots. One of the first successful stationary circuses in Moscow was opened by an Italian, hereditary circus artist Albert Salamonsky. Initially as part of an international project. The "brothers" of the circus on Tsvetnoy were scattered throughout Europe: in Berlin, Odessa, Riga.

Salamonsky Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard. Photo: mos-open.ru

Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard. 1947 Photo: retromap.ru

Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard. 1965 Photo: russkiymir.ru

famous circus building- the work of the architect August Weber. A graduate of the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts in Moscow, he built a lot - the Actor's House, once the Katkov Lyceum - now the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Grandpa Durov's Corner. The Salamonsky Circus Weber built with the money of the merchant Danilov. By the way, the first audience of the new entertainment venue consisted mainly of representatives of the merchant class.

circus place. Circus booths were traditionally set up at the Flower Market in Moscow. The place is familiar. Before the start of construction, Salamonsky did not have a penny - he built on credit. After the opening, he provided for stalls and boxes and the most democratic places - a standing gallery, where a ticket cost a penny. Salamonsky hung the first ruble he earned in a frame at the box office - for good luck, and the circus fortune did not disappoint.

The circus has become the world of childhood. With the light hand of Salamonsky, children's Sunday performances - matinees - appeared on the circus arena. A special petition assured that "programs will be adapted to children's understanding." Especially for the young spectator at Christmas, circus Christmas trees with gifts, ballets and pantomimes were arranged. One of the most popular, The Doll Fairy, came out in 1895.

Decree ... about the circus. In 1913, the circus brilliance faded with the death of Salamonsky, six years later the circus on Tsvetnoy became the first state circus. The document was signed by Lenin. Under the wing of the young republic, the troupe was not in the best shape. In the early years of Soviet power, artists starved and even performed on the streets. The new repertoire proved: "the Soviet circus can do miracles." Mayakovsky himself participated in the creation of the reprise.

Yuri Nikulin, Mikhail Shuidin, Dmitry Alperov. Scene "Log". 1981 Photo: moiarussia.ru

Yuri Nikulin and Mikhail Shuidin at the circus. Photo: tverigrad.ru

Yuri Nikulin and Mikhail Shuidin at the circus. 1958 Photo credit: coollib.com

"On the arena - Pencil"- Pravda wrote in announcements about the life of the theater in Moscow. People's Artist of the USSR Mikhail Rumyantsev, with his constant companion, the Scottish Terrier Klyaksa, entered the circus arena on Tsvetnoy in 1936 and worked for half a century. He brought Yuri Nikulin and Mikhail Shuidin to the arena, who made up the famous clown duet throughout the country. The arena remembers both the “solar clown” Oleg Popov and the clown with “autumn in the heart” Leonid Yengibarov.

Memory of generations. In the lobby of the circus there is a memorial sign - in 1941, an ensemble of Don Cossacks went straight from the arena to the front. Artists not only went through the whole war, but also reached Berlin. In the circus itself, the performances did not stop. The famous pantomime "Three of Ours", fights of motorcyclists, acrobatic clownery, and in the final - a tank crushed "enemy pillboxes" in the arena. In the circus on Tsvetnoy, they raised morale as best they could.

Circus Yuri Nikulin. After the war, the beloved artist graduated from the clowning school, worked in the famous duet with Mikhail Shuidin for 30 years, and in 1982 headed his native circus. Circus tours did not allow the actor to play many roles - for example, Yuri Detochkin in the film "Beware of the Car". But with the light hand of the clown Nikulin, the short film "Moonshiners" appeared. An interlude played out in the arena was offered by Yuri Vladimirovich to Gaidai. I liked the idea and hit the screen.

The new building of the old circus. Having served circus art for one century and five years, the August Weber building required modernization. The house at number 13 with a 13-meter arena was demolished after the performance on August 13, 1985. "Hello, old circus" - the artists on Tsvetnoy said in a new program already in 1989. Technological progress has affected the filling of the building, they tried to keep the appearance of the auditorium in its historical form.
Cinema and circus - on Tsvetnoy united in the monument to Yuri Nikulin, the work of the sculptor Alexander Rukavishnikov. Nikulin in clown boots and a boater hat - at the famous convertible, which shone in the comedy "Prisoner of the Caucasus". Bronze car "permanently parked" at the door of the circus. It could have been a circus trapeze or a falling curtain, but in bronze the sculptor embodied the idea of ​​the unity of circus and cinema. Everything is like in the life of Yuri Nikulin himself. Whose name has the circus on Tsvetnoy since 1996.

The Yuri Nikulin Moscow Circus, located on Tsvetnoy Boulevard, is one of the very first circuses in Russia. Its building was born in 1880, and it is not only alive to this day: it is functioning. The happy first ruble that was earned by the circus on Tsvetnoy not only kept it, but also helped increase the wealth of its owners, develop the talents and skills of workers. The first spectator entered this mystical building on October 20, 1880. Initially, the hall had only five rows of comfortable chairs, there were boxes, even a mezzanine was built. For simpler people, second places were organized on wooden benches and a place for spectators enjoying the performance while standing. These places were not numbered. In 1919, he received the status of the first state circus. The building on Tsvetnoy Boulevard was repeatedly completed, altered, extensions and aisles were organized. But in the end, he acquired a look that we cannot see today. In 1985, the old building was demolished and a new one was built in its place. That is what we see today.

As in the old days, today, the circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard has always been looking for something new: new numbers, new artists, new talents, new performances.

New old circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard

The circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard began to bear the name of Yuri Nikulin in 1996. This was decided in honor of the 75th anniversary of the greatest artist. Today the building can accommodate more than 2,000 spectators. The interior of the circus was designed anew, trying to make it convenient for animals and artists to be in it, as well as to make the work of all artists, including the administration, comfortable.

Yuri Vladimirovich Nikulin (December 18, 1921, Demidov - August 21, 1997, Moscow). An outstanding Soviet and Russian actor, circus performer (clown), TV presenter. Member of the Great Patriotic War. People's Artist of the USSR (1973). Hero of Socialist Labor (1990).

Yuri Nikulin was born on December 18, 1921 in the city of Demidov (former Porechye, now the Smolensk region).

Father, Vladimir Andreevich Nikulin (1898-1964), after demobilizing from the Red Army and graduating from political education courses, got a job at the drama theater in Demidov.

Soon Vladimir Andreevich organized the mobile theater "Tereview" - the theater of revolutionary humor. He staged performances and acted a lot.

His mother, Lidia Ivanovna Nikulina (1902-1979), also served as an actress in the same theater.

In 1925 his family moved to Moscow.

In the capital, Vladimir Andreevich continued to do what he loved - he wrote interludes, entertainers and reprises for the stage, the circus. Later, he got a job in the newspapers Izvestia and Gudok.

Yuri's mother did not work, doing housework and raising her son.

Twice a week, the Nikulins visited the theater, returning home, they heatedly discussed the play, the acting of the actors. Thus, Yuri Nikulin found himself in the center of the theatrical life of Moscow from childhood.

At first he went to a prestigious school. In it, his father led a drama club. Yuri also took part in it. Under the guidance of Vladimir Andreevich, the students staged excerpts from a wide variety of plays, ranging from children's to classics. So in "Childhood" by Maxim Gorky, Yuri played Peshkov himself.

After the end of the seventh grade, when they began to select the best students in the eighth, they decided not to leave Yuri, despite his services to his father's school - he studied poorly.

Therefore, Yuri finished his studies already at the most ordinary secondary school No. writers, artists did not arrange concerts for us.

However, he himself was very happy about the transition to a new school: “Guys from our yard studied there. Now I, like everyone else, could climb over the fence, shortening the path from home to school.

On November 8, 1939, after graduating from high school, he was drafted into the Red Army, served in the 115th anti-aircraft artillery regiment. During the Soviet-Finnish war, the anti-aircraft battery, where he served, was located near Sestroretsk and guarded the air approaches to Leningrad.

Yuri Nikulin - 1940

During the Great Patriotic War he fought near Leningrad. In the spring of 1943, he fell ill with pneumonia and was sent to a Leningrad hospital, and immediately after discharge he was shell-shocked during an air raid on Leningrad.

(third from the left in the top row)

After being discharged in August 1943, Nikulin was sent to the 72nd separate anti-aircraft division near Kolpino. He was demobilized in May 1946 with the rank of senior sergeant.

During the war, he was awarded the medals "For Courage" (originally presented to the Order of Glory III degree), "For the Defense of Leningrad" and "For the Victory over Germany".

After the end of the war, he tried to enter VGIK and theater institutes, where he was not accepted, since the commissions did not find acting abilities in him.

In the end, he entered the clowning studio at the Moscow Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard. After graduating, he began working as an assistant with the then extremely popular clown Pencil.

On October 25, 1948, his first independent performance took place in the arena of the circus. He performed with his partner Boris Romanov, and his father prepared the reprise.

While working for him, Yuri Nikulin met Mikhail Shuydin. Together with Pencil, Nikulin and Shuidin repeatedly went on tour around the country and gained circus experience. Nikulin worked with Pencil for two and a half years, after which in 1950 Shuidin and Nikulin left Pencil together due to a labor conflict.

Having started working independently, they made up the famous clown duet Nikulin and Shuydin, although the artists were completely different in character.

Nikulin stopped performing when he turned 60, in 1981, and moved to the position of chief director of the circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard.

Since 1982, Nikulin has been the director of the circus. Under him, a completely new building was built for the circus, the opening of which took place in 1989.

In total, construction lasted four years. The construction of the circus was carried out by the Finnish construction company Polar, which Nikulin himself writes about in his book Almost Seriously.

Yuri Nikulin - Log

Yuri Vladimirovich worked in his native circus for 50 years.

Yuri Nikulin - Jokes

In 1958, Yuri Nikulin made his first film appearance. At that time director Feinzimmer started filming the musical comedy Girl with a Guitar based on the script by Vladimir Polyakov and Boris Laskin. For one of the episodes, they could not find a suitable actor. That's when Vladimir Polyakov offered to try Nikulin. He initially refused. The artist still remembered how he was once told that he was not suitable for cinema. However, he later changed his mind. Nikulin got the role of a pyrotechnician.

Another director from Mosfilm, Yuri Chulyukin, drew attention to Nikulin's successful debut. He offered the artist the role of the rogue Klyachkin in his comedy "The Unyielding". In the process of filming, the film included so many comic episodes (including those with the participation of Nikulin) that it turned into the comedy "Unyielding".

Soon Yuri Nikulin was invited to the main role in his new film "The Man from Nowhere". The famous actor was supposed to star in the same film. He made an unexpected offer to Nikulin: to go to work from the circus to the Maly Theater. The offer looked tempting, but Nikulin still refused. “If this had happened ten years ago, I would have gone to work in the theater with pleasure. And to start living again when you are already under forty, it hardly makes sense. he replied.

The filming of the comedy Nowhere Man, which had just begun, was suddenly suspended. Something in the plot of the picture did not suit the management of the film studio, and the film was postponed until better times. Ryazanov returned to him only a year later, but now he invited other actors to play the main roles - Sergei Yursky and Yuri Yakovlev. Nikulin got only a small episode.

Yuri Nikulin became famous all over the country in the early 60s thanks to the short film Dog Mongrel and an Unusual Cross. One of the director's assistants invited him to try in this picture. At the first meeting, having carefully examined the actor from all sides, Gaidai said: “There are three roles in the film. All major. These are Coward, Experienced and Dunce. We want to offer you boobies.” He told his assistants: “Well, you don’t need to look for Dunce. Nikulin is what you need.

Not a word was spoken throughout the film, everything was based on funny tricks. Nikulin practically did not make up. According to Gaidai, he already had a funny face. The actor was only glued with large eyelashes, which he clapped so funny.

The short film “Mongrel Dog and the Unusual Cross” was included as the fifth film in the movie almanac “Quite Seriously”. However, it was she who brought success to the entire film and, moreover, began to live an independent life. It gave birth to a unique eccentric phenomenon of three heroes-masks of Soviet cinema - Goonie, Coward and Experienced, bringing real fame to both Leonid Gaidai and the famous trinity: Nikulin - Vitsin - Morgunov.

Already a few months after the completion of the filming of The Dog Mongrel, Leonid Gaidai again used them in his new short film, which was called "Moonshiners". And the idea of ​​this film was thrown to Gaidai by Yuri Nikulin. The fact is that in the circus the duo Nikulin - Shuidin performed an interlude with that name. The director liked the idea, and together with Konstantin Brovin sat down to write the script.

The film "Moonshiners" was released in 1961 and was a huge success.

In the same 1961, Yuri Nikulin starred in one of his best films - the film by Lev Kulidzhanov "When the Trees Were Big". It was the first dramatic role of the actor. Nikulin played Kuzma Kuzmich Iordanov, who, having lost his family during the war, completely sank.

The film was released on the screens of the country in 1962, causing great success with the audience. In the fate of the actor himself, the film was very important. It was after him that the attitude of the directors towards Yuri Nikulin changed. They saw in him an actor who is able to play not only comic roles like Dunce, but serious dramatic roles.

Yuri Nikulin - "Vlip" ("Wick", 1962)

Successful work in the cinema led to the fact that the whole country now knew Nikulin. Even in the circus, the audience now went to Nikulin not as a clown, but as a Dunce from the famous trinity. Films with his participation continued to come out one after another. More often, the directors still used the comic character of the actor.

In 1962, Leonid Gaidai filmed Nikulin as a crook in the film "Business people" based on short stories by O. Henry.

Then the actor appeared in the lyrical comedy by Eldar Ryazanov "Give me a complaint book" and in several other pictures.

In 1964, director Semyon Tumanov offered Yuri Nikulin the role of police lieutenant Glazychev in the film story "Come to me, Mukhtar!". Initially, the actor was refused. The role was very interesting and serious, but Nikulin considered: “I can’t play a policeman! I played crooks in the last two films!” Nevertheless, the director was able to persuade the actor, especially since the scriptwriter Israel Megger also insisted on Nikulin's candidacy. Megger came to this decision when he saw Nikulin in the painting "When the Trees Were Big".

In the second half of the 60s, Yuri Nikulin again starred as the Dunce in the comedies of Leonid Gaidai. It was originally a novella in a movie almanac "Operation" Y "and other adventures of Shurik", and then the famous trinity finally appeared in a feature film "Prisoner of the Caucasus".

It is interesting that with the "Caucasian Captive" Gaidai suddenly had difficulties. And the reason for this was Nikulin. The actor did not like the script, and he categorically refused to act. The director had to work hard to persuade him to change his mind. The decisive moment was that Gaidai promised Nikulin that there would be a lot of improvisation on the set and little would remain of the original script. As a result, "Prisoner of the Caucasus" became the best comedy, where the Nikulin-Vitsin-Morgunov trinity starred. It is difficult to find a person who has not seen this film at least twice, most of the phrases and episodes from the film "gone to the people."

In 1966, just between the filming of Operation Y and The Prisoner of the Caucasus, Nikulin starred in the serious dramatic role of the monk Patrikey in the famous film "Andrey Rublev" Andrei Tarkovsky. True, the film was released only five years later, and even then in a limited edition.

Great success awaited Nikulin in 1969, when he starred in a cheerful, incendiary comedy by Leonid Gaidai "The Diamond Arm". For the first time, Gaidai entrusted the actor with the role not of a crook, but of a quiet and modest economist Semyon Semyonovich Gorbunkov. Nikulin surprisingly accurately and naturally combined sparkling comedy, irony, and subtle lyricism in the role. Nikulin's partners were wonderful actors Andrei Mironov and Anatoly Papanov. As a result, the comedy "The Diamond Hand" can rightfully be considered the best film by Leonid Gaidai.

In 1970, Nikulin played the role of the janitor Tikhon in the comedy "The twelve Chairs". And two years later, Gaidai offered him the role of the house manager Bunshi in the film "Ivan Vasilyevich Changes His Profession." However, the circus management did not let Nikulin go to the shooting, and as a result, Yury Yakovlev played Bunsha. Played, by the way, wonderful.

Director Eldar Ryazanov also loved Yuri Nikulin. Back in 1964, he really wanted to shoot him as Yuri Detochkin in the film "Beware of the Car." The actor had already been approved for the role, but even then the circus management intervened - the actor was sent on a long foreign tour. Ryazanov went to complain to the Minister of Cinematography Alexei Romanov himself, but he did not like the script, and he refused to help the film.

Ryazanov managed to shoot Yuri Nikulin in his picture only seven years later - in 1971. Nikulin had a chance to play the investigator of the prosecutor's office Myachikov in a comedy "Old Robbers".

In 1974, Sergei Bondarchuk entrusted Nikulin with the role of the soldier Nekrasov in the film "They fought for their country". It is worth noting that back in the early 60s, Bondarchuk was going to shoot Nikulin in the film "War and Peace" in the role of Captain Gushin, but the circus once again stood across. He did not let the actor go to the shooting of Bondarchuk's film "Waterloo", where Nikulin was supposed to play an English officer.

In 1975, for the dramatic role of the military journalist Lopatin in the film "Twenty Days Without War" Nikulin was invited by director Alexei German. Moreover, this invitation was not easy for the director. Many at the film studio were categorically against this candidacy, but the conflict was resolved by Konstantin Simonov, according to whose book the film was shot: he approved the choice of the director.

In the 80s, Yuri Nikulin acted in films very little. But it was during these years that he played the wonderful dramatic role of Lena Bessoltseva's grandfather (Kristina Orbakaite) in the film by Rolan Bykov "Scarecrow".

Illness and death of Yuri Nikulin:

At the end of July 1997, Nikulin suddenly became ill, and he went to the doctors. Examination revealed serious heart problems. An urgent operation was needed, which could be done either in Moscow or abroad. The place was chosen by the artist himself, who named the name of A. Bronstein.

The operation took place on August 5, 1997. Usually such operations last 20-30 minutes. But at the very last moment, Nikulin's vessel closed, and cardiac arrest occurred. Doctors at the cost of great efforts managed to “start” him again.

After that, it was decided to continue the operation, because without this the actor was doomed to death. However, the price of this turned out to be too high: while Nikulin was in a state of clinical death, all his organs suffered - the liver, kidneys, brain. The struggle for Nikulin's life lasted 16 days. And all these days, the central press almost hourly reported on the state of health of the beloved artist. Prior to this, not a single Russian citizen (since the time of Stalin) had received such attention.

Unprecedented efforts were made to save Nikulin: the most famous specialists of the country were by his side day and night, the best medicines in the world and the most advanced equipment were used. However, the miracle did not happen - on August 21, at 10:16 am, Nikulin's heart stopped.

Yuri Vladimirovich Nikulin was buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery (plot No. 5).

Monument to Nikulin at the Novodevichy Cemetery

Personal life of Yuri Nikulin:

In 1949, Yuri Nikulin met a girl. Soon she became his wife.

Here is what she herself says about this meeting: “I studied at the Timiryazev Academy at the Faculty of Ornamental Gardening and was very fond of equestrian sports. The academy had a wonderful stable. And in the stable - a very funny dwarf foal, with a normal head, a normal body, but on small legs. They called him Lapot. Pencil heard about this and came to see this horse. I liked the horse, and Pencil asked my friend and I to teach her the simplest tricks. Then the horse was brought to the circus, and Pencil introduced us to Yuri Vladimirovich Nikulin, who was his student. Yuri Vladimirovich invited us to watch the play. My friend couldn't go, I went alone, sat on the spotlight. They played a very funny scene: the Pencil allegedly summoned one spectator from the hall and taught him to ride a horse. But just when I came to the performance, Yuri Vladimirovich, who played the role of a spectator during this number, fell under a horse. She beat him so much that he was taken away by ambulance to Sklifosovsky. I felt guilty and began to visit him ... And six months later we got married ... ".

Yuri Nikulin and wife Tatyana

Yuri Nikulin with his mother, wife Tatiana and Nina Grebeshkova

Tatyana Nikolaevna Nikulina (December 14, 1929 - October 26, 2014, Moscow) also acted in films, worked as a circus performer until 1981. In 2002 she was awarded the Order of Honor.

Yuri Nikulin with his son Maxim

Maxim Nikulin graduated from the faculty of journalism, worked on the radio for a long time, then hosted the Morning program on television. However, then he went to work in the directorate of the circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard, which now bears the name of his father.

Maxim Yurievich has three children: Maria (born 1981), Yuri (born 1986) and Maxim (born 1988).

Close friends of Yuri Nikulin were Leonid Gaidai and the largest foreign star in the USSR - Indian actor and director Raj Kapoor.

Filmography of Yuri Nikulin:

1958 - Girl with a guitar - pyrotechnician
1959 - Unyielding - Vasily Klyachkin
1960 - Yasha Toporkov - Prosha
1960 - Dead Souls - Waiter (uncredited)
1961 - Dog Barbos and an unusual cross - Dunce
1961 - Man from nowhere - police foreman
1961 - When the trees were big - Kuzma Kuzmich Iordanov
1961 - My friend, Kolka! - Vasya
1961 - Moonshiners - Dunce
1961 - The Taming of the Shrew - Head of the Church Boys Choir
1962 - Business people (short story "Soul Kindred") - robber
1962 - Young and green - driver Nikolai
1963 - Without fear and reproach - a circus clown
1963 - Big wick - Petya-Cockerel, burglar thief
1964 - Come to me, Mukhtar! - Glazychev
1965 - Operation "Y" and other adventures of Shurik - Dunce
1965 - Give a complaint book - seller
1965 - Dreamers - a man on the beach
1965 - Little Runaway - cameo
1966 - Prisoner of the Caucasus, or Shurik's New Adventures - Dunce
1966 - Andrey Rublev - Patrikey
1968 - Diamond Hand - Semyon Semyonych Gorbunkov
1968 - Seven old men and one girl - Dunce
1968 - New
1970 - Deniska's stories - cameo
1971 - Old robbers - Nikolai Sergeevich Myachikov
1971 - Telegram - Fedor Fedorovich
1971 - 12 chairs - janitor Tikhon
1972 - Point, point, comma - Lesha's dad
1975 - They fought for the Motherland - Private Nekrasov
1976 - The Adventures of Grass - Chichimori the Clown
1976 - Twenty days without war - Vasily Nikolaevich Lopatin
1976 - mf Bobik visiting Barbos (cartoon) - Bobik / Grandfather
1979 - Here ... not far - a visitor
1982 - I do not want to be an adult - a clown on television
1983 - Scarecrow - Nikolai Nikolaevich Bessoltsev, Lena's grandfather
1983 - Newsreel "Yeralash", issue No. 38 - Uncle Yura
1989 - Circus for my grandchildren
1991 - Captain Crocus and the mystery of the little conspirators - text from the author.

Monument to Experienced, Coward and Dunce in Khabarovsk

♦ The minor planet (4434) Nikulin, discovered by the astronomer of the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory Lyudmila Zhuravleva on September 8, 1981, is named in memory of Yu.

♦ In September 2000, not far from the building of the circus, where Yu. Nikulin worked for more than 50 years, a monument by the sculptor Rukavishnikov appeared, depicting the actor next to the car from the film “Prisoner of the Caucasus”.

Monument to Nikulin near the circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard

♦ Near the building of the circus in Tyumen arena with three clowns Yu. Nikulin, Karandash and Oleg Popov.

♦ The Moscow Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard bears the name of Yu. V. Nikulin.

♦ In 2010, a monument to the Gaidaevskaya Troika appeared in Perm in front of the Kristall cinema.

♦ In 2011, a monument was opened in the artist's homeland in the city of Demidov, Smolensk region.

♦ In November 2011 in Kursk, in front of the circus building, a monument to clowns Yuri Nikulin and Mikhail Shuidin was erected.

♦ In 2011, in Sochi, a sculpture exposition was installed near the seaport building, depicting frames from the film “The Diamond Hand” (the film was partially filmed in Adler and Sochi). The exposition includes A. Mironov, A. Papanov, Y. Nikulin, actress Nina Grebeshkova, who plays the role of wife in the film, and a boy as son.

♦ In 2012, a monument to Leonid Gaidai and the Gaidai Trinity was erected near the circus building in Irkutsk.

♦ Moscow boarding school No. 15 for orphans and children left without parental care, a circus profile since 2001, bears the name of Yuri Vladimirovich Nikulin. On December 20, 2006, on the 85th anniversary of the artist's birth and on the 10th anniversary of the boarding school, the Yu. V. Nikulin Memorial Museum was opened.

In the 19th century, the art of the circus began to enjoy great popularity. In addition to a large number of big tops in the middle of the century, and more specifically in 1853, the first stationary circus building was erected in Moscow. It was located on Petrovka and was made of wood. The next similar building was built on Vozdvizhenka in 1868.

Albert Salamonsky shows the best horse of his circus.

First stone

The oldest and the first stationary in the capital is the Nikulin Moscow Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard. The history of its creation is as follows. A hereditary circus artist born in Italy, Albert Salamansky (1839-1913), who became a successful entrepreneur, opened circuses in Berlin and Riga, in Dubulti (part of Jurmala) and Odessa. And in the middle of autumn 1880, the current Moscow circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard opened its hospitable gates for Muscovites.

The architect August Weber built a specialized building. The opening was magnificent, all the circus stars of that time performed: Mrs. Truzzi galloped on a bare horse, the gymnast Henrietta walked on a wire, there were gymnasts the Pascali brothers. Most of the program was devoted to equestrian numbers.

The Durovs are one of the most famous "circus" families that became famous back in the 18th century.

Vladimir and Anatoly Durov. Clowning and animal training - that's what the then performances were based on.

Creator and owner

Salamansky himself performed with 14 trained horses. In the second part, a ballet about a winter evening was shown, in which people skated in the circus arena and sledded down the ice slides. Being the director and owner of the circus, Salamansky tried to attract ordinary people to it, although the main spectators were the Moscow merchants.

Through the diligence of the director in the circus, daily performances for children with a specialized program appeared. The circus quickly became very popular in Moscow. However, the establishment of Salamansky existed in conditions of fierce competition. Directly next to it, in the building of the current cinema "Mir", was also located the circus of the Nikitin brothers, which was also enviably popular. The future old-new (as Muscovites called it) Nikulin's circus won in the struggle for the audience.

Home of the stars at all times

Moscow Nikulin Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard has always been famous for the artists who performed in its arena. Before the revolution, they were the Durov brothers, a duet of Bim-Bom clowns.

In general, the circus paid a lot of attention to clowns, because, as the founder claimed, a circus is not a circus if people in it do not laugh. Its arena remembers dozens of talented clowns - Kozlov, Babushkin, Vysokinsky. For many seasons, Tanti and Veldman, Alperov and Bernardo, Krasutsky and Kristov performed here. Of course, only specialists know them. But the Soviet clowns are remembered by many people, especially the older generation.

Blacksmiths of the world fame of the circus

The current Moscow Nikulin Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard, not yet being such, became famous for the performances of such masters of their craft as D. Alperov, B. Vyatkin, L. Kukso, A.E. Latyshev (Anton and Antoshka). And who does not know such world-famous clowns as Oleg Popov, Karandash, Yuri Nikulin and Mikhail Shuydin, who performed with him in pairs, or Leonid Yengibarov, or the great Yuri Kuklachev?

These are circus legends. For many years, Alexander Borisovich Bushe, Honored Artist of the RSFSR, served as the host of the performance, or ringmaster. For many years, Mark Mestechkin and Arnold Grigoryevich Arnold worked as directors who contributed to the glory of the circus. But a whole era in the history of this circus is associated with the life and work of Yuri Vladimirovich Nikulin, who received the highest distinctions for his activities under the Soviet regime. This and many other things explain his name, which appeared in the name - Nikulin's Moscow Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard.

The era of Nikulin

Yu. Nikulin adored the arena since childhood, as evidenced by the words from his song about the old circus from childhood dreams, which became fate and love for life. Dreaming of an acting career, in 1945 he entered the clowning school at the circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard. From that moment on, his life was inextricably linked with this institution. For two and a half years he worked for the very famous clown Pencil, whose popularity is immortalized in Soviet cartoons. Yuri Nikulin assisted him along with Mikhail Shuidin, with whom he later formed a famous duet that lasted for many years - from 1950 to 1981. Reprises, sketches and pantomimes of the duet entered the golden fund of the national circus. Yuri Nikulin stopped performing when he was 60 years old.

Popular favorite

The popularity of this artist went through the roof. Yu.V. Nikulin was known and loved by all the inhabitants of the Soviet Union. A recognizable and unique actor, behind whom there were many brilliant roles in the cinema, a brilliant storyteller and host of the popular TV show "White Parrot", since 1981 the main director, since 1982 the artistic director and director of his native circus. Under his leadership, new, world-famous productions were produced, the best artists in this genre were invited with unusual, previously unseen attractions. The Nikulin Moscow Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard is becoming a national legend.

New circus building

Young graduates of the school at the circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard honed their skills here. A very great success for Yuri Vladimirovich in the director's post should be considered obtaining a permit for the construction of a new building. It was erected to replace the dilapidated, hundred-year-old, in the arena of which the last performance was given on the 13th of August, the month of 85 of the last century. And on September 29, 1989, the program “Hello, Old Circus!” a new unique building was opened, corresponding to all modern parameters.

In 1996, on the day of the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the great maestro, the institution to which he gave his love and his life received his name and became known as the Nikulin Moscow Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard. A photo of the modern building of this institution beloved by many generations of Muscovites is attached.