archytele The Vault

Yuriy Nikulin

Acting Born Dec 18, 1921 Demidov, Smolenskaya oblast, RSFSR, USSR 24 credits

Biography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Yuri Vladimirovich Nikulin (Russian: Юрий Владимирович Никулин; 18 December 1921 – 21 August 1997) was a well-known Soviet and Russian actor and clown who starred in many popular films. He was awarded the title of People's 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.

Nikulin's 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 Morgunov,Natalya 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 make-up 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.

Ask the Vault

Ask anything about Yuriy Nikulin.

Known for

Film

Andrei Rublev

as Patrikey
Film

Operation Y and Other Shurik's Adventures

as «Balbes» (segment "Operation Y")
Film

The Diamond Arm

as Semyon Semyonovich Gorbunkov

Twin Star Exorcists

as продавец

Vagabond

as Thief (segment "Makes the Whole World Kin")

Full filmography

  • Fuse (1962)
  • Yeralash (1974)
  • To Remember (1993) as Narrator
  • Andrei Rublev (1966) as Patrikey
  • Legends of Cinema (2016) as Self (archive footage)
  • Operation Y and Other Shurik's Adventures (1965) as «Balbes» (segment "Operation Y")
  • Kidnapping, Caucasian Style (1967) as Balbes
  • When Idols Were Gone (2005) as Himself / ArchiveFootage
  • The Diamond Arm (1969) as Semyon Semyonovich Gorbunkov
  • They Fought for Their Motherland (1975) as pvt. Nekrasov
  • 12 Chairs (1971) as janitor Tikhon
  • Old Men: Robbers (1972) as Николай Мячиков
  • The Little Runaway (1966)
  • Dog Barbos and Unusual Cross (1961) as «Балбес»
  • When the Trees Were Tall (1961) as Kuzma Kuzmich Iordanov
  • Bootleggers (1962) as «Балбес»
  • Telegram (1972) as Fyodor Fyodorovich
  • Seven Old Men and One Girl (1968) as грабитель («Балбес»)
  • Come Here, Mukhtar! (1964) as Glasychev
  • Give Me a Complaints Book (1964) as продавец
  • Big "Wick" (1964) as Петя-Петушок (нлвелла «Влип»)
  • Bobik Visiting Barbos (1977) as Bobik (voice)
  • Pyotr Martynovich And The Years Of Great Life (1976) as Himself
  • Strictly Business (1963) as Thief (segment "Makes the Whole World Kin")