Yuri Nikulin ℹ️ biography and personal life, wife Tatyana Nikulina, son, nationality, filmography, list of the best comedies with Yuri Nikulin, photo in his youth and cause of death

Nikulin's wife - Tatyana Nikolaevna

Close friends of Yuri and Tatyana Nikulin said that their entire house was supported by it. Tatyana Nikolaevna took upon herself all household chores, completely freeing her husband from them. She was busy furnishing the apartment, creating a cozy, warm atmosphere in the house. Tatyana Nikulina was responsive not only to the problems of her household, but could help complete strangers if they needed help.

She tried to take part in her husband’s professional sphere, helping Yuri Vladimirovich come up with circus reprises and ideas for acts. And once Tatyana Nikolaevna even performed with her husband in the arena, replacing a sick artist in a circus pantomime, and from that moment her circus career began.

In the photo - Yuri Nikulin with his wife Tatyana

Yuri Nikulin, whose wife traveled with him all over the country, was always surrounded by care - Tatyana Nikolaevna not only performed with him in the circus arena, but also managed to cook and wash his shirts. She became a full-fledged participant in the numbers, the most famous of which were “Log”, “Apple”, “Roses and Thorns”, “The Young Lady and the Hooligan”. Tatyana Nikolaevna devoted almost thirty years of her biography to the circus, interrupting her career for a short time only after the birth of her son Maxim.

She never envied her husband’s popularity, which grew year by year, and when Yuri Vladimirovich began to be invited to act in films, she also could not stay away. Together with Nikulin, Tatyana Nikolaevna starred in the films “Dot, Dot, Comma,” “New Girl,” and “The Diamond Arm.” She could have played the main role in Ryazanov’s comedy “The Hussar Ballad,” but after the commission’s approval of her photo tests, she was banned by her husband, who wanted his wife to always be by his side. Yuri Nikulin's wife meekly accepted this refusal, because for her the most important thing was always family and a peaceful home atmosphere. And for Nikulin it was important that his wife was always nearby - not only could he not go somewhere without Tatyana Nikolaevna, but he didn’t even like to be alone at home without her.

Acting career of Tatyana Nikulina

Studying and living with a circus performer turned out to be incompatible, Tatyana soon dropped out of the institute. There was no need to worry about this for long - the circus went on tour. One day Nikulina had the opportunity to enter the arena with her husband.

It’s not that she dreamed of it, but she didn’t have much of a choice. Then Nikulin and his partner Mikhail Shuidin worked on the pantomime “Little Pierre”. Actually, the boy Pierre could not be found. Petite Tatyana was offered to try herself in this role. This turned out to be a great number, and then she was involved in others.

Pantomime "Little Pierre"

The husband and wife began to go on stage together. In fact, for Yuri this was a way out of the situation, because he was constantly torn: at home he thought about work, and at work about home. And now everything has worked out as it should.

When Nikulin began to actively act in films, Tatyana still traveled with him. There was a moment when Ryazanov invited her to audition for “The Hussar Ballad,” and she began to think about her own acting career. It was then that her husband categorically forbade her to act. Yuri was afraid that she would go on an expedition and leave him alone.

Testing for the role of Shurochka Azarova / Tatyana Nikulina in “The Diamond Arm” (1967)

In fact, Nikulin was a rather gentle and calm person. Tatyana was stronger in character and perhaps could have insisted on her own, but she loved this man and understood that he simply could not live without her.

It is unlikely that this was some kind of professional or banal male jealousy on Yuri’s part. He physically could not be without Tatiana for a long time, and he began to worry. Even when working at home, he never closed the door in his room. It was important for him to realize that his wife was somewhere nearby.

And yet, Tatyana starred in several small roles in the films where her husband worked.

Love story

They met at the circus, where Tatyana was invited by Nikulin’s colleague and teacher, the famous clown Karandash. The girl was training in an equestrian section, in which there was an interesting horse with short legs, which the circus performer drew attention to. Tatiana and her friends began preparing the horse for performances and were invited to the very first of them.

It so happened that at this very performance, Yuri Nikulin, who worked as an assistant to Karandash, was severely injured by a horse, and he was taken to the hospital. Tatyana, who felt great sympathy for the aspiring artist, simply could not help but visit Yuri Vladimirovich, who was in serious condition. She came to him every day, talked for a long time with a new acquaintance, and over time both realized that they could no longer do without each other.

However, Tatyana’s relatives, having learned that she was having an affair with a circus performer, were not delighted, but when they got to know Nikulin better, they immediately changed their minds. Before the next tour, Yuri Vladimirovich proposed to Tatyana Nikolaevna, and when he returned, they signed, without arranging any celebration on this occasion.

The young people began to live with Tatyana - together with her mother, the families of her cousin and uncle and aunt. Life as a large family was happy, and when twenty years later the Nikulins, having received their own apartment, moved in, they immediately felt a little lonely.

Meeting at the circus

Andrei Mironov, Tatyana and Yuri Nikulin in the film “The Diamond Arm”, 1968.

The life of Yuri and Tatyana Nikulin from the first to the last day was completely subordinated to the circus. The acquaintance took place in 1949: Tatyana Pokrovskaya, being a student at the Timiryazev Academy and a passionate lover of horse riding, was training a horse for a circus act and accepted the invitation of the aspiring clown Nikulin to come to one of the performances.

That evening, at the arena, Yuri Nikulin received a severe injury - Tatiana’s ward, a horse named Lapot, kicked him so hard that the performance had to be interrupted, and the artist himself was sent to the hospital. After what happened, Tatyana simply could not help but visit Yuri in the hospital - so the usual meeting was continued for many years.

Later, Tatyana Nikolaevna admitted that she liked Nikulin from the first minute. “Yura was not handsome, but he had such charm that if someone fell into the circle of this charm, he could no longer escape,” she said in an interview. Nikulin’s charisma was soon appreciated by her own girls, who, before meeting in person, were horrified by her affair with the circus performer.

Biography of Tatyana Nikulina

Tatyana Nikolaevna was born in Moscow in 1929, and after school, despite the fact that she did not have a particular craving for plant growing, she entered the Academy. Timiryazev for the specialty “ornamental horticulture”. Her main hobby during her studies was horses - there was a stable at the university, where Tatyana spent a lot of time. After she became the wife of Yuri Nikulin, the biography of Tatyana Nikulina was closely intertwined with the biography of her husband, and she devoted her entire life to him.

In the photo - Tatiana Nikulina

Tatyana Nikolaevna tried to protect Yuri Vladimirovich from any everyday problems and solved everything herself, instructing him only to obtain scarce products. When he died, Nikulina withdrew into herself for six months, tried to communicate less and for a long time could not come to terms with the fact that her beloved husband was no longer around.

In the photo - Tatyana Nikulina in the film “The Diamond Arm”

Yuri Nikulin forbade his wife to star in “The Hussar Ballad”

Tatyana Nikolaevna died at 85, outliving her husband by 17 years. “Tanya is my soul mate,” said the famous clown. And he half-jokingly added: “The best!” Family friends told us about this couple.

I happily obeyed my mother-in-law

“We have been friends with the Nikulins for 40 years,” journalist and writer Vladimir Shakhidzhanyan, who helped the artist write the autobiographical book “Almost Seriously...”, told KP. — Tatyana Nikulina was the core in their family. She made her husband famous in many ways. And he admitted it. He said: “Tanya said that it was worth filming, I believe Tanya.” “Tanya said it’s not worth filming, I believe Tanya.”

In The Diamond Arm, Tatyana Nikulina got the tiny role of a tour guide.

The house rested on Tanya. She ordered something, purchased something, arranged her life. Yuri Vladimirovich did not like this fuss. One day I needed to buy a wardrobe for my house. But Nikulin keeps putting off going to the store. Without it, there was no point in going there: there was a shortage! If Nikulin himself comes to the store, they will find a closet in the back room. And if it’s not Nikulin, there’s no closet. Tatyana Nikolaevna knew her husband’s character well. And she said to her husband: “Okay, no need for a closet. You don’t need anything!” Yuri Vladimirovich jumped up, immediately went to the store, and the wardrobe was delivered...

Nikulin adored her, appreciated her... Tatyana at the age of 42 wanted to play the piano. The wish was fulfilled - an instrument appeared at home. Tatyana mastered musical notation and played Chopin and Schubert very well. I wanted to learn English. I studied with a tutor. And then I decided to become a translator and translated a couple of books very nicely. Nikulin tried to do everything that needed to be done for her. Tanya needs a dictionary - he will get it. Music, English - let him study. He didn’t ask questions: “Why do you need it?”

Tanya said: “Yura, you are a people’s artist! You are in a variety of offices, in public. We have money, let’s buy you or make you a good suit.” - “No, Tanya, I’m comfortable with this.” As he grew older, he wanted to update his wardrobe less and less. At the age of 75, he admitted: “Old shoes are a hundred times better than new ones. You love them and they love you." He got this from his father, who said that when you throw away old things, you betray them.

Tatyana Nikolaevna was a very responsive person. Once I entered the elevator, and a man in it said: “I feel bad.” She knew roughly what apartment he lived in. She carried him on herself. I used his keys to open the door. He died. She opened his address book and dialed the first phone number she came across. She answered: “Who gave you this phone?” It turned out that this is a secret phone number of the Ministry of Medium and Special Engineering...

— Was your wife Yuri Vladimirovich’s second mother?

- No. His second mother was his mother-in-law. For many years it was she who was in charge - she cooked, cleaned, washed, gave orders. The Nikulins happily “commanded.” They didn’t live much in Moscow, they were mostly on the road. And they left their son with his grandmother... When Nikulin arrived from a long business trip, his four-year-old son Maxim said to him: “Hello, uncle.” This sobered him up a lot. I decided: what the hell is touring? I need to be with my son more often...

— Was Nikulin a devoted husband? They say girls were chasing him...

— Everyone liked him, but like most clowns he was asexual. Not a ladies' man or a womanizer. Well, he paid attention to pretty women, he could hug and kiss. But I don’t remember a case when it was about what he could change.

— Do you look like your hero Semyon Semenovich from “The Diamond Arm”?

— Rather, in his attitude towards a woman, he is similar to Lopatin from “Twenty Days Without War.” Remember how he hugs the heroine Gurchenko, talks to her... And he also adored the wife of the clown Karandash. She helped him a lot psychologically when he took his first steps in the arena. Therefore, when one day on tour in London, Karandash shouted at her and began calling her names, Nikulin became furious, grabbed an ax and attacked him. Yuri Vladimirovich himself told me about this.

Husband said no

“I know how Tanya missed her husband,” says Lidia Samoilova, deputy general director of the Nikulin Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard. “After all, she dedicated her whole life to him.” And the circus. After the death of Yuri Vladimirovich, Tatyana did not even allow repairs to be made at home. I wanted everything to remain “like under Yurochka.” Everything reminded Tanya of him: “Yura bought these curtains”...

Among the photographs hanging on the walls of their apartment are photographs from screen tests in “The Hussar Ballad.” Tatyana Nikolaevna said that Eldar Ryazanov approved her for the role of Shurochka Azarova. But Nikulin said no, and she refused the role so as not to risk family happiness. And Yuri Vladimirovich did not want to be separated from her. He allowed me to act only in those films where he played himself. And Tatyana Nikolaevna did not regret that for the sake of her family she did not pursue a film career.

“What kind of legs do I have!”

“Nikulin was very friendly with director Gaidai,” recalls Honored Artist of Russia Engelina Rogalskaya. - And their wives - Tanya and Nina Grebeshkova - were friends from school, studied in the same class. Gaidai did not give the main roles to his wife and Nikulin’s wife either. Tatiana played only a tiny role in “The Diamond Arm” - a guide leading tourists around Istanbul.

Yuri Vladimirovich, by the way, was a believer, which few people know about. I couldn't afford to offend my wife. He told how he was worried when he had to play a love scene with Gurchenko in the film “Twenty Days Without War.” I was embarrassed. But he managed to defuse the situation. When Lucy whispered in the frame: “Hug me, your arms are so strong!”, he said impromptu: “You should have seen my legs!” Everyone laughed and the tension went away...

In the film “Twenty Days Without War” Yuri Nikulin was embarrassed to hug Gurchenko.

VERBATIM

Got hit by a horse and fell in love

Yuri Nikulin met his future wife Tatyana Pokrovskaya in 1949. Here is what she herself said about this meeting:

“I studied at the Timiryazev Academy at the Faculty of Ornamental Horticulture and was very interested in equestrian sports. The academy had a wonderful stable. And in the stable there is a very funny dwarf foal, with a normal head, a normal body, but on small legs. His name was 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 Karandash introduced us to Yuri Vladimirovich Nikulin, who was one of his students. Yuri Vladimirovich invited us to watch the performance. My friend couldn’t go, I went alone. They played a funny scene: Pencil supposedly called one spectator from the audience 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 performance, was run over by a horse. She beat him so much that he was taken away in an ambulance. I felt guilty and began to visit him... And six months later we got married.

Eleonora Shutkina, widow of front-line friend Yuri Nikulin. KP correspondents spoke with a woman who survived two wars: the Great Patriotic War and the undeclared Ukrainian War. Alexander KOTS, Dmitry STESHIN, Ruslan RAKHMANGULOV

Children of Yuri and Tatyana Nikulin

The only son of Yuri Nikulin and Tatyana, Maxim, also linked his fate with the circus, but he did not become an artist, and after his father’s death he took the chair of the director of the Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard. As a child, he saw little of his parents, who spent most of their time on creative business trips and tours, leaving Maxim with Tatyana Nikolaevna’s mother. Yuri Vladimirovich had to seriously think about the fact that he devotes little time to raising his own child after he returned from a long foreign tour and heard “hello, uncle” from his son. They compensated for the lack of communication with Nikulina’s child during the holidays, when everyone went south together, rented a room in Livadia and spent happy summer days together.

In the photo - with his wife and son

As a child, Maxim had the opportunity to star in the film “The Diamond Arm,” where he played a boy with a net, but this did not impress him and did not give rise to a dream in his soul of becoming an artist. After school, Maxim Nikulin entered the journalism department, and in his senior year he already began working at Moskovsky Komsomolets, and after being laid off, he got a job at the Mayak radio station.

In the photo - Yuri and Maxim Nikulin

In 1985, Maxim Yuryevich came as a special correspondent to Ostankino, and later was a presenter, commentator, and own correspondent there. The son of Yuri Nikulin came to the Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard after the tragic death of its managing director Mikhail Sedov, and took his position, although for the first year he worked without salary, just to help his father.

Maxim’s own children, sons Yuri and Maxim, also work with their father. One of them has already had a son, Maxim’s grandson. The son of Yuri Nikulin arranged his personal life only the third time, getting married for the first time at the age of seventeen. In addition to his sons, he also has a daughter, Maria, who lives in Germany, and who has also already managed to make Maxim Nikulin a grandfather.

In the photo - Maxim Nikulin

Women of Yuri Nikulin - one wife and beautiful coquettes

The life of a popular actor is full of temptations that are sometimes difficult to resist. Yuri Nikulin was married only once, but it was rumored that marriage did not become an obstacle for him to a new relationship.

And, despite the fact that Yuri Nikulin was married only once, many beautiful coquettes stayed in his soul. But she always remained the main one - Tatyana Pokrovskaya, with whom his love for the circus and horses brought him together.

Tatyana was fond of horse riding and tried to teach the charming artist the skill, but her first attempts almost ended in tragedy - Nikulin was trampled by a horse. Feeling guilty, the girl visited the victim in the hospital for more than a month, and soon Yuri proposed to her, to which she agreed.

“When I came to the performance, Yuri Vladimirovich, who played the role of a spectator during this performance, was run over by a horse. She beat him so much that he was taken by ambulance to Sklifosovsky, unconscious. I felt guilty and began to visit him,” Pokrovskaya said.

Happy years together gave them a son, Maxim. The boy has long grown up and is already raising three children, but Nikulin was never able to see his long-awaited great-grandson - the heir was born two years after the death of the famous great-grandfather.

However, even in such a comfortable family life, adversity occurred. It was rumored that the artist was not faithful to his wife, although he lived with her for 47 years, until his very last day. So, according to rumors, the artist became interested in the bright and charismatic rider Gitana Leontenko. The crazy euphoria from the new feelings, however, quickly passed, and Gitana soon married actor Alexei Batalov.

It is not surprising that when the film “Twenty Days Without War” was released, in which Nikulin played love with Lyudmila Gurchenko, the stars were instantly credited with having an affair.

“Alexey German saw that playing love was unusual for Yura. And he specially placed Lyudmila Markovna Gurchenko across the wall from Yura - in the hope that they would begin an affair. Like, this would give even more credibility to the film,” Tatyana Nikulina herself later admits.

She trusted her husband, and her Yura seemed to really stop looking at other women for a while.

“The film “Twenty Days Without War” is my love and tenderness for Yuri Vladimirovich. He never portrayed love on screen in any of his roles, and this was his first time,” recalled Lyudmila Markovna.

And later, according to colleagues, Nikulin liked the wife of Mikhail Rumyantsev, the same legendary clown Karandash, whose student Yuri was.

Shortly before his death, Yuri Vladimirovich had a young secretary, Victoria Viklyuk, who worked as a tightrope walker in the circus. There was immediate whispering on the sidelines: there was a secret romance between the artist and her manager, and spiteful critics found more evidence of this than all the other amorous affairs of the legendary clown.

At one point, Victoria imagined herself to be the owner of the Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard, literally starting to dictate her terms to everyone.

“When we men fall in love, we become complete fools. And there's nothing you can do about it. She was also able to subdue Nikulin as a psychic. She became a secretary and personal physician. She gave massages, prepared diet soup, and gave her pills. I traveled all over the world with him,” those surrounded by the artist recalled.

As a result, the obstinate Victoria was fired, and although she denied speculation about an affair with her boss, she did not rule out that he was a great artist and a legendary man.

Previously, Sensum wrote about the concept of happiness of Yuri Nikulin and Tatyana Pokrovskaya.

Brief biography of the actor

Yuri Nikulin was born in the Smolensk region, in the city of Demidov, into a theatrical family. When he was four years old, Yuri moved to Moscow with his parents. They settled on Razgulay Square in a large communal apartment. After school, Yuri Vladimirovich was drafted into the army and, as part of an artillery regiment, guarded the sky on the outskirts of Leningrad during the war with the Finns.

In the photo - Yuri Nikulin in his youth

During the Great Patriotic War, Nikulina again had to guard Leningrad, and after being shell-shocked in one of the battles, he was sent to Kolpino. Yuri Vladimirovich was demobilized in 1946, having received three medals during the war.

After the war, Nikulin, without entering VGIK, ended up in the clownery studio at the Moscow Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard, where he began his career. His film debut took place in 1958, when Nikulin starred in an episode of the film “Girl with a Guitar.” Yuri Vladimirovich performed in the circus arena until he was sixty years old, and then became first the chief director of the circus, and later its director.

“Sad Clown”: why women loved Yuri Nikulin

Yuri Nikulin passed away on August 21, 1997 // Photo: Social networks

Diabetes, problems with blood vessels, liver and lungs... He tormented himself with touring and filming, and on August 21 at 10 am his heart stopped forever. A heart that until the last minute was filled with love for fans, children and women. He idolized the latter no less than the playpen. And, despite the fact that Yuri Nikulin was married only once, many beautiful coquettes remained in his soul. But she always remained the main one - Tatyana Pokrovskaya, with whom his love for the circus and horses brought him together.

Nikulin with his wife Tatyana Pokrovskaya // Photo: Social networks

Gitana Leontenko // Photo: Social networks

It is not surprising that when the film “Twenty Days Without War” was released, in which Nikulin played love with Lyudmila Gurchenko, the stars were instantly credited with having an affair. “Alexey German saw that playing love was unusual for Yura. And he specially placed Lyudmila Markovna Gurchenko across the wall from Yura - in the hope that they would begin an affair. Like, this would give even more credibility to the film,” Tatyana Nikulina herself later admits.

She trusted her husband, and her Yura seemed to really stop looking at other women for a while.

And later, according to colleagues, Nikulin liked the wife of Mikhail Rumyantsev, the same legendary clown Karandash, whose student Yuri was.

Lyudmila Gurchenko and Yuri Nikulin in the film “Twenty Days Without War” // Photo: Social networks

At one point, Victoria imagined herself to be the owner of the Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard, literally starting to dictate her terms to everyone. “When we men fall in love, we become complete fools. And there's nothing you can do about it. She was also able to subdue Nikulin as a psychic. She became a secretary and personal physician. She gave massages, prepared diet soup, and gave her pills. I traveled all over the world with him,” those surrounded by the artist recalled.

As a result, the obstinate Victoria was fired, and although she denied speculation about an affair with her boss, she did not rule out that he was a great artist and a legendary man.

Victoria Viklyuk // Photo: Social networks

Tatyana Nikulina, the actor’s widow: Yura was not a workaholic. More likely to be lazy

Yuri Nikulin is a person who has always been trusted. They believed when he played the Goonie in Gaidai’s comedies. They believed when he carried his famous log around the circus arena. And they could not doubt it for a second even when a clown known throughout the country appeared in a serious role.

Today, on the artist’s birthday, his widow, Tatyana Nikolaevna Nikulina, talks about him:

— Yura and I met at the end of 1949. I was a student at the Timiryazev Agricultural Academy, and he worked as an assistant to the famous clown Karandash. At that time I was involved in equestrian sports, and we had a dwarf horse named Lapot, her body was normal, and her legs were small. Pencil became interested in the horse, and he introduced us to Yura. I asked him: what does he do at the circus, Yura replied: come and see. I came, but on the same day a misfortune happened. Yura was performing with a horse and accidentally fell under it. Then he suffered greatly. He was taken straight from the arena to Sklif, I was very upset. I visited him every day, and then, when Yura was discharged from the hospital, we started dating. And within six months they got married.

— What was he like outside the screen and the circus arena?

- Family and home. He was careless in his clothes, it never mattered to him what he was wearing, the most important thing was that he was comfortable. He loved company very much; friends came to us all the time. He did not go somewhere with them, but rather liked to meet at home.

— It’s probably hard to be home and family when you’re so popular...

“He never attached importance to his popularity, he was simple, and fame did not change him at all. He always had enough time for his family and for me, I never complained that he did not pay attention to me. We did everything together. If there was any filming going on, I went with him, he worked and relaxed with his family at the same time. And we spent all our holidays together.

“For all the spectators, he was the embodiment of joy. Was it fun to live with Nikulin?

— Most likely, it’s comfortable. It is difficult to require a person to be funny in home life. He loved jokes very much, but I sat quietly and hated them. Because I heard each of his jokes 15 times. We lived well with him. Of course, everything happened over 47 years of marriage, but it never came to breaking dishes.

— What were his hobbies?

— He loved to read. Didn't like watching TV or listening to the radio. Most of all, he loved communicating with people, especially on the phone. Yura had an occupational disease - radiculitis, and when his back hurt, he would put the phone next to his bed, take out his address book, and it was three fingers thick, and start calling everyone. Yura loved to talk with people. By the way, he had an excellent relationship with my mother Maria Petrovna. We didn't have the problem of son-in-law and mother-in-law, he treated it well. She lived with us and was never out of place. If Yura and I left for filming together, my mother came to us with her son.

— Were there moments when you were jealous of his work?

- Never! We did the same job, how could I be jealous of him?

— Could you call Yuri Vladimirovich a workaholic?

- No, he was never a workaholic, rather a lazy person.

— What did he want most in life?

“I think he achieved everything Yura wanted.” He wanted to act in films - he acted, but if he wanted to sing - he sang. Yura realized himself completely.

7 best films:

“Moonshiners” (1961) “When the trees were big” (1961) “Operation “Y” and other adventures of Shurik” (1965) “Prisoner of the Caucasus” (1966) “The Diamond Arm” (1969) “They fought for the Motherland” (1975) )"Twenty days without war" (1976)

PRIVATE BUSSINESS

Yuri Vladimirovich NIKULIN was born on December 18, 1921. After returning from the front, he tried to enter the theater school, but he was not accepted: the admissions committee laughed when he read a serious work. Then Nikulin got into the circus and became a student of the clown Karandash. He performed in a duet with Mikhail Shuidin - it was with him that he played in the classic reprise “Log”. In films he acted in both comedies and dramas. Since 1982, he headed the Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard, which now bears his name. At the end of his life he hosted the program “White Parrot”.

Died on August 21, 1997.

THREE TILES ABOUT THE GREAT CLOWN

When the film “Twenty Days Without War” was filmed in Tashkent, Yuri Nikulin arrived in the city a few days before the start of filming. Fans of the artist gathered around the hotel, and many managed to get into the corridor next to the room. Then Nikulin barricaded himself in the room and for three days ate the remains of the sausage he had brought with him and washed it down with instant coffee poured with hot tap water.

The crowd was dispersed with the help of the police when director Alexei German arrived. Under guard, the hungry Nikulin immediately went to the restaurant.

Nikulin began collecting jokes from his youth. Once this helped him in the army: he argued with a comrade who could tell more jokes. The prize for the winner was precious cigarettes - as many as ten packs. Naturally, Yuri Vladimirovich won the argument, and the barracks got tired of laughing even before Nikulin’s gold reserves dried up.

They say that Nikulin, when he was on his way to filming the film “Business People,” suddenly decided to rehearse. He pulled out a pistol, put it to the back of the driver's head and began to command. Soon the car was blocked by two “funnels”, from where a serious group of operatives ran out to detain the dangerous criminal. It turned out that the traffic controller saw the scene with the pistol and immediately reported where he should go. Fortunately, Nikulin was already known from Moonshiners, and he was safely released.

Portrait for two - Yuri Nikulin and Tatyana Pokrovskaya

She suddenly found herself alone with this big world exactly 17 years ago, when His heart could not withstand the operation...

He always missed Her and tried to do everything possible to keep Her close - he found the opportunity to make Her part of his act in the circus, did not let her act in films... Their romance began in the circus arena with an accident, which as a result turned out to be happy for the two of them - they lived together for almost 50 years, practically without parting...

Yuri Nikulin and Tatyana Pokrovskaya.

She…

Tatyana Nikolaevna was born in Moscow on December 14, 1929. After school, I entered the Temiryazev Academy at the Faculty of Ornamental Horticulture, but studied there without much desire - simply because I had to get a higher education.

Yuri Nikulin and Tatyana Pokrovskaya.

There she fell in love with equestrian sports and spent all her free time with horses. In their stable lived a small dwarf horse named Lapot. Sweet, good-natured, funny. And at one fine moment the famous clown Pencil appeared at the base - he was looking for a horse for his new act. He liked the bast shoe, and Pencil asked to teach him a few tricks.

After some time, the horse was brought to the circus, but instead of Pencil, a group of companions accompanying him, among whom was Tatyana, was met by He...

He...

Yuri Vladimirovich was born near Smolensk in the city of Demidov. The theater accompanied him since childhood - his parents worked in the drama theater. When Yura was 4 years old, the family moved to Moscow.

School, army (anti-aircraft artillery regiment), war, shell shock, demobilization, order “For Courage”, “For the Defense of Leningrad”, “For Victory over Germany”... After the war, he tried to return to his childhood dream of becoming an artist - he submitted documents to VGIK, but... The commission did not see acting skills in him. They told him the same thing at other theater universities where he entered.

Yuri Nikulin and Tatyana Pokrovskaya.

Yuri Vladimirovich considered his father a brilliant man - after all, he taught his son to humor. Therefore, with a calm soul, he went to the clownery studio at the Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard, where he remained after finishing his studies.

He was lucky enough to work with Pencil himself, who unwittingly became the reason Nikulin met Her...

They…

Pencil was called to a meeting with the authorities, so Yuri had to accept the new horse and entertain those accompanying it. A couple of girls rushed into the office and began bombarding the embarrassed, lanky Nikulin with questions about the circus. "Who? What? How? Why? What do you do at the circus? - the girls chirped. “Come and see,” was all the young clown could say.

There were several girls who came to accompany the horse Laptya to the circus, but only one responded to the invitation to “come and see” - Tatyana. Nikulin sat her down near the spotlight and went to the arena. The act was beautiful, funny, but risky - Nikulin galloped on a horse, periodically turning over as he went. At some point, his leg got stuck in the longe, and he ended up under the horse’s hooves. Vanity, blood, ambulance, Institute named after. Sklifosovsky... And long weeks of regular meetings during visiting hours - Tatyana could not stay away and visited Yuri every day, bringing fruit and brightening up his hospital everyday life with conversations and her smile.

Yuri Nikulin and Tatyana Pokrovskaya.

“When he left the hospital,” Tatyana Nikolaevna later recalled, “I realized that I was already seriously in love with him.” Tatyana's family quickly accepted him, despite the fact that they initially expected Yuri to perform exploits on the theater stage. And he adored his then future mother-in-law until the very end. Tatyana and Yuri met in December 1947, and already in May 1948, Tatyana turned from Pokrovskaya into Nikulina. The wedding was quiet, modest - only Yuri’s family and a couple of friends. There was not a single friend from Tatyana’s side at the celebration.

The young couple began to live in their wife’s room.

At work, Yuri missed home, and at home he often thought about work. It was becoming more and more difficult to be torn between them every day. Therefore, as soon as the opportunity arose to use Tatyana in my act, I immediately took advantage of it. So Tatyana turned from a housewife into a circus performer and colleague of her famous husband. “I got married successfully,” Yuri Vladimirovich said later. “I’m consulting with my wife.”

Yuri Nikulin and Tatyana Pokrovskaya.

From the outside it seemed that he was twisting it as he wanted. He said: “I don’t want to part with you even for a day!”, and she, an excellent student and Komsomol member, quit her studies at the Academy, turned into a mother hen at home, into a “decoy duck” in her husband’s rooms. He said: “You won’t leave for filming, period!”, and she, an experienced horsewoman, refused the role that could have glorified her - in the film “The Hussar Ballad” (How the film was made).

Tatiana Pokrovskaya's (Nikulina) audition for the role of Shurochka Azarova in the film “The Hussar Ballad”

Without even warning, he brought a crowd of friends to their room in a communal apartment, and she, on the penny salary of a circus performer, not yet the director of the circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard and far from being a “star” of Russian comedy, at any time of the day, covered the feast with a mountain and laughed at him jokes louder than the whole company! Did she ever get annoyed with him, did she regret the opportunities missed because of him, did she, in the heat of emotion, throw out the sacramental: “I gave you the best years of my life!”? No never.

Family is above all, Yurochka is its head, Tanechka is the keeper of the hearth, the mother of their only son Maxim, the first assistant in the circus, the right hand and the whole huge heart in a miniature fragile body.

For forty-seven years of marriage (who can now boast of such a record?!) The Nikulins never went on vacation separately. The fashionable idea these days “Taking a break from each other” could not even occur to us! Nikulin, having become famous, survived more than one accusation of adultery. Rumor connected him with amorous ties with his film partners: Natalya Varleya, Lyudmila Gurchenko, colorful equestrians and flexible aerialists.

Yuri Nikulin and Tatyana Pokrovskaya.

In response, he demonstrated complete harmony with his wife. Not embarrassed by strangers, he asked Tatyana for any reason: “Girl, what do you think? Only your opinion is important to me, girl!” Although no, this was not a demonstration, he really loved only his wife all his life, no matter what evil tongues might say. One day, a crowd of excited ladies burst into the Nikulins’ house shouting: “Give us your husband, Tanka! You’ve used it, now give it to us!”

She was not jealous, she saw the walls of the entrance covered with passionate declarations of love, and received letters with erotic memories of women who allegedly trembled in Nikulin’s arms, and then boasted about “the fruit of their passion.” Tatyana believed her husband - there is only one beloved Girl, and it’s her!

Joint tours, filming, noisy companies with cheerful gatherings at the dacha... They separated for no more than a few days - it was hard for them to be away from each other. Perhaps this is why, after the unexpected death of Yu.Ve (as his relatives called him) after heart surgery, Tatyana Nikolaevna was in a state of shock for almost six months - she could not even cry: “No one expected this to happen - neither he nor I. The operation was planned, Yura even went to the hospital alone, I did not accompany him. And suddenly this..."

But over time, the pain subsides, bringing to the fore all the good things that happened to two loving people over 48 years of marriage. “If I were offered to go back in time,” Tatyana Nikolaevna said in one interview. “I wouldn’t change anything, I would live my life the same way - exactly the same...”

PS Tatyana Nikolaevna Nikulina, the widow of Soviet actor Yuri Nikulin, died on October 26, 2014 at the age of 86, after a long illness. According to the Nikulins’ son, Maxim, Tatyana Nikolaevna has been very ill recently, and not so long ago she had a stroke.

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Tatyana Nikulina celebrates her anniversary at the circus arena on Tsvetnoy Boulevard

“I think I’m holding up pretty well for my age, although my lifestyle can’t be called healthy - I don’t follow any diets, I don’t do gymnastics, I smoke, I like to drink in warm weather. I also really like to do crossword puzzles and read detective stories. It's good for the brain. Yuri Vladimirovich and I have a very large library; we have been collecting books all our lives. I can’t see life without books, I can’t stand TV and I don’t listen to the radio,” Nikulina shared.

She said that her son Maxim Nikulin, as the director of the circus, sometimes listens to her opinion, but it often comes to heated creative disputes.

“It seems to him that I have outdated views on the circus, and he has more modern ones. But this is a normal creative process. And as a creative worker, he should not obey me. After all, he is the director of the circus, not me,” Nikulina noted.

In her opinion, today the circus has become more diverse, it combines different types of arts.

“When I was young, the circus paid more attention to sports tricks, but now presentation and manner of performance are important - each act becomes like a performance. I think it's right," she continued.

The family in Tatyana Nikulina’s life now does not occupy such a big place, since she tries not to interfere in the affairs of her son and grandchildren, and believes that a mother-in-law or mother-in-law should not interfere in family affairs.

“The grandchildren, Maxim and Yurochka, also live their own lives, although we see Yura every day - he works in the circus, selecting and compiling programs for various special orders. Maybe someday Yura Nikulin Jr. will lead his grandfather’s circus,” she added.

Tatyana Pokrovskaya (maiden name) studied at the Timiryazev Agricultural Academy. In 1949, she met Yuri Nikulin and soon became his wife, leaving her studies, which could not be combined with the traveling life of circus performers.

She began performing in the circus as an artist together with Yuri Nikulin in 1951. The first joint reprise was “Little Pierre”, where Nikulina played the role of a boy. In the posters she was listed as “Tisha Nikulin”. She worked only in clown reprises by Yuri Nikulin and Mikhail Shuidin. Among the most famous reprises: “Roses and Thorns”, “Apples”, “Log”, “The Young Lady and the Hooligan”, “Failed Theft”.

Tatyana Nikulina performed at the arena until 1981. After that, she was engaged in dog breeding for ten years, heading the Fauna Club for breeding Giant Schnauzers. After the death of Yuri Vladimirovich, she returned to the circus as a consultant on creative issues. The son of Tatiana and Yuri Nikulin, Maxim, heads the circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard.