Leonid Yengibarov: a clown with autumn in his soul

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

He was not recognized for a long time. And when Leonid Yengibarov, whose biography will be provided to your attention, suddenly passed away, the world suddenly realized what a talent was lost forever. He died very young - at the age of 37 his heart broke. And after that, the “clown with sad eyes” turned into a legend.

From boxer to mime

People often enter creative professions after overcoming many obstacles, having mastered other activities and withstanding the rejection of others. Leonid Yengibarov was no exception. After all, his career lasted only 13 years, during which he turned from a man without a name into a world-class star.

And it all started tritely: after graduating from school in 1952, he became a student at the Institute of Fisheries. But, however, he studied there for only six months and transferred to the Institute of Physical Education. The fact is that while still at school, fragile and weak Lenya enrolled in the boxing section and suddenly began to make great strides in this sport.

By the way, his reprise "Boxing" perfectly depicts this situation. In her in the ringa flimsy and insecure guy, waving his arms funny and stupidly, defeats a he althy athlete. And let him be dragged out of the ring by the arms - he's still the winner!

Finding a place in circus art

In the mid-1950s, Leonid Yengibarov had already achieved significant success in boxing, becoming a master of sports, and, by the way, this served as a kind of preface to his future fate, because later on he would have to take a hit many more times.

In 1955, a clownery department was opened at the circus school, and Yengibarov decided to enter there. There he very quickly realized that this was his element, his vocation. Therefore, having been assigned to the troupe of the Armenian circus group in Yerevan, he plunged headlong into finding himself, his place in the arena.

To some extent, he was lucky, because even at the school, Yengibarov met director Yuri Belov, with whom he worked later throughout his creative life. It was Yuri Pavlovich who prompted the future celebrity to look like a slightly sad “thinking clown” - “a clown with autumn in his soul”, as his contemporaries called him.

Clown with autumn in the shower

True, it should be said that at first this image was difficult for the audience to perceive - it went too far beyond the usual framework of a cheerful and carefree carpet that mixes the audience between numbers while the stage workers drag the props. Contrary to all the canons, a subtle and intelligent mime appeared before the puzzled visitors of the circus, not so muchmaking me laugh, how much it made me think and even feel sad. Leonid Yengibarov (you can see a photo of the great artist in the article) turned his numbers into something akin to a lyrical confession of a very lonely and defenseless person in this world.

The rich inner world of a wonderful artist can be judged even by his words, which journalists now love to quote so much: “It is especially difficult to stand on one hand, because at that time the whole globe is in it!”

Yes, for a long time the young artist was not taken seriously, even advised to change roles. But the image of a thinking clown was too close to Leonid's heart, and he did not want to retreat from it, believing that the moment of understanding and success would come someday.

Success time

And that time has come. In 1961, the Yerevan Circus went on tour to Moscow, where, after the very first performances, rumors about an unusual clown swept through the city. They began to go to Yengibarov as if to a solo program. The success was amazing: the girls gave him flowers, and the audience gave him a standing ovation, and it all looked like he was not a clown, but a ballet soloist.

The popularity grew. In 1962, the film "The Way to the Arena" was released (dir. L. Isahakyan and G. Malyan), where Leonid Yengibarov himself appeared as the main character. The personal life of the artist and the difficulties he faced on the way to fame were depicted in a realistic and touching way, which, by the way, made the clown even more famous.

And in 1964 in Prague - at the international clown competition - he received the first prize. For the recently unknownartist, it was a stunning success!

He's too free-spirited

The first victory was followed by others. Now Leonid was offered tempting contracts in foreign circuses, but Soviet officials were adamant. Leonid Yengibarov was too uncontrollable and freedom-loving, so an unambiguous verdict was passed against him: “Do not let him out!” The management was afraid that one day the artist would simply not return from his overseas tour.

Yes, it was not easy for the artist at home either: in order to get around the endless heavy censorship, he even had to write one thing in the script and play another on stage. Someone turned a blind eye to this, but, naturally, there were those who were haunted by the fame of the artist, and denunciations were written against him.

All this, and also heavy loads (Leonid Yengibarov and his ensemble gave 3 performances a day!) wore out his heart. And in 1972, in the hot, stuffy summer, when peat bogs were burning near Moscow, and there was thick smog in the city, the mime's heart could not stand it.

Interestingly, on the day of his funeral, heavy rain suddenly started - apparently, even nature mourned the departure of the sad clown. Thousands of people stood in the downpour, waiting in line to say goodbye, and entered the hall where the memorial service was held, with wet faces…