Urmas Ott: biography, personal life and photo of the TV presenter

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

In the Soviet period, the B altic states were perceived by residents of other regions of the vast country as a kind of foreign country. Actors, singers, musicians and media personalities from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia had many fans far beyond their republics.

Among the representatives of the B altic creative intelligentsia, who enjoyed the greatest popularity, is Urmas Ott. This article is devoted to the biography, personal life and cause of death of the TV presenter.

Early years

Estonian journalist Urmas Ott was born in 1955 in the town of Otepää (Estonia). The boy's father died early, and the mother alone raised her son and daughter, who was four years younger than her brother Urmas. Like most Soviet children, Ott went to kindergarten and then went to a regular school. During the years of study, he began to stand out among his peers by the desire to be the first in everything.

Growing up, Urmas became a Komsomol member. However, Western trends have already penetrated the youthWednesday. The young man grew long hair and became a fan of the Beatles. In addition, he became interested in tennis and kept this love for life. All this did not have the best effect on the young man's studies, so Urmas graduated from high school not as brilliantly as he could have done with his abilities.

Students

Having received the Matura, Urmas Ott (see photo above) became a student at the Talin Pedagogical University and at the same time began attending courses for TV journalists. After graduating from this university, the future TV presenter served in the army in the song and dance ensemble, where Urmas first sang, and then began to conduct army concerts.

In the early 1980s, Ott demobilized and returned to the Estonian capital.

Career start

Urmas Ott started working for Estonian television at the height of the era of stagnation. The first program in which he acted as a presenter was the news program Actual Camera. In 1981-1983, in parallel with the announcer's work, Urmas worked on a program, the name of which in Russian translation sounded like "Variety ABC". In 1984, he starred in the melodrama Two Couples and Singles, playing the role of one of the main characters.

Success on an all-Union scale

Wide fame came to Ott when he came up with and began to host the TV Acquaintance program. Very soon she became one of the highest rated on Estonian television. In the mid-80s, the Central Television of the USSR also became interested in it. Soon the program could be regularly watched not only by residents of the Estonian SSR,but also residents of the entire Soviet Union.

Ott did not consider his success outside his native republic to be natural and claimed that he was just lucky. Subsequently, the TV presenter claimed that he never considered himself capable of competing on an equal footing with the guys from Vzglyad or Molchanov, and this suited him perfectly.

Television Acquaintance

This is the favorite brainchild of TV presenter Urmas Ott, whose biography this article is devoted to, deserves a separate story. During the time the program was broadcast on central television, the all-Union viewer was able to see 33 programs. Their heroes were such famous representatives of the Soviet intelligentsia as Maya Plisetskaya, Evgeny Evstigneev, Genrikh Borovik, Viktor Tikhonov, Oleg Efremov, Irina Rodnina, Vladislav Tretiak, Svyatoslav Fedorov and many others.

However, there were those who did not want to participate in Ott's program. In particular, according to the memoirs of the TV presenter, he failed to make a release with the participation of Garry Kasparov, as he constantly refused. Later, Urmas invited Anatoly Karpov to "Television Acquaintance". Then the current world chess champion was offended and told everywhere that the Estonian TV presenter was the man of his eternal rival.

Career in the 1990s

From 1992 to 1998, Ott worked on Estonian television in the program "Carte Blanche", and then returned to the screens of Russians and residents of the CIS countries, where RTR was broadcast, as the host of a series of programs in the interview format "Urmas OttWith…". Recordings of the programs took place in the chic hall of the Prague restaurant. To criticism about the choice of meeting place with his guests, the host replied that he did not enjoy having a conversation at the dinner table. However, vodka best loosens the tongue even for those interlocutors who are very difficult to make contact.

In 1998, Urmas, who at that time was only 43 years old, had his first heart attack, and in 1999, bandits attacked the favorite of millions of TV viewers in the parking lot. As a result, Ott was stabbed nine times, he was treated for a long time and underwent a rehabilitation course.

Last years of life

Urmas Ott returned to work in 2001 (for a biography in his youth, see above). He hosted the August Light program, which aired on Estonian television. Then he was again invited to Russia, where he worked for REN-TV as a commentator on the program "The Best Shows in the World with Urmas Ott".

The last project in the career of a TV presenter was the program Happy Hour. It aired from 2003 to 2006 on the private TV channel Kanal-2 in Estonia.

Terrible illness and tragic death

In 2006, the press became aware that Urmas Ott, whose biography has always interested his fans, was diagnosed with an oncological disease. The presenter himself refused to comment on these messages and tried to continue working at the same pace he was used to. However, over time, leukemia began to progress, and Ott had to complete histelevision career. Nevertheless, he not only continued the fight against a terrible disease, but also hosted the program “Within the Limits of Decency” on Radio 4, a popular Russian-language channel of Estonian radio. Its guests were such famous stars of Russian art as Alisa Freindlikh, Sergei Yursky, Diana Gurtskaya, Anastasia Volochkova and others.

In the summer of 2008, a bone marrow donor was found for Urmas Ott. However, in October he died of a second heart attack at the University of Tartu clinic.

Was there a personal life

Estonian TV presenter Urmas Ott has not told anyone about his relationships with women. Officially, he never married and had no children. He did not let anyone into his house, except, perhaps, the housekeeper, who also remained silent and did not expand on the personal life of the presenter.

The only thing that was known about what Urmas does outside of television is his hobbies for tennis and walking, as well as his love for classical music. In particular, those who knew Ott well spoke with admiration of his magnificent and extensive collection of classical opera recordings.

Awards

Urmas Ott, whose biography you already know, in 1988 received the award of the Union of Journalists of the Soviet Union for the series of programs "Television Acquaintance" and for a long time was considered the best interviewer in the USSR.

In 2005, the TV presenter was awarded one of the highest awards in Estonia - the Order of the White Star of the 4th degree.

After 3 years, Ott was awarded the "Stamp Badge". This supremethe Tallinn award was awarded to Urmas for the development of journalism and national culture.

Interesting facts

• Urmas Ott considered himself his only friend.
• In 1989, Urmas performed in a duet with Roxana Babayan, performing the hit "Long Talk" at the Song of the Year festival.
• Ott co-owned SE & JS.

Now you know who Urmas Ott is. Biography, cause of death and information about his television career are also known to you. It remains only to regret that this talented person passed away so early and could not realize all his creative plans.