Leonid Engibarov: a clown with autumn in the shower

He was not recognized for a long time. And when Leonid Engibarov, whose biography will be given to your attention, suddenly passed away, the world suddenly realized what talent was lost forever. He died quite young - in 37 years his heart broke. And after that, the "clown with sad eyes" turned into a legend.

From boxer to mime

In the creative profession, people often come, having overcome many obstacles, mastering other types of activity 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 to a world-wide star.

And it all started off trite: after finishing school in 1952, he became a student of the Institute of Fisheries. But, the truth, I studied there only half a year and was transferred to the Institute of Physical Education. The fact is that even during his studies at school fragile and weak, Lenya enlisted in the boxing section and unexpectedly began to make great achievements in this sport.

By the way, his reprise of "Box" great draws this situation. In her on the ring a flimsy and insecure guy, funny and stupidly waving his arms, wins a healthy athlete. And let him be dragged from the ring under his arms - he's still a winner!

Searches for a place in circus art

In the mid-1950s, Leonid Engibarov had already made significant strides in boxing, becoming a master of sports, and by the way, this served as a kind of preface to his future destiny, as he would later have to hold a blow many times.

In 1955, in the circus school, the clownery department was opened, and Engibarov decided to go there. There he very quickly realized that this was his element, his vocation. Therefore, hitting the distribution in the troupe of the Armenian circus in Yerevan, he plunged headlong into finding himself, his place in the arena.

To some extent, he was lucky, after all at the college Engibarov met director Yuri Belov, with whom he worked all his creative life. It was Yuri Pavlovich who prompted the future celebrity to see an image of a slightly sad "thinking clown" - a "clown with autumn in the shower", as his contemporaries called it.

Clown with autumn in the shower

True, it should be said that at first this image was difficult to perceive by spectators - it was too much for the usual framework of a cheerful and carefree cover-up, confusing the audience between the numbers, while the stage workers drag the props. Contrary to all the canons, before the perplexed visitors of the circus appeared a delicate and intelligent mime, not so much confused as forced to think and even saden. Leonid Yengibarov (photo of the great artist you can see in the article) turned his numbers into something akin to the lyrical confession of a very lonely and defenseless person in this world.

About the rich inner world of a beautiful artist can be judged even by his words, which now journalists like to quote: "It is especially difficult to stand on one hand, because at this time the entire globe is in it!"

Yes, for a long time the young artist was not taken seriously, advising even to change the role. But the image of the thinking clown was too close to the heart of Leonid, and he did not want to back off from him, believing that the moment of understanding and success would come.

Time of success

And this time has come. In 1961, the Yerevan Circus went on tour to Moscow, where, after the first speeches, a rumor about an unusual clown swept through the city. On Engibarova began to walk, as a solo program. The success was amazing: the girls gave him flowers, and the audience applauded standing, and it all looked like he was not a clown, but a ballet soloist.

Popularity was growing. In 1962, the film "The Way to the Arena" (directed by L. Isahakyan and G. Malian) was released, where Leonid Engibarov himself appeared as the protagonist. The artist's personal life and difficulties, which he faced on the way to glory, were depicted realistically and touchingly, which, incidentally, made the clown even more famous.

And in 1964 in Prague - at the international competition of clowns - he received the first prize. For a newly-unheard-of artist, it was a stunning success!

He is too freedom-loving!

The first victory was followed by others. Now Leonid was offered tempting contracts in foreign circuses, but Soviet officials were adamant. Already too uncontrollable and freedom-loving was Leonid Yengibarov, therefore, an unequivocal verdict was passed against him: "Do not let go!" The management was afraid that one day the artist simply would not return from his foreign tours.

And at home, the artist was unbearable: to circumvent the endless heavy censorship, he even had to write one in the script, and play something else on the stage. Someone closed their eyes to it, but, naturally, there were those who did not give rest to the glory of the artist, and denunciations were written on him.

All this, but also a lot of work (Leonid Yengibarov with his ensemble gave 3 presentations a day!) Worn out his heart. And in 1972, in a hot, hot summer, when peat bogs were burning near Moscow, and there was a thick smog in the city, Mom's heart could not stand it.

It is interesting that on the day of his funeral a heavy rain suddenly started - apparently, even nature lamented the departure of the sad clown. Thousands of people stood under the rain, waiting for the line to say goodbye, and entered the hall where the funeral service was held, with wet faces ...