This article is about the circus performer who created Coco the Clown. For his son, who performed under that name in the US, see Michael Polakovs. For the cartoon character, see Koko the Clown.
Nicolai PoliakoffOBE (2 October 1900 – 25 September 1974; Latvian: Nikolajs Poļakovs; Russian: Николáй Петрóвич Полякóв) was the creator of Coco the Clown, arguably the most famous clown in the United Kingdom in the mid-20th century.
Nicolai Poliakoff was born in 1900 to a Jewish family in Dvinsk (today Daugavpils), Latvia which was then part of the Russian Empire. His family were poor and worked at the local theatre to supplement the money his father earned as a cobbler. When his father was conscripted to the army in the Russo-Japanese War the five year-old Nicolai started singing for food to avoid starvation.[1]
1908—Nicolai “ran away and joined the circus,” as the saying goes. He travelled 300 miles by train to Vitebsk, in Belorussia (today Belarus), where he persuaded a circus owner to give him a job, telling him that he was an orphan with no one to look after him. The director bought his story and placed him under the charge of Vitaly Lazarenko, a clown and acrobat who would become a major circus star in the Soviet Union after the Communist revolution.
Nicolai eventually persuaded his father to allow him to follow a circus career, and he was apprenticed for four years to Rudolfo Truzzi (1860–1936)—son of Massimiliano Truzzi, the founder of the great Russian circus dynasty of Italian descent. With Truzzi, Nicholai studied the fundamentals of acrobatics, trapeze, horse riding, and an array of circus disciplines. Russians are particularly fond of nicknames, and Nicolai was called Kokishka by Truzzi, a diminutive of “koshka” (cat in Russian), which in time became abbreviated to Koko—and rendered as Coco when Nicolai arrived in the United Kingdom.
In 1915 Nicolai Polakovs was enlisted in the Imperial Army. During the ensuing Civil War, he was conscripted by the Red Army, escaped—only to be conscripted again by the White Army and escape again, disguised as a girl in a troupe of Mongolian travelling entertainers. Finally, when the political situation began to settle down, he returned to work in the circus.
1919— Nicolai was performing in Riga, when he met Valentina Novikova (1901–1983), whom he married in June of that year, and with whom he would have six children: Helen, Michael (1923–2009), Nadia, Sascha, Olga, and Tamara.
1920— He worked for the newly created (in 1919) Soviet state circus organisation, and travelled in the Soviet Union from one circus building to another.
1926— He had his own circus collective, a small but lively troupe of twenty based in Lithuania.
1929— Nicolai performed at Circus Busch (Before World War II, Soviet performers were still allowed to work in Western Europe.) in Berlin (and took the time to do a cameo in Karl Grune’s film version of Carl Zuckmayer’s play, Katharina Knie). He served with the Auxiliary Military Pioneer Corps of the British Army in World War II. He appeared with the Bertram Mills Circus for many years. His clown persona had two distinctive visual features that endeared him to television audiences: his boots, described as being size 58, and his trick hair with hinges in the centre parting, which allowed it to lift when he was surprised. He is a member of the Clown Hall of Fame.
21 December 1929 to 18 January 1930—Nicolai first appeared for Bertram Mills in Manchester.
1933–34—Coco’s contract with Mills was extended, and following the Olympia Christmas season.
In 1942 Coco and Michael were engaged at the Blackpool Tower Circus, for the Easter and summer programmes .
1946— Bertram Mills Circus reopened and Coco returned. He appeared on tour for every summer season until the closure of the touring show in October 1964.
1947–48 & 1966–67—He performed with Mills at the Olympia in London(Christmas show)
21 October 1949—Nicolai and Valentina eventually became naturalised British citizens.
April 1957— During a performance at Chelmsford, Nicolai was knocked over and injured by a vehicle driven by Kam, "the only motoring elephant in the world"—one of Mills’s four elephants trained by Joan and Gösta Kruse.
1959— He was involved in a serious road accident prompting him to devote himself to the promotion of road safety awareness in children.[2] However, at the same time he continued to work in the circus in the mid-1960s, seated ringside while selling programmes dressed in his full auguste's costume.
Stone carving of Coco the clown on his gravestone at Woodnewton.
29 November 1974. Memorial service held in St. Paul’s, London.
Culture
Technically, Coco is an Auguste, the foolish character who is always on the receiving end of buckets of water and custard pies. The Auguste often works with the more clever white-faced clown, who always gets the better of him.
His eldest son, Michael, a longtime circus "Producing Clown", creator of a much imitated "soap gag" entree, and the Clown who designed the post 1960's Ronald McDonald,[6] was by then already using the "Coco" moniker. Michael had made his debut in the ring at 17, as "Coconut" and his sister Helen as "Cocotina" ('cocos' being the Spanish word for grinning face and applied to the coconut because of the three marks on its shell).[7] Michael's Coco the Clown was inducted into the International Clown Hall of Fame in 1991.
As well as Michael, Poliakoff had five other children with wife Valentina: Helen, Nadia, Sascha, Olga, and Tamara. Tamara was the founder, along with her husband Ali Hassani, of the first circus in the United Kingdom not to use performing animals.
References
^ ab"Coco the Clown (1900–1974)". National Fairground and Circus Archive - The University of Sheffield. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
^. British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 19 April 2012.
^"Woodnewton Church St Mary". www.robschurches.moonfruit.com.
^"Geograph:: Resting Place of Coco the Clown (C) Kokai". www.geograph.org.uk.
^"B'NAI B'RITH DINNER FOR NEW PRESIDENT: JEWISH FRIENDSHIP CLUB VISITS: COCO THE CLOWN VISIT | Yorkshire Film Archive". www.yorkshirefilmarchive.com. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
^"Michael Polakovs". 15 December 2009. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
^"Michael Polakovs". 15 December 2009 – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
Books
Nicolai Poliakoff, Coco the Clown, by himself (London, J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd, 1941)
Nicolai Poliakoff, Behind My Greasepaint (London, Hutchinson & Co., 1950)
David Jamieson, Bertram Mills, The Circus That Travelled By Train (Buntingford, Aardvark Publishing, 1998) — ISBN1-872904-11-4
External links
National Portrait Gallery's 1935 photograph
Poliakoff's grave in Woodnewton
January 05, 2023
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This article is about the circus performer who created Coco the Clown For his son who performed under that name in the US see Michael Polakovs For the cartoon character see Koko the Clown This article has multiple issues Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page Learn how and when to remove these template messages This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Nicolai Poliakoff news newspapers books scholar JSTOR February 2009 Learn how and when to remove this template message This article may need to be rewritten to comply with Wikipedia s quality standards You can help The talk page may contain suggestions October 2022 Learn how and when to remove this template message Nicolai Poliakoff OBE 2 October 1900 25 September 1974 Latvian Nikolajs Polakovs Russian Nikolaj Petrovich Polyakov was the creator of Coco the Clown arguably the most famous clown in the United Kingdom in the mid 20th century Nicolai PoliakoffOBEPoliakoff reading his fan mailBornRussian Nikolaj Petrovich Polyakov 1900 10 02 2 October 1900Dvinsk Russian EmpireDied25 September 1974 1974 09 25 aged 73 Peterborough EnglandCitizenshipRussian Empire Soviet Union United Kingdom 1 Known forCoco the ClownSpouseValentina NovikovaChildrenHelenMichaelNadiaSaschaOlgaTamaraAwardsOfficer of the Order of the British Empire Contents 1 Biography 1 1 Culture 1 2 Honours 1 3 Legacy 2 References 3 Books 4 External linksBiography Edit Poliakoff in costume Nicolai Poliakoff was born in 1900 to a Jewish family in Dvinsk today Daugavpils Latvia which was then part of the Russian Empire His family were poor and worked at the local theatre to supplement the money his father earned as a cobbler When his father was conscripted to the army in the Russo Japanese War the five year old Nicolai started singing for food to avoid starvation 1 1908 Nicolai ran away and joined the circus as the saying goes He travelled 300 miles by train to Vitebsk in Belorussia today Belarus where he persuaded a circus owner to give him a job telling him that he was an orphan with no one to look after him The director bought his story and placed him under the charge of Vitaly Lazarenko a clown and acrobat who would become a major circus star in the Soviet Union after the Communist revolution Nicolai eventually persuaded his father to allow him to follow a circus career and he was apprenticed for four years to Rudolfo Truzzi 1860 1936 son of Massimiliano Truzzi the founder of the great Russian circus dynasty of Italian descent With Truzzi Nicholai studied the fundamentals of acrobatics trapeze horse riding and an array of circus disciplines Russians are particularly fond of nicknames and Nicolai was called Kokishka by Truzzi a diminutive of koshka cat in Russian which in time became abbreviated to Koko and rendered as Coco when Nicolai arrived in the United Kingdom In 1915 Nicolai Polakovs was enlisted in the Imperial Army During the ensuing Civil War he was conscripted by the Red Army escaped only to be conscripted again by the White Army and escape again disguised as a girl in a troupe of Mongolian travelling entertainers Finally when the political situation began to settle down he returned to work in the circus 1919 Nicolai was performing in Riga when he met Valentina Novikova 1901 1983 whom he married in June of that year and with whom he would have six children Helen Michael 1923 2009 Nadia Sascha Olga and Tamara 1920 He worked for the newly created in 1919 Soviet state circus organisation and travelled in the Soviet Union from one circus building to another 1926 He had his own circus collective a small but lively troupe of twenty based in Lithuania 1929 Nicolai performed at Circus Busch Before World War II Soviet performers were still allowed to work in Western Europe in Berlin and took the time to do a cameo in Karl Grune s film version of Carl Zuckmayer s play Katharina Knie He served with the Auxiliary Military Pioneer Corps of the British Army in World War II He appeared with the Bertram Mills Circus for many years His clown persona had two distinctive visual features that endeared him to television audiences his boots described as being size 58 and his trick hair with hinges in the centre parting which allowed it to lift when he was surprised He is a member of the Clown Hall of Fame 21 December 1929 to 18 January 1930 Nicolai first appeared for Bertram Mills in Manchester 1933 34 Coco s contract with Mills was extended and following the Olympia Christmas season During the Second World War Nicolai entertained troops as a member of ENSA Entertainments National Service Association In 1942 Coco and Michael were engaged at the Blackpool Tower Circus for the Easter and summer programmes 1946 Bertram Mills Circus reopened and Coco returned He appeared on tour for every summer season until the closure of the touring show in October 1964 1947 48 amp 1966 67 He performed with Mills at the Olympia in London Christmas show 21 October 1949 Nicolai and Valentina eventually became naturalised British citizens April 1957 During a performance at Chelmsford Nicolai was knocked over and injured by a vehicle driven by Kam the only motoring elephant in the world one of Mills s four elephants trained by Joan and Gosta Kruse 1959 He was involved in a serious road accident prompting him to devote himself to the promotion of road safety awareness in children 2 However at the same time he continued to work in the circus in the mid 1960s seated ringside while selling programmes dressed in his full auguste s costume Stone carving of Coco the clown on his gravestone at Woodnewton 1962 he was the subject of This Is Your Life when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews at Olympia London 1973 He returned briefly to the circus world when he toured with the Roberts Brothers Circus 25 September 1974 Poliakoff died in Peterborough Hospital after a short illness and was buried in the churchyard of St Mary s 3 Woodnewton in Northamptonshire England 4 29 November 1974 Memorial service held in St Paul s London Culture Edit Technically Coco is an Auguste the foolish character who is always on the receiving end of buckets of water and custard pies The Auguste often works with the more clever white faced clown who always gets the better of him Honours Edit Poliakoff was appointed an honorary member of the Association of Jewish Ex Servicemen and Women 5 In 1963 he was appointed an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire OBE for this work by Queen Elizabeth II Legacy Edit His eldest son Michael a longtime circus Producing Clown creator of a much imitated soap gag entree and the Clown who designed the post 1960 s Ronald McDonald 6 was by then already using the Coco moniker Michael had made his debut in the ring at 17 as Coconut and his sister Helen as Cocotina cocos being the Spanish word for grinning face and applied to the coconut because of the three marks on its shell 7 Michael s Coco the Clown was inducted into the International Clown Hall of Fame in 1991 As well as Michael Poliakoff had five other children with wife Valentina Helen Nadia Sascha Olga and Tamara Tamara was the founder along with her husband Ali Hassani of the first circus in the United Kingdom not to use performing animals References Edit a b Coco the Clown 1900 1974 National Fairground and Circus Archive The University of Sheffield Retrieved 28 June 2020 IT HAPPENED TO ME COCO THE CLOWN British Film Institute Archived from the original on 19 April 2012 Woodnewton Church St Mary www robschurches moonfruit com Geograph Resting Place of Coco the Clown C Kokai www geograph org uk B NAI B RITH DINNER FOR NEW PRESIDENT JEWISH FRIENDSHIP CLUB VISITS COCO THE CLOWN VISIT Yorkshire Film Archive www yorkshirefilmarchive com Retrieved 7 August 2020 Michael Polakovs 15 December 2009 ISSN 0307 1235 Retrieved 25 January 2019 Michael Polakovs 15 December 2009 via www telegraph co uk Books EditNicolai Poliakoff Coco the Clown by himself London J M Dent amp Sons Ltd 1941 Nicolai Poliakoff Behind My Greasepaint London Hutchinson amp Co 1950 David Jamieson Bertram Mills The Circus That Travelled By Train Buntingford Aardvark Publishing 1998 ISBN 1 872904 11 4External links EditNational Portrait Gallery s 1935 photograph Poliakoff s grave in Woodnewton Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Nicolai Poliakoff amp oldid 1129141007, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
