Mikhail Shuidin the clown — biography of Yuri Nikulin's partner

09/27/2024 marked the 102nd anniversary of the birth of Mikhail Shuidin, a Soviet clown and acrobat, an eccentric, Honored Artist of the RSFSR. The man is outstanding. He bravely defended his Homeland during the Great Patriotic War, burned in a tank 13 times, and fought for six months to survive. He made a significant contribution to the overall victory over fascism. After the Second World War, he graduated from the circus school, and after that he became a permanent partner of Yuri Nikulin.

Childhood and school years

Mikhail Ivanovich Shuidin was born in the village of Kazachye in 1922 (today Shchekinsky district of Tula region). The family was simple: the father worked as a shepherd, the mother as a factory worker. The boy lost his father early. After his death, he moved with his mother closer to Moscow — to Podolsk.

Mikhail Shuidin grew up as an active and inquisitive child. During his school years, he mastered playing the domra, percussion musical instruments, and participated in various amateur art events.

His dream was to become a gymnast. Following it, he persevered in acrobatics and acting. In 1938, at the factory apprenticeship school, he studied to become a locksmith. In 1941, he entered the Circus art College in Moscow. There were a lot of goals, but all the plans were thwarted by the Great Patriotic War, which broke into every family and turned life upside down before and after.

Life during the Great Patriotic War and the exploits of Mikhail Ivanovich

In May 1942, Mikhail was drafted into the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, after which he was sent to a tank school, from which he graduated with honors. After training, Shuidin was sent to a tank brigade with the rank of lieutenant. A year later, he commanded the T-34 tank. Mikhail Shuidin took part in the battles of Stalingrad, Rostov-on-Don and Matveev Kurgan, where our military suffered heavy losses. He has many brave battles and victories to his credit. His tank platoon performed its first and only feat: independently, without artillery and infantry support, it crossed the Vilia River. The Soviet military managed to capture the bridgehead, and then held it for about a day and a half until support arrived.

From the memoirs of Mikhail Ivanovich: "We held a bridgehead near the town of Smorgon (Belarus), we expected help, but it was still not there. The Fascists began to pull together military forces to attack at night. Time passed, but the enemy did not advance. Later, a captured German soldier said that his comrades listened to the tankers' conversations: Shuidin read Zoshchenko's stories to his comrades, and they laughed loudly. Such fun confused the enemies: the Germans decided that the Russians were not panicking, because they had a lot of strength to give a decent rebuff to the attack."

After the arrival of support, the tankers rushed to attack Smorgon. Danilov and Shuidin's tanks were the first to attack. The enemy was defeated. The tankers demonstrated bravery and courage, however, they were not even presented with the award.

In August 1944, Mikhail Ivanovich's Sherman was shot down by enemies. The combat vehicle burst into flames, but Mikhail managed to get out, found the strength to crawl to the rear. He was badly burned, but it was lucky that the paramedics found him by chance. Shuidin was sent to the rear hospital. For half a year he was fighting to survive. Severe burns left scars on his face and hands, the joints on his fingers lost their mobility, and his eyesight dropped sharply. But Mikhail Ivanovich Shuidin did not give up: he studied, developed joints, was able to partially recover and achieve disability relief.
Mikhail had many exploits, but he did not receive the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. The documents for the award were collected, but one of the officials decided that the soldier was awarded only the Order of the Red Banner, so his candidacy was rejected.

Post-war years and career
Mikhail Ivanovich could not become a gymnast: due to serious wounds in the war, he could not perform complex acrobatic tricks. But the dream of working in the circus still did not leave the artist. Then he decided to become a clown. Later, he explained his desire: "During the war years, people suffered a lot, and I wanted to make their lives happier."

After the end of the war, Mikhail took part in circus routines. He read humorous stories, made up during breaks and performed clowning in front of the public. However, it soon became clear that such a hack was not serious, it could ruin his talent, destroy him as an artist. It was decided to enroll in the circus studio of the famous clown Pencil. The competition was huge, but we managed to get in. Here Mikhail Shuidin met Yuri Nikulin. Mikhail Rumyantsev organized their duet.

Soon clowns became popular, they visited almost all corners of the USSR. Mentor Mikhail Rumyantsev constantly praised Shuidin, noted his talent and said that he really felt the circus. But soon Mikhail decided to leave the circus studio of the Pencil. There were two reasons for this: the management has not raised the stakes for a long time, and the artist is tired of going to the students. Nikulin followed him. Soon their clown duo appeared together. In it, Shuidin played the role of a provocateur, and Nikulin was a simpleton who got caught for the tricks of a comrade.

Mikhail Shuidin's career: ups and downs

The clown duo "Misha and Yurik" quickly became popular due to the exaggerated comic acting and incredible charisma of the artists. All the reprises are a collaboration between Mikhail and Yuri. Besides, they often had to improvise. Shuidin was a jack of all trades: he basically made all the props for the rooms himself.

"Misha and Yurik" visited different cities of the USSR, traveled almost the whole world with their repertoire. Each tour was phenomenal — almost everyone wanted to go to the clowning, which is why the halls were crowded, there were not enough places for everyone. The actors had to organize additional performances.

Soon, Yuri Nikulin began acting in films, and his acting career began to gain momentum quickly. The audience began to come to the clowning more because of the meeting with the "movie star". Nikulin was showered with applause, and after the performances he received more compliments and attention. In addition, in 1963 he received the title of Honored Artist, and Mikhail much later — in 1969. Due to his busy schedule, Yuri increasingly missed tours, and in 1981 he left the arena altogether. The clown duo existed for 30 years.

After his 60th birthday, Nikulin ended his career as an artist, after which he became a circus director, and then a director. Mikhail Shuidin did not have the opportunity to leave the arena with the same ease. He continued to act out performances in the clown genre with his new partner— his son Vyacheslav.

Mikhail Ivanovich Shuidin has toured abroad— visiting many countries, including America, Australia, England, Japan, France, and Sweden. He has appeared in films and documentaries.
In the last years of his life, Shuidin found it increasingly difficult to perform: age and lung disease affected. Soon Mikhail developed cancer. The last time he entered the arena was in 1983, a few days before his death. He died on August 24 in Moscow. At that time, not a single newspaper wrote about the death of the famous clown.

A monument has been erected in honor of Shuidin and Nikulin in Kursk next to the circus building. People said that they wanted to put a monument to Mikhail Ivanovich Shuidin next to the circus in Tula, but for some reason they did not support the initiative.

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