Hero of Socialist Labor, People’s Artist of the Soviet Union, world famous and beloved clown Pencil is the creative pseudonym of the talented circus artist Mikhail Nikolayevich Rumyantsev.
He was born in St. Petersburg in 1901. His father worked at the Simmens and Halske factory (Electrosila). Mom was seriously ill for a long time. When Mikhail was six years old, his brother Konstantin was three years old, and his sister Lena was one year old, his mother died. Life has become hard and devoid of all colors.
Having hardly graduated from a comprehensive school, Mikhail enters art school. But study did not please the young man. He secretly dreamed of travels, battles, Indians. In 1914, the war began, and life became even more difficult, in addition, in 1917 the revolution broke out. Michael moved from one city to another in search of some work.
In 1922 he came to Staritsa, where he got a job in the city theater to write posters. But in those difficult times, attendance at the theater was very low, and by 1925 the fees had fallen so much that it became impossible to support the troupe. Later, he had the opportunity to work as a poster artist in the Tver movie theater, but the young man knew perfectly well that everything he did was just a way to survive and feed himself. The soul asked for something else ...
The situation changed dramatically after he managed to see the stars in Moscow
world cinema. The decision came immediately - he will be an actor.
The future clown Pencil enters to study at the Courses of the stage movement, which was led by V.I. Tsvetaeva. This helped him later begin his studies at the school of circus art, where he chose the class of acrobats, eccentrics. Clowning students were taught by theater actor M.S. Mestechkin, who will later become the director of the circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard.
A year passed, and Mikhail began to go to the arena with very small and not very interesting numbers. Being a modest man, in the circus arena he was too clamped. Colleagues advised him to take ready-made scenes of old clowns, but they did not know the young carpet artist well - he would not agree to play someone else's role for all the blessings of the world. He was looking for his image.
The decision came, as always, all of a sudden. Once in the program of the summer circus in Moscow, he went to the arena in a suit and make-up of Charlie Chaplin. Since 1930, Rumyantsev began to work independently in the Smolensk Circus. He always meticulously and strictly evaluated his performances. The clown pencil very soon realized how important the dynamics and pace of carpet work are.
Increasingly, the image of Charlie began to interfere with him, and he began to pick up a new suit and make-up. He "collected" his new image for a long time. The clown Pencil dreamed of making a four-legged friend, and one day they brought him a thoroughbred Scottish terrier. The dog really liked Mikhail Nikolaevich, and right there she was named Klyaksa. The clown Pencil and his faithful Blot were bright and memorable heroes in the arena.
The pencil is a "universal" clown, he owned various genres of circus art, which allowed him to parody a lot of numbers. M.N. Rumyantsev passed away on the thirty-first of March 1983.
Clown Pencil. His biography was, is and will always be an example for many young artists. An example of the greatest industriousness, complete dedication to a beloved spectator and unwavering fidelity to a once chosen business.