In the Soviet period, the Baltic states were perceived by the inhabitants of the remaining regions of the vast country as a kind of foreign country. Actors, singers, musicians and media personalities from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia had many admirers far beyond the borders of their republics.
Among the representatives of the Baltic creative intelligentsia who enjoyed the greatest popularity is Urmas Ott. Biography, personal life and the cause of death of the TV presenter is devoted to this article.
early years
The Estonian journalist Urmas Ott was born in 1955 in the town of Otepää (Estonia). The boy’s father died early, and the mother raised her son and daughter alone, who were four years younger than her brother Urmas. Like most Soviet children, Ott went to kindergarten and then went to regular school. During his studies, he began to stand out among his peers by the desire to be the first in everything.
Having matured, Urmas became a Komsomol member. However, Western trends have already penetrated the youth environment. 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 did not graduate as brilliantly as he could with his abilities.
Student
Having received a certificate of maturity, Urmas Ott (photo above) became a student at the Talinsky Pedagogical University and at the same time began attending television journalism courses. After graduating from this university, the future TV presenter served in the army in a song and dance ensemble, where Urmas first sang, and then began to conduct army concerts.
In the early 1980s, Ott discharged himself and returned to the Estonian capital.
Carier start
Urmas Ott began working on 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 the program, the name of which in the Russian translation sounded like "The Alphabet of Variety." In 1984, he starred in the melodrama Two Couples and Loneliness, playing the role of one of the main characters.
All-Union Success
Ott came to fame when he came up with and began to lead the program "Television Acquaintance." Very soon, she became one of the highest rated on Estonian television. In the mid-80s, the Central Television of the USSR became interested in it. Soon the program could be watched regularly not only by residents of the Estonian SSR, but also by residents of the entire Soviet Union.
Ott did not consider his success outside the borders of his native republic to be logical and claimed that he was just lucky. Subsequently, the TV presenter claimed that he never considered himself able to compete on equal terms with the guys from Vzglyad or with Molchanov, and this was quite suitable for him.
"Television acquaintance"
This is the favorite brainchild of TV presenter Urmas Ott, whose biography is dedicated to this article, deserves a separate story. During the time that the program was broadcast on central television, the All-Union viewer was able to see 33 programs. Their heroes were such well-known representatives of the Soviet intelligentsia as Maya Plisetskaya, Evgeny Evstigneev, Heinrich Borovik, Viktor Tikhonov, Oleg Efremov, Irina Rodnina, Vladislav Tretyak, Svyatoslav Fedorov and many others.
However, there were those who did not want to participate in the Ott program. In particular, according to the recollections of the TV presenter, he was not able to make a release with Garry Kasparov, since he constantly refused. Urmas later invited Anatoly Karpov to Television Acquaintance. Then the world chess champion, who was acting at that time, was offended and told me everywhere that the Estonian TV presenter is a man of his eternal rival.
Career in the 1990s
From 1992 to 1998, Ott worked on Estonian television in the Carte Blanche program, and then returned to the screens of Russians and residents of the CIS countries, where RTR was broadcast, as the leading series of programs in the format of the interview “Urmas Ott with ...”. Recordings of the programs took place in the chic hall of the Prague restaurant. To the criticism regarding the choice of a meeting place with his guests, the host answered that he did not like to have a conversation at the dinner table. However, vodka is the best way to unleash the language even to those interlocutors who are very difficult to make contact.
In 1998, Urmas, who at that time was only 43 years old, had a first heart attack, and in 1999, bandits attacked the favorite of millions of viewers in the parking lot. As a result, Ott was stabbed nine times, he was treated for a long time and underwent rehabilitation.
last years of life
Urmas Ott (biography in his youth, see above) returned to work in 2001. He led the August Light broadcast, which was aired on Estonian television. Then he was again invited to Russia, where he worked on REN-TV as a commentator on the program “The best shows of the world with Urmas Ott”.
The latest project in the career of the TV presenter was the transfer of Happy Hour. She went from 2003 to 2006 on the private channel Kanal-2 in Estonia.
Terrible disease and tragic death
In 2006, the press became aware that Urmas Ott, whose biography was always of interest to his fans, was diagnosed with cancer. The host himself refused to comment on these messages and tried to continue to work at the same pace as he was used to. However, over time, leukemia began to progress, and Ott had to end his television career. Nevertheless, he not only continued to fight the terrible disease, but also broadcast “In the framework of decency” on Radio 4, the popular Russian-language channel of Estonian radio. His guests were such famous stars of Russian art as Alisa Freindlikh, Sergey Yursky, Diana Gurtskaya, Anastasia Volochkova and others.
In the summer of 2008, Urmas Ott managed to find a bone marrow donor. However, in October, he died of a second heart attack in a clinic at the University of Tartu.
Was there a personal life
Estonian TV host Urmas Ott did not tell anyone about his relationship with women. Officially, he was 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 spread about the personal life of the host.
The only thing that was known about what Urmas did outside television was his hobbies for tennis and walking, as well as his love of classical music. In particular, those who knew Ott well admired his magnificent and extensive collection of recordings of classical opera music.
Awards
Urmas Ott, whose biography is already known to you, in 1988 received the prize of the Soviet Union of Journalists of the Soviet Union for the series “Television Acquaintance” and was long considered the best interviewer in the USSR.
In 2005, the 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 “Emblem of the Sign”. This highest award of Tallinn marked the merits of Urmas in 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 was a co-owner of SE & JS.
Now you know who Urmas Ott is. His biography, cause of death and information about his television career are also known to you. It remains only to regret that this talented man passed away so early and was unable to realize all his creative plans.