Nazarova Margarita Petrovna (November 26, 1926, selo Detskoye, Leningrad Governorate — October 25, 2005, Nizhny Novgorod) was a Soviet singer, film actress, tiger trainer, and circus performer. People's Artist of the RSFSR. She gained wide, nationwide fame in the USSR for her lead role in the film comedy "Striped Voyage" (1961). She is buried in Nizhny Novgorod, where the city circus bears her name.[1]

Career in Circus and Film

Nazarova performed with tigers and bears; audiences adored her acts, and the trainer herself was called the "queen of tigers" and the "princess of the circus." Together with her husband she created the act "Tigers, Lions, Bears, Horses," which was shown in the Gorky circus ring from 1967 to 1969; after her husband's death Nazarova continued touring and ended her career in 1983.[2] Nazarova's first performances in Gorky date to 1955. By then she was already working with tigers, walking them on a leash, taking them for rides in a car, and swimming with them in the river; these stunts later made their way into the film "Striped Voyage."[3][2] Early in her career Nazarova worked as a stunt double in the films "The Tiger Tamer," "Dangerous Trails," and "An Incident in the Taiga."[2] Nazarova's creative career began in the postwar years in Riga, in the troupe "Circus on Stage": she worked as a ballerina, served in a traveling operetta theater, assisted animal trainers, and performed as a motorcycle racer.[2] Her role in the film "Striped Voyage" made her famous throughout the USSR.[1]

Final Years and Legacy

Margarita Petrovna died in her 79th year, in poverty and solitude, and was buried at the The Cemetery in Fedyakovo in Nizhny Novgorod.[1] In 2016, a Russian television series, "Margarita Nazarova" (directed by K. Maksimov), was released, dedicated to her life.[1] In December 2017, the circus in Nizhny Novgorod was named after Margarita Nazarova. Nazarova's circus dynasty is carried on by her son and granddaughter.[2] In 2016, a memorial plaque was unveiled on the facade of the Nizhny Novgorod building where the animal trainer lived. The plaque was installed for Margarita Nazarova's 90th birthday at Sovnarkomovskaya Street.[4] A marble bust of the performer has been installed in the Nizhny Novgorod circus, The initiative to erect a monument to Nazarova near the Nizhny Novgorod circus for her 100th anniversary was put forward by a branch of the Russian State Circus Company, the Nizhny Novgorod State Circus, and the regional branch of the Union of Cinematographers of Russia.[4] and the exhibition holds authentic copies of the scripts for "Striped Voyage" and "The Tiger Tamer".[3][2][1]

More precisely, her burial place is the Alley of Heroes of the Fedyakovo Cemetery in Kstovsky District of Nizhny Novgorod Region.[4]

Sources

  1. GIPERNN — Nazarova's circus career began after the Great Patriotic War: she performed as a ballerina on the variety stage, served in a touring operetta theater, worked as an assis
  1. Open Nizhny — Nazarova first performed in Gorky in 1955; later she presented here the act "Tigers, Lions, Bears, Horses," created together with her husband Konstantin
  1. Living in Nizhny — Nazarova's creative career began in the postwar years in Riga, in the "Circus on Stage" troupe: she worked as a ballerina, served in a touring operetta theater, and
  1. nashi-dni.su — Margarita Petrovna Nazarova (November 26, 1926, village of Detskoye, Leningrad Governorate — October 25, 2005, Nizhny Novgorod) (archive)