It’s not easy to become a circus legend. But Nazarova Margarita, even in the most difficult moments in her life, went only forward. That is why she achieved the desired goal and thundered throughout the Soviet Union not only as a beautiful woman, but also as the owner of a very dangerous profession - a tiger trainer. What were the ups and downs of the artist’s life and how did she die?
Childhood
Margarita Nazarova was born near Leningrad in 1926. The girl’s father was a forester, so she spent all her childhood outdoors. In addition to Rita, the family had two more girls - Galya and Vera.
It is noteworthy that friendship with wild animals at Margarita began from an early age. When she was still a child, her father brought them to the guardhouse of a little bear cub whose mother died. So Rita three months before the youngster was given to the zoo, taught him to dance. An unusual hobby for the girl ... It was then that the future trainer received her first injury due to the fault of a wild beast - the bear rinsed her hand.
Nazarova always spoke warmly about that period of her life. A little later, already being a schoolgirl, Margarita became interested in ballet. She studied at the Pioneer House and dreamed of dancing on the big stage. But war broke out.
Life in Germany
At the age of 15, the very young Rita witnessed one of the most bloody wars in the whole world - the Second World War. Her father was called up, and her mother moved to the small town of Pavlovsk. There, the family, like millions of other Russian people, was starving.
The circumstances were such that on the day when a massive German offensive was announced, Nazarova Margarita, among other teenagers, was in a neighboring village. Everyone was evacuated, including the Rita family, and the girl was captured by the Germans. Soon she was sent to Germany.
Thanks to her external data, Nazarova first got into the house of the rich Germans as a maid, and then she was identified as a dancer in a cabaret. Undoubtedly, such a life was not without humiliation. But Margarita Petrovna never talked about what happened to her in Germany.
The liberation came in the 45th, when Russian troops came to Germany. That day usually began for the young dancer, but the performance did not take place: Soviet soldiers burst into the cabaret and Nazarova sighed in relief.
The first steps in the circus
So Nazarova Margarita returned home. She was lucky to find her family, but her father remained missing.
By the fall of the 45th, the girl independently prepared an acrobatic act and made sure that she was enrolled in the circus on stage troupe. Soon she had a partner, with whom she made a number filled with tricks, as well as containing elements of animal training. The first to cooperate were horses and dogs.
However, Nazarova was distinguished by a bright temperament and always wanted more from life - rooms with dogs did not suit her anymore. Just at that moment, a funny story happened that told the girl her future fate.
Nazarova accompanied her future husband - a trainer Konstantinovsky - on the set of the film “Case in the Taiga”. The situation got out of control, and a trained bear suddenly rushed at Konstantin Alexandrovich. Margarita Petrovna reacted instantly: she lured a she-bear with a can of condensed milk in a cage, and a clubfoot embraced her new acquaintance in revenge and did not let go for a long time. After that, Konstantinovsky realized that he would not find an assistant better than Margarita.
Work with tigers
The tamer Margarita Nazarova became such largely thanks to her husband - it was he who taught her the basics of training. The married couple spent days with their predatory pupils. Konstantinovsky did not give descent to his wife, because he knew: every time you come across a tiger, your life is at stake, so you need to be tough and adamant.
Margarita has justified the trust of her teacher. Soon Konstantinovsky had no doubts that his wife could work independently. Margarita has her own pupils: tigers Pursh, Rada, Achilles and Baikalochka. In 1954, this friendly company went to the set of the film "Dangerous Trails."
Nazarova was first present on the set as a trainer. By the way, she once again had the opportunity to help her husband out. One of the tigers decided not to obey orders and attacked Konstantinovsky. Nazarova stopped the beast in time, dousing it with ice water from a hose.
The creators of the picture appreciated the abilities of a beginner trainer and offered her a job as understudy in "Dangerous Trails." So Nazarova and her husband were in a cage with four Ussuri tigers and contributed to the shooting of probably the most exciting shots in Soviet cinema. And after the release of the picture on screens about the artist, the press first spoke.
Filming a movie
In the same 1954, Nazarova again appeared on the set.
This time she dubbed actress Lyudmila Kasatkina, who, in the story, was a trainer in the circus. Margarita managed to prove her professionalism by teaching her tigers not to be afraid of fire in record time. Only thanks to this it was possible to shoot spectacular episodes when predators jump through a ring of fire. After that, all the newspapers wrote that Nazarova was an amazing and at the same time the only woman in the USSR who was able to enter the cage of living tigers. After filming in the film, tiger tamer Margarita finally got the long-awaited place in the circus.
Then there were shootings in the famous comedy Striped Flight. This time Margarita Nazarova exulted: she got the main role, which she undoubtedly deserved. She dealt with her wonderfully, however, the professional actress
Galina Korotkevich had to voice her heroine Marianne
. After this film, Nazarova turned into a circus legend. It was difficult to find a more famous circus artist throughout the USSR.
Injuries
Margarita Nazarova, whose films were watched by the whole Union, the admiration of which the audience admired, only on stage could afford to put on a smile and carefree show trick by trick. In fact, this light hid a titanic work. And of course, serious injuries.
In 1955, one of the tigers made a jump over the artist’s head, the cabinet under it swayed, and the beast fell right on Margarita. The woman lost her scalp. The artist barely managed to save. It seemed that she would leave her profession, but the first thing Nazarov did after recovering was to come to her tigers.
After many years on tour in Germany, tigers got out of control and tore Nazarova’s arms and legs, but the tamer recovered every time and returned to the arena again and again.
Personal life
Margarita Nazarova, whose biography is worthy of becoming a script for an exciting film, first fell in love at 19. When she returned from Germany, she went to Riga with relatives. The girl dreamed of a scene, but she was not taken to the ballerinas. But the Daugavpils Theater agreed to hire Nazarov in the corps de ballet. It was there that the future trainer fell in love with one of the directors - Konstantin Konstantinovsky.
Konstantinovsky was an extraordinary man: they say that during the war he trained kamikaze dogs that blew up German tanks. But German soldiers are also not simpletons, over time they learned to get around the dogs. And once one of the pupils of Konstantinovsky returned to her master, safe and sound, and then an explosion occurred. As a result, the director had practically no soft tissue left on his right hand, and the bone was exposed.
This couple was considered one of the most spectacular in the Union. Nazarova probably loved her husband too much, which killed her. When Konstantinovsky died of brain cancer in 1970, Nazarova left the circus, closed in her apartment, and since then her life has changed dramatically.
Last days
Actress Margarita Nazarova first changed in character when her favorite, Pursh, died of diabetes. The actress considered herself guilty of his illness.
Tiger Margarita Nazarova did not even have time to get to the doctor, died on the way. But the problem was not even that: Nazarova always knew that Pursh was a reliable partner, that he would be able to protect her in difficult times. And now, without her striped protector, the trainer began to be afraid to enter the cage.
After some time, right on the operating table, Margarita's husband died, who was diagnosed with brain cancer. Although they have not gotten along lately, the artist loved Konstantinovsky - the father of her only son, comrade and mentor. When Konstantin died, the woman suffered a
nervous breakdown, and she ended up in a psychiatric hospital.
Nazarov no longer entered the cage with the tigers. For more than 20 years, she lived as a recluse in Nizhny Novgorod and saw only her son Alexei, as well as several colleagues on the stage. In 2005, the artist died at the age of 79.
The image of Margarita Nazarova on television and in the movies
Shortly after the artist’s death, a documentary about Margarita Nazarova was released on the Rossiya television channel. The picture presented unique shots from the home archive of the Nazarova-Konstantinovsky family. Also about the great tamer told several stories her son and colleagues.
And in 2015, a series about the life of Margarita Petrovna - “Nazarova” will be released. The main role in the film went to actress Olga Pogodina. Supporting roles will be performed by Andrey Chernyshev, Nikolai Dobrynin and Alexey Peskov.