From the JC archive: October 4 1974

Russian clowns hit the west 

Gregory Fedin, and his wife Nina Krasavina, for over a decade the leading clown team with the Russian State Circus are now trying to resetablish their careers in the west. Gregory and Nina decided to leave Moscow for both professional and personal reasons. ‘Working, conditions at the circus had -become completely unacceptable,” recalled Gregory, while rehearsing in Los Angeles for their first American television appearance. “We couldn’t even do acrobatic stunts without approval, and all skits had to be submitted to a committee.” There was  also Gregory’s special problem as the son of a Jewish father. “It was always complicated for Jewish performers and now it is worse,” noted Nina. 

Coco the Clown dies

 England’s  best-known circus clown, Coco, whose real name was Nicolai Polakovs, died last week in a Peterborough Hospital. He was born, of Jewish parents, in the tiny village of Besenkovic, near Dvinsk, Latvia. His father was a cobbler by day and a props manager in the local theatre at night, and Coco first saw the light of day in one of the dressing rooms. The Polakovs family went through some hard times. One night, while his father was away and there  was no food in the house, Coco, aged five, slipped quietly out, made for a Turkish cafe, and asked for a job. They let him sing and two Russian officers who heard him were so delighted that they took him to their mess to perform at a concert. Polakovs became an accomplished performer in a variety of circus roles, from high-wire to trick cycling, but specialised as an Auguste, the baggy-costumed clown who is victimised by mischievous fellow clowns.