When his half-hour “Morning Mail” program was broadcast every Sunday at 10 o'clock, the streets of Soviet cities were deserted. After all, perhaps this was the only music and entertainment program in the Soviet Union where one could watch young and modern music. And not just the same – always honored or national – artists replace each other. And only Morning Mail was bold, bright and discovered new talents, something that in the mid-70s – early 80s that all others did not dare to do. It was in “Morning Mail” that for the first time the entire Soviet Union showed “Earthlings”, “Jolly Fellows”, sparkling “Forum”, “Banana Islands” and even “Bravo” with soloist Zhanna Aguzarova, who in the early 80s liked to kneel even on Central – official (!) – television.
The Morning Mail was hosted from 1975 until the late '80s by the Pushkin Theater's benevolent, friendly, handsome and always fashionably dressed actor Yury Nikolaev. Viewers were amazed – how could he push new talented artists onto the airwaves in years when rock music was practically banned, or at least discouraged?! Maybe thanks to his kind smile and friendliness, even the most conservative censors are no longer strict and unapproachable?!
That's right, at that time, Yury Nikolaev was the only one and his program was unique! And the feeling that the on-screen presenter is a friend of all television viewers was also the feeling that was first created in those years by Yuri Nikolaev, who gradually had more and more students. And the artists know that he does not tolerate opportunism and hackwork, he will not put nonsense on the air, no matter how much his superiors pressure him…
All this makes the presenter nervous, but it is tested in practice – once a group or soloist sings in “Morning Mail”, by evening they will become famous throughout the vast country. Now there are no such effective and benevolent programs on TV anymore. And on November 4, Yury Nikolaev also died. He will turn 77 in December…
In recent months, the TV presenter has been battling a serious lung disease. November 4, had to be hospitalized urgently. Doctors diagnosed the boy with severe pneumonia and low blood saturation. And doctors failed to save the People's Artist of the Russian Federation…
How “The Man Who Talked” Helped Him
Yury Nikolaev was born in 1948 in Chisinau, into a military family. In high school, I became interested in theater and started joining the drama club. And as a result, at the age of 13, he was invited to television for the first time as a participant in the program “Men's Talk”. He became a good storyteller and his friends considered him a good and kind guy. Perhaps that is why, at the age of 17, Nikolaev went to Moscow and on his first attempt entered the acting department of GITIS. And he was invited to work in the theater quickly, even early by conventional standards – even while studying in his fourth year at the institute. And then he started to get lucky. But isn't it wonderful when good people get lucky?
For example, this is how Nikolaev joined the troupe of the Pushkin Theater: he came across him with a friend. He was a bit proud that he knew everything about everything. He said that a young actor who was supposed to play the lead role in the new play “Big Mama” recently left the theater. The friend even joked: “Come in, maybe they will take you away?”
As they say, “he took it weakly.” Well, Nikolaev is not weak in many ways – he is famous for being a determined guy. And then, in a daring move, he entered the theater, presented himself to the director and was immediately cast in the main role. It seems like this shouldn't happen, right? But it happened to him! By the way, Yuri's co-star in the play was Vera Alentova, who later became recognized for many roles, and especially in the film “Moscow does not believe in tears”…
And Nikolaev is also often invited to the movies. He played in “Big Stages”, in the hit serial “Walking Through Torment”… But then television still pulled him away…
Women all loved him and saved him
Yes, perhaps there are not enough good, kind and charming people who bring light and warmth everywhere. Both in the theater and in the cinema. And even on television. In 1974, Nikolaev was noticed by famous broadcaster Igor Kirillov at a certain event. He appreciated that and called me on TV. Nikolaev later admitted: “In the theater I received 85 rubles, but here they immediately offered 150 rubles.” They invited him to be a broadcaster, but then they quickly realized that this guy could not only read other people's text, but also think and create an atmosphere in the frame. And at first he was invited to the children's program “Go, boys” and when they began to create “Morning Mail”, he was initially considered the host.
Fame came big, along with money, the opportunity to buy a car and the first apartment in Moscow. He used to have a lot of friends. And now it has become unfathomable. In 1978, he even went on air while “drunk.” I thought they wouldn't notice. But on the contrary, under the spotlight, I was lucky. They wanted to fire him with a “wolf ticket”, but suddenly the strict chairman of the Soviet State Radio and Television Company Sergei Lapin intervened. He said: “We will punish you severely, but we will not kick you out!” Everyone was surprised: this was not the habit of the “first” of Soviet television.
The reason turned out to be very simple: Nikolaev really liked the daughter of one of the high-ranking rulers. And he was forgiven. But in 1983, the presenter still gave up alcohol… He again hosted the Morning Mail program, but in 1991, Yuri Nikolaev still left television and opened his own company, Unix. For the implementation of his second major project, we can also be very grateful to him – the music competition “Morning Star” for children. Now he is on the air as a producer and host.
And then he organized the next show dedicated to talents – “Property of the Republic”. He acted in movies again but then returned to television…
It is interesting to recall the roles and programs of Yury Nikolaev. After all, he was always the person from whom I wanted to learn his kindness, the art of understanding people, and his bright, encouraging smile. May he remain the same in our memories.
