How was the entertainer Nicolai Poliakoff better known?
Nicolai Poliakoff Nicolai Poliakoff Nicolai Poliakoff OBE (2 October 1900 – 25 September 1974) () () was the creator of Coco the Clown, arguably the most famous clown in the UK during the middle decades of the 20th century. Technically, Coco is an Auguste, the foolish character who is always on the receiving end of buckets of water and custard pies. The auguste often works with the more clever white-faced clown, who always gets the better of him. Poliakoff was born in 1900 to a Jewish family in (today Daugavpils), Latvia which was then part of the Russian Empire. His parents worked
Nicolai Poliakoff in the theatre when Nicolai was born, but both lost their jobs a few years later, and to survive, Nicolai started busking from the age of five. Poliakoff died in Peterborough Hospital on 25 September 1974, after a short illness, and was buried in Woodnewton, in Northamptonshire, England. His eldest son, Michael, a longtime circus "Producing Clown", creator of a much imitated "soap gag" entree, and the Clown who designed the post 1960's Ronald McDonald, was by then already using the "Coco" moniker. Michael had made his debut in the ring at 17, as "Coconut" and his sister Helen as