[1] Leonid Utesov was brought up in Odessa, Russian Empire and attended the Faig School of Commerce, from which he dropped out and joined the Borodanov Circus troupe as an acrobat.

He started his stage career in 1911 in Kremenchuk, then returned to Odessa, changed his artistic name to Leonid Utesov, and performed as a stand up comedian with the Rosanov troupe and with the Rishelyavsky Theatre.

During the 1930s, Utesov and his band, called "Thea-Jazz" (a portmanteau of Theatrical Jazz) had a regular gig at the Marble Hall of the Kirov Palace of Culture in Leningrad.

During World War II, Utesov performed on the front lines, helping lift the spirits of the Soviet soldiers fighting against the Nazis.

... Utesov – musically far less gifted – was actually more popular than Tsfasman, partly because of the spectacular success of his comedy film Happy-Go-Lucky Guys, but mostly because his Odessa background and his circus and carnival road experience on the southern borscht belt gave him a clowning manner.