[1][2] He was a People's Artist of the USSR and a Hero of Socialist Labour, and was the teacher of the famous Russian clowns Oleg Popov and Yuri Nikulin.

[3][4] Rumyantsev was born in Saint Petersburg, and had two younger siblings, brother Kostya and sister Lena.

[3] Starting his career in the circus arena as the imitator of Charlie Chaplin, Mikhail Rumyantsev then abandoned it for, or rather, transformed that part into his would-be renowned image of Karandash always accompanied with his hallmark Scottish Terrier named Klyaksa (which means blot).

[6] During World War II, Rumyantsev toured on frontiers and mocked fascist forces to raise soldiers’ morale.

[7][9] Altogether, Karandash had worked in the circus for 55 years, the last time he appeared in the arena was just two weeks prior to his death.