Soviet Clown Wants to Defect, Lawyer Says

A Moscow Circus clown left his Soviet troupe earlier this week in Nevada and is seeking asylum in the United States, as well a job with a circus here, an attorney who represents him said Thursday.

The clown, Sergei Uhanov, “is alive and well and happy and he is in the process of applying for political asylum,” said lawyer Michael Ross.

Ross would not reveal his client’s whereabouts, but a San Francisco restaurateur said the lawyer and the clown dined in his establishment two nights this week.

Uhanov was a member of the Moscow Circus, which had been performing at Bally’s Casino Resort in Reno. Uhanov was last seen after Sunday night’s performance, the circus’ final one on a U.S. tour.

When Uhanov failed to make the bus that took the performers to the Reno airport Monday, other performers packed his belongings and took them to the airport, assuming he would show up late for their flight to New York, according to circus promoter Bill Franzblau.

But Uhanov missed the flight, and on Wednesday Franzblau filed a missing person’s report with the Reno Police Department.

“The only picture we had (to give police) was of a man with size 22 shoes and a big plastic nose,” said Franzblau, who is based in New York and organized the circus’ U.S. tour.

U.S. Immigration and Naturalization officials said they had received no asylum request from the clown or his lawyer. Spokeswoman Virginia Kice would not say whether the would-be defector will have a harder time gaining asylum in this era of improved U.S.-Soviet relations.

“All asylum claims are taken on a case-by-case basis, and we won’t comment any further,” Kice said.

A phone call to the Soviet Consulate in San Francisco was not returned.

Franzblau said the troupe came to the United States last November and spent three months in Reno and Las Vegas in a tour that ended Sunday.

“We never had a problem with Sergei,” Franzblau said. “Sergei was always where he was supposed to be when he was supposed to be there.”

Uhanov was part of a two-clown act. Franzblau said, “His partner knows nothing about what might have happened. He is concerned for his friend and for his act. Either he has to find a new partner or we have to find a new clown act.”

Attorney Ross, of Carson City, Nev., would not say how he met Uhanov or where the clown would be seeking asylum. He said he plans to keep Uhanov out of the limelight until after the legal papers have been filed with the INS.

“Quite frankly we are concerned about his safety,” Ross said.

“He doesn’t know where he will live,” the attorney added. “He does want to seek work in the United States doing what he did in the circus, which is being a clown.”

In San Francisco, Lloyd Wiborg, owner of Scott’s Seafood restaurant on Lombard, not far from the Soviet Consulate, said Ross brought Uhanov into the restaurant on Monday and Tuesday.

Wiborg said that when Ross told patrons about the clown’s plans, “We rallied around him, bought him beer, gave him cheers.” The restaurateur said he offered Uhanov a Bulgarian beer. The clown asked for a Budweiser.

Times researchers Michael Meyers and Norma Kaufman contributed to this story.