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'Chipmunk,' the UES Bartender Who Inspired 'The Deer Hunter,' Dies

By Shaye Weaver | October 12, 2016 8:40am
 Nikanor Chebotarevich, known as "Chipmunk," died on Oct. 5, friends say.
Bartender 'Chipmunk' Dies
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UPPER EAST SIDE — An Upper East Side bartending legend who was the namesake for Christopher Walken's character in the classic movie "The Deer Hunter" died on Oct. 5 after a series of health issues.

Nikanor Chebotarevich was 76.

Close friends say Chebotarevich, better known as "Chipmunk," was a straight-shooting patriot and a bartending king who brought people together during his tenure at several Upper East Side bars, including Hudson Bay, Churchill's, Wicked Wolf and, finally, Iggy's.

While working at Wicked Wolf in the 1990s and early 2000s, Chebotarevich "held court" over the saloon, which was then a hangout for FBI agents, police officers, reporters and gangsters, his friends told DNAinfo New York on Tuesday. 

During those days, Chebotarevich became the man you wanted on your side.

"Chipmunk was in charge," said longtime friend Dan Mahoney, a retired NYPD captain and novelist who has penned eight detective novels, all featuring a characterized version of Chebotarevich.

"He was friends with the big shots in the NYPD and the FBI. If he said somebody was 'OK' they were 'OK.' But if you got barred from his bar, you couldn't drink any other place on the east side. You'd have to take two cabs to get a drink."

Chebotarevich was born in Belarus and immigrated to the U.S. with his parents during World War II. He grew up in Flushing and was a lover of film, said former FBI supervisor and friend Tim Rembijas.

Chebotarevich’s friend and roommate, Michael Cimino, would later become a director and name a main character, Cpl. Nikanor "Nick" Chevotarevich, after him in the 1978 film "The Deer Hunter.” Christopher Walken won an Academy Award for the role.

When he wasn't serving “Agent Orange" cocktails with Grand Marnier, Chebotarevich would easily introduce police officers to FBI agents, point out "the biggest pot dealer in the neighborhood" and tell someone to take a hike because they were too drunk, according to John Harney, a friend and New York Times editor.

Rivalries between FBI agents and local police would be cooled off by Chebotarevich, Harney said. 

"They couldn't argue with each other when they were with Chipmunk,” he said.

Chebotarevich was devoted to his adoptive country, friends said. He not only served in the military but loved to support those in public service, even in how he dressed. He had a signature style, friends said. 

Chebotarevich was always in a black vest festooned with FBI and NYPD pins, friends said.

"He was a very unusual guy," said Rembijas, who met Chebotarevich in 1985 at Hudson Bay.

"Someone told me, 'You'll know he's accepted you if he kisses you on the forehead at some point at the end of the evening.' Sure enough, he did."

“Chipmunk” is also featured in all of Mahoney's books as the "oracle," or the wise, all-knowing bartender who always "has the information and connections, knowing what is really happening in the case," Mahoney said. 

"Every time I wrote myself into a corner, it was Chipmunk who pulled me out of it,” he said.

 ► READ: Iggy's New York Owner Dies Of Massive Heart Attack at Age 52

It was Chebotarevich’s kindness toward all that really attracted people to him, his friends said. Not only was he welcoming to newcomers, but he supported his friends by helping them when he could and stayed loyal to those who valued his friendship.

"He's been gone a couple of days and I can’t get him off my mind," Mahoney said. "If you knew Chipmunk, things couldn’t really go too bad for you, and he was just a bartender."

Chebotarevich, who was married to Jeane Turner, was memorialized Sunday at the John Krtil Funeral Home at East 70th Street. 

Even in death, Chipmunk was still Chipmunk. He was laid out at the visitation in his trademark black leather vest holding in his hand a small bottle of Grand Marnier.