Yevgeni Morgunov
| Yevgeny Morgunov | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Yevgeny Alexandrovich Morgunov April 27, 1927 Moscow, USSR |
| Died | June 25, 1999 (aged 72) |
| Occupation | actor, screenwriter |
| Years active | 1948-1998 |
| Awards | Meritorious Artist of Russian SFSR (1978) |
Yevgeny Alexandrovich Morgunov (Russian: Евге́ний Алекса́ндрович Моргуно́в; April 27, 1927 – June 25, 1999) was a Soviet and Russian actor, film director, and script writer, Meritorious Artist of Russian SFSR (1978).
He started out as a worker in a Moscow factory, but - "a little naive and obsessed with becoming an actor" - he wrote a letter to Joseph Stalin about his dream. Morgunov reportedly received a reply from Stalin that said that a place was allocated for him in the acting class at the State Institute of Cinematography. Morgunov launched his film career while still a student.
Yevgeny Morgunov was one of Russia's leading comic actors. "Plump and bald," Morgunov often "represented a traditional character of Soviet satire - Byvaly, or Experienced, a slightly dull, strong-built drunk whose attempts to commit petty crimes always failed."
Although his acting career was not limited to comedies, he was best known for his work in a comic trio in a series of films by Leonid Gaidai, with Yuri Nikulin as Fool (Balbes), and Georgy Vitsin as Coward (Trus). Their best-known films together were Operation Y and Other Shurik's Adventures and Prisoner of the Caucasus, or Shurik's New Adventures. Morgunov's character named Experienced (Byvaly) was always the "tight-lipped and aggressive leader of the group". Reportedly, "the three symbolized exactly what Soviet men were not supposed to be - drunk, unemployed and inclined toward mischief." In one of the legendary scenes in Prisoner of the Caucasus Experienced gives lessons on how to dance the twist - by putting out cigarette butts with his feet.
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