Fans of comedy films know this wonderful actor by sight. A master of jokes and funny pranks, Evgeni Morgunov will forever remain in the memory of the Russian audience Byvalym, one of the participants in the famous and inseparable criminal trinity, which for a long time did not leave television screens.
From the biography of Yevgeny Morgunov
Evgeny Aleksandrovich Morgunov was born on April 27, 1927 in Moscow. His childhood was the most ordinary. The boy enthusiastically played football in the yard, spent a lot of time with friends. Engaged in amateur art. His teenage years fell on the Great Patriotic War. Morgunov's father almost immediately went to the front, where he soon died.
Eugene had to help his mother. From the age of 14, he worked at a military factory, grinding workpieces for shells for 12 hours a day. For conscientious work during the war, Yevgeny Morgunov was awarded a diploma. But the actor himself believed all his life that in those days he did not do anything special.
Creative path of Evgeny Morgunov
Around the same years, Eugene became interested in cinema. He spent almost all his free money on going to the movies. Often, for the sake of another picture, Morgunov sacrificed his studies at school. Gradually, the desire to become a film actor ripened in him. He had experience in amateur performances. To this was added the work in the crowd at Mosfilm.
To fulfill the dream of an actor’s career was prevented by external circumstances: the director of the plant did not agree to let Evgeny go. Morgunov made a radical decision: he addressed a letter to Comrade Stalin himself. After a couple of weeks, an official paper came to the plant management, where a clear order was written: to send Yevgeny Alexandrovich Morgunov to work at the Chamber Theater. So Eugene became a student of the director Alexander Tairov.
In the theater, Morgunov spent about a year. Basically, he got episodic roles. Over time, Eugene realized that even experience in the theater would not be able to fill the lack of acting education. The young actor submitted documents to VGIK. Having entered the university without much difficulty, Eugene studied under the guidance of the famous director Sergei Gerasimov.
From a young age, Evgeni Morgunov was distinguished by a spectacular appearance. Sergei Gerasimov invited the photogenic actor to play the role of the traitor Stakhovich in the tape "Young Guard".
The role of Morgunov was a success. There were rumors that they were planning to submit Yevgeny Aleksandrovich for the Stalin Prize for this work. But in the end, it was decided not to perpetuate the image of the traitor to the Motherland. After some time, additional facts were revealed that shed light on the role of Stakhovich. It was decided to bring the film in line with the new data. Many of the episodes in which the Morguns took part were cut out.
In the early 50s, for some reason, the actor was not trusted with big roles. Morgunov’s life was turned upside down by a meeting with Leonid Gaidai. The director was looking for someone who could play the role of one of the trinity of drinking buddy friends in a small humorous film. The director found Nikulin and Vitsin quickly. But the third place remained free. It just so happened that Yevgeny Morgunov was an ideal candidate for the role of Experienced.
As a result, the short film “Dog Watchdog and Unusual Cross” incredibly quickly glorified the whole trinity. The fame of the team was strengthened by the short film "Moonshine Drivers". After that, two more successful films with Coward, Dunce and Experienced followed. The legendary collective appeared even in the cartoon "Bremen Town Musicians". However, the trio broke up when the quick-tempered Morgunov had a fight with Gaidai.
After the restructuring, the actor did not find a place in the changed domestic cinema.
