Nicknamed experienced. Widow of Evgenia Morgunova Women of Evgenia Morgunov

Evgeny and Natalya Morgunov.

It was as if Evgeny Morgunov was playing himself in the movie. A big, slightly clumsy, joker and joker, he could turn even the most serious matter into a joke. Many did not understand his jokes and turned away from the actor. And only faithful, understanding, loving Natasha was always there.

Telephone dating

Evgeny Morgunov in his youth.

One day in Evgeniy Morgunov’s apartment there was a phone call. The girl, timid and hesitating, asked Professor Kotov to speak to the phone. Evgeniy, accustomed to making pranks out of the most insignificant events, immediately got his bearings. He became the very professor whom the girl asked. He wrote down the girl's phone number and scheduled her to retake the next day. But the only problem was, he didn’t know what institute his subscriber was studying at.

The next day Natasha came home from the institute, not understanding anything. She did not find any professor at the department, and indeed no one was waiting for her. And in the evening a bell rang in her apartment. The same voice she heard yesterday apologized. Evgeny Morgunov explained that he did not know where he had to go to see a girl with such a pleasant voice.
Natasha was not just upset, she was angry for such an unsuccessful prank. And even the name of an actor already famous by that time did not soften her heart.


Natalya Morgunova in her youth.

But Evgeny was persistent. He decided for himself to call this intractable Natasha until she agreed to meet with him. And he called. Every evening he dialed the same phone number. Exactly until the girl agreed to meet him. She was interested in looking at the artist, whose name was known to almost every person in the Soviet Union. And he was so persistent in his persuasion.

It was love


Evgeny and Natalya Morgunov.

Of course, Natalya imagined the actor completely differently. She saw him as stately, handsome, graceful. It seemed to her that Experienced was just a role, and in life Evgeny Morgunov was not at all like that. But it turned out that he was exactly like that: plump, awkward, even clumsy. But how much love of life he had! He was 13 years older than Natalya. But due to his curiosity and keen interest in everything that was happening, he could easily give a head start to her peers. The girl repeatedly admitted later that, in comparison with Morgunov, all her acquaintances seemed insipid and uninteresting.

The girl’s parents were perplexed: why did she need this not too young man. But she saw in him an incredibly charming, extraordinary person with whom she could live life and at the same time not languish from boredom and routine. Soon Natalya and Evgeniy began to live together, and two years later they got married.

An artist's dream found


Evgeny Morgunov with his wife and sons.

Evgeny Morgunov was incredibly happy. His Natasha easily entered the circle of his friends and acquaintances. They noted that this intelligent, smart girl was able to make the actor’s long-standing dream of a family come true.
However, his wife was not jealous. Everyone knew Morgunov’s previous affair with Varvara Ryabtseva, famous ballerina. But Natalya, even after the wedding, did not interfere with their meetings, reasonably believing that a woman who was 26 years older than her could not compete with her, young and beautiful. Moreover, at one time Vava, as everyone called Morgunov’s passion, refused to give birth to her lover’s children, preoccupied with her own ballet career. And the young wife gave birth to Evgenia’s two wonderful sons, Nikolai and Anton.

Without the past there would be no present


Varvara Ryabtseva in "The Tale of Lost Time".

He did not forget his first love. Until the end of his days he took care of this eternal girl, to his Vava. But he cared more as a friend, even as a son. Varvara reminded him more and more of his mother, whom the actor respected and loved immensely. She never tried to return the love of her admirer. She knew exactly how important strong family relationships and chose to maintain his respect, care, and true friendship.

At the same time, he was known in the acting community as an exemplary family man. He carried everything he could home. His wife and children never lacked for anything. Family for him was a truly sacred and inviolable concept.


Morgunov family.

Natalya was practically an exemplary wife. She tirelessly cared for her boys - her husband and sons. She was happily busy in the kitchen to cook proper breakfast For her husband, who suffered from diabetes since his youth, she reminded him that it was time to take an insulin injection and ironed his shirts. The sons also never felt deprived of their mother’s care. This amazing woman had everything under control, she managed everything, was everywhere on time, helped everyone. And I always understood everything.

Her endless feminine wisdom was simply amazing. Not once in all this time family life she did not oppose her husband’s meetings with Varvara. She understood that this was important to him. Never caused a scandal. Evgeny Morgunov was immensely grateful to her for this understanding. And he never betrayed her trust.

All that's left is the memory


Evgeny Morgunov.

Over the years, diabetes increasingly oppressed the actor. It became more and more difficult for him to go on stage, his legs hurt more and more. He often appeared before the audience in soft slippers if the pain became completely unbearable. And he joked that a log fell on his foot.

However, it was not illness that dealt the fatal blow to the actor. In the summer of 1998 he younger son, Nikolai, fell asleep at the wheel of a car and crashed. But even in this situation, the immensely grieving Morgunov found the strength to become support for Natasha; he believed that it was much more difficult for her to survive the loss of a child.

At this time, Varvara Ryabtseva was already very bad. She almost never left the house. Morgunov came to her to entertain her with conversations until the morning. When Vava passed away, he himself organized her funeral to pay tribute to the memory of the one he once loved.

In June 1999, the great actor’s heart stopped beating. After his death, the story of his illegitimate daughter, who now lives in America. However, none of his colleagues or acquaintances can say for sure whether this is true or fiction.

Natalya Morgunova has been refusing to give any interviews for several years now. For her, Evgeny Morgunov forever remained beloved and loving husband and the father of her children. She continues to love him now, finding solace in communicating with her son and raising her grandchildren.

Gaidai had been looking for an actor with a colorful appearance for the role of Experienced in the film “Dog Barbos and the Unusual Cross” for a long time. Evgeny Morgunov caught the eye of Pyryev. He told him: “You are approved without trials.” And Pyryev’s word at Mosfilm was law. Morgunov was remembered this way - in the image of a fat parasite. In his first film - “The Young Guard” in the role of Stakhovich, he looked different - a tall, slender, handsome man. But soon Evgeniy was diagnosed with diabetes. The illness was the cause of his suffering, he recovered greatly, and, paradoxically, it was thanks to his fullness that he received the role that became his calling card.

“During the war, rations were meager, the boy often lived from hand to mouth,” says Natalya Morgunova, the actor’s widow. “Mom somehow got hold of a pack of butter.” Zhenya ate it all at once, without bread. And soon he was twisted and barely managed to be saved. So the metabolism is disrupted.

When he was young, the actor forgot to take insulin injections and loved to drink and eat well. Outwardly imperturbable, Morgunov loved practical jokes. He could, upon entering a restaurant, wave a red crust in front of the waiter’s nose and declare: “Seat me so that those guys over there don’t notice me, but I can see them clearly. And bring me something to eat.” He was mistaken for a KGB officer and carried out everything unquestioningly. Entering the trolleybus, the actor, making his way between the passengers, demanded to see their tickets, and after a couple of stops he got out, boarded another trolleybus, repeated the same trick and so got to his destination for free. Having starred in Gaidai’s first film, he could no longer joke and remain unrecognizable. But he was already allowed in everywhere without a queue.

The Coward, the Goon and the Seasoned were the most popular characters in the 60s Soviet cinema. Morgunov unwittingly became the culprit of their decline. During the filming of “Prisoner of the Caucasus,” he came to a working screening, accompanied by two girls. Gaidai ordered the strangers to leave. The director said it rudely. Morgunov, offended, did not obey. And, demonstrating his independence, he joked about the unsuccessfully filmed chase scenes: “Guys, you don’t catch mice!”

He repeated the demand without ceremony. And then Morgunov almost attacked him with his fists.

Gaidai deleted all subsequent scenes from the film related to Experienced.

Of the three, he was given the smallest fee. He received 25 rubles per day of filming, Yuri Nikulin - 50 rubles, and Georgy Vitsin - 40 rubles.

Morgunov also quarreled with Nikulin after another joke. Once he stood at the entrance to the circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard before the start of the performance and told all passing citizens that if they had housing problems, they could contact director Nikulin. After a dozen visitors, Nikulin, having learned at whose suggestion the people were attacking him, ordered not to let Morgunov enter the circus, saying: “We have enough of our own clowns!”

Best of the day

After Experienced, Morgunov acted rarely - in “Three Fat Men”, in “Ilf and Petrov Rode on a Tram”. New, dramatic facets of his talent were revealed in “Pokrovsky Gates”. But more often the actor made a living by traveling around cities with “Comrade Cinema” concerts.

His faithful wife helped him overcome illness and troubles at work. Until the age of 30, Morgunov lived in civil marriage with Bolshoi Theater ballerina Varvara Ryabtseva, she was 13 years older than him. Then, having married Natalya, he maintained friendship with ex-lover and helped her.

Morgunov doted on his sons. Although he understood parental duty one-sidedly, believing that the main thing was to clothe, put on shoes and feed. There was also a funny incident.

“Once he put the child in a stroller and drove her not in front, but behind him,” says Morgunova. “The son fell out, but Evgeniy Alexandrovich, lost in thought, did not notice. I woke up hearing passers-by shouting: “Citizen, you have lost your child!”

IN last years the actor could barely move. His wife even cut the elastic bands on his socks - they pressed and caused unbearable pain. He also cut his shoes; his swollen feet would not fit into them. Even at concerts he went on stage in slippers, joking: “On the way, a log fell on my foot.”

– For the last 15 years he lived, as they say, under the knife, doctors told him four times a year: “We’ll amputate his legs!” – says Natalya Nikolaevna. “He became very hot-tempered and even simply unbearable: rude, embittered. I forgave and endured, realizing that everything was caused by illness.

Morgunova was finally crippled by the death of her youngest son.

- Kolya drove high speed. His husband often scolded him for this, says the widow. “It was as if he had a presentiment of this tragedy.” Kolya, returning from his dacha to Moscow at night, fell asleep at the wheel and crashed into a tree.

When his son died, Evgeniy Alexandrovich fell into despair for the first time in his life. To escape the feeling of emptiness and loss, he tried to escape from home at the first opportunity - it was easier for him in public.

He was struck down by a stroke. Lying in the hospital, he joked: “You will never carry me out of here feet first, because I am not you!”

His wife, Natalya Nikolaevna, now lives with her granddaughter Evgenia. The actor always dreamed of his children and grandchildren becoming musicians. The girl plays the cello and is going to the conservatory.

“I have someone to live for, because I also have a son Anton and grandchildren, the eldest is 20 years old, and the youngest is 10,” she says.

“There are a lot of ridiculous rumors and gossip about Morgunov. And they forget that it was he who brought Sergei Bondarchuk into art, knocked out an apartment opposite the Kremlin for Bronevoy and was ready to come to the aid of anyone,” Vladimir Tsukerman, a friend of Yevgeny Morgunov, told AiF.

TRUTHFUL

— Morgunov was a straightforward person, he cut the truth straight in the face. He had a fight with the Ministry of Culture - because of this he was not given the next title, and Morgunov died as an honored, and not a people's artist. They deleted it from film dictionaries and refused to film it. We remember Evgeny Morgunov only for the role of Experienced, but he has more than 100 roles in his filmography! Yes, he got the roles of gendarmes, fascists, policemen, and some thugs. And he could play Churchill - there are photo tests of Morgunov for this role. Shpalikov wrote the role of the poet Demyan Bedny for him, but this did not work out either. They say that during the filming of Gaidai’s last film, which featured the famous trinity, “Prisoner of the Caucasus”, Gaidai had such a quarrel with Morgunov that he kicked him out right during filming and has not spoken to him since then.

“Their conflict arose over nonsense,” explains Vladimir Tsukerman (according to one version, Morgunov behaved incorrectly while watching filmed fragments of the film, where for some reason he brought his fans. - Ed.). — After that, Gaidai filmed only stunt doubles instead of Morgunov in “Prisoner of the Caucasus” - he wasn’t the one carrying the refrigerator anymore; there was also a stunt double at the wheel on Mount Ai-Petri. Gaidai himself later told me: “Bondarchuk brought Morgunov to me to make peace. Why put up? I don’t want to, this person doesn’t exist for me.”

After Gaidai, other directors tried to “reanimate” the troika - Eldar Ryazanov in “Give me a book of complaints” and Karelov in “Seven Old Men and One Girl,” but it was not the same.

ALL IN THE FAMILY

“Evgeny Morgunov was not a poor man,” continues Vladimir Tsukerman. — He lived in a four-room apartment on Krasnoproletarskaya Street in the center of Moscow. He had a wonderful family - two children, his wife Natalya Nikolaevna, who idolized him. They married in 1962. Before this, Morgunov lived with ballerina Varvara Ryabtseva, who was 10 years older than him. He did not stop communicating with Ryabtseva even after marriage. When she was completely old, he looked after her, carried medicine and food. The wife was not jealous, she was wise woman. (By the way, in this Morgunov to some extent repeated the fate of Georgy Vitsin. Vitsin at one time stole the wife of his teacher Nikolai Khmelev, people's artist THE USSR. Vitsin was then 19 years old, and his chosen one was 34 years old.) And Morgunov was a great family man. He brought everything to the family. He came to the director of the Ocean store during a period of total shortage and said: “Five jars of black caviar, five jars of red caviar and ten jars of crabs.” The director was surprised: “Why so much?” Morgunov shrugged: “Vitsin’s birthday is in four days.” - “And you know, a week ago Vitsin came and said the same thing about you...”

There are a lot of bad things being said about Morgunov now: they say that he had connections with crime; that he was jealous of his more sought-after colleagues in the industry, since he was rarely called for serious roles, and his own scripts, in which he dreamed of resurrecting the troika Coward - Dunce - Experienced, were turned down; that he drinks a lot, and when he has too much, he gets rowdy; that can, out of the blue, send a person to a known address. But few people remember that sometimes he was ready to break into pieces in order to help someone.

Yuri Nikulin, Evgeny Morgunov and Georgy Vitsin

Somehow under New Year Morgunov gathered a star team and went to Butyrka prison - the son of his friend, journalist Genrikh Sechkin, was imprisoned there. The actors gave a free concert, and only then the guy was transferred to a double cell in terrible conditions - in a crowded cell, the detainees could only stand, and slept in turns for 2 hours. Morgunov and Yakubovich went somewhere to the Far East to rescue a man from prison. He was always like this - once an unknown student Evgeniy Morgunov approached VGIK professor, the then famous director Sergei Gerasimov, with a request: “Sergei Apollinarievich, look at the soldier!” Gerasimov waved it off: “What soldier? The set is already finished! - “Well, look, listen, let him read something. It’s five minutes!” Gerasimov had mercy, listened, and took the soldier without exams. This soldier turned out to be Sergei Bondarchuk. It was Morgunov who gave Bronevoy an apartment opposite the Kremlin. Helped place someone's children in kindergarten, for someone to get a place in the hospital, for someone he brought food. Somehow Oleg Anofriev’s license was taken away. Morgunov found out about this and says to Anofriev: “Let's go to the head of the traffic police. He turns 50 today, let’s congratulate him and resolve the issue.” Anofriev refused: “Well, Zhenya, no need.” But Morgunov insisted. And so they came to the head of the Moscow traffic police, he already had mountains of flowers in his reception room. Morgunov grabbed the best bouquet from the vase and headed into the office. After 15 minutes, Anofriev had his license in his hands. Vitsin categorically forbade his daughter Natasha to come to Nikulin’s circus for free, only with purchased tickets. Morgunov wrote out countermarks for two faces, then drew on a single person and escorted 12 people to the management box.

WIFE'S FAVORITE

Morgunov loved to tease friends, colleagues and just passers-by.

“One day he got hold of red tickets somewhere, rode a tram, checked tickets,” recalls Vladimir Tsukerman. “At a stop, sometimes I lowered the horns of the trolleybus and said to the first person I came across: “Here, hold it, why are you standing there?!” He, naturally, held on, thinking that Morgunov was the driver. And Morgunov crossed to the other side and watched. At this time, the real driver already realized that something was wrong, got out of the cab and cursed the one who grabbed the horns. When Morgunov was still young and handsome, the wives of the generals loved him very much. Once at a banquet, several ladies pestered him: “Well, Zhenya, well, cut a small piece of the cake.” - "Don't want!" - "Oh please!" Then he cut off a small piece, left it, and took the rest of the cake and carried it away. He liked to tease traffic cops. One day he was driving a Zhiguli, he made a deliberate turn into oncoming traffic, and, of course, he was stopped. Then Morgunov shouted to the traffic cop: “Attention!” He saluted. Morgunov asked: “Well, did you violate it?” - “Violated.” - “At ease! I decided to test your vigilance." And I moved on. Another time, when a traffic cop stopped Morgunov, he lowered the window and said: “Come here, my dear! Here, shake Morgunov’s hand, Vitsin and Nikulin are riding behind. Filming!” The law enforcement officer even dropped the baton from his hands.

Evgeny Morgunov in the film “Big Attraction”

He joked, made puns, fooled around, but he himself was an incredibly smart and well-read person. He could play Brahms, Chopin, and Shostakovich without notes. When I had a presentation of the Museum of Three Actors, I dictated the address to Nikulin and Morgunov: “Come to General Berzarin Street...” Nikulin asked: “Who is this Berzarin?” And then Morgunov began to tell the general’s entire biography - where he was born, who he married, where he studied, on what fronts he fought.

Before the tour, he first studied the history of the city where he was supposed to go. Cemeteries, markets and local history museums- these are the first three places where he went, getting acquainted with local attractions. Once in Kemerovo after a concert, the car that was sent to pick up the actors was late. Everyone is standing, asking each other: “Who will take us?” Morgunov, without asking anything, suddenly pointed at the first person with a car parked near the concert venue: “Here is the driver!” The man became embarrassed: “Well, of course, I’ll take you there.” What are you talking about?" The “driver” turned out to be a KGB colonel from the department for combating organized crime in the highest echelons of power. Once Morgunov arrived in the Gorky region and immediately called the administration: “Greetings to you from Alexei Nikolaevich Kosygin. This is Morgunov, People's Artist, Member of the Bundestag. After me, Vitsin and Nikulin will come to you on tour, I will take care of it. Tomorrow at 10 am, please, to avoid any complications, bring three special rations - for me, Vitsin and Nikulin. I will report you to the right people." At 10 am the rations actually arrived. And on Far East Morgunov was given 8 kilograms of fish for his participation in the concert. He shook his head: “I have no right to take such an expensive gift from you, knowing that my friends Vitsin and Nikulin will not have such fish.” They gave him two more fish. Nikulin later complained: “At least he brought us a piece.” Evgeny Morgunov loved to eat, loved sweets, although he was not allowed all this. In his youth he began diabetes, and from a thin, handsome man with gorgeous hair, he turned into a big bald man.

“In fact, he could control himself when it came to food,” says Vladimir Tsukerman. “At Utesov’s wake he didn’t even drink a glass, he said: “I came to say goodbye to a friend, not to drink or eat.” And he sat there all evening, didn’t drink a single gram, didn’t eat anything. At VGIK, a fellow student of Morgunov once drew pictures of the future. Morgunov was portrayed as respectable a complete person. Everyone laughed, but after a short time he really became like that - he weighed 132 kg. At the end of his life, diabetes completely crippled him, and the death of his son broke him so much that he began to lose weight again (Morgunov’s youngest son Nikolai died in 1998 in a car accident. His father would survive him by only a year, having suffered two heart attacks and a stroke during that year. - Approx. ed.).

He had a diabetic foot, he limped on stage in a boot and slipper, said that he fell from a horse while filming and injured his leg. It was all very sad, my leg hurt terribly, but nothing could be done.

About Morgunova they said that he became “a hostage to one image.” And it is true. Despite the fact that his filmography includes more than 100 roles, the actor is remembered for only a few films, and in one image. But it is also true that Morgunov, being a contradictory and ambiguous person, became hostage to all sorts of stereotypes about himself. Even those who knew him personally tell different things about him. “AiF” tried to consider the main rumors about the actor and figure out what is true and what is empty gossip.

“They say that he was a terrible womanizer”

Morgunov carefully hid his personal life from prying eyes. He joked to himself that he was a modest person, despite his decency. But if many colleagues strongly doubt his modesty, they find no reason to doubt Morgunov’s integrity in relation to women. At the same time, all his life the actor loved two women at the same time. He lived for 10 years in a civil marriage with Bolshoi Theater ballerina Varvara Ryabtseva, who was 13 years older than him. But Vava, as he affectionately called her, could not have children. As a result, Morgunov married a student who was 13 years younger than him. He lived with her until the end of his days. She raised two sons with her, one of whom died at the age of 26 in an accident.

“They say that he was a drunkard”

Neither the actor himself nor his relatives could understand where the myth came from that Morgunov was a drunken alcoholic. Yes, Evgeny Alexandrovich loved noisy feasts, but he drank no more than others. His “drug” was not alcohol, but food. He loved to eat, although doctors strongly recommended that the actor follow a diet: his weight exceeded 130 kg. From the age of 25, the actor suffered from diabetes, which progressed over the years and only through a miracle and the efforts of his wife did he not deprive Morgunov of both legs.

“They say I quarreled with all my friends”

The story of how Morgunov quarreled with the director during filming Leonid Gaidai, has already become textbook. The conflict occurred on the set of the film “Prisoner of the Caucasus.” The actor allegedly came to the viewing of the work material tipsy and in the company of strangers. Gaidai didn’t like it. Word for word - a real scandal broke out! As a result, the film was completed without Morgunov. Doubles were used.

Tried to reconcile the actor with the director Sergei Bondarchuk. But everything was useless. Both had character and did not want to make concessions. According to the recollections of Evgeniy Alexandrovich’s widow, towards the end of his life, her husband quarreled to smithereens with his long-term partners on the set: Vitsin And Nikulin.

“Evgeny Aleksandrovich carelessly spoke out about Nikulin in one of the newspapers: they say they worked together, and only Nikulin received the State Prize. And off we go!” - recalls Natalia Morgunova. However, she also emphasizes that the actors from the trinity beloved by the viewer were never bosom friends in life.

According to another version, Morgunov and Nikulin quarreled over another prank by Evgeniy Alexandrovich. Like, one day Morgunov stood at the entrance to the Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard and loudly announced that everyone who wanted to improve their living conditions could contact Nikulin. After yet another persistent visitor, Yuri Vladimirovich became seriously angry: “We have enough of our own clowns!” At this point the relationship was completely ruined.

Morgunov did not recognize any authorities at all. He talked to his superiors as if they were his classmates. However, for some reason Morgunov got away with what was not forgiven to others. However, he still did not get away with the conflict with the Ministry of Culture. He was never given the title of People's Artist. But after the conflict with Gaidai, he never played significant roles in films.

“They say that Stalin helped Morgunov become an artist”

Whether this is actually true, no one knows for sure. But Morgunov himself often said that in 1943 he decided to write a letter to the leader of the peoples with a request to place him in the theater. Stalin supposedly answered him. The response said that Comrade Morgunov should be sent to enter the Tairov Theater as an actor support staff. It is known that he studied at this theater for a year, after which he transferred to VGIK for a course Sergei Gerasimov.

“They say he had a bad character”

“For the last 15 years, Zhenya has lived practically “under the knife.” The doctors repeatedly told him: “We’ll amputate his legs!” “- recalls Natalya Nikolaevna, the actor’s wife. “He became very hot-tempered and even simply unbearable: rude, embittered. I forgave and endured, realizing that the illness was the cause of everything.” Morgunov finally gave up after the death of his son. Only in rare moments did his sense of humor and foolishness return to him. “You can’t take me out of here! - He told the doctors. “I’m simply unbearable!”

Honored Artist of the RSFSR (1978)

Evgeny Morgunov grew up without a father, started working early, loved to sing and play football. Later, the actor himself recalled his childhood: “I was put in the gate, since I occupied a significant place in them, and I was also very mobile, because I did not always have the kind of belly with which I acted in films. Besides football, my joy was the certificate of honor that I received “for dedicated work” at the plant, although I did not suspect that I was working so hard, I just worked, like everyone else, twelve hours a day. In general, a happy childhood passed me by. I would have become Utesov if I had been born before him. While playing on the club stage, he was fond of amateur performances and generally wanted to devote his life to art. I often went to the cinema, but only to the morning shows; it was easier to buy a ticket for twenty kopecks. To do this, he skipped school. I became an artist because I didn’t study well. And also, probably, because he lived without a father. There was no one who could give me a good spanking and put me on the right path.”

During the war years, fourteen-year-old Evgeniy sharpened blanks for artillery shells at the Frazer plant. And in 1943, Evgeniy wrote a letter to Stalin, in which he said that he wanted to become an actor: “Dear Joseph Vissarionovich, accept me into art. I am a worker at the Sokolniki Carriage Repair Plant SVARZ, a blank maker, I want to be in art, I participated in amateur performances, I worked as an extra at Mosfilm. But the director of our plant hinders this desire. I want to be like Stanislavsky, Nemirovich-Danchenko.” And the incredible happened. The plant director received an answer from the Kremlin: “Send Comrade Morgunov E.A. for admission to the Tairov Theater as a supporting actor. Stalin."

After Stalin’s answer, Morgunov became a student of director Tairov at the Chamber Theater, and at the end of 1944 he moved to the acting department of VGIK in the workshop of Sergei Gerasimov, where his classmates were Vyacheslav Tikhonov, Sergei Bondarchuk, Nonna Mordyukova and Sergei Gurzo. Evgeniy made his film debut in Alexander Stolper’s film “Days and Nights” while still studying at the institute.

In 1946, Alexander Fadeev gave the manuscript of the novel “The Young Guard” to Sergei Gerasimov to read, and he decided to stage a play based on this work, distributing the roles among the students of his course. The music for the play was written by Dmitry Shostakovich, and one day Mogunov approached him and asked if the composer could listen to it? Shostakovich gave him his number home phone and suggested: “Come when you can.” Morgunov called and came the next day, and after listening to Shostakovich wrote letter of recommendation Conservatory professor Tselikovsky. However, Morgunov did not take advantage of his ticket to the big musical world, and explained it this way: “Two trains left Moscow for St. Petersburg and from St. Petersburg for Moscow at the same time. They did not meet on the way, although they rushed towards each other. Question: why? The answer is simple: not fate.”

Having released the play “Young Guard,” Gerasimov began filming the film of the same name. Morgunov was supposed to play Tyulenin in the film adaptation, but Fadeev really liked Sergei Gurzo in this role, and as a result, Morgunov got the role of the traitor Stakhovich. Morgunov played it so reliably that in one provincial town the actor was attacked on the street by boys who thought that they had tracked down a real traitor. The boys hit the artist on the head, and then pounced on him and started beating him, but Vladimir Ivanov, the performer of the role of Oleg Koshevoy, saw this and stopped the hooligans: “Guys, this is an artist, he just played a role, but in life he is a wonderful person” - than Morgunov was incredibly helpful.

After graduating from VGIK, Morgunov worked at the Film Actor Studio Theater in 1948, where he was considered an average actor. However, in the absence of roles, Morgunov’s acting talent was actively manifested behind the scenes of the theater. One day, the party leaders of that time, Molotov and Kaganovich, visited the Studio Theater, where they were met by the tall, thin Morgunov, who introduced himself as the artistic director of the theater. He was witty, courteous and urgently asked the party leaders to raise the salaries of theater actors. They did not suspect a trick, and to the delight of Morgunov’s colleagues, they increased the acting rates. Evgeniy also skillfully used his acting inclinations during trips to public transport. To get to the desired stop, he could get on the bus and say: “Citizens, passengers, prepare your tickets,” after which, slowly check the tickets and transfer to another bus.

Morgunov worked at the Film Actor Studio Theater until 1953. At the same time, during the same period, Morgunov was an actor at the academic Maly Theater. At that time, Evgeny Morgunov’s character was difficult, which often led to conflicts and attempts to fire him from the theater. After one of these attempts, Morgunov turned for help to director Alexander Dovzhenko, for whom he once acted as an extra, with a request to give him a characterization. Dovzhenko wrote: “Is Morgunov talented? I don’t know this, but if a car gets stuck on an expedition, Morgunov will immediately get it out. Is Morgunov talented? I don’t know this, but Morgunov tolerates heat and cold very well, and if necessary, he is unpretentious in food. Is Morgunov talented? I don’t know this, but he knows how to milk a cow perfectly and can handle the flu on his legs. Someone like Morgunov is irreplaceable on an expedition. Is Morgunov talented? I don’t know this, but you know whether Morgunov is talented.” The theater management did not really understand what the director was hinting at, but left Morgunov alone.

A radical turn in acting career Evgenia Morgunov is inextricably linked with the name of Leonid Gaidai, who, after the failure of his film “Thrice Risen” in 1960, went to Irkutsk to visit his parents, where he discovered in the attic of their house an issue of the newspaper “Pravda” with a feuilleton in verse “Dog Barbos” by Stepan Oleynik. The feuilleton interested him, and he told the plot of the future film to his wife, actress Nina Grebeshkova: “Ninok, listen to how funny it is! The Dog runs - 2 meters of film, behind him Experienced - 3 meters, looks back - 1.5 meters. Overall plan- everyone is running...” The relatives just shrugged their shoulders: “Three fools are running from a dog with explosives, which they themselves abandoned. What's so funny about that?" Grebeshkova replied: “Amazing!”

The two “alcoholic friends” were chosen by the director himself - Gaidai’s favorite actor Georgy Vitsin agreed to play the Coward, and the role of the Goonie went to the clown Yuri Nikulin. And Ivan Pyryev put Morgunov in Gaidai’s picture. Leonid Iovich received a call from Pyryev’s secretary, who was at that moment the director of Mosfilm, and said: “They asked me to tell you not to waste time and money and not look for anyone else. Pyryev personally approves Evgeny Morgunov for the role of Experienced.” Evgeniy was lucky that Pyryev accidentally noticed him on the set and decided to help Gaidai in this way.

There was almost no need for Morgunov to transform into Experienced - he actually played himself, only with a minus sign. Even the animals with whom he starred in Gaidaev’s first short films believed in his negativity. On the set of the film “Barbos the Dog and the Unusual Cross,” the dog playing Barbos for some reason kept biting Morgunov. In “Moonshiners,” where another dog was filming, he also attacked “Experienced” first of all. Apparently, the dogs did not like the negative character played by Morgunov too believably. Meanwhile, Evgeny Morgunov himself, after playing the role of Experienced, had a fantastic success with the public. The 9-minute film “Barbos the Dog and the Extraordinary Cross” with his participation became a real sensation. Spectators made pilgrimages to cinemas, and Gaidai, having become a laureate of various awards, began creating the next short film with the participation of Vitsin, Morgunov and Nikulin called “Moonshiners”. But the real triumph of the Gaidaev trio were the comedies “Prisoner of the Caucasus” and “Operation Y and Shurik’s Other Adventures,” which immediately won the hearts of tens of millions of viewers. After filming these films, an incredible avalanche of fame fell on Nikulin, Vitsin and Morgunov. Morgunov became not just a recognizable person, but became almost national hero. Seeing him, the controllers at the stadium smiled, forgetting about their duties, and Morgunov could take a dozen acquaintances with him, nodding casually: “This is with me.” One day he went not just to the podium, but to the box where high-ranking officials were sitting, and next to him in the box was a police lieutenant general. Morgunov asked him for a cigarette during the match, and the general pulled out a pack of Kazbek to treat his favorite actor. Morgunov took a cigarette in response, and when the general made a movement to put the pack of cigarettes in his pocket, he very seriously noted: “No need to hide it.” And the general held the cigarettes in his hands the entire match.

Morgunov could also pull back the horns of a trolleybus at a trolleybus stop and ask them to hold some passerby who mistook Morgunov for the driver. Then the actor watched with interest the development of events. In a restaurant, Morgunov could pretend to be an employee of the competent authorities who was monitoring the intruders, and usually, as a result of such “surveillance,” the waiters were simply afraid to bring the bill to the actor. Morgunov was also famous for his ability, with the help of a red book, similar to an official ID, and simple but convincing acting skills, to go to the bathhouse and ride a taxi for free. Once in Kyiv, he pretended to be the son of Pavlik Morozov and on this basis took the hooligan away from the police.

During filming with Gaidai, Vitsin, Morgunov and Nikulin initially became friends and even went on vacation together, but the situation soon changed. Morgunov, who admired the acting talent of Georgy Vitsin, was dissatisfied with Yuri Nikulin, a conflict with whom he himself provoked. One day, before the start of a performance at the circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard, Evgeny Morgunov, with a deputy badge on the lapel of his jacket, approached the main entrance and began jokingly inviting the audience to contact the circus director Nikulin to solve all their housing problems. After the number of petitioners exceeded a dozen and a half, Yuri Nikulin sent his assistant to find out what was the matter, and after finding out, he ordered that Evgeny Morgunov not be allowed into the circus with the wording: “We have enough of our own clowns!” Morgunov also did not get along with Gaidai during filming. When, during the filming of the chase in the film “Prisoner of the Caucasus,” Gaidai was nervous while watching the work material, believing that it was not funny, Morgunov came to the work screening, accompanied by a girl. Gaidai ordered the strangers to leave, but Morgunov, offended, did not obey. And, demonstrating his independence, he joked about the unsuccessfully filmed chase scenes: “Guys, you don’t catch mice!” Gaidai repeated his demand, and Morgunov almost attacked the director with his fists in response. As a result, Gaidai deleted all subsequent scenes from the film related to Byvaly, and of the entire trio, Morgunov was given the smallest fee. He received 25 rubles per day of filming, while Yuri Nikulin received 50 rubles, and Georgy Vitsin - 40 rubles. The actor and the director made peace only 27 years later at the opening of the Museum of Three Actors.

In addition to working with Gaidai, Morgunov acted in films a little, including in such films as “Three Fat Men” and “Ilf and Petrov Rode on a Tram.” There were other, less significant works. Evgeny Morgunov also wrote four scripts, one of which formed the basis of his directorial debut - in 1962, under the patronage of Mikhail Sholokhov, Morgunov directed the comedy “When the Cossacks Cry.” But this directorial work was the only one in his film career.

Evgeny Aleksandrovich was painfully worried about the lack of creative demand, and spoke extremely harshly about the Soviet film industry. At the same time, in Everyday life he was a great joker and lover of practical jokes, and was always surrounded by many friends. Doctor of Technical Sciences Vladimir Mikhailovich Akhutin talked about how, after sending his family on vacation, and in order not to bother every day, he cooked a huge pot of borscht. And a couple of days later he had a friendly company, in which Morgunov found himself. After the gatherings, Morgunov asked: “I wish I could eat now!” Akhutin replied: “Eat? Do you want borscht? A bowl of borscht - will you eat it?” Morgunov did not know that Akhutin’s borscht was almost a bucket, and confirmed: “I’ll eat it!” - “I’ll bet you a box of cognac that you won’t eat it!” Akhutin put the basin on the table, brought a saucepan and poured it into the basin. Morgunov began to eat, since a box of cognac was decent money. He honestly tried to eat the borscht, but realized that health was more important, and put the spoon down. “And then,” said Akhutin, “we moved the gatherings to the “European”.

Gennady Khazanov, in turn, said: “Once Morgunov took four countermarks to a closed beach in Alushta. And there were five of us: me, Derbenev, Vitsin, Nikulin, and the last one was Morgunov. At the entrance, a strict female inspector demanded another countermark. To which Vitsin, pointing to Morgunov, said: “He won’t swim, we swim on him.”

When in Sevastopol an instructor from the CPSU city committee was looking after the actors who had come on tour, Yevgeny Morgunov told him: “You know, comrade, our artists - Vitsin, Sanaev, Ladynina, Martinson - just dream of going on an excursion to the cemetery to bow to the graves of Russian sailors. But we all get up very early, so let’s organize something around seven in the morning.” The next day at seven in the morning there was a bus at the hotel, and the guide walked around the rooms, knocking on the door of the sleepy artists and inviting them on an excursion. But the bus remained empty. At the same time, most of his friends forgave Morgunov for his jokes, but some were offended. For example, Mikhail Gluzsky did not greet Morgunov for twenty years for some offense. But one day he and Morgunov happened to travel in the same compartment to Leningrad, and Morgunov asked Gluzsky for forgiveness. They respected each other again, but in the morning, when Gluzsky was leaving for Moscow, and had already boarded the train that had started moving, Morgunov ran after the carriage, shouting to the entire platform: “Lavrenty Pavlovich! Comrade Beria! Why are you leaving? I liberated an entire building in Kresty! We have so much planned! Stop the sealed carriage!

In 1982, Mikhail Kozakov entrusted Evgeny Morgunov with the role of the author of Soev’s couplets in his film “Pokrovsky Gate”. The actor played it very brightly, but other directors were still in no hurry to use his enormous comedic talent. But Morgunov himself did not ask for anything. He often jokingly repeated: “I am a modest person, despite my decency.” Morgunov earned his living by traveling around the country with concerts. Although for him these trips were a real test, since he had diabetes since his youth, which progressed every year and was the main reason for his obesity. “During the war, rations were meager, the boy often lived from hand to mouth,” said Natalya Morgunova, the actor’s widow. - Mom somehow got hold of a pack of butter. Zhenya ate it all at once, without bread. And soon he was twisted and barely managed to be saved. So the metabolism is disrupted.” Morgunov often went on stage during these performances in boots cut on the sides so that the artist’s swollen feet would not hurt so much. However, the actor did not complain to anyone, and even while limping on stage from pain, Evgeny Morgunov joked that he fell from a horse.

Until the age of 30, Morgunov lived in a civil marriage with Bolshoi Theater ballerina Varvara Ryabtseva, but she was 13 years older than him, and they separated, and Morgunov later married a student at the Aviation Technical Institute named Natalya, and lived with her for 36 years. and raised two sons, from whom he also had grandchildren.

In the last years of his life, the actor had difficulty moving. The wife was even forced to cut the elastic bands on his socks, as they caused Morgunov pain. And he himself even cut off his shoes, since his swollen feet could not fit into them. “For the last 15 years, he lived, as they say, under the knife; doctors told him four times a year: “We’ll amputate his legs!” - said Natalya Nikolaevna Morgunova. - He became very hot-tempered and even simply unbearable: rude, embittered. I forgave and endured, realizing that everything was caused by illness.”

Evgeny Morgunov wrote in his memoirs: “The worst thing is to be left alone. Do you know what grief happened to a wonderful comedian, amazing person Sergei Nikolaevich Filippov? How callously the Leningrad public reacted to the artist who made everyone laugh, who was idolized, and who was offered a drink by everyone. He died alone in his apartment and lay there for two weeks. The neighbors turned to Lenfilm (a year before, Filippov’s wife died, he was left alone). Lenfilm made a terrible decision. (They didn’t give a penny of money for the funeral.) And only Sashenka Demyanenko, our wonderful Shurik, collected a penny of money from actors who were retired, from actors who knew Filippov, made a coffin and buried it. And the words of absolute genius were written on the grave: “And on the day of burial there will be neither candles nor church singing.” These were his favorite poems."

In 1998, grief happened in the Morgunov family - the youngest son Evgeniy died in a car accident. “Kolya was driving at high speed. My husband often scolded him for this, said Natalya Morgunova. - It was as if he had a presentiment of this tragedy. Kolya, returning from his dacha to Moscow at night, fell asleep at the wheel and crashed into a tree.” Evgeniy Aleksandrovich experienced the loss of his son very hard, suffered two heart attacks and a stroke. When he was admitted to the hospital for another examination, doctors reported that there was no hope for recovery. But Evgeniy Aleksandrovich joked: “You won’t take me out of here, because I’m not you!” He outlived his son by one year.

Honored Artist of Russia Evgeny Aleksandrovich Morgunov died after a stroke at the 73rd year of his life in Moscow at the Central Clinical Hospital on June 25, 1999.

He was buried at the Kuntsevo cemetery.

In 2008, a wonderful film was made about Evgeny Morgunov by director Anna Filimonova. documentary"The Man in the Frame." In this film, Morgunov is remembered by Zinovy ​​Vysokovsky, Alexander Pyatkov, Natalya Varley, Natalya Krachkovskaya and the widow Natalya Morgunova.

Starred in films:

• At six o'clock in the evening after the war (1944)
• Young Guard (1948)
• Ship's Commander (1954)
• Mother (1955)
• Mexican (1955)
• Road of Truth (1956)
• Annushka (1959)
• White Nights (1959)
• Vasily Surikov (1959)
• Chernomorochka (1959)
• Scarlet Sails (1961)
• Nakhalenok (1961)
• Dog Barbos and the unusual cross (1961)
• Moonshiners (1961)
• Track Stitches (1963)
• Give me a book of complaints (1964)
• Goodbye boys! (1964)
• Believe it or not... (1964)
• Ballet Star (1964)
• Operation "Y" and other adventures of Shurik (1965)
• Captive of the Caucasus, or New Adventures of Shurik (1966)
• Three Fat Men (1966)
• Seven Old Men and One Girl (1968)
• Old Acquaintance (1969)
• Ilf and Petrov were traveling on a tram (1971)
• Big Attraction (1974)
• Northern Rhapsody (1974)
• Solo for elephant and orchestra (1975)
• Comedy for a long time days gone by (1980)
• We didn’t expect, we didn’t guess (1982)
• Pokrovsky Gate (1982)
• Know ours! (1985)
• We're sitting well! (1986)
• Superman (1990)
• Take action, Manya! (1991)
• Womanizer-2 (1992)
• Shot in the Coffin (1992)
• Brave Boys (1993)
• My Grandfather's Imperial Treasures (1993)
• Tabloid Romance (1994)
• Waltzing for Sure (1994)
• Gentlemen Artists (1994)