Nicknames seem more appropriate.
The most permanent characters in the films directed by Leonid Gaidai are the Coward, the Dunce and the Experienced. Their trio appeared both in leading roles in “Moonshineers” and in the background in “Prisoner of the Caucasus” and in “Operation Y”.
Famous troublemakers were played by Georgy Vitsin, Yuri Nikulin and Evgeny Morgunov. The director noticed the first two immediately, but he was looking for the ideal Experienced for a long time. But the search was worth it – the actors combined perfectly and were remembered by the audience no less than the main characters, even when they appeared on the sidelines.
In none of the films where these characters appear, the real names of these characters are mentioned. They are known only by nicknames: Experienced, Dunce and Coward. But it turned out that according to the script, they still had names, although they were not pronounced in the frame.
The secret was revealed back in the Soviet years, but remembered only today. An article about the famous trinity was published in the Soviet Screen magazine, and it was indicated that the Coward’s name was Dmitry Zelinsky, the Dunce was Vasily Doroshin, and Experienced was Fyodor Burlakov. Such common names would be more suitable for Soviet academics or engineers. And the bright characters from Gaidai’s films suit their on-screen nicknames much more.
