Leonid Iovich Gaidai

Leonid Iovich Gaidai (1923–1993) was a Soviet and Russian film director, screenwriter and actor, a participant in the Great Patriotic War and a People's Artist of the USSR. His comedies include Dog Barbos and Unusual Cross, Bootleggers, Operation Y and Shurik's Other Adventures, Prisoner of the Caucasus, The Diamond Arm, Ivan Vasilievich Changes Profession, The Twelve Chairs and It Can't Be! According to the Bank of Russia's historical note for coin No. 5111-0494, attendance of his films in the first year of release exceeded 500 million viewers in total.