{{short description|Ukrainian-born Israeli actor}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2013}} {{BLP sources|date=October 2016}} {{Infobox person | name = Mark Ivanir | native_name = מארק איווניר | native_name_lang = he | image = Mark Ivanir 1.jpg | alt = <!-- descriptive text for use by speech synthesis (text-to-speech) software --> | caption = Ivanir in 2023 | birth_name = Mark Alexandrovich Ivanir | birth_date = <!-- {{Birth date and age|YYYY|MM|DD}} for living people supply only the year with {{Birth year and age|YYYY}} unless the exact date is already widely published, as per [[WP:DOB]]. For people who have died, use {{Birth date|YYYY|MM|DD}}. --> | birth_place = [[Chernivtsi|Chernovtsi]], [[Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic|Ukrainian SSR]], Soviet Union | citizenship = {{ubl|[[Soviet Union]] (until 1972)|[[Israel]]}} | education = [[École Philippe Gaulier]] | occupation = Actor | years_active = 1988–present }} '''Mark Alexandrovich Ivanir''' ({{langx|ru|Марк Александрович Иванир}}; {{langx|uk|Марк Олександрович Іванір}}; {{langx|he|מארק איווניר}}) is a Soviet-born Israeli actor, known for his [[character actor|character roles]] in film and television. Fluent in six languages, Ivanir's film credits include ''[[Schindler's List]]'', ''[[Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005 film)|Mr. & Mrs. Smith]]'', ''[[The Good Shepherd (film)|The Good Shepherd]]'', ''[[The Terminal]]'', ''[[Johnny English Reborn]]'', ''[[A Late Quartet]]'', and ''[[Emilia Pérez]]''. On television, he has appeared on ''[[The Shield]]'', ''[[Homeland (TV series)|Homeland]]'', ''[[24 (TV series)|24]]'', ''[[Alias (TV series)|Alias]]'', ''[[The Blacklist]]'', and ''[[Mayor of Kingstown]]''.
On stage, Ivanir co-founded Israel's acclaimed [[Gesher Theater]].
== Early life == Ivanir was born in Chernovtsi, [[Ukrainian SSR]] (now [[Chernivtsi]], Ukraine) to a Jewish family. His family emigrated to Israel in 1972, and settled in the [[Pardes Katz]] neighbourhood of [[Bnei Brak]]. His father, Alexander, was an [[English language]] teacher, and his mother Malka a [[German language]] teacher. His maternal grandfather, Meshulem Surkis, was a [[Yiddish]] writer, journalist, actor, and theatre critic, who was a well-known activist in the Yiddish cultural world. He was raised in a multilingual household, speaking [[Hebrew]], [[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]], and [[Russian language|Russian]], and later learning English.
His [[national service]] in the [[Israeli Defense Forces]] saw him involved in [[Operation Joshua]], one of two operations by the IDF to bring [[Ethiopian Jews]] from [[Sudan]]ese refugee camps to Israel. After completing his service, he turned down a job offer from the [[Mossad]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/culture/2016-01-25/ty-article/.premium/the-homeland-spy-who-started-out-as-an-israeli-intelligence-operative/0000017f-dbaf-db5a-a57f-dbef47080000|title=The 'Homeland' spy who started out as an Israeli intelligence operative|newspaper=Haaretz}}</ref> He briefly studied medicine, before deciding on a life in the [[performing arts]]. He completed two years in a circus school, traveled throughout Europe performing on the streets as a clown, and ended up working in the Parisian Cirque Pawelles. After leaving the circus, Mark entered into formal theatrical training under famed Israeli director [[Nissan Nativ]], performing at the [[Cameri Theater]] and [[Israeli Opera]].
==Career== During this time, Ivanir had his first film role in the 1988 action film ''[[Iron Eagle II]]'', directed by [[Sidney J. Furie]]. The film was a Canadian-Israeli-American co-production filmed in Israel with an international cast. Ivanir played a Soviet army serviceman, Mikhail Balyonev.
Following his studies with Nativ, Ivanir joined the [[Gesher Theater]], a [[Tel Aviv]]-based company composed of emigrants from the former USSR. Within two years, Gesher became Israel's top theatrical outfit and was hailed by ''The Times'' as "one of the six best theatre companies in the world."{{cn|date=April 2026}} Using his knowledge of multiple languages, Ivanir translated and adapted eight foreign-language plays into Hebrew for the company. He moved to London to study under [[Philippe Gaulier]] at [[École Philippe Gaulier]] and [[Complicité]].
Ivanir's first major film role was in [[Steven Spielberg]]'s 1993 film ''[[Schindler's List]]'', where he played Marcel Goldberg. He worked with Spielberg twice thereafter, first for a cameo appearance in ''[[The Terminal]]'', then again for ''[[The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn]]''. Ivanir held a pivotal role in [[Robert De Niro]]'s 2006 film, ''[[The Good Shepherd (film)|The Good Shepherd]]'', for which he won the Silver Bear Award at the Berlin Film Festival, later landing a role in [[Barry Levinson]]'s ''[[What Just Happened (2008 film)|What Just Happened]]'', this time acting alongside De Niro.
In 2011, he appeared in Universal's ''[[Johnny English Reborn]]'', Universal's ''[[Big Miracle]]'' and ''[[360 (film)|360]]''.
His biggest part to date was on the critically acclaimed ''[[A Late Quartet]]'', released from RKO pictures in the United States, in fall 2012. The film was voted as one of the ''[[Daily News (New York)|New York Daily News]]'' 10 top films of the year. Ivanir played Daniel Lerner, the first violin of the string quartet, whose other members are played by [[Philip Seymour Hoffman]], [[Catherine Keener]] and [[Christopher Walken]].
Ivanir has had over 60 guest star and guest lead roles on television shows such as ''[[24 (TV series)|24]]'', ''[[Monk (TV series)|Monk]]'', ''[[CSI: NY]]'', ''[[Law & Order]]'', ''[[Fringe (TV series)|Fringe]]'', ''[[CSI: Miami]]'', ''[[Nikita (TV series)|Nikita]]'' and ''Royal Pains''.
In 2016 Ivanir had a recurring role on [[Homeland (TV series)|''Homeland'']] as Russian intelligence agent Ivan Krupin.
In 2017, he played a [[Holocaust survivors|Holocaust survivor]] in the critically acclaimed German-language film ''Bye Bye Germany'' and recurred on Amazon's ''[[Transparent (TV series)|Transparent]]''. In August 2019, Amazon Prime released the Israeli show ''The Beauty and the Baker'', with Ivanir playing the part of Zvika Granot.
In 2018, he co-starred in the film ''[[Entebbe (film)|Entebbe]]'', directed by [[José Padilha]], the creator of ''Narcos'', and Bill Hader's HBO comedy ''[[Barry (TV series)|Barry]]'', in which he recurs as three Chechen brothers. He appeared in ''[[The Red Sea Diving Resort]]''.
In 2024, Ivanir had a supporting role in [[Jacques Audiard]]'s film ''[[Emilia Pérez]]'', for which he won the Outstanding Ensemble Performance award along with his co-stars at the 2024 [[Mill Valley Film Festival]].
==Personal life== Ivanir is married to Maya Raz, an [[Israel Defense Forces|IDF]] broadcaster. His sister-in-law is actress [[Romi Aboulafia]],<ref name=Haaretz>{{cite news |work=[[Haaretz]] |url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/culture/a-sabra-steps-into-dick-clark-s-shoes-1.5296998|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211205135158/https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/culture/a-sabra-steps-into-dick-clark-s-shoes-1.5296998|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 5, 2021| title=Hollywood's Israeli-born Woman of Impact| last=Kupfer |first=Ruta |date=6 September 2012 |access-date=20 July 2023}}</ref> and his father-in-law is journalist Menashe Raz. He has two daughters, and resides with his family in Los Angeles.
Ivanir is fluent in Hebrew, Russian, English, Ukrainian, Yiddish, and [[French language|French]], and adept in [[German language|German]] and [[Arabic language|Arabic]]. His multilingualism is often a feature of his roles.
==Filmography== ===Film=== {| class="wikitable sortable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Role !Ref. |- | 1988 | ''[[Iron Eagle II]]'' | Mikhail Balyonev | |- | 1989 | ''Berlin-Yerushalaim'' | Dov Ben Gelman | |- | 1991 | ''[[Delta Force 3: The Killing Game]]'' | Pietre Ivanovich | |- | 1993 | ''[[Schindler's List]]'' | Marcel Goldberg | |- | 2000 | ''[[The Man Who Cried]]'' | Man in Sweatshop | |- | 2001 | ''Hollywood Palms'' | Russian Mover | |- | 2003 | ''Ish HaHashmal'' | Avraham Rutenberg | |- | 2003 | ''[[Marines (film)|Marines]]'' | Maj. Dmitri Kirilenko | |- | 2004 | ''[[The Terminal]]'' | Goran | |- | 2005 | ''[[When Do We Eat? (2005 film)|When Do We Eat?]]'' | Rafi | |- | 2005 | ''[[Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005 film)|Mr. & Mrs. Smith]]'' | Dive Bar Patron | |- | 2005 | ''[[The Cutter (film)|The Cutter]]'' | Doctor Joseph | |- | 2006 | ''[[Undisputed II: Last Man Standing]]'' | Gaga | |- | 2006 | ''[[The Good Shepherd (film)|The Good Shepherd]]'' | Valentin Mironov #2 | |- | 2007 | ''[[The Hunting Party (2007 film)|The Hunting Party]]'' | Boris | |- | 2008 | ''[[What Just Happened (2008 film)|What Just Happened]]'' | Johnny | |- | 2008 | ''[[Get Smart (film)|Get Smart]]'' | Russian Guy in Bathroom | |- | 2010 | ''[[Holy Rollers (film)|Holy Rollers]]'' | Mendel Gold | |- | 2010 | ''[[Undisputed III: Redemption]]'' | Gaga | |- | 2010 | ''[[The Human Resources Manager]]'' | The HR Manager | |- | 2010 | ''[[Bunraku (film)|Bunraku]]'' | Eddie | |- | 2011 | ''[[360 (film)|360]]'' | The Boss | |- | 2011 | ''[[Johnny English Reborn]]'' | Artem Karlenko | |- | 2011 | ''[[The Adventures of Tintin (film)|The Adventures of Tintin]]'' | Afghar Outpost Soldier / Secretary (voices) | |- | 2012 | ''[[Big Miracle]]'' | Dimitri | |- | 2012 | ''[[The Fourth State]]'' | Aslan | |- | 2012 | ''[[A Late Quartet]]'' | Daniel Lerner | |- | 2016 | ''The Man Who Was Thursday'' | Jack | |- | 2017 | ''[[Bye Bye Germany]]'' | Holzmann | |- | 2018 | ''[[Entebbe (film)|7 Days in Entebbe]]'' | [[Mordechai Gur|Motta Gur]] | |- | 2019 | ''[[The Red Sea Diving Resort]]'' | Barack Isaacs | |- | 2020 | ''[[Kajillionaire]]'' | Stovik Mann | |- | 2022 | ''Rubikon'' | Dimitri Krylow | |- | 2023 | ''[[Heart of Stone (2023 film)|Heart of Stone]]'' | King of Spades | |- | 2024 | ''[[Emilia Pérez]]'' | Dr. Wasserman | |- | 2025 | ''[[Idiotka]]'' | Samuel Levlansky | |}
===Television=== {| class="wikitable sortable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes !Ref. |- | 1995–1996 | ''[[Inyan Shel Zman]]'' | Doron | 7 episodes | |- | 2001 | ''[[Walker, Texas Ranger]]'' | French Mercenary | Episode:"Blood Diamonds" | |- | 2001 | ''[[JAG (TV series)|JAG]]'' | Capt. Yoel | Episode: "The Promised Land" | |- | 2007 | ''[[Close to Home (2005 TV series)|Close to Home]]'' | Nikolai Shevchenko | Episode: "Internet Bride" | |- | 2008 | ''[[The Cleaner (American TV series)|The Cleaner]]'' | Gaza | 2 episodes | |- | 2009 | ''[[Dollhouse (TV series)|Dollhouse]]'' | Cyril | Episode: "The Gray Hour" | |- | 2009 | ''[[CSI: Miami]]'' | Gregor Kasparov | Episode: "Seeing Red" | |- | 2010 | ''[[Im Angesicht des Verbrechens]]'' | Andrej, Russian mobster | 9 episodes | |- | 2010 | ''[[Fringe (TV series)|Fringe]]'' | Roland David Barrett | Episode: "[[Marionette (Fringe)|Marionette]]" | |- | 2012–2015 | ''[[The Gordin Cell]]'' | Yaakov "Yasha" Lundin | Season 1: Main [[antagonist]]<br />Season 2: Supporting character | |- | 2012 | ''[[Transporter: The Series]]'' | Sergei Zarov | Episode: "Payback" | |- | 2013 | ''[[Grimm (TV series)|Grimm]]'' | Boris Myshkin | Episode: "[[Red Menace (Grimm)|Red Menace]]" | |- | 2013–2017 | ''[[Beauty and the Baker]]'' | Tzvika Granot | 18 episodes | |- | 2014 | ''[[Braquo]]'' (season 3) | Levani Jordania | 7 episodes | |- | 2014 | ''[[The Blacklist (TV series)|The Blacklist]]'' ([[The Blacklist (season 1)|season 1]]) | Ivan | Episode: "Ivan" (No. 88) | |- | 2014 | ''[[The Mentalist]]'' ([[The Mentalist (season 7)|season 7]]) | Jan Nemic | Episode: "Orange Blossom Ice Cream" | |- | 2014 | ''[[Crisis (TV series)|Crisis]]'' | Boris Makarov | Episode: "How Far Would You Come" | |- | 2015–2018 | ''[[Homeland (TV series)|Homeland]]'' | Ivan Krupin, Russian intelligence agent of [[Foreign Intelligence Service (Russia)|SVR]] | Recurring role | |- | 2017 | ''[[Madam Secretary (TV series)|Madam Secretary]]'' | Timur Soroka | Episode: "Extraordinary Hazard" | |- |2017 |[[Transparent (TV series)|''Transparent'']] |Nitzan |4 episodes | |- |2017 | ''[[Salvation (TV series)|Salvation]]'' |Defense Minister Toporov |End of Season 1 | |- | 2018 | ''[[Barry (TV series)|Barry]]'' | Vacha / Ruslan | Recurring role | |- | 2018 | ''[[S.W.A.T. (2017 TV series)|S.W.A.T.]]'' | Cohen | Episode: Never Again | |- | 2018 | ''[[American Horror Story: Apocalypse]]'' | [[Nicholas II of Russia]] | Episode: "[[Fire and Reign]]" | |- | 2019 | ''[[The New Pope]]'' | Bauer | | |- | 2019 | ''[[For All Mankind (TV series)|For All Mankind]]'' | Mikhail Mikhailovich Vasiliev | 2 episodes | |- | 2020 | ''[[Away (TV series)|Away]]'' | Misha Popov | | |- | 2020 | ''[[Nasdrovia]]'' | Aleksei | <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.elperiodico.com/es/yotele/20201106/movistar-estrena-nasdrovia-dos-capitulos-semanales-8192098|website=[[El Periódico de Catalunya|El Periódico]]|date=6 November 2020|title=Movistar estrena la comedia 'Nasdrovia', que tendrá dos nuevos capítulos semanales}}</ref> | |- | 2022 | ''[[Babylon Berlin]]'' | Abe Gold | Season 4: 12 episodes | |- |2022 |''[[Litvinenko (TV series)|Litvinenko]]'' |[[Alexander Goldfarb (biologist)|Alexender Goldfarb]] | | |- |2023 |''[[Pantheon (TV series)|Pantheon]]'' |Yair Gispan |Season 2: 2 episodes | |- |2024 |''[[Mayor of Kingstown]]'' |Roman |Season 3: 10 episodes | |- |2025 |[[Zero Day (American TV series)|''Zero Day'']] |Natan |3 episodes | |- |2026 |''[[Big Mistakes]]'' |Ivan |Recurring; 4 episodes | |} ===Video games=== {| class="wikitable sortable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes !Ref. |- | 2003 | ''[[SOCOM II U.S. Navy SEALs]]'' | Voice | Additional voices | |- | 2004 | ''[[Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain]]'' | Jandran, Sok-ju Yang, CDP Soldier A | | |- | 2005 | ''[[Psychonauts]]'' | Mikhail Bulgakov, Lungfish Zealot | | |- | 2005 | ''[[Call of Duty 2]]'' | rowspan="5" | Voice | rowspan="8" | Additional voices | |- | 2006 | ''[[Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror]]'' | |- | 2006 | ''[[Gothic 3]]'' | |- | 2006 | ''[[Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent]]'' | |- | 2006 | ''[[SOCOM U.S. Navy SEALs: Combined Assault]]'' | |- | 2006 | ''[[Call of Duty 3]]'' | Actor | |- | 2007 | ''[[Blazing Angels 2: Secret Missions of WWII|Blazing Angels 2]]'' | rowspan="2" | Voice | |- | 2007 | ''[[World in Conflict]]'' | |- | 2007 | ''[[Cars Mater-National Championship]]'' | Yuri | | |- | 2007 | ''[[Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare ]]'' | rowspan="3" | Voice | rowspan="3" | Additional voices | |- | 2008 | ''[[Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Conspiracy|The Bourne Conspiracy]]'' | |- | 2009 | ''[[50 Cent: Blood on the Sand]]'' | |- | 2009 | ''[[The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena]]'' | Mad Margo, Exbob | | |- | 2009 | ''[[World in Conflict: Soviet Assault]]'' | Malashenko | | |- | 2009 | ''[[Wanted: Weapons of Fate ]]'' | The Russian | | |- | 2010 | ''[[Metro 2033 (video game)|Metro 2033]]'' | Eugene, Miller | | |- | 2011 | ''[[Ace Combat: Assault Horizon]]'' | Russian Pilot | | |- | 2011 | ''[[Battlefield 3]]'' | Solomon | | |- | 2011 | ''[[Assassin's Creed: Revelations]]'' | Prince Selim | rowspan="3" | Additional voices | |- | 2012 | ''[[Diablo III]]'' | Voice | |- | 2012 | ''[[Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier|Ghost Recon: Future Soldier]]'' | Russian Bodark | |- | 2013 | ''[[Metro: Last Light]]'' | Pavel Morozov | | |- | 2014 | ''[[Wolfenstein: The New Order]]'' | Set Roth | | |- | 2015 | ''[[Call of Duty: Black Ops III]]'' | rowspan="3" | Voice | rowspan="3" | Additional voices | |- | 2016 | ''[[World of Warcraft: Legion]]'' | |- | 2016 | ''[[Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare]]'' | |- | 2017 | ''[[Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus]]'' | Set Roth | | |- | 2019 | ''[[Metro Exodus]]'' | Krest | Additional voices | |- | 2019 | ''[[Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019 video game)|Call of Duty: Modern Warfare]]'' | Russian soldiers | Additional voices | |- |2020 |''[[Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War]]'' |Dimitri Belikov | also motion capture | |- |2021 |''[[Call of Duty: Vanguard]]'' | Misha Petrov | also motion capture | |- |}
== References == {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{IMDb name|411980}} * [https://jewishjournal.com/culture/arts/232500/mark-ivanir-lives-shady-characters/ "Mark Ivanir Lives for Shady Characters"]. ''The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles''.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ivanir, Mark}} [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Actors from Chernivtsi]] [[Category:Israeli male film actors]] [[Category:Israeli male stage actors]] [[Category:Israeli male television actors]] [[Category:Israeli male voice actors]] [[Category:Israeli people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent]] [[Category:Soviet emigrants to Israel]] [[Category:Ukrainian emigrants to Israel]] [[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]] [[Category:20th-century Israeli male actors]] [[Category:21st-century Israeli male actors]]