# Mark Ivanir

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Ukrainian-born Israeli actor

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Mark Ivanir מארק איווניר Ivanir in 2023 Born Mark Alexandrovich Ivanir Chernovtsi, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union Citizenship Soviet Union (until 1972) Israel Education École Philippe Gaulier Occupation Actor Years active 1988–present

**Mark Alexandrovich Ivanir** ([Russian](/source/Russian_language): Марк Александрович Иванир; [Ukrainian](/source/Ukrainian_language): Марк Олександрович Іванір; [Hebrew](/source/Hebrew_language): מארק איווניר) is a Soviet-born Israeli actor, known for his [character roles](/source/Character_actor) in film and television. Fluent in six languages, Ivanir's film credits include *[Schindler's List](/source/Schindler's_List)*, *[Mr. & Mrs. Smith](/source/Mr._%26_Mrs._Smith_(2005_film))*, *[The Good Shepherd](/source/The_Good_Shepherd_(film))*, *[The Terminal](/source/The_Terminal)*, *[Johnny English Reborn](/source/Johnny_English_Reborn)*, *[A Late Quartet](/source/A_Late_Quartet)*, and *[Emilia Pérez](/source/Emilia_P%C3%A9rez)*. On television, he has appeared on *[The Shield](/source/The_Shield)*, *[Homeland](/source/Homeland_(TV_series))*, *[24](/source/24_(TV_series))*, *[Alias](/source/Alias_(TV_series))*, *[The Blacklist](/source/The_Blacklist)*, and *[Mayor of Kingstown](/source/Mayor_of_Kingstown)*.

On stage, Ivanir co-founded Israel's acclaimed [Gesher Theater](/source/Gesher_Theater).

## Early life

Ivanir was born in Chernovtsi, [Ukrainian SSR](/source/Ukrainian_SSR) (now [Chernivtsi](/source/Chernivtsi), Ukraine) to a Jewish family. His family emigrated to Israel in 1972, and settled in the [Pardes Katz](/source/Pardes_Katz) neighbourhood of [Bnei Brak](/source/Bnei_Brak). His father, Alexander, was an [English language](/source/English_language) teacher, and his mother Malka a [German language](/source/German_language) teacher. His maternal grandfather, Meshulem Surkis, was a [Yiddish](/source/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](/source/Hebrew), [Ukrainian](/source/Ukrainian_language), and [Russian](/source/Russian_language), and later learning English.

His [national service](/source/National_service) in the [Israeli Defense Forces](/source/Israeli_Defense_Forces) saw him involved in [Operation Joshua](/source/Operation_Joshua), one of two operations by the IDF to bring [Ethiopian Jews](/source/Ethiopian_Jews) from [Sudanese](/source/Sudan) refugee camps to Israel. After completing his service, he turned down a job offer from the [Mossad](/source/Mossad).[1] He briefly studied medicine, before deciding on a life in the [performing arts](/source/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](/source/Nissan_Nativ), performing at the [Cameri Theater](/source/Cameri_Theater) and [Israeli Opera](/source/Israeli_Opera).

## Career

During this time, Ivanir had his first film role in the 1988 action film *[Iron Eagle II](/source/Iron_Eagle_II)*, directed by [Sidney J. Furie](/source/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](/source/Gesher_Theater), a [Tel Aviv](/source/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."[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] 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](/source/Philippe_Gaulier) at [École Philippe Gaulier](/source/%C3%89cole_Philippe_Gaulier) and [Complicité](/source/Complicit%C3%A9).

Ivanir's first major film role was in [Steven Spielberg](/source/Steven_Spielberg)'s 1993 film *[Schindler's List](/source/Schindler's_List)*, where he played Marcel Goldberg. He worked with Spielberg twice thereafter, first for a cameo appearance in *[The Terminal](/source/The_Terminal)*, then again for *[The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn](/source/The_Adventures_of_Tintin%3A_The_Secret_of_the_Unicorn)*. Ivanir held a pivotal role in [Robert De Niro](/source/Robert_De_Niro)'s 2006 film, *[The Good Shepherd](/source/The_Good_Shepherd_(film))*, for which he won the Silver Bear Award at the Berlin Film Festival, later landing a role in [Barry Levinson](/source/Barry_Levinson)'s *[What Just Happened](/source/What_Just_Happened_(2008_film))*, this time acting alongside De Niro.

In 2011, he appeared in Universal's *[Johnny English Reborn](/source/Johnny_English_Reborn)*, Universal's *[Big Miracle](/source/Big_Miracle)* and *[360](/source/360_(film))*.

His biggest part to date was on the critically acclaimed *[A Late Quartet](/source/A_Late_Quartet)*, released from RKO pictures in the United States, in fall 2012. The film was voted as one of the *[New York Daily News](/source/Daily_News_(New_York))* 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](/source/Philip_Seymour_Hoffman), [Catherine Keener](/source/Catherine_Keener) and [Christopher Walken](/source/Christopher_Walken).

Ivanir has had over 60 guest star and guest lead roles on television shows such as *[24](/source/24_(TV_series))*, *[Monk](/source/Monk_(TV_series))*, *[CSI: NY](/source/CSI%3A_NY)*, *[Law & Order](/source/Law_%26_Order)*, *[Fringe](/source/Fringe_(TV_series))*, *[CSI: Miami](/source/CSI%3A_Miami)*, *[Nikita](/source/Nikita_(TV_series))* and *Royal Pains*.

In 2016 Ivanir had a recurring role on [*Homeland*](/source/Homeland_(TV_series)) as Russian intelligence agent Ivan Krupin.

In 2017, he played a [Holocaust survivor](/source/Holocaust_survivors) in the critically acclaimed German-language film *Bye Bye Germany* and recurred on Amazon's *[Transparent](/source/Transparent_(TV_series))*. 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](/source/Entebbe_(film))*, directed by [José Padilha](/source/Jos%C3%A9_Padilha), the creator of *Narcos*, and Bill Hader's HBO comedy *[Barry](/source/Barry_(TV_series))*, in which he recurs as three Chechen brothers. He appeared in *[The Red Sea Diving Resort](/source/The_Red_Sea_Diving_Resort)*.

In 2024, Ivanir had a supporting role in [Jacques Audiard](/source/Jacques_Audiard)'s film *[Emilia Pérez](/source/Emilia_P%C3%A9rez)*, for which he won the Outstanding Ensemble Performance award along with his co-stars at the 2024 [Mill Valley Film Festival](/source/Mill_Valley_Film_Festival).

## Personal life

Ivanir is married to Maya Raz, an [IDF](/source/Israel_Defense_Forces) broadcaster. His sister-in-law is actress [Romi Aboulafia](/source/Romi_Aboulafia),[2] 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](/source/French_language), and adept in [German](/source/German_language) and [Arabic](/source/Arabic_language). His multilingualism is often a feature of his roles.

## Filmography

### Film

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 Maj. Dmitri Kirilenko 2004 The Terminal Goran 2005 When Do We Eat? Rafi 2005 Mr. & Mrs. Smith Dive Bar Patron 2005 The Cutter Doctor Joseph 2006 Undisputed II: Last Man Standing Gaga 2006 The Good Shepherd Valentin Mironov #2 2007 The Hunting Party Boris 2008 What Just Happened Johnny 2008 Get Smart Russian Guy in Bathroom 2010 Holy Rollers Mendel Gold 2010 Undisputed III: Redemption Gaga 2010 The Human Resources Manager The HR Manager 2010 Bunraku Eddie 2011 360 The Boss 2011 Johnny English Reborn Artem Karlenko 2011 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 7 Days in Entebbe Motta Gur 2019 The Red Sea Diving Resort Barack Isaacs 2020 Kajillionaire Stovik Mann 2022 Rubikon Dimitri Krylow 2023 Heart of Stone King of Spades 2024 Emilia Pérez Dr. Wasserman 2025 Idiotka Samuel Levlansky

### Television

Year Title Role Notes Ref. 1995–1996 Inyan Shel Zman Doron 7 episodes 2001 Walker, Texas Ranger French Mercenary Episode:"Blood Diamonds" 2001 JAG Capt. Yoel Episode: "The Promised Land" 2007 Close to Home Nikolai Shevchenko Episode: "Internet Bride" 2008 The Cleaner Gaza 2 episodes 2009 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 Roland David Barrett Episode: "Marionette" 2012–2015 The Gordin Cell Yaakov "Yasha" Lundin Season 1: Main antagonist Season 2: Supporting character 2012 Transporter: The Series Sergei Zarov Episode: "Payback" 2013 Grimm Boris Myshkin Episode: "Red Menace" 2013–2017 Beauty and the Baker Tzvika Granot 18 episodes 2014 Braquo (season 3) Levani Jordania 7 episodes 2014 The Blacklist (season 1) Ivan Episode: "Ivan" (No. 88) 2014 The Mentalist (season 7) Jan Nemic Episode: "Orange Blossom Ice Cream" 2014 Crisis Boris Makarov Episode: "How Far Would You Come" 2015–2018 Homeland Ivan Krupin, Russian intelligence agent of SVR Recurring role 2017 Madam Secretary Timur Soroka Episode: "Extraordinary Hazard" 2017 Transparent Nitzan 4 episodes 2017 Salvation Defense Minister Toporov End of Season 1 2018 Barry Vacha / Ruslan Recurring role 2018 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 Mikhail Mikhailovich Vasiliev 2 episodes 2020 Away Misha Popov 2020 Nasdrovia Aleksei [3] 2022 Babylon Berlin Abe Gold Season 4: 12 episodes 2022 Litvinenko Alexender Goldfarb 2023 Pantheon Yair Gispan Season 2: 2 episodes 2024 Mayor of Kingstown Roman Season 3: 10 episodes 2025 Zero Day Natan 3 episodes 2026 Big Mistakes Ivan Recurring; 4 episodes

### Video games

Year Title Role 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 Voice 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 Voice 2007 World in Conflict 2007 Cars Mater-National Championship Yuri 2007 Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Voice Additional voices 2008 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 Eugene, Miller 2011 Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Russian Pilot 2011 Battlefield 3 Solomon 2011 Assassin's Creed: Revelations Prince Selim Additional voices 2012 Diablo III Voice 2012 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 Voice 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 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

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["The 'Homeland' spy who started out as an Israeli intelligence operative"](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). *Haaretz*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Haaretz_2-0)** Kupfer, Ruta (September 6, 2012). ["Hollywood's Israeli-born Woman of Impact"](https://web.archive.org/web/20211205135158/https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/culture/a-sabra-steps-into-dick-clark-s-shoes-1.5296998). *[Haaretz](/source/Haaretz)*. Archived from [the original](https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/culture/a-sabra-steps-into-dick-clark-s-shoes-1.5296998) on December 5, 2021. Retrieved July 20, 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Movistar estrena la comedia 'Nasdrovia', que tendrá dos nuevos capítulos semanales"](https://www.elperiodico.com/es/yotele/20201106/movistar-estrena-nasdrovia-dos-capitulos-semanales-8192098). *[El Periódico](/source/El_Peri%C3%B3dico_de_Catalunya)*. November 6, 2020.

## External links

- [Mark Ivanir](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0411980/) at [IMDb](/source/IMDb_(identifier))

- ["Mark Ivanir Lives for Shady Characters"](https://jewishjournal.com/culture/arts/232500/mark-ivanir-lives-shady-characters/). *The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles*.

Authority control databases International VIAF 2 GND WorldCat National United States France BnF data Spain Netherlands Norway Korea Israel People Deutsche Biographie DDB Other IdRef SNAC Yale LUX

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Mark Ivanir](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Ivanir) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Ivanir?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.