Andrew Divoff

Divoff was born in San Tomé, Anzoátegui, Venezuela. His father was Russian. His parents worked as wildcatters for Exxon, and met because Divoff's maternal grandfather was his father's supervisor. Divoff describes himself as having been an introvert and an outsider during his childhood in Caracas, Venezuela, saying that he had experienced near-daily physical fights and bullying from other children. Divoff's first language was Spanish, but he learned English in Venezuela. and told his friends that he wanted to become an actor who did his own stunts. Divoff's mother worked for the State Department, and he moved with her when she was transferred to Spain. While in Spain, Divoff tutored English-speaking students in Spanish and attended the University of Barcelona, where he completed a research project on linguistics in The Canterbury Tales. He transferred his credits to Georgetown University, where he continued his study of languages and linguistics, and has resided in the United States ever since. Divoff did not graduate from Georgetown University, instead deciding to take a year off to help his father settle in California for retirement. ==Career==

After returning to California, Divoff worked as a dispatcher for a limousine company, eventually becoming a limo driver in 1983. Divoff's subsequent TV appearances in the 1980s included bit parts and work as an extra in The A-Team, The Twilight Zone, MacGyver, Scarecrow and Mrs. King, and Matlock. His multilingual skills and international background helped win him some of these early roles. When auditioning for a guest role as a limo driver for Thirtysomething, Divoff pretended to be a Russian immigrant, and maintained the farce on set until the filming ended, dropping the Russian accent entirely. He simply preferred to perform his own stunts because it gave him complete control over every aspect of his characters. Divoff's script also required lavish special effects, and featured "gargoyles on buildings coming to life and coming down into the street." Divoff later reunited with Robert Kurtzman for the "grindhouse"- inspired horror film The Rage, and has since appeared in several other horror films, including the Midnight Syndicate's indie horror flick The Dead Matter as the lead villain. in The Hatred as a former Nazi, and in the Miles Doleac film Demons as a religious zealot. Divoff had a recurring role on Lost (Seasons 3 and 6, 2006–07 and 2010 respectively) as Mikhail Bakunin, a Russian member of the Others who lived in the Flame station of the DHARMA Initiative (in the episodes "The Cost of Living", "Enter 77" and "Par Avion") and later appeared, in flashback (in "One of Us"), and then reappeared (in the episodes "D.O.C.", "The Man Behind the Curtain", "Through the Looking Glass", and "The Package"). In 2008–09, on Season 7 of CSI: Miami, Divoff played "Ivan Sarnoff" in four episodes ("Seeing Red", "Target Specific", "And They're Offed", and "Raging Cannibal"). In 2015–16, Divoff had a recurring role as Karakurt in six episodes of Season 3 of The Blacklist (episodes "The Djinn", "Sir Crispin Crandall", "Zal Bin Hasaan", "Kings of the Highway", "The Director", and "The Director: Conclusion"). Other television guest appearances include roles on The A-Team, JAG, Highlander: The Series, Walker, Texas Ranger, Criminal Minds, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Burn Notice, Alias, Nikita, The Strain, and Colony. ==Business ventures and philanthropy==

Divoff has pursued a number of other business ventures in addition to professional acting, and uses many of these businesses as a springboard for philanthropic and environmentalist efforts. In the early 1990s, he was a co-owner of the blues bar and restaurant Sunset Social Club. Operation Provider, In 2017, Divoff formed his own brewing company, Three Marm Brewing, a "marm" being the part of a tree trunk that forks into two or more trunks. The partners of Three Marm Brewing are predominantly members of Divoff's former logging crew. Divoff and his partners are planning to open a taproom in Crestline, California, and have other new beer flavors in development, including the Logger Lager and Mystic Mast Stout. ==Personal life==

Divoff can speak eight languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, French, Italian, German, and Russian. At one time he also knew Romanian, but forgot it through lack of use. Divoff's multilingual skills are showcased in many of his film and television roles. == Filmography ==

Film Video games Television ==References==