Andrew Divoff

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Andrew Daniel Divoff (born July 2, 1955) is a Venezuelan-American actor, stunt coordinator and producer of Irish descent.

Divoff has played many villains in film and on television, including drug cartel leaders, terrorists, and organized crime bosses, though he is best known for playing the evil Djinn/Nathaniel Demerest in the first two Wishmaster films.

Other noteworthy roles include the villains Luis Cali in Toy Soldiers, Cherry Ganz in Another 48 Hrs., Ernesto Mendoza in A Low Down Dirty Shame, Boris Bazylev in Air Force One, M (short for as Mephistopheles) in Faust: Love of the Damned, Ivan Sarnoff in CSI: Miami, Mikhail Bakunin in Lost, and Karakurt in The Blacklist.Divoff's 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. Divoff can speak nine languages: English, Russian, Spanish, Italian, French, German, Catalan, Portuguese and Swedish.

He used to speak Romanian but forgot the language when he had no one with whom to speak it.

Divoff's multilingual skills are showcased in many of his film and television roles.

Early life and education

Divoff (Russian: Андрей Ди́вов) 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, stating that he had experienced near-daily physical altercations and bullying from other children. Divoff's first language was Spanish, but he learned English while still living in Venezuela.

After Divoff's parents divorced, he emigrated with his sister and mother to northern California when he was 10 years old. Upon moving to the United States, Divoff was supposed to enter the fifth grade, but the school principal held Divoff back because of his heavy accent. Divoff states that this experience was a catalyst for his obsession with languages. When he was in the seventh grade, Divoff's school screened films in class, including Seven Days in May, which Divoff found inspiring. As a result, Divoff began envisioning himself as the hero in such films, 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. Divoff lived five years in Vilassar de Mar (Catalonia), between 1973 and 1977, feeling himself to be Catalan too. 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.

Personal life

Divoff was married to Russian actress Raissa Danilova. His hobbies include sculpting and oil-painting.

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Career

Divoff started working as a dispatcher for a limousine company before returning to California and becoming a limousine chauffeur in 1983. Divoff took acting lessons during his evenings off; his instructors included Milton Katselas, the current director of Butterflies are Free. For a 1986 episode of Misfits of Science, he was his first appearance as a Russian guard. Divoff was chosen for the role by a telephone audition in which she was asked to scream, "Stop the truck!" In Russian and then in English with a Russian accent, then in English. He appeared in the 1986 cult horror film Neon Maniacs, in which he played a demonic surgeon. Divoff suffered with the filmmakers due to animal cruelty: in one of the film's scenes, real dead pigeons were used.

Divoff's subsequent television appearances in the 1980s included bit parts and work as an extra in The A-Team, MacGyver, Scarecrow, and Matlock. His multilingual skills as well as his international experience gave him some of these roles early on. Divoff pretended to be a Russian immigrant in Thirtysomething's filming, but the Russian accent was largely dropped entirely.

In another 48 Hrs, his breakthrough role came in 1990, when he was cast as the outlaw biker "Cherry Ganz." He was holidaying in Berlin when he received the call that he had won the job. He went out to celebrate at a nearby bar and then watched the Berliner Wall crumble in ruins, grabging a sledgehammer and participating in the Wall's devastation. Another 48 Hrs. As the film that caused him to leave his limo driving career and concentrate on acting. Following another 48 hours, Divoff landed antagonist roles in several major projects, mainly in the action genre. Toy Soldiers and A Low Down Dirty Shame were two of these programs. In rare instances, such as in Running Cool and Interceptor, Divoff portrayed the protagonist or hero.

Air Force One and Wishmaster were released in 1997. Divoff did his own stunts in his portrayal of a Russian terrorist henchman in Air Force One, as in other films. Divoff said in an interview that he has so often performed his own stunts that it is often assumed that he used to be a professional stuntman; however, this is not the case. He simply loved doing his own stunts because doing so gave him absolute control over every facet of his lives.

In the first two films of the Wishmaster film, Divoff played the nefarious "Djinn." Robert Kurtzman, a special effects artist, produced Wishmaster, and several well-known horror actors performed cameo appearances. In Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies, directed by Jack Sholder, Divoff reprised his role as the Djinn. Divoff and a friend wrote a script for a third film, Wishmaster: The Third Millennium, which had a Y2K theme and was struck by a missile, and all hell breaks loose in 1999. Incidentally, there is a meeting at the United Nations headquarters, and monsters come to life right there and tear it down. "Gargoyles on buildings came to life and came down into the street," Divoff's script called for elaborate special effects. Divoff's script wasn't selected and he did not return for Wishmaster 3 or Wishmaster 4, citing a significant lack of funding and the fact that these sequels didn't have the same passion for the earlier entries that was not available.

Divoff appeared in many horror films, including Robert Kurtzman's indie horror film The Rage, among others. In The Hatred as a former Nazi and in the Miles Doleac film Demons as a religious zealot.

Divoff appeared in Lost (Seasons 3 and 6 respectively), as Mikhail Bakunin, a Russian member of the Others who lived in the DHARMA Initiative (in the films "The Cost of Living," "Enter 77" and "Par Avion") and "In the episodes "One of Us") and later appeared in flashback (in "One of Us") and then reappeared, before being revived (in the episodes "D.O.C. Divoff Divoff) and 2010 and later in Lost (in & "The Man Behind the Curtain," "Through the Glass," and "The Package" are among the items that have been featured on "The Man Behind the Curtain."

"Ivan Sarnoff" appeared in four episodes on CSI: Miami's Season 7 ("Seeing Red," "Target Specific," "And They're Offed," and "Raging Cannibal"). Divoff appeared in six episodes of Season 3 of The Blacklist, including "The Djinn," "Sir Crispin Crandall," "Kings of the Highway," "The Producer," and "The Director" (Danger). Other television celebrity appearances include roles on The A-Team, JAG, Highlander, The Prisoner, Walker, Texas Ranger, Criminal Minds, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Alias, Nikita, The Strain, and Colony.

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