What is Yakov Smirnoff's full name?
Yakov Naumovich Pokhis
Yakov Smirnoff date of birth:
January 24, 1951
How old is Yakov Smirnoff?
75
Where was Yakov Smirnoff born?
Odessa, Ukrainian SSR, USSR
Yakov Smirnoff body shape:
Average
What color is Yakov Smirnoff's hair?
Brown - Dark
What religion is Yakov Smirnoff?
Jewish
What is Yakov Smirnoff's ethnicity?
White
What is Yakov Smirnoff nationality?
American
What is Yakov Smirnoff's occupation?
Comic, Actor
Yakov Smirnoff claim to fame:
`What a Country`
What genre is Yakov Smirnoff's work?
Irony, Word play, Transpositional pun, word play, transpositional pun
Short Biography
Yakov Naumovich Pokhis, better known as Yakov Smirnoff (born 24 January 1951), is a Soviet-born American comedian, actor and writer. After emigrating to the United States in 1977, Smirnoff began performing as a stand-up comic. He eventually gained fame, and he reached his biggest successes in the mid-to-late 1980s, when he also appeared in several films and television shows, including his own 1986-87 sitcom, What a Country!. His comic persona was of a naive immigrant from the Soviet Union who was perpetually confused and delighted by life in the United States. His humor combined a mockery of life under Communism and of consumerism in the United States, as well as word play caused by misunderstanding of American phrases and culture, all punctuated by the catchphrase, "And I thought, 'What a country!'"