Zeljko Ivanek

Short Biography

Zeljko Ivanek was born on August 15, 1957 in Ljubljana, Slovenia as Zeljko Silver Ivanek. He is an actor, known for Argo (2012), Donnie Brasco (1997) and In Bruges (2008).Trade Mark (2)Frequently plays ruthless, morally ambiguous authority figuresplays lawyers or politiciansTrivia (11)Tony award nominations: 1983, Featured Actor in a Play, Brighton Beach Memoirs (nom); 1992, Featured Actor in a Play, Two Shakespearean Actors (nom.) Drama Desk Awards: 1992, Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play, Two Shakespearean Actors (nom;)Drama Desk Award, 1982, Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play, Cloud 9. Villager Award, 1982, Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play, Cloud 9.The Slovenian-born actor graduated from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in 1980.Drama Desk Awards: 1992, Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play, Two Shakespearean Actors (nom;)Twice nominated for Broadway's Tony Award as Best Actor (Featured Role - Play): in 1983 for "Brighton Beach Memoirs", and in 1992 for "Two Shakespearean Actors".He is frequently cast as political or business middlemen of corrupt, shady natures who often end up stabbing somebody in the back.Earned his third Tony Award nomination for "Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play" in "The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial" in 2006.In an interview for AOL television, Zeljko said his first name is pronounced Zhel-ko.He has worked with Richard Belzer on three different series: Law & Order (1990), Homicide: Life on the Street (1993) and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999).Graduated Yale University (Class 0f 1978) majoring in theater in only three years. He later studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts.His first name, which has no American parallel, means 'the one who desires' in his native Croatian. Latin analogue is "Desiderius" (Desiderio in Italian and Spanish). Ivanek ("small Ivan", i.e. John, in Kajkavian dialect) is common family name from Curilovec village near Varazdin in north Croatia.Personal Quotes (1)[Interview for "Films in Review" in 1985] There's a thrill in performance on the stage that you don't get in a movie. There's a feeling that you are communicating something to an audience that you just don't have during take 16 on a sound stage. A year later you see it on a screen and feel frustrated about things you've missed. Why didn't I do this? Why didn't I do that?Željko Ivanek ([ˈʒɛːlkɔ iˈʋaːnək]; born August 15, 1957) is a Slovenian American actor, known for his role as Ray Fiske on Damages, for which he won the Primetime Emmy Award. Ivanek is also known for his role of Ed Danvers on Homicide: Life on the Street and Homicide: The Movie, Governor James Devlin on Oz, Andre Drazen on (24), Blake Sterling on the short-lived NBC series The Event, and Emile "The Hunter" Danko on Heroes. Since 2014, he has starred as Russell Jackson in the CBS drama Madam Secretary.Early life and educationIvanek was born in Ljubljana, PR Slovenia, FPR Yugoslavia. He emigrated with his parents to the United States in 1960, when he was 3 years old. After a two-year stay, in 1962, the family moved back to Slovenia for five years and then returned to the United States in 1967. Having performed in numerous community theater plays in the San Francisco Bay Area, he graduated from Ellwood P. Cubberley High School in Palo Alto in 1975. Ivanek graduated from Yale University in 1978 and afterward attended the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.Acting careerIvanek has worked extensively on the stage. In 1982, he originated the role of Hally in Athol Fugard's play "Master Harold"...and the Boys. He has also appeared in the U.S. premieres of Caryl Churchill's Cloud Nine (for which he earned the 1981 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play) and Martin McDonagh's The Pillowman. He performs frequently on Broadway and has been nominated for three Tony Awards, for his performances in the original production of Brighton Beach Memoirs, in Two Shakespearean Actors, and in a revival of The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, alongside David Schwimmer and Tim Daly.However, Ivanek is perhaps best known for his supporting roles in a number of well-known television series. The characters he portrays are most often professional men such as lawyers or government functionaries and are frequently antagonists. These roles include Emile Danko in Heroes; Roland in The X-Files; prosecuting attorney Ed Danvers in Homicide: Life on the Street; Ray Fiske in Damages; J.J. in Big Love; the Magister in True Blood; Governor James Devlin in Oz; and Blake Sterling, the Director of National Intelligence in the NBC drama series The Event.[ He currently plays Russell Jackson, Chief of Staff, in the TV series Madam Secretary. He has also portrayed a broader range of roles, however, including John Dickinson, the Pennsylvania representative to the Second Continental Congress in the HBO miniseries John Adams. Ivanek has also guest starred on shows such as Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and House. He has appeared several times on Law & Order as both one-off characters and as Ed Danvers in crossover episodes with Homicide: Life on the Street.As well as his stage and television work, Ivanek has appeared in more than 20 feature films, including The Bourne Legacy, In Bruges, Dogville, Black Hawk Down, Donnie Brasco, Argo, and Seven Psychopaths.In 2012, he portrayed Dr. Stafford White in the Fox drama The Mob Doctor. As of 2014, he has supporting roles in several shows on broadcast and cable television, including the NBC drama series Revolution, where he plays the recurring roles of Dr. Calvin Horn and an illusory nanotech avatar of Horn; the USA Network drama Suits; the Cinemax drama Banshee; and the FX series The Americans.In That Guy... Who Was in That Thing, he reveals that his contract includes a rider to ensure that the character Ž in "Željko" does not appear as Z in the credits.AwardsIvanek has received recognition for his on-screen work. In 2008, he was awarded the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his performance in the role of Ray Fiske on Damages.