Yakov Smirnoff | |
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 Smirnoff in a promotional image | |
| Born | Yakov Naumovich Pokhis (1951-01-24)24 January 1951 (age 75) |
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| Spouses | |
| Children | 2 |
| Comedy career | |
| Years active | 1983–present |
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| Website | yakov |
Yakov Naumovich Pokhis (Russian:Яков Наумович Похис; born 24 January 1951),[1] better known asYakov Smirnoff (Russian:Яков Смирнов;/ˈsmɪərnɒf/), is an American comedian, actor and writer.[2] He began his career as astand-up comedian in theSoviet Union, then immigrated to theUnited States in 1977 in order to pursue an American show business career, not yet knowing any English.
He reached his biggest success in the mid-to-late 1980s, appearing in several films which includeMoscow on the Hudson withRobin Williams,The Money Pit withTom Hanks,Heartburn withJack Nicholson andMeryl Streep, andBrewster's Millions withRichard Pryor. He was a star of the television seriesWhat a Country! and was a recurring guest star on NBC's hit television seriesNight Court playing the part of Yakov Korolenko. His comic persona was of a naive immigrant from theSoviet Union who was perpetually confused and delighted by life in the United States. His humor combined a mockery of life underCommunist states and ofconsumerism in the United States, as well asword play caused by misunderstanding of American phrases and culture, all punctuated by the catchphrase, "And I thought, 'What a country!'"
Following thedissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, he continued to perform. In 1993, he began performing year round at his own theater inBranson, Missouri. As of 2024[update],[3] he occasionally still performs limited dates at his theater in Branson while touring worldwide. Smirnoff earned a master's degree in psychology from theUniversity of Pennsylvania in 2006 and a doctorate in psychology and global leadership fromPepperdine University in 2019. He has also taught a course titled "The Business of Laughter" atMissouri State University and atDrury University.
The son of Naum Pokhis and Klara Pokhis, Smirnoff was born inOdesa in theUkrainian SSR of theSoviet Union.[4] His family was Jewish,[5] and lived in an apartment with eight other families.[6] Smirnoff eventually became an art teacher in Odesa,[4] and after two years of mandatory military service became a cruise ship comedian on theBlack Sea,[6] where he interacted with Americans who described life in the United States, inspiring him to leave the Soviet Union.[4]
After two years attempting to leave, he came to the United States with his parents in 1977, arriving inNew York City with $50 in savings.[6] His family was allowed to come to America because of "an agreement between the USSR and America toexchange wheat for Soviet citizens who wished to defect".[4] At the time, neither he nor his parents spoke any English.[4] On arrival to the United States, he was almost sent back to the USSR when his interpreter mistranslated his occupation—comedian—as "party organizer", which immigration authorities thought meant that he was an organizer for theCommunist Party of the Soviet Union.[7]
Smirnoff spent a portion of his early days in the United States working as a busboy and bartender atGrossingers Hotel in theCatskill Mountains of New York and living in the employee dormitory.[8]
Smirnoff began performing stand-up comedy in the US in the late 1970s.[6] After trying to think of a stage name that Americans would recognize, he chose the last name "Smirnoff" after a brand ofvodka he was familiar with from his bartending days.[4] At this time, he traveled toLos Angeles to perform at anopen mic night atthe Comedy Store, where he would eventually become a regular.[6] In the early 1980s, he moved to Los Angeles to further pursue his stand-up comedy career. While living there, he was roommates with aspiring comediansAndrew Dice Clay andThomas F. Wilson.[9]
After achieving some level of fame, Smirnoff received his first break with a small role in the 1984 filmMoscow on the Hudson, where he also helped starRobin Williams with his Russian dialogue on the set.[4] He made many appearances on the sitcomNight Court as Russian immigrant Yakov Korolenko.[10] He subsequently appeared in several other motion pictures, includingBuckaroo Banzai (1984),Brewster's Millions (1985) andThe Money Pit (1986).
In November 1985, he made his debut onThe Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and soon became a regular guest on the show.[11] That same year, he appeared in an ad forMiller Lite beer.[11]
In 1986, he garnered a starring role in the television sitcomWhat a Country!, a show devised specifically for him which lasted for one season.[11] In the late 1980s, Smirnoff was commissioned byABC to provide educational bumper segments called "Fun Facts" to be aired during Saturday morning cartoons, which would feature a joke about a cultural misunderstanding followed by an obscure fact.[12] He also appeared in commercials for hotel chainBest Western.
In 1987, Smirnoff was invited to a party hosted byWashington Times editor-in-chiefArnaud de Borchgrave, which featured PresidentRonald Reagan as the guest of honor. Reagan and Smirnoff immediately hit it off due to Reagan's love of jokes about life in the Soviet Union, which he would tell in speeches, and Smirnoff became one of his sources for new material. An example of a joke Reagan later told that originated from Smirnoff was "In Russia, if you say, 'Take my wife—please', you come home and she is gone."[13]
Smirnoff was enlisted byDana Rohrabacher, who was then a speechwriter for Reagan, to help with material for Reagan's speeches, including a speech given in front of Soviet leaderMikhail Gorbachev when Reagan visited the Soviet Union during theMoscow Summit in 1988.[14] Rohrabacher later stated that Smirnoff became "one of the inner circle" of speechwriting advisers during Reagan's final years in office, due to the quality of Smirnoff's suggestions.[14] In 1988, Smirnoff headlined at the annualWhite House Correspondents' Dinner.[11]
Since 1993, Smirnoff has been performing at his own 2,000 seat, state of the art theater, and over the years has entertained more than five million people in a live setting. His 31st consecutive season was commemorated inBranson, Missouri in 2024. In the late 1990s he retooled his stand-up act to focus on the differences between men and women, and on solving problems within relationships.[4]
In 2002, Smirnoff appeared in an episode ofKing of the Hill, "The Bluegrass Is Always Greener".[citation needed] The following year, he appeared onBroadway in a one-man show,As Long As We Both Shall Laugh, deemed by Lawrence Van Gelder ofThe New York Times as "warmhearted", "delightful" and "splendidly funny".[15] Smirnoff was also a featured writer forAARP: The Magazine and gave readers advice in his column, "Happily Ever Laughter".[16]
In 2006, Smirnoff received a master's degree inpositive psychology from theUniversity of Pennsylvania.[17] He has taught psychology classes atDrury University andMissouri State University and gives seminars and self-help workshops on the topic of improving relationships.[4] In 2016, Smirnoff produced and starred in a comedy special forPBS,Happily Ever Laughter: The Neuroscience of Romantic Relationships.[17][18] In May 2019, Smirnoff earned a doctorate in psychology and global leadership fromPepperdine University.[19][20]
Some of Smirnoff's jokes involvedword play based on a limited understanding of American idioms and culture:
Other jokes involved comparisons between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R.:
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Smirnoff is often credited with inventing or popularizing the type of joke known as the "Russian reversal", in which life "in Soviet Russia" or "in Russia" is described through an unexpected flip of a sentence's subject and object.[33] An example occurs in one of Smirnoff's Miller Lite commercials from the 1980s, in which he states, "In Russia, party always finds you!"[34][12] Another can be found in his 1987 bookAmerica on Six Rubles a Day: "Show business in America is different from what I was used to. Here you have to find anagent. In Russia, the agent always finds you."[29] Despite Smirnoff rarely using the joke format himself, he has often been directly associated with it throughout pop culture, including episodes of bothFamily Guy[35] andThe Simpsons.[33]
Time magazine observed that the earliest example of the joke can be found inCole Porter's 1938 musicalLeave It to Me! and furthermore creditedBob Hope for first introducing the format to a wide audience while hosting the30th Academy Awards in 1958.[33]
Smirnoff is also a painter and has frequently featured theStatue of Liberty in his art since receiving his U.S. citizenship. On the night of theSeptember 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, he started a painting inspired by his feelings about the event, based on an image of the Statue of Liberty. Just prior to the first anniversary of the attacks, he paid US$100,000 for his painting to be transformed into a large mural. Its dimensions were 200 feet by 135 feet (61 m by 41 m). The mural, titledAmerica's Heart, is apointillist-style piece, with one brush-stroke for each victim of the attacks. Sixty volunteers from theSheet Metal Workers Union erected the mural on a damaged skyscraper overlooking the ruins of theWorld Trade Center.[36][37]
The only stipulation he put on the hanging of the mural was that his name not be listed as the painter.[38] He signed it: "The human spirit is not measured by the size of the act, but by the size of the heart."[39]
The mural remained there until November 2003, when it was removed due to storm damage.[36] Following its removal, Smirnoff had it cut into pieces and would sell them to history enthusiasts.[40]
Smirnoff became an American citizen on 4 July 1986.[41]
In 1989, Smirnoff married Linda Dreeszen; they divorced in 2001.[42][6] They have two children: a daughter, Natasha, born in 1990; and a son, Alexander, born in 1992.[41] In 2019, Smirnoff married Olivia Kosarieva.[43][44]
Among his film credits, Smirnoff has co-starred in movies withRobin Williams (Moscow on the Hudson, 1984),Tom Hanks (The Money Pit, 1986), andJack Nicholson andMeryl Streep (Heartburn, 1986), in addition to single episodes of several TV series.[45]
He was nearly sent back to the Soviet Union on the next plane after the interpreter, groping for the right translation of comedian, came up with 'party organizer.' For a moment, the immigration people thought he was an organizer for the Communist Party.
Comedian Yakov Smirnoff and his wife ended their marriage in 2001.
Yakov and Olivia Smirnoff were married a year and a half ago.
Yakov: Laugh Your Yak-Off also features music and dancing by Yakov and his wife, Olivia Kosarieva.
Bibliography
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