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Dimitar D. Marinov
Born	Dimitar Marinov (1964-10-06)October 6, 1964 (age 60) Sofia,Bulgaria
Citizenship	Bulgaria/United States
Alma mater	NATFA
Occupations	Actor Violinist Writer
Years active	1979–present
Notable work	Green Book
Spouse	Jennifer Marinov ​ (m. 2003)​
Children	2

Dimiter D. Marinov orDimitar Marinov (Bulgarian:Димитър Маринов, born October 6, 1964) is aBulgarian-American actor. In 2019, he became the first Bulgarian to go on the red carpet at the91st Academy Awards, after he played a supporting role in the filmGreen Book, which wonBest Picture.^[1][2]

Marinov was born inSofia,Bulgaria and was adopted by one of Marinovi family, a well-known tobacco company owners, used as a prototype of theDimitar Dimov's best-selling novelTobacco.^[3] At the age of 11, he became first violin in a youth symphony orchestra and traveled all over Western and Eastern Europe, the US and the Middle East. Following the completion of an associate degree in Classical Music, he discovered his passion for acting.

At the age of 18, Marinov was drafted into the Bulgarian Army which was mandatory during theCommunist era. He was assigned to an Artillery Intelligence Unit. Within a year of his service, Dimiter was detained by the People's Military Tribunal. He was accused of conspiring against the People's Republic and trying to escape to the West. The verdict was three years political imprisonment. Regardless of the difficulties that followed after his prison term, Dimiter graduated with a master's degree as an honor student from theBulgarian National Academy for Theatre and Film in Sofia. In 1990, Dimiter traveled throughout Europe, Canada and the United States as an actor-singer in a Bulgarian folk-jazz stage anthology entitled -Mystery of Bulgarian Voices. Following the last performance in the United States, Dimiter defected as a political refugee inKnoxville,Tennessee.

He took on various jobs including dishwasher, air-brush artist and a handyman. In 1993, Marinov drove across country in his Volkswagen Bug to San Diego, California. The diverse environment helped him to find new venues to grow and establish himself as a "new American". Playing his violin and singing in a vast number of restaurants while working as a coffee barista, he managed in 1996 to become an owner of a coffee shop, restaurant and catering business. Marinov began his US acting career on the stage at The San Diego Repertory Theatre in 1999. In the year 2000, he pursued his passionate dream of working with young children. Partnering with Michael Ari Wulffhart they created, developed and taught numerous children educational programs for the YMCA and theSan Diego Zoo.

After completing a three-year business venture with his family in Costa Rica from 2006 to 2009, Marinov returned to the United States in order to expand his acting career in commercials, television and film.

In the Bandito Brothers productionAct of Valor, which was his very first US film audition, Marinov made his big screen debut as the diabolical Kerimov, the Russian scientist and smuggler. Marinov's "big break" was inGreen Book directed byPeter Farrelly. Marinov co-stars withViggo Mortensen andMahershala Ali. The movie received a dozenawards, including theAcademy Award for Best Picture^[4] andGolden Globe Award for Best Screenplay^[5] After the filming of Green Book, Marinov also took on the task of directing Southwest High School's musical production of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory".

On 31 December 2003 Marinov married his longtime partner. They have two sons, (one born December 30, 2005, and the other May 10, 2013).

• Dimiter Marinov atIMDb

• Male actors from Sofia
• Living people
• Bulgarian emigrants to the United States
• American male film actors
• American male television actors
• 1964 births

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• BLP articles lacking sources from September 2023
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