Yakov Smirnoff Wiki: Salary, Married, Wedding, Spouse, Family
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 about 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!'"The collapse of Communism starting in 1989, and especially the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, brought an end to Smirnoff's widespread popularity, although he continued to perform. In 1992, he bought his own theater in Branson, Missouri, where he still performs and hosts. In the late 1990s, prompted by his own divorce, he retooled his stand-up act to focus on the differences between men and women, and on solving problems within relationships.Smirnoff is also a professor at Missouri State University and Drury University where he teaches "The Business of Laughter." He is also a painter.
Double Platinum, Up Your Alley, Heartburn, The Money Pit, Brewster's Millions, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension, Moscow on the Hudson
TV Shows
Night Court, What a Country!
Star Sign
Aquarius
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Trademark
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Performs comedic routines with a heavy Russian accent. His trademark line is: "What a country!"
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Quote
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"I've gone from Red to Redneck" (On Owning and Operating an 800 seat Theater in Branson, Missouri).
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What a country!
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In Russia, if a male athlete loses, he becomes a female athlete.
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Fact
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In May 2006 he received a master's degree in positive psychology from the Penn College of Liberal and Professional Studies (Penn LPS).
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Is a professor at Missouri State University and Drury University where he teaches "The Business of Laughter.".
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Has two children: a daughter, Natasha, born in 1990, and a son, Alexander, born in 1992.
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Performs his own comedic variety show in Branson, Missouri. [June 2005]
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After the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade centers, he began working on a mural to commemorate the event. Just in time for the first anniversary of the event, the mural was printed on a huge banner, with the quote "The human spirit is not measured by the size of the act, but by the size of the heart." It was hung from a nearby building where it was clearly visible from Ground Zero for over a year. Yakov financed the banner with $100,000 of his own money, but kept his donation anonymous, for fear that people would see it as a joke because of his reputation as a comedian.
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He was an art professor at Odessa Pedagogical University in Ukraine before starting his comedy career in the United States, and he remains a talented artist.