Ilya Zalmanovich Baskin (Russian: Илья Залманович Баскин; born 11 August 1950), known professionally as Elya Baskin, is a Latvian-born Soviet and American character actor.[1] He first gained attention for his role in Moscow on the Hudson (1984), as Robin Williams' character's best friend.[2] He is also known for playing Peter Parker's landlord, Mr. Ditkovich, in Spider-Man 2 (2004) and Spider-Man 3 (2007) and cosmonaut Max Brailovsky in 1984's 2010: The Year We Make Contact.

Elya Baskin
Born
Ilya Zalmanovich Baskin

(1950-08-11) 11 August 1950 (age 74)
OccupationActor
Years active1971–present

Early life

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Baskin was born to a Jewish family in Riga, Latvian SSR, Soviet Union, the son of Frieda and Zalman Baskin.[3] He attended the Theatre and Variety Arts College in Moscow and won a Festival of Young Actors Award at the Moscow Comedy Theatre.[3]

Personal life

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He emigrated to the United States in 1976.[3] He is often cast as Eastern European characters.[2]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Film Role
1974 Telegram (Телеграмма) Teacher (uncredited)
Not a Word About Football (Ни слова о футболе) Music teacher
Three Days in Moscow (Три дня в Москве) Passerby
1977 The World's Greatest Lover Actor with Bad Breath
1979 Butch and Sundance: The Early Days Book-keeper
Being There Karpatov
1980 Raise the Titanic Marganin
1981 American Pop Tuba Player
1984 Moscow on the Hudson Anatoly Cherkasov
2010 Maxim Brailovsky
1986 The Name of the Rose Severinus
Streets of Gold Klebanov
Combat High Interpreter
1988 Vice Versa Professor Kerschner
Zits Vladimir Timoshenko
1989 DeepStar Six Dr. Burciaga
The Slice of Life Foreign Man
Enemies: A Love Story Yasha Kobik
1993 The Pickle Russian Cab Driver
1994 Love Affair Ship Captain
New York Skyride
1996 Spy Hard Professor Ukrinsky
Forest Warrior Buster
1997 Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery General Borschevsky
Air Force One Andrei Kolchak
1999 October Sky Ike Bykovsky
Running Red Strelkin
2000 Thirteen Days Anatoly Dobrynin
2001 Heartbreakers Vladimir, Kremlin Waiter
2004 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover Dr. Stepniak
2004 Spider-Man 2 Mr. Ditkovich
2005 Wheelmen Vladimir
Confessions of a Pit Fighter Nick
2006 The Elder Son Uncle Fedya
Color of the Cross Caiphas
2007 Spider-Man 3 Mr. Ditkovich
The Dukes Murph
Say It in Russian Victor
2008 God's Smile or The Odessa Story Tad, a lawyer
2009 Angels & Demons Cardinal Petrov
2011 Transformers: Dark of the Moon Cosmonaut Dimitri
2013 Jimmy P: Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian Dr. Jokl
2014 The Hive Yuri Yegorov
2015 Silent Screams Andrei
2019 Supervized Brian
2024 Reagan B.E. Kertchman

Television

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Year Series Role
1972 Big School-Break (Большая перемена) Student
1986-1987 MacGyver Yuri Demetri
1989 Roseanne Foreign Man
1989-1990 True Blue Yuri
1991 Northern Exposure Nikolai Appolanov
Quantum Leap Major Yuri Kosenko
1993-1996 Walker, Texas Ranger Corp. Yuri Petrovsky / Misha
1995 The Larry Sanders Show Nicolae
1996 Ellen Sergei
1996-1997 Mad About You Vladimir
1999 Felicity Bela
1999-2000 Becker Alexi
2001 The Invisible Man Dimitri Yevchenko
Deadly Force 2 (Убойная сила-2) Makarov
2005 The West Wing Mr. Zubatov
2007 Criminal Minds Arseny Lysowsky
Heroes Ivan Spector
2012-2013 Rizzoli and Isles Dr. Vladmir Papov
2014 Castle Sergei Vetotchkin
2016 MacGyver Alexander Orlov
2017 Madam Secretary Dito Pirosmani
2018 Homeland Viktor Makarov, Russian ambassador

Video games

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References

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  1. ^ "Elya Baskin". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-03-07.
  2. ^ a b "Актер Илья Баскин: В Голливуде я играл, в основном, иностранцев – думаю, это и есть моя ниша". Российская газета (in Russian). 30 June 2011. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
  3. ^ a b c Elya Baskin profile, filmreference.com; accessed 11 March 2015.
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