Akim Mikhailovich Tamiroff (born Hovakim Tamiryants; October 29, 1899 – September 17, 1972) was an Armenian-American actor. One of the premier character actors of Hollywood's Golden Age, Tamiroff developed a prolific career despite his thick accent, appearing in at least 80 motion pictures over a span of 37 years.
He was nominated twice for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performances in The General Died at Dawn (1936) and For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943), winning the first ever Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor for the latter. Orson Welles, a friend and oft-collaborator, praised him as "the greatest of all screen actors."
Early life and education Tamiroff was born Hovakim Tamiryants () to Armenian parents living in the Russian Empire. Different sources cite either Tiflis (in modern-day Georgia) or Baku (in modern-day Azerbaijan) as his places of birth. His father Mikayel Tamiryants (a.k.a. Mikhail Tamiroff) was an oil worker, and his mother Masha Amiryan was a seamstress.
He trained at the Moscow Art Theatre drama school for nine years from the age of 19, where he was a pupil of Konstantin Stanislavski. During that time, he changed his name to the russified moniker Akim Mikhailovich Tamiroff ().
Career
Early stage work During his time at the Moscow Art Theatre, he became acquainted with fellow Armenian Nikita Balieff. Following the Russian Revolution, Tamiroff and several other émigrés joined Balieff in Paris to form the La Chauve-Souris touring revue.
He arrived in the U.S. for the first time in January 1923 on a three-month tour with the revue and starred in a repertory of Russian plays directed by Stanislavski. He returned in November and stayed until 1924. His final trip with them was in October 1927 when he decided to stay permanently.'Practice Fun' Music Studio . Dougmacaulay.com. Retrieved on April 1, 2014.. theoscarsite.com. Retrieved on April 1, 2014. He joined the Theatre Guild in New York City, where he met his wife Tamara Shayne. Both were later naturalized as United States citizens.
Hollywood career
Tamiroff's film debut came in 1932 in an uncredited role in Okay, America!. He performed in several more uncredited roles until 1935, when he appeared in The Lives of a Bengal Lancer. He also appeared in the lavish epic China Seas in 1935 with Clark Gable, Wallace Beery, Jean Harlow, Rosalind Russell and Robert Benchley. The following year, he was cast in the titular role in The General Died at Dawn. He appeared in the 1937 musical High, Wide, and Handsome with Irene Dunne and Randolph Scott, and the 1938 proto-noir Dangerous to Know opposite Anna May Wong, frequently singled out as his best role.
In the following decade, he appeared in such films as The Buccaneer (1938) with Fredric March, The Great McGinty (1940), The Corsican Brothers (1941), Tortilla Flat (1942) with Spencer Tracy, Hedy Lamarr and John Garfield, Five Graves to Cairo (1943) with Erich von Stroheim as Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, Frank Borzage's His Butler's Sister (1943), For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943) with Gary Cooper and Ingrid Bergman, for which he received another Oscar nomination, and Preston Sturges' The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1944). Though ethnically Armenian, his many character roles included such ethnicities as Russian, Mexican, Chinese, Italian, French, German, Greek, Egyptian, Polish, Turkish, Malayan, Tartar, Romani, and Jewish.
His Broadway stage credits included The Life Line (1930-31), Miracle at Verdun (1931), and as the Woodcutter in Fay and Michael Kanin's adaptation of Rashomon (1950).
In 1944, Tamiroff was the first Golden Globe Award winner for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture for his work in For Whom the Bell Tolls. He was twice nominated for Academy Awards, both times for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. The first was for his work in The General Died at Dawn, and the second was for his work in For Whom the Bell Tolls. Both these films starred Gary Cooper.
In later years, Tamiroff appeared in Ocean's 11 (1960) with Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin's Rat Pack, Topkapi (1964) with Peter Ustinov and Melina Mercouri, Lord Jim (1965) with Peter O’Toole and Alphaville (1965), Marquis de Sade: Justine (1969) by Jesús Franco. He also had a long collaboration with Orson Welles: including Mr Arkadin (1955), Touch of Evil (1958), The Trial (1962), and as Sancho Panza in Welles's unfinished version of Don Quixote.
Personal life Tamiroff's accepted birth year was 1899, although in at least two instances this appeared to be different. In his second trip to America in November 1923 his age is given as 27 and in the 1930 census as 32. He married fellow actress Tamara Shayne, with whom he performed nightclub acts, in February 1933 in Los Angeles. Yet, according to the above-mentioned 1930 census, the couple was living in Chicago, Illinois, as married under the (misspelled) name Tameriroff. It appears also that this was his second marriage.
Tamiroff was fluent in five languages – Armenian, Russian, English, French, and Italian.
Death Tamiroff died in Palm Springs, California on September 17, 1972, from cancer.
Legacy For his contributions to the American film industry, Tamiroff received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for motion pictures at 1634 Vine Street.
While Tamiroff may not be a household name now, his malapropistic performance as the boss in The Great McGinty is thought to have been the inspiration for the cartoon character Boris Badenov, the male half of the villainous husband-and-wife team Boris and Natasha on The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show.Low-rated and barely animated, Rocky & Bullwinkle became a TV touchstone. Tv.avclub.com. Retrieved on July 8, 2013. He was also spoofed in a 1969 episode of the TV show H.R. Pufnstuf entitled "The Stand-in" in which a frog named "Akim Toadanoff" directs a movie on Living Island. He is mentioned in J.D. Salinger's "Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut" (New Yorker, 1948), and Walker Percy's 1961 novel The Moviegoer.The Moviegoer. (New York: Vintage, 1998), 165
Filmography
Film Year Title Role Notes 1932 Okay, America! Bit Role Uncredited 1933 Clear All Wires! Moscow Hotel Clerk Gabriel Over the White House Debt Conference Delegate The Barbarian Colonel Professional Sweetheart The Hotel Waiter Storm at Daybreak Gypsy Fiddler The Devil's in Love Adjutant Queen Christina Pedro 1934 Fugitive Lovers Deaf-Mute Bus Passenger Sadie McKee Riccori The Great Flirtation Paul Wengler Whom the Gods Destroy Peter Korotoff Straight Is the Way Mr. Slavko Uncredited Now and Forever French Jeweller Chained Pablo The Scarlet Empress Granin Uncredited The Merry Widow Maxim's Manager Lady by Choice Poupolis The Captain Hates the Sea Gen.Salazaro Here is My Heart Manager of Hotel 1935 The Lives of a Bengal Lancer Emir La Veuve joyeuse Le Turc The Winning Ticket Giuseppe Rumba Tony Uncredited Naughty Marietta Rudolpho Black Fury Sokolsky Reckless Chef At Wedding Uncredited Go into Your Dance Mexican In Cantina Paris in Spring Cafe Manager China Seas Paul Romanoff The Gay Deception Spellek The Big Broadcast of 1936 Boris Two-Fisted Taxi Driver The Last Outpost Mirov Uncredited 1936 The Story of Louis Pasteur Dr. Zaranoff Desire Maj. Avilia Woman Trap Joe Ramirez De La Valle Anthony Adverse Carlo Cibo The General Died at Dawn General Yang The Jungle Princess Karen Neg I Loved a Soldier Unfinished 1937 Her Husband Lies Ed "Big Ed" Bullock The Soldier and the Lady Ogareff King of Gamblers Steve Kalkas The Great Gambini The Great Gambini High, Wide, and Handsome Joe Varese This Way Please Tartar Chieftain Uncredited 1938 The Buccaneer Dominique You Dangerous to Know Stephan Recka Spawn of the North "Red" Skain Ride a Crooked Mile Mike Balan 1939 Paris Honeymoon Mayor Peter Karloca King of Chinatown Frank Baturin Union Pacific Fiesta The Magnificent Fraud Jules LaCroix / President Alvarado Honeymoon in Bali Tony Disputed Passage Dr. "Tubby" Forster 1940 The Way of All Flesh Paul Kriza Untamed Joe Easter The Great McGinty The Boss North West Mounted Police Dan Duroc Texas Rangers Ride Again Mio Pio 1941 New York Town Stefan Janowski The Corsican Brothers Baron Colonna 1942 Reap the Wild Wind The Lamb (voice) Uncredited Tortilla Flat Pablo 1943 Five Graves to Cairo Farid For Whom the Bell Tolls Pablo His Butler's Sister Popoff 1944 The Miracle of Morgan's Creek The Boss The Bridge of San Luis Rey Uncle Pio Dragon Seed Wu Lien Can't Help Singing Prince Gregory Stroganovsky 1945 Pardon My Past Jim Arnold 1946 A Scandal in Paris Emile Vernet 1947 Fiesta Chato Vasquez The Gangster Nick Jammey 1948 My Girl Tisa Mr. Grumbach Relentless Joe Faringo 1949 Outpost in Morocco Lt. Glysko Black Magic Gitano 1953 Desert Legion Pvt. Plevko 1954 They Who Dare Cpt. George One You Know What Sailors Are The President of Agraria 1955 Cartouche Marchese Di Salpiere The Widow Carlo Serra Mr. Arkadin Jakob Zouk 1956 The Black Sleep Odo Anastasia Boris Andreevich Chernov 1957 Yangtse Incident: The Story of H.M.S. Amethyst Col. Peng 1958 Touch of Evil "Uncle" Joe Grandi Me and the Colonel Szabuniewicz 1959 Desert Desperadoes The Merchant 1960 Ocean's 11 Spyros Acebos 1961 La moglie di mio marito Ad Agency President The Bacchantes Teiresias Romanoff and Juliet Vadim Romanoff The Last Judgment The Director The Italian Brigands 'O Zingaro Ursus and the Tartar Princess Khan of the Tartars 1962 Invasion 1700 Jan Onufry Zagłoba The Reluctant Saint Bishop Durso The Trial Bloch A Queen for Caesar Gnaeus Pompeius 1964 The Black Tulip Marquis de Vigogne Panic Button Pandowski Topkapi Gerven Spuit Elf Bakker / Brandmeester 1965 Le bambole Monsignor Arcudi Segment: "Monsignor Cupido" Lord Jim Schomberg Crime on a Summer Morning Frank Kramer Alphaville Henri Dickson Marco the Magnificent The Old Man of the Mountain Marie-Chantal contre le docteur Kha Prof. Lambaré / Dr. Kha The Liquidator Sheriek 1966 Adultery Italian Style Max Portesi Lt. Robin Crusoe, U.S.N. Tanamashu Our Husbands Cesare Segment: "Il marito di Olga" After the Fox Okra Un gangster venuto da Brooklyn Joe Montano Hotel Paradiso Anniello 1967 The Vulture Prof. Hans Koniglich A Rose for Everyone Basilio Monsieur Lecoq Unfinished 1968 O tutto o niente Pigsty / Dean Light The Girl Who Couldn't Say No Uncle Egidio Great Catherine Sergeant 1969 100 Rifles Gen. Romero Scenes deleted Death of a Jew Insp. Mehdaloun Marquis de Sade: Justine Du Harpin The Great Bank Robbery Papa 1972 Don Quixote Sancho Panza Unfinished, filmed between 1955–69
Television