Ivan Urgant

Ivan Urgant was born in 16 April 1978 in Leningrad, USSR (St. Petersburg, Russia) is a Russian television host, presenter, actor, musician and producer. His best known roles in film are Boris in the Six Degrees of Celebration (2010) films. Since 2012 he has hosted Evening Urgant (2012). He was born into a family of actors, the son of Andrey Urgant and Valeriya Kiselyova. His paternal grandparents were actors Nina Urgant and Lev Milinder. He is of Russian Jewish, Estonian, and Russian heritage. Ivan studied at the Leningrad Children's Music School No. 18, at the Gymnasium at the State Russian Museum. He graduated from Saint Petersburg State Theatre Arts Academy. After receiving his acting education, Ivan did not engage in theater as the main profession. He worked as a waiter, bartender, and then as a host in nightly shows in clubs. In 1999, Urgant managed to get a job at the St. Petersburg radio stations. In addition, he appeared on television, was the host of the program Petersburg Courier on Channel 5. Later, he was moved to Moscow and continued his career on the radio - first on Russian Radio, and then on "Hit-FM". In May 2001, Ivan first appeared on Moscow television, on the television channel MTV Russia. He received an invitation to a casting at a time when Olga Shelest and Anton Komolov were looking for a couple of hosts to team up with on the show Cheerful Morning. Since 2002, after the departure of the original team of VJs of "MTV Russia", he began to host the programs Total Show and Expresso. Starting from 2006, Urgant has appeared with Vladimir Pozner in the travel documentary series titled Travels of Pozner and Urgant. On 16 May 2009, he presented the finale of the The Eurovision Song Contest (2009) with former Russian Eurovision participant Alsou. In December 2017, Urgant was one of the hosts of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Team Draw Show, with Gary Lineker and Maria Komandnaya. In 2018, it was reported he had taken Israeli citizenship.