Željko Ivanek facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Željko Ivanek
Ivanek in 2017
Born	(1957-08-15) August 15, 1957 (age 67) Ljubljana, PR Slovenia, FPR Yugoslavia (present-day Slovenia)
Education	Yale University (BA) London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1981–present
Parent(s)	Ferdo Ivanek (father)

Željko Ivanek (born August 15, 1957) is an actor from Slovenia who also became an American citizen. He has won several important awards for his acting, including a Drama Desk Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. He has also been nominated for the Tony Award three times.

Ivanek has appeared in many movies. Some of his film roles include Courage Under Fire (1996), Donnie Brasco (1997), Hannibal, and Black Hawk Down (both 2001). He was also in Unfaithful (2002) and The Manchurian Candidate (2004). Later, he appeared in Live Free or Die Hard (2007), The Bourne Legacy, Argo, and Seven Psychopaths (all 2012). He worked with director Lars von Trier on films like Dancer in the Dark (2000), Dogville (2003), and Manderlay (2005). In 2017, he was part of the movie Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, which earned him a Screen Actors Guild Award.

On television, Ivanek played Ray Fiske in the series Damages from 2007 to 2010. For this role, he won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2008. He was also known for playing Ed Danvers on Homicide: Life on the Street (1993–1999) and Russell Jackson on Madam Secretary (2014–2019). He had recurring roles in other popular shows like Oz (1997–2003), 24 (2002), True Blood (2008), Heroes (2009), Big Love (2009–2010), Banshee (2014), and 12 Monkeys (2015–2017). Since 2023, he has been starring as "The Croat" in the AMC series The Walking Dead: Dead City.

Early Life and Education

Željko Ivanek was born in Ljubljana, which was then part of Yugoslavia and is now in Slovenia. His father, Ferdo Ivanek, grew up in Croatia. In 1960, Željko, his younger brother Ivan, and their mother moved to Palo Alto, California, in the United States. His father worked as a research assistant at Stanford University. His mother also worked at Stanford as a project manager.

In 1962, Ivanek and his family returned to Slovenia for five years. They moved back to Palo Alto in 1967. Željko enjoyed acting in many community theater plays in the San Francisco Bay Area. He finished high school at Ellwood P. Cubberley High School in Palo Alto in 1975. In 1978, he graduated from Yale University, where he studied theater. He later continued his acting training at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

Acting Career Highlights

Željko Ivanek has had a long and successful career in acting, performing on stage, in movies, and on television.

Stage Performances

Ivanek has performed a lot in theater plays. In 1982, he played the role of Hally in Athol Fugard's play "Master Harold"...and the Boys. He also appeared in the first U.S. performances of Cloud Nine, for which he won a Drama Desk Award in 1981. He was also in The Pillowman. He often performs on Broadway, which is famous for its theater shows. He has been nominated for three Tony Awards, which are very important awards for theater actors. These nominations were for his roles in Brighton Beach Memoirs, Two Shakespearean Actors, and The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial.

Television Roles

Ivanek is widely known for his supporting roles in many popular TV series. His first TV role was in the soap opera The Edge of Night. He played Emile Danko in Heroes and Roland in The X-Files. He was also the prosecuting attorney Ed Danvers in Homicide: Life on the Street and Ray Fiske in Damages. Other notable TV roles include J.J. in Big Love, the Magister in True Blood, Governor James Devlin in Oz, and Andre Drazen in 24. He also played Blake Sterling, the Director of National Intelligence, in the NBC series The Event.

More recently, Ivanek played Russell Jackson in the TV series Madam Secretary. He also portrayed John Dickinson in the miniseries John Adams. He has made guest appearances on shows like Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and House. He has appeared several times on Law & Order, sometimes as different characters and sometimes as Ed Danvers in episodes that crossed over with Homicide: Life on the Street.

Film Appearances

Besides his stage and TV work, Ivanek has been in more than 20 movies. His first movie role was in The Sender. Other films include School Ties, Black Hawk Down, In Bruges, Dogville, The Bourne Legacy, Donnie Brasco, Argo, Seven Psychopaths, and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.

In 2012, he played Dr. Stafford White in the drama The Mob Doctor. As of 2014, he had supporting roles in several TV shows, including Revolution, Suits, Banshee, and The Americans.

Awards and Recognition

Željko Ivanek has received important awards for his acting on screen. In 2008, he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. This award was for his performance as Ray Fiske in the TV series Damages.

Filmography

Film

Television

Stage

See also

In Spanish: Željko Ivanek para niños