Born on July 10, 1957, in Odessa (Soviet Ukraine) to a Bulgarian father and a Russian mother. Notably, he was born on the same day—though ten years later—as Ilya Oleynikov (July 10, 1947), his partner on the comedy show "Gorodok" ("The Small Town"), which has aired since 1993 on the Rossia-1 channel (formerly RTR).
He trained as an actor at the A. Lunacharsky State Institute of Theatre Arts (under V. Ostalsky). He graduated in 1978 and subsequently joined the troupe of the Tovstonogov Bolshoi Drama Theatre (Leningrad/Saint Petersburg).
In his spare time, he plays the six-string guitar. He is also a qualified fencer.
People's Artist of the Russian Federation (2001).
