Ivan Urgant

Ivan Andreyevich Urgant (born April 16, 1978, Leningrad) is a Russian actor, showman, TV and radio host, singer, musician, writer, composer, producer, screenwriter, director. Since 2012, he has been the host of the Evening Urgant TV show on Channel One. Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the charitable foundation "Friends".

Ivan Urgant on Scarlet Sails 2019

Biography

Born April 16, 1978 in Leningrad, in the family of actors Andrei Urgant (born 1956) and Valeria Ivanovna Kiseleva (1951-2015). Grandson of actors Nina Urgant (1929-2021) and Lev Milinder (1930-2005). The young family did not last long, only about a year after the birth of Ivan. After the separation of his parents, he lived with his mother and stepfather, the Leningrad actor Dmitry Ladygin.

He studied at the children's music school No. 18, at the Gymnasium at the State Russian Museum. Graduated from the St. Petersburg Academy of Theater Arts. Even while studying at the academy, Ivan Urgant, together with Alisa Freindlich, at the State Academic Theater of Children named after. G. A. Tovstonogov played in the play "Macbeth", in which he received the role of guard number 12.

After receiving acting education, he did not engage in theater as his main profession. He worked as a waiter, bartender and host of night shows in clubs. In 1999 he got a job at St. Petersburg radio stations. In addition, he appeared on television, was the host of the Petersburg Courier program on Channel Five. Later he moved to Moscow, where he worked on the radio - first at Russian Radio, and then at Hit-FM.

In May 2001, he first appeared on Moscow television, on the MTV Russia channel. I received an invitation to the selection at a time when Olga Shelest and Anton Komolov were looking for a couple of presenters to work together on the show "Cheerful Morning". Since 2002, after the departure of the original team of MTV Russia VJs, he began to host the programs "Total Show" and "Expresso".

In early 2002, he participated in auditions for the host of the reality show "Fear Factor" on the NTV channel, but left the selection, being dissatisfied with the concept of the show.

From September 2003 to March 2005 he was involved in a number of TV projects on the channel "Russia": he was the host of the TV show "People's Artist" and "Pyramid". He has been working on Channel One since March 2005. He also frequently hosts award ceremonies.

On March 14, 2018, together with VKontakte, he launched the Clover online mobile game.

June 10, 2018 received Israeli citizenship

Music

Musician multi-instrumentalist: plays guitar, piano, bass guitar, accordion, recorder, theremin and drums. Singing voice - baritone.

In the late 1990s, he performed under the pseudonym 'Vnuuk'. In 1999 he released the album "Star", developed with Maxim Leonidov. In 2011, he resumed his singing career, until 2019 he performed under the pseudonym "Grisha Urgant".

Wrote the lyrics of the song “Go for the Stars” [27], performed by the Slot group together with the Radio Operator K@t. A video was later shot for the song.