Russian-American director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He was born on 20 April 1897 in Samara, Russia. After serving in WWI, he co-founded the Moscow Theater. During the Bolshevik revolution, he fled to France and settled there. He appeared in Russe Revue (1922). He appeared as an actor in Hollywood for the first time in 1932. He passed away on 14 December 1960 due to leukemia.