Is Elya Baskin Russian, How Old Is The Actor?

Ilya Zalmanovich Baskin, professionally known as Elya Baskin, is a 74-year-old Latvian-American actor. Although Elya isn’t Russian, his ethnic proximity to the Soviet Union, especially the Russian culture and language, classifies him as one. The actor is best recognized for movies like Moscow on the Hudson (1984), Spider-Man 2 (2004), and Spider-Man 3 (2007).

How old is Elya Baskin and where is he from?

Elya Baskin is currently 74 years old. He was born on August 11, 1950, in the Soviet Union city of Riga, Latvia. He belongs to the Leo zodiac sign. His parents’ names were Zalman and Freida Baskin, and they were of Jewish and Russian descent. Elya’s ethnicity is given as Russian and Jewish, or Eastern European. People with Eastern European identities usually have very distinct accents, the type that the West stereotypes as a “Russian” accent. More information about Elya’s background is readily available as you would find.

The actor attended the Moscow Theater and Variety Arts College, after which he was subsequently accepted into the Moscow Comedy Theater. At the Comedy Theater, he won a Festival of Young Actors Award. Elya Baskin worked and studied in the Soviet Union for the first 20 years of his life, and his career as an actor was just about to kick off. According to Elya, studying to become an actor in Russia in those days was as prestigious as studying to become a doctor in the West.

However, Elya realized that his Jewish roots were going to pose some serious problems for him if he remained in Russia. He decided to move from the Soviet Union to the United States of America in 1976 using a student visa. Once in the USA, Baskin wasted no time in trying to pursue his acting career. He luckily landed a couple of movies after meeting with Hollywood producer, Paul Maslansky. Maslansky turned out to be Elya’s mentor and helper in the industry.

Elya Baskin’s career exploits

Elya Baskin began acting when he was about 21 years old. Because of his strong Eastern European accent, Baskin found himself stereotyped into roles that required him to act Russian. Some of his most popular movies include Independence Day in 1996, Deep Impact in 1998, The Sum of All Fears in 2002, and Spider-Man 2&3 in 2004 and 2007 respectively.

However, Elya Baskin made his debut film appearance in the Gene Wilder-directed movie, The World’s Greatest Lover in 1977. Baskin, when speaking about his acting career, often touched on the differences between acting in Russia and the United States. The actor explained that while in the Soviet Union, he preferred theater to film and television. This means that he was more of a stage actor during his Soviet Union days.

In Hollywood, Elya discovered a newfound love for television. He began to respect the entire process of filming, editing, and directing that went into filmmaking as a whole. Some of his earliest movies are Butch and Sundance: The Early Years, Being There in 1979, Moscow on the Hudson in 1984, Deepstar Six in 1989, and Love Affair in 1994.

Elya has more than 100 movie and television credits presently. He also does voice-overs and is part of the cast of the long-running internet program Outlaw Radio, hosted by Matt Alan. On the show, he speaks about contemporary issues along with fellow Hollywood actor Richard Tyson.

Elya Baskin on set – image source

Elya Baskin’s movies and TV shows

• Telegram (1972)
• The Long Recess (1972), as a Red-haired Student
• The San Pedro Beach Bums (1977)
• The World’s Greatest Lover (1977), as Actor with Bad Breath
• Butch and Sundance: The Early Days (1979), as Book-keeper
• Raise the Titanic (1980), as Marganin
• True Blue (NBC, 1979-80), as Yuri
• Elsewhere (1982)
• My Town (1986), as Mr. Slovak
• Air Force One (1997)
• Masquerade (1983)
• Moscow on the Hudson (1984), as Anatoly Cherkasov
• 2010 (1984), as Maxim Brailovsky
• Embassy (1985), as Aelx Serov
• MacGyver (1985)
• Streets of Gold (1986), as Klebanov
• The Name of the Rose (1986), as Severinus
• Spider-Man 2 (2004)
• Spider-Man 3 (2007)
• The Name of the Rose
• Angels & Demons
• Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
• Air Force One
• Transformers: Dark of the Moon
• October Sky
• The Hive (2015), as Yuri Yegorov
• Chicago Med (1 episode, 2015) as Dr. Mischa Lenkov
• Supervised (2019), as Brian
• Legacy (2020) as Boranovic
• I Love Us (2021), as Ira Prince

What is his net worth?

Based on the report of several online sources, Elya Baskin’s true net worth hasn’t been uploaded to the public yet. The vetran actor is however believed to be worth between $1 million and $5 million as of 2022. The majority of his earnings are from his work as an actor, while the rest come from his private businesses. The actor has not given the public a breakdown of his earnings yet, nor does it look like he ever will.

Is Elya Baskin married or in a relationship?

Latvian actor Elya Baskin is presently married to a woman named Marina Baskin. There isn’t much to go by to determine Marina’s age, occupation, physical appearance, and family background. This is because the celebrity wife has refused to put herself under any form of publicity and tries her best to maintain a low profile. Well, the couple got married in 1995 and from all indications, have remained together since then, making it 27 years that they have been married.

The couple also has one child together—a daughter named Michelle. While the Baskins have done well to keep their marriage out of the limelight, they seem to have had their fair share of marital hiccups as well. On May 11, 2003, Elya filed a separation lawsuit against Marina at the Los Angeles County Superior Courts, located in Los Angeles, California. The details of the case are however classified as disposed of, which means the case was later thrown out of court.

From all indications, Elya and his wife seem to have resolved the separation issues and are still married. There isn’t further information on their family life together, or on that of their daughter, Michelle.

Where is Elya Baskin now?

In case you were wondering about the whereabouts of the actor, there is an update on his career. At 72+, Elya Baskin is scheduled to star in the upcoming Ronald Reagan biopic coming up in 2023. Elya is set to play a Soviet defector named B.E. Kertchman in the movie while Dennis Quaid plays Reagan. According to multiple confirmed sources, Reagan is the first full-length feature film ever to have been made about this particular former president.

Elya Baskin plays his character alongside other well-known actors like Penelope Ann Miller, Mena Suvari, Lesley-Anne Down, Kevin Dillon, and Jon Voight. The biopic was directed by Sean McNamara, who previously directed the feature movies Mighty Oak and Miracle Season. Baskin also appeared on the fourth season of the popular Netflix series, Stranger Things as Hopper’s friend. It’s safe to say at this point that Elya Baskin has no plans to retire, as he continues to take on even more challenging roles.

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Fast facts

Is Elya Baskin Russian?

Elya Baskin isn’t Russian but is from a former USSR country called Latvia.

How old is Elya Baskin?

Elya Baskin is currently 74 years old.

Who played the rent guy in Spiderman?

In the movies Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man 3, Elya Baskin played Mr. Ditkovich, Peter Parker’s landlord otherwise known as the rent guy.