Igor Jijikine

Jijikine was born in Moscow. From 1983 to 1988 he studied drama and acrobatics. From 1982 to 1984, Jijikine performed mandatory military service with the Soviet Special Forces unit Spetsnaz. He has performed on stage with the Moscow State Circus,^[1] Donn Arden's "Jubilee" and Cirque du Soleil's "Mystere" in Las Vegas.

In recent years, Jijikine has worked with such directors as Steven Spielberg, Clint Eastwood and J. J. Abrams and has appeared in numerous commercial spots for major brands. In Spielberg's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Igor plays the role of Colonel Dovchenko (taking over the series' tough guy role held by the late Pat Roach), the ruthless leader of the Soviet commando team searching for the crystal skull. His commercially most successful films have been Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull which grossed US$786 million and The Tourist which grossed US$278 million worldwide.^[2][3]

Jijikine appeared in the real-time strategy games, Emperor: Battle for Dune, Red Alert 2 and its expansion Yuri's Revenge, by Westwood Studios. In addition to appearing in the games' cutscene sequences, he modeled as a Soviet soldier appearing in the front cover of Red Alert 2.^[4]

Igor is an accomplished sportsman and was honored as Master of Sports in Russia.^{[citation needed]}