Levan Uchaneishvili, also known as Levani ( ka, ლევან უჩანეიშვილი; born December 15, 1958), is a Georgian actor, screenwriter and director best known for playing the title character in the 1982 Georgian movie Kukaracha.

Biography

Early life

He was born on December 15, 1958 in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

, then part of the

Georgian SSR The Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, also known as Soviet Georgia, the Georgian SSR, or simply Georgia, was one of the republics of the Soviet Union from its second occupation (by the Red Army) in 1921 to its independence in 1991. Cotermin ...

in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. In 1979, he graduated from Tbilisi High School. Since 1976, he approached on the

Shota Rustaveli Theatre and Film University Shota Rustaveli Theater and Georgia State Film University (TAFU) is one of the oldest universities in the Caucasus and Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a sta ...

and he has been shooting in the cinema, and since 1979 he has been an actor of the film studio "Georgian Film".

1980s: Early film roles and Kukaracha

His first film role was in the 1980 movie ''House on Lesnaya Street'' (Дом на Лесной) where he played an underground printing house worker. In 1982 he played the title character in Kukaracha. His performance was highly praised and considered his most iconic performance. Ilene Kahn, the producer of the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

film

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

, considered him as the "

Kevin Costner Kevin Michael Costner (born January 18, 1955) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Kevin Costner, various accolades, including two Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and a Primeti ...

of Georgia".. In 1985 he played Zurab in the art film The Legend of the Suram Fortress.

1990s and 2000s: Worldwide approach

Since the 90s, he has been living and working in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. One of his first roles was the 1992

TV movie

where he played Soviet politician

Lazar Kaganovich Lazar Moiseyevich Kaganovich (; – 25 July 1991) was a Soviet politician and one of Joseph Stalin's closest associates. Born to a Jewish family in Ukraine, Kaganovich worked as a shoemaker and joined the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party ...

. Ilene Kahn loved Levani's performance on Kukaracha and decided to cast him as Lazar. Some of his notable American film roles include

Independence Day An independence day is an annual event memorialization, commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or Sovereign state, statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or after the end of a milit ...

(1996),

Air Force One Air Force One is the official air traffic control-designated Aviation call signs, call sign for a United States Air Force aircraft carrying the president of the United States. The term is commonly used to denote U.S. Air Force aircraft modifie ...

(1997),

Blade A blade is the Sharpness (cutting), sharp, cutting portion of a tool, weapon, or machine, specifically designed to puncture, chop, slice, or scrape surfaces or materials. Blades are typically made from materials that are harder than those they a ...

(1998),

Virus A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living Cell (biology), cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea. Viruses are ...

and Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies (both 1999), and

25th Hour ''25th Hour'' is a 2002 American drama film directed by Spike Lee and starring Edward Norton. Adapted by David Benioff from his 2001 debut novel '' The 25th Hour'', it tells the story of a man's last 24 hours of freedom as he prepares to go to ...

(2002). In addition to his film work, Uchaneishvili has appeared in various television series, including episodes of

The X-Files ''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction on television, science fiction drama (film and television), drama television series created by Chris Carter (screenwriter), Chris Carter. The original series aired from September 10, 1993, to Ma ...

, JAG and Fastlane.

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Uchaneishvili, Levan 1958 births Living people