Yank Azman (born October 19, 1947) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

television and film actor.

Early life

Azman was born in a

displaced persons camp A refugee camp is a temporary settlement built to receive refugees and people in refugee-like situations. Refugee camps usually accommodate displaced people who have fled their home country, but camps are also made for internally displaced peo ...

Bad Wörishofen Bad Wörishofen () is a spa town in the district of Unterallgäu in Bavaria, Germany, known for the water-cure ( hydrotherapy) developed by Sebastian Kneipp (1821–1897), a Catholic priest who lived there for 42 years. Many of the resort hotels ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

to Cesia (née Waishand), a sales clerk, and Kuba Zajfman, a tailor and furrier,

Holocaust survivors Holocaust survivors are people who survived the Holocaust, defined as the persecution and attempted annihilation of the Jews by Nazi Germany and Axis powers, its allies before and during World War II in Europe and North Africa. There is no unive ...

from Chmielnik, Poland. They emigrated to Canada in 1948 and settled in Toronto where he attended

Harbord Collegiate Institute Harbord Collegiate Institute (HCI or Harbord) is a public secondary school located in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The school is located in the Palmerston-Little Italy- Annex neighbourhood, situated on the north side of Harbord Street, be ...

, William Lyon Mackenzie Collegiate Institute and later the

Ontario College of Art Ontario College of Art & Design University, commonly known as OCAD University or OCAD, is a public art university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's main campus is spread throughout several buildings and facilities within d ...

(now known as OCAD University) and the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institu ...

Career

Although his first stage appearance was at age six, his professional acting career began with the

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French- ...

series ''

Toby Toby is a popular, usually male, name in many English speaking countries. The name is from the Middle English vernacular form of Tobias. Tobias itself is the Greek transliteration of the Hebrew טוביה ''Toviah'', which translates to ''Good i ...

'' in 1968. By the 1970s after training at Young People's Theatre and

The Second City The Second City is an improvisational comedy enterprise and is the oldest ongoing improvisational theater troupe to be continually based in Chicago, with training programs and live theatres in Toronto and Los Angeles. The Second City Theatre o ...

, he was working in improvisational and children's theatre with

Gilda Radner Gilda Susan Radner (June 28, 1946 – May 20, 1989) was an American actress and comedian, and one of the seven original cast members of the "Not Ready For Prime Time Players" on the NBC sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL''). In h ...

and in 1974 was cast as one of an ensemble (which included Valri Bromfield and

Jayne Eastwood Jayne Eastwood (born December 17, 1946), also credited as Jane Easton or Jane Eastwood, is a Canadian actress and comedian. She is best known for her film roles as Anna-Marie Biddlecoff in the comedy film '' Finders Keepers'' (1984), Judy the Wa ...

) to star on the

CTV CTV may refer to: Television * Connected TV, or Smart TV, a TV set with integrated internet North America and South America * CTV Television Network, a Canadian television network owned by Bell Media ** CTV 2, a secondary Canadian televisio ...

comedy series '' Funny Farm''. During the 1970s he appeared on stage at: Factory Theatre's ''Hurray for

Johnny Canuck Johnny Canuck is a Canadian cartoon hero and superhero who was created as a political cartoon in 1869 and was later re-invented as a Second World War action hero in 1942. The Vancouver Canucks, a professional ice hockey team in the Natio ...

'' with

Maury Chaykin Maury Alan Chaykin (July 27, 1949 – July 27, 2010) was an American–Canadian actor, best known for his portrayal of detective Nero Wolfe, as well as for his work as a character actor in many films and television programs. Personal lif ...

and

Jim Henshaw Jim Henshaw (born September 28, 1949) is a Canadian actor, screenwriter and film and television producer. Early life and education Henshaw was born in Bassano, Alberta, Canada. He graduated from the University of Saskatchewan. Career A mainst ...

; Theatre Passe Muraille in ''Bethune''; and

Theatre New Brunswick Theatre New Brunswick is the only English language professional theatre company in New Brunswick, Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean ...

Brighella Brighella (in Bergamasque dialect: ''Brighèla'') is a comic, masked character from the Italian theatre style Commedia dell'arte. His early costume consisted of loosely fitting, white smock and pants with green trim and was often equipped with ...

in Goldoni's ''

Servant of Two Masters A domestic worker or domestic servant is a person who works within the scope of a residence. The term "domestic service" applies to the equivalent occupational category. In traditional English contexts, such a person was said to be "in service ...

'' among others. Since then he has worked steadily in film and television with such roles as Tom Shaughnessy on ''

My Life as A Dog ''My Life as a Dog'' ( sv, Mitt liv som hund) is a Swedish drama film which was released to cinemas in Sweden on 12 December 1985, directed by Lasse Hallström. It is based on the second novel of a semi-autobiographical trilogy by Reidar Jönsso ...

'' and frequent guest appearances on such shows as ''

Murdoch Mysteries ''Murdoch Mysteries'' is a Canadian television drama series that premiered on Citytv on January 20, 2008, and currently airs on CBC. The series is based on characters from the ''Detective Murdoch'' novels by Maureen Jennings and stars Yannick ...

''.

Second career

He began a lifelong interest in art and antiques after being inspired by Painters Eleven artist

Harold Town Harold Barling Town, (June 13, 1924 – December 27, 1990) was a Canadian abstract painter. He is best known as a member of Painters Eleven a group of abstract artists active in Toronto from 1954-1960. Town coined the name of the ...

while working together on the

Canadian Centennial The Canadian Centennial was a yearlong celebration held in 1967 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation. Celebrations in Canada occurred throughout the year but culminated on Dominion Day, July 1, 1967. Commemorative coins w ...

project at William Lyon Mackenzie C.I. In 1979, he started supplying antiques as props for the movies and to retail stores such as

Polo Ralph Lauren Ralph Lauren Corporation is an American publicly traded fashion company that was founded in 1967 by American fashion designer Ralph Lauren. The company is headquartered in New York City, producing products ranging from the mid-range to the luxu ...

and then opened a shop at the Harbourfront Antique Market. ''

Toronto Life Magazine ''Toronto Life'' is a monthly magazine about entertainment, politics and life in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. ''Toronto Life'' also publishes a number of annual special interest guides about the city, including ''Real Estate'', ''Stylebook'', ''Eati ...

'' called him the "friendliest dealer in town." He has made numerous guest appearances as an antiques expert on such television shows as ''

Room Service Room service or in-room dining is a hotel service enabling guests to choose items of food and drink for delivery to their hotel room for consumption. Room service is organized as a subdivision within the food and beverage department of high-end ...

'' with Sarah Richardson on

HGTV HGTV (an initialism for Home & Garden Television) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The network primarily broadcasts reality programming related to home improvement and real estate. As of February 2015, ...

, ''

Breakfast Television Breakfast television (Europe, Canada, and Australia) or morning show (United States) is a type of news or infotainment television programme that broadcasts live in the morning (typically scheduled between 5:00 and 10:00a.m., or if it is a l ...

'' on

Citytv Citytv is a Canadian television network owned by the Rogers Sports & Media subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The licence of the original Citytv station, granted the callsign of CITY-TV by the CRTC on November 25, 1971 to Cable Television A ...

and in 2002 he hosted a television pilot called ''Flea Market Millionaire'' for the

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Chan ...

. Azman has also lectured on antiques at the CITT (Canadian Institute of Theatre Technology) at Ryerson University (now Toronto Metropolitan University) and on

Material Culture Material culture is the aspect of social reality grounded in the objects and architecture that surround people. It includes the usage, consumption, creation, and trade of objects as well as the behaviors, norms, and rituals that the objects crea ...

at the Faculty of Liberal Studies at

Ontario College of Art & Design Ontario College of Art & Design University, commonly known as OCAD University or OCAD, is a public art university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's main campus is spread throughout several buildings and facilities within d ...

Voice acting

Azman has long worked as a voice actor and has voiced several characters in animated series such as '' Starcom: The U.S. Space Force'' and ''The Adventures of Tintin''.

Personal life

Azman is married to Canadian artist & antique dealer Pulver ZajfmanVine, Ira. "Valentines Taken to Heart"'' The Globe and Mail''. p. 18, Feb.7, 1981 and lives in Toronto and

Miami Beach Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on natural and man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter of which s ...

. He is a member of

Mensa Mensa may refer to: * Mensa International, an organization for people with a high intelligence quotient (IQ) * Mensa (name), a name and list of people with the given name or surname * Mensa (constellation), a constellation in the southern sky * Men ...

and has a mild form of

dyscalculia Dyscalculia () is a disability resulting in difficulty learning or comprehending arithmetic, such as difficulty in understanding numbers, learning how to manipulate numbers, performing mathematical calculations, and learning facts in mathematics. ...

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Azman, Yank 1947 births Canadian male film actors Canadian male television actors Canadian male voice actors Canadian male stage actors Canadian television personalities Comedians from Toronto Male actors from Toronto Canadian people of Polish-Jewish descent Living people OCAD University alumni Mensans Canadian sketch comedians