Yank Azman (born October 19, 1947) is a

Canadian Canadians () 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 their being ''C ...

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 displace ...

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 a ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

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 its collaborators before and during World War II in Europe and North Africa. There is no universall ...

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

William Lyon Mackenzie Collegiate Institute William Lyon Mackenzie Collegiate Institute is a semestered high school located in Toronto, Canada.Ontario College of Art (now known as OCAD University) and the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

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, or simply CBC) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcasting, p ...

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

The Second City The Second City is an improvisational comedy enterprise. It is the oldest improvisational theater troupe to be continuously based in Chicago, with training programs and live theaters in Toronto and New York. Since its debut in 1959, it has b ...

, 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. She was one of the seven Saturday Night Live cast members, original cast members of the "Not Ready for Prime Time Players" on the NBC sketch comedy series ...

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

Valri Bromfield Valri Bromfield (born February 10, 1949) is a Canadian comedian, actress, writer, and television producer who started her career as one half of a comedy team with Dan Aykroyd. Together, they joined the first Toronto company of The Second City wh ...

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 '' Finders Keepers'' (1984), Judy the Waitress in '' The ...

) to star on the CTV comedy series ''

Funny Farm A psychiatric hospital, also known as a mental health hospital, a behavioral health hospital, or an asylum is a specialized medical facility that focuses on the treatment of severe mental disorders. These institutions cater to patients with c ...

''. During the 1970s he appeared on stage at: Factory Theatre's ''Hurray for Johnny Canuck'' with

Maury Chaykin Maury Alan Chaykin (July 27, 1949 – July 27, 2010) was an American-Canadian actor. Described as "one of the most recognizable faces in Canadian cinema," he was best known for his portrayal of Rex Stout's detective Nero Wolfe on the televi ...

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 mai ...

;

Theatre Passe Muraille Theatre Passe Muraille is a theatre company in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is on Ryerson Avenue in the Alexandra Park neighbourhood of Toronto. Brief history One of Canada's most influential alternative theatres, Theatre Passe Muraille ("theat ...

in ''Bethune''; and Theatre New Brunswick as

Brighella Brighella (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 a ...

in Goldoni's '' Servant of Two Masters'' among others. Since then he has worked steadily in film and television with such roles as Tom Shaughnessy on '' My Life as A Dog'' 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 while working together on the Canadian Centennial 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 public company, publicly traded fashion and lifestyle brand founded in 1967 by Ralph Lauren in New York City. The company markets products in apparel, home, accessories, and fragrances, and is most known ...

and then opened a shop at the Harbourfront Antique Market. '' Toronto Life Magazine'' 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 basic cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The network primarily broadcasts reality programming related to home improvement and real estate. HGTV Dream Home is an ...

, ''

Breakfast Television Breakfast television (Europe and Australia) or morning show (Canada and the United States) is a type of news broadcasting, news or infotainment television programme that broadcasts Live television, live in the morning (typically broadcast pro ...

'' on

Citytv Citytv (sometimes shortened to City, which was the network's official branding from 2012 to 2018) is a Television in Canada, Canadian television network owned by the Rogers Sports & Media subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The network consis ...

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 that is best known for its ongoing reality television shows and promotion of pseudoscience. It init ...

. 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 culture manifested by the Artifact (archaeology), physical objects and architecture of a society. The term is primarily used in archaeology and anthropology, but is also of interest to sociology, geography and history. The fie ...

at the Faculty of Liberal Studies at Ontario College of Art & Design.

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 ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

''. p. 18, Feb.7, 1981 and lives in Toronto and

Miami Beach Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. The municipality is located on natural and human-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean an ...

. He is a member of Mensa and has a mild form of

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

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 People from Unterallgäu Male actors from Bavaria Comedians from Bavaria Jewish Canadian comedians Jewish male comedians