Ken Davitian

Kenneth Davitian (; born June 19, 1953) is an American actor, best known for his role as Borat's producer Azamat Bagatov in the 2006 comedy film Borat, and for his role as Shtarker in the 2008 action-comedy film Get Smart.

Early life, family and education

Kenneth Davitian was born in Los Angeles on June 19, 1953, to an Armenian American family from Montebello, California. His maternal grandparents were survivors of the Armenian genocide. His father was a Red Army soldier during World War II who was captured by Wehrmacht forces and placed at an Armenian Legion camp in Stuttgart, Germany. After the end of the war, he immigrated to the US through the efforts of restaurateur and chef George Mardikian, known for his philanthropy.

Davitian graduated from Garfield High School in East Los Angeles and Whittier College. His teenage idol was Burt Reynolds, who greatly influenced his choice of becoming an actor. Davitian would go on to perform in the film Pocket Listing, which also featured Reynolds. Davitian worked in his father's waste management company.

Davitian is fluent in Armenian; he speaks the language as Azamat in Borat.

Restaurant ventures Davitian founded a restaurant in 2003 called The Dip, which was located in Los Angeles. His son Robert used to run his baseball-themed hot dog restaurant The Infield in Sherman Oaks, which boasted a hot dog, conceived by Charlie Sheen, called the "Charlie Sheen Dog with Tiger Blood".

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Notes 1975 Sons of Sassoun Freedom Fighter 1977 Prime Time a.k.a. American Raspberry Fat Bartender 1991 Talkin' Dirty After Dark Seat Mate 1991 Bikini Summer Max 1992 Tuesday Never Comes Greenberg 1992 Maximum Force Fat Man 1992 Return to Frogtown Bud 1993 Sexual Intent Topless Bar Owner Direct-to-video 1993 Private Wars Bartender Direct-to-video 1994 The Silence of the Hams Luciano Pavarotti 1994 Red Sun Rising Cab driver 1995 Lord of Illusions Swann Audience Member Uncredited 1996 The Garbage Man Uncle Herbert 2000 Virgins of Sherwood Forest Manny / Friar Tuck Direct-to-video 2000 Our Lips Are Sealed Thug No. 1 2001 Bukas, Babaha ng Dugo Raul Filipino film 2002 May Foreign Doctor 2002 Boris Pawn-Shop Dealer Short film 2002 After Freedom Jacob 2003 A Man Apart Ramon Cadena 2003 Holes Igor Barkov 2003 S.W.A.T. Uncle Martin Gascoigne 2004 L.A. Twister Walter 2006 Borat Azamat Bagatov 2007 Lucky You Poker Player Uncredited 2007 South of Pico Nick 2007 On Bloody Sunday Grandpa 2008 Get Smart Shtarker 2008 Stone & Ed Senor Gordo 2008 Meet the Spartans Xerxes 2008 Julia Taxi Driver 2008 Lonely Street Raj (Motel Owner) 2008 Float Vahig Manoogian 2008 Soul Men Ardesh Kezian 2009 Not Forgotten Father Salinas 2010 Let the Game Begin Eric Banks 2010 The Prankster Stavros Karas 2011 You May Not Kiss the Bride Vlatko 'Vadik' Nikitin 2011 The Artist Pawnbroker 2011 The Ballerino Sergey 'Sam' Belyakova / Homeless Bob Short film 2012 Sharkproof Yuri 2012 Melvin Smarty 2013 Abstraction Jacob Sarian 2014 Small Time Wexler 2014 Walk of Shame Cab Driver 2015 Pocket Listing Mr. Mousian 2015 Big Baby Underbrunter 2015 Burn Off 2016 Nina Club Owner 2016 Paint It Black Masha The Baker 2016 The Hollywouldn'ts Frankie 'The Method' DeSayse 2017 The Sex Addict Ken Davitian 2017 The President's Sun Khoren Short film 2017 Once Upon a Time in Venice Yuri 2017 Price for Freedom Sheik Omar 2017 Five Star Fouad Fouad Short film 2018 Diverted Eden Scotty 2018 The Samuel Project Vartan 2020 Roe v. Wade Papa Potemkin 2021 Habit Gus 2024 Angels Fallen: Warriors of Peace ArmenTBAConcert Heroes

Television Year Title Role Notes 1996 Saved by the Bell: The New Class Gus Episode: "Trash TV" 1997 C-16: FBI Professor David Amir Episode: "The Sandman" 1997 Players Big Oscar Episode: "Contact Sport" 1998 Soldier of Fortune, Inc. Russian Captain Episode: "Double-Edged Sword" 1999 Oh, Grow Up Taxi Driver Episode: "President of the House" 1999 Becker Cab Driver Episode: "Hate Thy Neighbor" 2000 Missing Pieces Jorge Television film 2000, 2007 ER Zakar Papazian 2 episodes 2000 L.A. 7 Alphonse Episode: "House Sitting" 2000 Strong Medicine Cabbie Episode: "Drug Interactions" 2001 Arliss Episode: "As Others See Us" 2002 The Shield Older Armenian Episode: "Blowback" 2002 Gilmore Girls Jesus Episode: "Take the Deviled Eggs..." 2003 Six Feet Under Krikor Hovanessian Episode: "I'm Sorry, I'm Lost" 2003 The Division Archimedes Episode: "Hearts & Minds" 2003 Boomtown Jewelry Store Owner Episode: "Wannabe" 2004 Line of Fire Zach Episode: "I'm Your Boogie Man" 2005 Mind of Mencia Gardner Episode: #1.2 2006 Boston Legal Mr. Kahanov Episode: "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" 2006 The Closer Mr. Sarcasian Episode: "To Protect & to Serve" 2006 Friday Night with Jonathan Ross Azamat Bagatov Episode: #11.8 2006 Saturday Night Live Episode: "Hugh Laurie/Beck" 2007 Ghost Whisperer Jake Rose Episode: "The Collector" 2008 Starting Under Ken Television film 2009 Chuck 'Uncle' Bernie Episode: "Chuck Versus the First Kill" 2011 The Cape Store Owner Episode: "Tarot" 2011 Big Time Rush King of Kerplankistan Episode: "Big Time Wedding" 2012 Chasing the Hill Arnold Sarca Episode: "Awesomeness Is a Warm Gun" 2012 Natasha Mail Order Bride Escape to America Boris the Butcher Television film 2013 It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Snyder Episode: "The Gang Broke Dee" 2014 Two and a Half Men Mr. Mardirosian Episode: "Lotta Delis in Little Armenia" 2015 Hawaii Five-0 Omar Sadek Episode: "A Make Kaua" 2015 Ray Donovan Vartan 3 episodes 2017 Small Shots Amir 2 episodes 2017 All Wrong Kourosh Television miniseries 2018 3rd Eye Zoran Fashard 2018–2021 Cobra Kai Armand Zarkarian 3 episodes 2018 BBZ Good Morning Horizon: The Royal Wedding LIVE Coverage Hank Markle Television film 2018 Actress: Another Word for Waitress Giagni Mustavo Episode: "SHOWTIME"2019NCIS: Los AngelesNarekEpisode: "Human Resources"

Video games Year Title Role Notes 1996 The Adventures of Pinocchio Grande

Music videos Year Title Director Label Role Notes 1999 Stand Inside Your Love W.I.Z. Virgin Records Throne figure