Born in Tifilis, Georgia, Russian Empire (now Tbilisi, Georgia). Trained for the stage at the Moscow Art Theater drama school, he arrived in the US in 1923 on a tour with a troupe of actors and decided to stay. He appeared on stage in several New York Theatre Guild productions and from the early 30s played character parts in numerous Hollywood productions. A flamboyant actor with a strong screen presence, he played some character leads, as in THE WAY OF ALL FLESH (1940), in which he portrayed an Emil Jannings type of tragic role, but for the most part he was cast in villainous or eccentric, supporting parts, often as an unsavory, mysterious foreigner with a heavy Slavic accent. He was equally effective in broad comedy roles and in the late 1950s he appeared mostly in European films. He played Sancho Panza in Orson Welles' unfinished DON QUIXOTE (1955) and played the lead in the 1959 Broadway adaptation of Rashomon. He was nominated for Oscars for his performances in THE GENERAL DIED AT DAWN (1936) and FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS (1943). Some of his other notable screen credits include THE LIVES OF A BENGAL LANCER (1935), THE STORY OF LOUIS PASTEUR (1936), THE BUCCANEER and SPAWN OF THE NORTH (both 1938), THE WAY OF ALL FLESH and THE GREAT McGINTY (both 1940), TORTILLA FLAT (1942), FIVE GRAVES TO CAIRO (1943), THE MIRACLE OF MORGAN'S CREEK, THE BRIDGE OF SAN LUIS REY and DRAGON SEED (all 1945), DESERT LEGION (1953), ANASTASIA (1956), TOUCH OF EVIL (1958) and ROMANOFF AND JULIET (1961). Tamiroff appeared in many European film productions. His last appearance was in MOTO SHEL YEHUDI / DEATH OF A JEW (1970).    Nominated for Supporting Actor 1936: THE GENERAL DIED AT DAWN    Nominated for Supporting Actor 1943: FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS 2 nominations