Biography
Marty Feldman — actor with roots in the Russian Empire
Marty Feldman was a British comedian and actor whose bug-eyes and anarchic physical comedy made him one of the most distinctive comic presences in film. His Igor in Young Frankenstein and his television work — Marty, It's Marty — made him a beloved figure on both sides of the Atlantic.
Russian Connection
Tracing the roots — Ukraine
Born in London in 1934 to parents who had emigrated from Kyiv (Russian Empire, now Ukraine), Feldman grew up in the Jewish immigrant East End of London. The combination of Jewish humour, surrealist sensibility, and physical oddity that defined his comedy is directly rooted in that immigrant world — where laughter was both a shield and a declaration.
Family Tree
Subject
Marty Feldman🇬🇧 UK
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Parents
Kyiv (Ukraine)
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Origin
Ukraine🇷🇺
Key Achievements
A career defined by ambition
01
Young Frankenstein (1974) — Igor, alongside Gene Wilder and Mel Brooks
02
Marty and It's Marty (BBC) — defining 1960s British television comedy
03
Silent Movie (1976) and The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother (1975)
04
BAFTA Award for Outstanding Writer in Television
05
Wrote for The Frost Report alongside John Cleese and Graham Chapman
Sources