Akim Mikhailovich Tamiroff[a] (born Hovakim Tamiryants;[b][1] October 29, 1899 – September 17, 1972) was an Armenian-American actor of film, stage, and television.

One of the premier character actors of Hollywood's Golden Age,[2] Tamiroff developed a prolific career despite his thick accent, appearing in at least 80 motion pictures over a span of 37 years.

During that time, he changed his name to the russified moniker Akim Mikhailovich Tamiroff (Russian: Аким Михайлович Тамиров).

Following the Russian Revolution, Tamiroff and several other émigrés joined Balieff in Paris to form the La Chauve-Souris touring revue.

He also appeared in the lavish epic China Seas in 1935 with Clark Gable, Wallace Beery, Jean Harlow, Rosalind Russell and Robert Benchley.

He appeared in the 1937 musical High, Wide, and Handsome with Irene Dunne and Randolph Scott, and the 1938 proto-noir Dangerous to Know opposite Anna May Wong, frequently singled out as his best role.

[10] In the following decade, he appeared in such films as The Buccaneer (1938) with Fredric March, The Great McGinty (1940), The Corsican Brothers (1941), Tortilla Flat (1942) with Spencer Tracy, Hedy Lamarr and John Garfield, Five Graves to Cairo (1943) with Erich von Stroheim as Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, Frank Borzage's His Butler's Sister (1943), For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943) with Gary Cooper and Ingrid Bergman,[11] for which he received another Oscar nomination,[3] and Preston Sturges' The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1944).

For his contributions to the American film industry, Tamiroff received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for motion pictures at 1634 Vine Street.