Ihnat, his mother, father, younger sister, and two young boys from other families left Czechoslovakia three days before Prague was occupied by invading German forces in March of that year.

[citation needed] Ihnat moved to the United States in 1956 to pursue a career in acting and attended the Pasadena Playhouse.

Ihnat won second prize in the Republic of Korea poetry contest for his entry titled "Toil in the Night."

Other credits include Blue Light ("Field of Dishonor"), Gunsmoke (“My Father’s Guitar”, "Exodus 21:22", "Jenny" with Lisa Gerritsen (December 28, 1970), “The Mission” & "Noose of Gold"), The Silent Force ("Take As Directed For Death"), Bonanza ("Dead and Gone" as Johann Brunner, "A Dream to Dream" as Josh Carter and "Terror at 2:00" as Mr. Ganns), The Virginian ("Jed" and "Last Grave at Socorro Creek"), Mission: Impossible ("The Astrologer"), ("The Mind of Stefan Miklos"), Cimarron Strip ("The Hunted"), I Dream of Jeannie ("My Master the Rainmaker"), Mannix ("Huntdown", "End Game" and "To Draw the Lightning"), The F.B.I.

His other film credits included The Chase (1966), In Like Flint (1967), Hour of the Gun (1967), Zig Zag (1970), and Fuzz (1972).

[citation needed] Ihnat died of a heart ailment on May 12, 1972, attending[2] the Cannes Film Festival in France.