[3] Additionally, he is a recipient the Order of the Red Star, Honored Art Worker of Ukraine and the Oleksandr Dovzhenko State Prize.

His mother, Tetiana Andriivna, was a homemaker, while the father, Mykhailo Spyrydonovych, worked as a military paramedic at the district hospital.

After enrolling in the director's program, he receives instruction from filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein, who first recognized his comedic ability.

He led a Red Army's flamethrower platoon and assistant to the Chief of Staff to fight near Stalingrad, crossed the Dnieper, and was the first to sign at the gates of the Dovzhenko Film Studio upon Kiev's liberation.

Writer of children's books Наша Наташа (1954), Доріжка (1958), poetry collections Доделки-переделки, Попади, and Сатирический патруль (1960).

[6] Ivanov was awarded the Order of the Red Star, as well as medals for bravery and the defense of Stalingrad, for his service during World War II.