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Vitali Baganov is a Native Russian speaker with a deep, rich, textured voice. He is also good at English with East European and North European dialects plus a variety of Russian dialects.

He came to acting via a somewhat circuitous route. Born in Leningrad, USSR (now St. Petersburg, Russia), he attended Leningrad State University, where he studied astronomy for 4 years. After that - it must have been in his stars - he entered the State Institute of Theater, Music and Cinematography and, four years later, graduated with a degree in acting.

After that, Baganov was hired by the State Theater Lencom in Leningrad and later worked in yet another state theater, the Kommisarzevskiy. A few years later, he left the theater in order to do films and TV work in various cities of the USSR, including Moscow, Odessa, Sverdlovsk, Kiev, Leningrad (St. Petersburg), etc. And although he was involved in several theater projects, he never returned to the state stage.

Vitali came to the United States in 1991, and has lived and worked here ever since. His most memorable part was in the "Sopranos," where he played the role of the Russian commander Valery, the guy who escaped from the two thugs who tried to kill him in Pine Barrens. He also appeared in several other TV shows - "Law and Order" and "CSI:NY," for example - as well as in films.