Volodymyr Zelensky's Rise To Greatness

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(1978) Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelensky was born in 1978 to Jewish parents in southern Ukraine. His family moved to Mongolia for 4 years and then returned to their homeland.

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(2000) He studied at the Kyiv National Economic University and graduated in 2000 with a law degree.

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(1997) While he was a student, he became interested in theatre, and from 1997-2003 he appeared on an improv show on Ukrainian TV.

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(2003) Zelensky founded a TV studio, serving as the creative director until 2011. Under his watch the studio became one of the most successful in the country.

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(2003) Volodymyr Zelensky married his school sweetheart Olena Kiyashko.

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(2006) Volodymyr Zelensky was cast on the show "Tantsi Z Zirkamy" which is a version of "Dancing With The Stars" and won!

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(2012) Zelensky landed the role of Napolean on the comedy film "Rzhevsky Versus Napoleon."

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(2012) Volodymyr Zelensky tried his hand at romantic comedies and played the veterinarian and lover Nikita Sokolov in "8 First Dates."

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(2014) With the success of "8 First Dates" ... Zelensky was then thrust into the two follow-up films "8 New Dates" and "The 8 Best Dates."

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(2018) Volodymyr Zelensky can be spotted in the wedding and divorce drama "Me. You. He. She" as Maksym Tkachenko.

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(2015) The then-Ukrainian President was toppled, Zelensky starred in a new show -- "Servant of the People ... about a school teacher's improbable rise to power as President of Ukraine. The show became a huge hit.

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(2019) He decided to imitate his art and run for President of Ukraine in 2019 ... and his celebrity was enough to garner 73% of the vote.

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(2019) Ukraine's new President Volodymyr Zelensky greets people as he arrives at the parliament for a ceremony of his oath during the inauguration ceremony in Kyiv, Ukraine, May 20, 2019.

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(2019) The first real exposure Americans had to Zelensky was during the first Donald Trump impeachment, when Trump tried pressuring him to investigate Hunter Biden in return for receiving aid, something he refused to do.

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(2021) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meets with U.S. President Joe Biden in the Oval Office at the White House on September 01, 2021 in Washington, DC. This was the two leaders' first face-to-face meeting and the first by a Ukrainian leader in more than four years.

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(2022) You know the rest .. a guy who never dipped his toe in politics led the nation and stood firmly against Russian occupation, and when that happened, Zelensky became a modern-day Winston Churchill, even quoting him in his resolve to save his country.