A graduate of the Moscow Art Theatre, Tamiroff emigrated to the united states and performed on Broadway and in nightclubs. Though many roles took advantage of his Russian accent, Tamiroff also found himself cast in a variety of "ethnic" roles, including Chinese bandit General Yang in The General Died at Dawn (1936) and Spanish guerilla leader Pablo in For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943); for both roles, he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Other ethnicities in Tamiroff's gallery included Cuban Carlo Cibo in Anthony Adverse, French Canadian Dan Duroc in North West Mounted Police (194o), and in later years, the Greek mastermind in Ocean's Eleven. He also worked with Orson Welles, as Uncle Joe Grandi in Touch of Evil (1958) and Sancha Panza in Welles' unfinished Don Q