Kira Soltanovich ( ; born September 15, 1973, in

Lviv, Ukraine Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukrain ...

) is an American comedian, writer, and actress. Soltanovich grew up in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

and started performing stand-up in 1998. After graduating from

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

with a degree in

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

, she moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

to pursue comedy full-time. Soltanovich is best known for her work on the prank-oriented reality show ''

Girls Behaving Badly ''Girls Behaving Badly'' is an American reality comedy television show that was on the Oxygen cable channel, and was also syndicated to television stations across the United States and Canada by Sony Pictures Television. The show, described by t ...

'' which aired on the

Oxygen Network Oxygen (branded on air as Oxygen True Crime) is an American television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming unit of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast, through its Cable Entertainment Group subsidiary. The channel primar ...

for four seasons and for being the voice of a talking photo booth in a sketch on ''

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that first aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009. It resumed production on March 1, 2010 and ended on February 6, 2014. The fourth incarnation of the ...

'', and ''

The Jay Leno Show ''The Jay Leno Show'' is a talk show created and hosted by Jay Leno. Premiering on NBC on September 14, 2009, the program aired on weeknights at 10:00 p.m. ET/ PT through February 9, 2010. The program was modeled upon the format of a late ...

''. She has performed stand-up on ''

Jimmy Kimmel Live ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, broadcast on ABC. The nightly hour-long show debuted on January 26, 2003, at Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywood, California, as part of ABC's lea ...

'', ''

Last Call with Carson Daly ''Last Call with Carson Daly'' is an American late-night television series that was broadcast by NBC from 2002 to 2019. Hosted by former MTV personality Carson Daly, the series was initially formatted as a late-night talk show in line with ''T ...

'', ''

Last Comic Standing ''Last Comic Standing'' was an American reality television talent competition show on NBC that aired from June 1, 2003, to August 9, 2010, then again in 2014 and 2015. The goal of the program was to select a comedian from an initially large group ...

'', ''Hello Ross!'' and

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programmin ...

's '' The World Stands Up''. Soltanovich has written for

Joan Rivers Joan Alexandra Molinsky (June 8, 1933 – September 4, 2014), known professionally as Joan Rivers, was an American comedian, actress, producer, writer and television host. She was noted for her blunt, often controversial comedic persona—heavi ...

and

Scott Baio Scott Vincent James Baio (; born September 22, 1960) is an American actor. He is known for playing Chachi Arcola on the sitcom ''Happy Days'' (1977–1984) and its spin-off '' Joanie Loves Chachi'' (1982–1983), the title character on ...

as well as for former Disney stars

Selena Gomez Selena Marie Gomez ( ; born July 22, 1992) is an American singer, actress and producer. Gomez began her acting career on the children's television series ''Barney & Friends'' (2002–2004). As a teenager, she rose to prominence for starring a ...

and

Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Bieber is recognized for his genre-melding musicianship and has played an influential role in modern-day popular music. He was discovered by American record executive Scooter ...

(for the show ''

PrankStars ''PrankStars'' (stylized as ''Prank★Stars'') is a 2011 American reality television series that aired monthly and employed the use of a hidden camera. The series premiered on Disney Channel on July 15, 2011, and was hosted by ''Pair of Kings'' a ...

''). Her three-year-old son inspired her podcast, ''The Kira Soltanovich Show'', where she interviews fellow comedians who have kids and they discuss all things comedy and colic related. In 2010, she appeared on the

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

special ''Hot Tamales Live'' and in 2011, Soltanovich shot a half-hour comedy special titled ''Here Comes Trouble'' as part of the network's ''Laugh Out Loud'' Festival. In 2016, she released a new special, ''You Did This to Me'' which she self-produced and made while she was seven months pregnant. That same year, the game show '' Winsanity'' premiered with Soltanovich as its announcer. In 2021 she became the announcer for

You Bet Your Life ''You Bet Your Life'' is an American comedy quiz series that has aired on both radio and television. The original and best-known version was hosted by Groucho Marx of the Marx Brothers, with announcer and assistant George Fenneman. The show deb ...

with Jay Leno and Kevin Eubanks.

References

External links

Kira Soltanovich's official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Soltanovich, Kira 1973 births Living people American stand-up comedians American women comedians Ukrainian SSR emigrants to the United States American television actresses 21st-century American actresses 20th-century American actresses 20th-century American comedians 21st-century American comedians Jewish American female comedians Game show announcers 21st-century American Jews