- Graduated Yale University (Class 0f 1978) majoring in theater in only three years. He later studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts.
- In an interview for AOL television, Zeljko said his first name is pronounced Zhel-ko.
- The Slovenian-born actor graduated from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in 1980.
- He is frequently cast as political or business middlemen of corrupt, shady natures who often end up stabbing somebody in the back.
- Tony award nominations: 1983, Featured Actor in a Play, Brighton Beach Memoirs (nom); 1992, Featured Actor in a Play, Two Shakespearean Actors (nom), 2006, Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial. Drama Desk Awards: 1992, Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play, Two Shakespearean Actors (nom;).
- He has worked with Richard Belzer on three different series: Law & Order (1990), Homicide: Life on the Street (1993) and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999).
- His first name, which has no English-language equivalent, means 'the one who desires' in his native Slovenian. Latin analogue is "Desiderius" (Desiderio in Italian and Spanish). Ivanek ("small Ivan", i.e. John, in Kajkavian dialect) is a common surname from his native region.
- He was raised in Palo Alto, California.
- Drama Desk Award, 1982, Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play, Cloud 9. Villager Award, 1982, Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play, Cloud 9.
- At the time he was born, Ljubljana, Slovenia was part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and Slovenia was a province of Yugoslavia. This changed upon the 1991 constitution and autonomy of Slovenia and the 1992 breakup of Yugoslavia, when Slovenia became an independent country.
- As of 2020, he has appeared in two films that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: Argo (2012) and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017). Argo (2012) is a winner in the category.
- Although he is credited on screen as Zeljko Ivanek, the original spelling of his Slovenian name has a Slavic accent over the letter Z, which looks like a small upside down caret (^) or circumflex.
- As of 2023, he has appeared in three films directed by Martin McDonagh: In Bruges (2008), Seven Psychopaths (2012) and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017).
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