Yakov Smirnoff is a Jewish Ukrainian-American comedian, actor, and writer. He was born in 1951 in Odesa, Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union. He was an art teacher in Odesa, as well as a comedian. As a comedian, he entertained occasionally on ships in the Black Sea, where he came into contact with Americans who described life in the US to him. That was when he first considered leaving the country.
After two years of attempting to leave, he came to the US with his parents in 1977, arriving in New York City. His family was allowed to come to America because of "an agreement between the USSR and America to exchange wheat for Soviet citizens who wished to defect."
In 1985, on the Johnny Carson Show, he finished his act with the following reminder of how lucky we are to live in the USA.