Born on August 15, 1957 Zeljko Ivanek is a Slovenian-born American actor of Croat descent. He has been known for his outstanding role as Ray Fiske on Damages. On addition he has been awarded by the Primetime Emmy Award for the role. Ivanek is also known for his role of Ed Danvers on Homicide: Life on the Street and Homicide: The Movie, Governor James Devlin on Oz, Andre Drazen on 24, Blake Sterling on the short-lived NBC series The Event, and Emile "The Hunter" Danko on Heroes. He has been active in the field since 1981.

Ivanek was born in Ljubljana, PR Slovenia, FPR Yugoslavia. He has been graduated from Ellwood P. Cubberley High School in Palo Alto in 1975. Ivanek went on to graduate from Yale University in 1978 and afterward attended the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. Talking about his career, at the very first time he had originated the role of Hally in Athol Fugard's play "Master Harold"…and the Boys in 1982. It has been called his debut role for him, which also help to create his own base in the acting field. Till the end he has also appeared in the U.S. premieres of such notable plays as Caryl Churchill's Cloud Nine and Martin McDonagh's The Pillowman. He performs frequently on Broadway and has been nominated for three Tony Awards, for his performances in the original production of Brighton Beach Memoirs, in Two Shakespearean Actors, and in a revival of The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, alongside David Schwimmer and Tim Daly. Ivanek is perhaps best known for his supporting roles in a number of well-known television series. The characters he portrays are most often professional men such as lawyers or government functionaries and are frequently antagonists. Ivanek has received recognition for his on-screen work. In 2008, he was awarded the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his performance in the role of Ray Fiske on Damages.