Savely Viktorovich Kramarov was a Soviet and American film actor and Honored Artist of the RSFSR (1974). After graduating from the Forestry Institute in 1958, Kramarov worked in his specialty for a while. Deciding to quit his job, he sent his photos to every film studio in the country, and one letter received a reply. That is how his acting career began. Real success came to him after the film "The Elusive Avengers." In 1967 he was invited to work at the Theater of Miniatures. He appeared in many films and by the early 1970s was one of the most popular comedy actors in the country. In 1971 he played his most famous role, Kosoy, in the film "Gentlemen of Fortune." Offers to act came pouring in one after another after that role. Before he had finished filming one picture, another was already coming out on screen. The actor even began turning down some invitations that he considered unworthy. In 1972 he enrolled at GITIS in the acting department. But after graduating from GITIS, he was never accepted into the troupe of any Soviet theater. At GITIS he met his first wife, his classmate Lyudmila. But their marriage lasted only a short time. Later he dated the architect Maria Shatinskaya. The actor was not officially married to her, but they lived together for thirteen years. In Soviet cinema he became a true star. In 1974 he was awarded the honorary title of Honored Artist of the RSFSR.

His circle of acquaintances and his uncle, who had emigrated to Israel, made the actor a man with connections that were suspect in the Soviet Union, which was tantamount to the end of a career. In addition, he began practicing yoga, became a largely religious man, attended synagogue, and refused to film on Saturdays. He was hired less and less often, and in the last three years before his departure he was not offered roles at all. In 1981, together with Alexander Levenbuk, he wrote a letter to US President Ronald Reagan, addressing him as "Artist to Artist," in which he openly complained about his fate. The letter was read several times on the air of the Voice of America radio station. In the end Kramarov was released, and he left the USSR on October 31, 1981, with documents for exit from the USSR to Israel, but he got only as far as Vienna, since at that time there was no direct communication between the USSR and Israel because of the diplomatic relations severed in 1967. In Vienna he was met by the impresario Viktor Shulman, who organized his tours in Europe, America, Australia, Israel, and Japan. In the USA he settled in Los Angeles with his old acquaintance Ilya Baskin, with whom he had already appeared in "The Big Change." And a year later they appeared together in the drama "Moscow on the Hudson," where he played the KGB officer Boris.