Smoktunovich was Innokenty's original surname. He was born into a Ukrainian peasant family in the village of Tatarka, in the Kherson Governorate of the Russian Empire (present-day Ukraine). His father, Yegor Smoktunovich, was a farmer and his mother, Anna Smoktunovicha, was a homemaker. Innokenty had two older brothers and two younger sisters.
The Unforgettable Innokenty Smoktunovsky: A Journey through the Life and Work of a Legendary Soviet and Russian Actor