Sam Jaffe
Sam Jaffe | |
---|---|
Born | Shalom Jaffe March 10, 1891 New York City, U.S. |
Died | March 24, 1984 | (aged 93)
Resting place | Williston Cemetery in Williston, South Carolina |
Other names | Sam C. Jaffe |
Education | City College of New York (B.Sc. Engineering, 1912) |
Occupations |
|
Years active | 1918–1984 |
Spouses |
Shalom"Sam"Jaffe(March 10, 1891 – March 24, 1984) was an American actor, teacher, musician, and engineer. In 1951, he was nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Supporting Actorfor his performance inThe Asphalt Jungle(1950). He also appeared inThe Day the Earth Stood Still(1951) andBen-Hur(1959), and is additionally known for his roles as the titular character inGunga Din(1939) and as the "High Lama" inLost Horizon(1937).
Early life[edit]
Jaffe was born to Ukrainian Jewish parents Heida (Ada) and Barnett Jaffe[1]at 97Orchard Street(current location of theLower East Side Tenement Museum)[2][3]in New York City,New York.His mother was aYiddishactress inOdesa, Ukraine,prior to moving to the United States; his father was a jeweller. He was the youngest of four children; his siblings were Abraham, Sophie, and Annie. As a child, he appeared in Yiddish theatre productions with his mother, who after moving to the United States became a prominent actress andvaudevillestar. He graduated fromTownsend Harris High Schooland studied engineering atCity College of New York,graduating in 1912. He later attendedColumbia Universityfor graduate studies. He also worked for several years as a teacher, and then dean, of mathematics at the Bronx Cultural Institute, a college preparatory school, before returning to acting in 1915.[1]
Career[edit]
As a young man, he lived inGreenwich Villagein the same apartment building as a youngJohn Huston.The two men became good friends and remained so for life. Jaffe was later to star in two of Huston's films:The Asphalt JungleandThe Barbarian and the Geisha.Jaffe's closest friends includedZero Mostel,Edward G. Robinson,Ray Bradbury,andIgor Stravinsky.In 1923 he appeared in the Broadway premiere ofGod of Vengeance (Got fun Nekome)bySholem Asch,as Reb Ali. The production became notorious after the cast, producer, and theatre owner were indicted and found guilty on charges of indecency in May 1923.[4]Jaffe began to work in film in1934,rising to prominence with his first role as the madTsar Peter IIIinThe Scarlet Empress.In 1938, Jaffe was forty-seven years old when he played the title role ofbhisti(waterbearer)Gunga Din.
Jaffe wasblacklistedby theHollywoodmovie studioBoss es during the 1950s, supposedly for being acommunistsympathizer. Despite this, he was hired first byRobert WiseforThe Day the Earth Stood Stilland then by directorWilliam Wylerfor his role in the1959Academy Award-winning version ofBen-Hur.
Jaffe co-starred in theABCtelevision series,Ben Caseyas Dr. David Zorba from 1961 to 1965 alongsideVince Edwards.He also made many guest-starring roles on other series, includingBatmanas Mr. Zoltan Zorba, and the WesternAlias Smith and Jones.In 1975, he co-starred as a retired doctor who is murdered byJanet Leighin theColumboepisode "Forgotten Lady". He also appeared with an all-star cast in the TV pilot film ofRod Serling'sNight Galleryand asEmperor Nortonin one episode ofBonanza.[1]
Personal life and death[edit]
Jaffe was married to American operatic soprano and musical comedy star Lillian Taiz from 1926 until her death from cancer in 1941. In 1956, he married actressBettye Ackerman,33 years his junior, with whom he later co-starred inBen Casey.She died on November 1, 2006. He had no children from either marriage.[citation needed]
ADemocrat,Jaffe supported the campaign ofAdlai Stevenson IIduring the1952 presidential election.[5]
Jaffe died ofcancerinBeverly Hills, California,in 1984, two weeks after his 93rd birthday.[6]He wascrematedat the Pasadena Crematory in Altadena, California, and his ashes were given to his surviving wife, Bettye, and, upon her death in 2006, buried with her at Williston Cemetery in Williston, South Carolina.[7]
Filmography[edit]
Year | Film | Role | Director | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1916 | A Cheap Vacation | |||
1934 | The Scarlet Empress | Grand Duke Peter | Josef von Sternberg | |
1934 | We Live Again | Gregory Simonson | Rouben Mamoulian | |
1937 | Lost Horizon | High Lama | Frank Capra | |
1938 | The Adventures of Robin Hood | (uncredited) man who tells men to meet Robin at Gallows Oaks | ||
1939 | Gunga Din | Gunga Din | George Stevens | |
1943 | Stage Door Canteen | Sam Jaffe | Frank Borzage | |
1946 | 13 Rue Madeleine | Mayor Galimard | Henry Hathaway | |
1947 | Gentleman's Agreement | Professor Fred Lieberman | Elia Kazan | |
1949 | The Accused | Dr. Romley | William Dieterle | |
1949 | Rope of Sand | Dr. Francis Hunter | William Dieterle | |
1950 | The Asphalt Jungle | criminal mastermind Doc Erwin Riedenschneider | John Huston | |
1951 | I Can Get It for You Wholesale | Sam Cooper | Michael Gordon | |
1951 | The Day the Earth Stood Still | Professor Jacob Barnhardt | Robert Wise | |
1953 | Main Street to Broadway | First Nighter (uncredited) | Tay Garnett | |
1957 | Les Espions | head of the American spy network Sam Cooper | Henri-Georges Clouzot | |
1958 | The Barbarian and the Geisha | translator-secretary Henry Heusken | John Huston | |
1959 | Ben-Hur | merchant and loyal slave Simonides | William Wyler | |
1967 | A Guide for the Married Man | Technical Adviser (Shrink) | Gene Kelly | |
1967 | Tarzan's Jungle Rebellion | Dr. Singleton (archive footage) | ||
1968 | La Bataille de San Sebastian | Father Joseph | Henri Verneuil | |
1969 | The Great Bank Robbery | Brother Lilac Bailey (Art Forger) | Hy Averback | |
1970 | The Dunwich Horror | Old Whateley | Daniel Haller | |
1970 | Quarantined | Mr. Berryman | Leo Penn | |
1970 | The Old Man Who Cried Wolf | Abe Stillman | Walter Grauman | |
1971 | Who Killed the Mysterious Mr. Foster? | Toby | ||
1971 | Bedknobs and Broomsticks | Bookman | Robert Stevenson | |
1971 | Enemies | Gittelman | ||
1971 | The Tell-Tale Heart | The Old Man | ||
1973 | Saga of Sonora | Old Sam | ||
1976 | The Sad and Lonely Sundays | Dr. Sweeny | ||
1980 | Gideon's Trumpet | 1st Supreme Court Justice | ||
1980 | Battle Beyond the Stars | Dr. Hephaestus | Jimmy T. Murakami | |
1984 | Nothing Lasts Forever | Father Knickerbocker | Tom Schiller | |
1984 | On the Line | El Gabacho (final film role) |
Television credits[edit]
- Alfred Hitchcock Presents(1960) (Season 5 Episode 16: "The Ikon of Elijah" ) - the Abbot
- The Law and Mr. Jones,1960–1961, two episodes as Martin Berger
- Alfred Hitchcock Presents(1961) (Season 6 Episode 18: "The Greatest Monster of Them All" ) - Hal Ballew
- The Westerner,episode "The Old Man" (1961) – Old Man McKeen
- The Untouchables,episode "Augie 'The Banker' Ciamino" (1961) – Luigi Valcone
- Naked City,Economy of Death(1961) – Lazslo Lubasz
- The Islanders,"To Bell a Cat" (1961) – Papa Mathews
- Ben Casey(series, 1961–1965) – Dr. David Zorba, withVince Edwards(127 episodes)
- Daniel Boone (1964 TV series),S2/E12 "The First Beau" (1965) – Jed Tolson
- Bonanza,episode "The Emperor Norton" (1966) – Joshua Norton
- Batman,episode "Walk the Straight and Narrow"(1966) – Zoltan Zorba (uncredited)
- Night Gallery,"The Escape Route" segment (1969)
- Alias Smith and Jones,episodes "The Great Shell Game" (1971), "A Fistful of Diamonds" (1971) and "Bad Night in Big Butte" (1972) – Soapy Saunders
- The Snoop Sisters,episode "Corpse and Robbers" (1973) – Issac Waldersack
- QB VII(1974 miniseries): Dr. Mark Tessler[8]
- The Streets of San Francisco,episode "Mr. Nobody" (1974) – Alex Zubatuk
- S.W.A.T.,episode "Omega One" (1975) – Dr. Brunner
- Columbo:"Forgotten Lady"(1975)
- Harry O,episode "The Acolyte" (1975) – Dr. Howard Cambridge
- The Bionic Woman,episode "Kill Oscar: Part 3" (1976) – Admiral Richter
- Kojak,episode "Tears for All Who Loved Her" (1977) – Papa
- Buck Rogers in the 25th Century,episode "Flight Of The War Witch" (1980) – Council Leader
- The Love Boat,Professor Weber, (1983)
References[edit]
- ^abcFlint, Peter B. (25 March 1984)."Sam Jaffe, A Character Actor On Stage and Film, Dies at 93".The New York Times.Archived fromthe originalon February 14, 2015.
- ^"Top 10 Secrets of the Tenement Museum".Untapped New York.February 5, 2021.Retrieved2021-02-07.
- ^"Gettin' Schooled: A History Lesson".Tenement Museum.2016-08-30.Retrieved2021-02-07.
- ^""The God of Vengeance": Is the Play Immoral? ".Museum of the City of New York blog.19 June 2012.
- ^Motion Picture and Television Magazine.November 1952. page 33.
- ^Pearson, Richard (March 26, 1984)."Character Actor Sam Jaffe, 93, Dies of Cancer".The Washington Post.
- ^Wilson, Scott (19 August 2016).Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons(3d ed.). McFarland.ISBN978-1-4766-2599-7– via Google Books.
- ^De Vito, John; Tropea, Frank (2009).Epic Television Miniseries: A Critical History.McFarland.p. 179.ISBN978-0-7864-5733-5.
Further reading[edit]
- Young, Jordan R. (1986) [First published 1975]. "Sam Jaffe".Reel Characters: Great Movie Character Actors(softcover) (Sixth ed.). Beverly Hills, Calif: Moonstone Press. pp. 43–56.ISBN978-0-940410-79-4.
External links[edit]
- Sam Jaffeat theAmerican Film Institute Catalog
- Works by or about Sam JaffeatInternet Archive
- Sam JaffeatFind a Grave
- Sam JaffeatIMDb
- {{TCMDb name}} template missing ID and not present in Wikidata.
- Sam Jaffeat theInternet Broadway Database
- Sam Jaffeat theInternet Off-Broadway Database
- 1891 births
- 1984 deaths
- 20th-century American Jews
- 20th-century American male actors
- American male film actors
- American male stage actors
- American male television actors
- American people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent
- California Democrats
- City College of New York alumni
- Columbia University alumni
- Deaths from cancer in California
- Hollywood blacklist
- Jewish American male actors
- Jews from New York (state)
- Male actors from Manhattan
- New York (state) Democrats
- Townsend Harris High School alumni
- Volpi Cup for Best Actor winners