Sam Jaffe

Sam Jaffe ( born March 8 or March 10, 1891 in New York City; † March 24, 1984 in Beverly Hills; actually Shalom Jaffe ) was an American actor.

Life and work

Jaffe studied engineering at Columbia University and worked for some time as a mathematics teacher. In 1915 he began acting, which led him to Broadway and then to Hollywood, where he had the Scarlet Empress (1934 ) on the side of Marlene Dietrich and in resurrection, directed by Rouben Mamoulian in 1934 his first performances in Josef von Sternberg's. In 1937 he played in Franz Werfel's and Kurt Weill's monumental drama The Eternal Road to the adversary. In Frank Capra's classic fantasy film in of Shangri - La ( 1937) he left behind " High Lamas " big impression in the role of. He is best known then for his role of " Gunga Din " in George Stevens ' adventure classics uprising in Sidi Hakim in 1939. In the anti -Semitism in the U.S. film drama Gentleman's Agreement (1947 ) he played the "Professor Fred Lieberman ". His biggest success was the role of a gangster in The Asphalt Jungle (1950), which earned him an Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actor.

After that, he starred in numerous films, including The Day the Earth Stood Still. His film career, however, was badly damaged when he was charged shortly after the production of this film before the Committee on Un-American Activities, and then came up with the "black list" of the studios of Hollywood ( compare Hollywood Ten). In 1957, his name appeared again in the credits of a film on, and in 1959 he was again hit with a supporting role in Ben Hur. In the 1960s he played a recurring role in the series Doctor Ben Casey. He also continued to play in various average films for cinema and television, and had several guest appearances in television series. One of his most famous later film appearances was the small but memorable role as a dark antique dealer in the Walt Disney film The daredevil flying witch in her bed ( 1972).

Jaffe died in 1984 from cancer. He is buried at the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery. He was married on June 7, 1956 until his death with the actress Bettye Ackerman. Sam Jaffe's estate is located in the Library of Congress.

Filmography (selection)

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