Sam Jaffe (actor)

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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 .

Live and act

Jaffe studied engineering at Columbia University and worked as a math teacher for some time . He began acting in 1915, which took him to Broadway and then to Hollywood , where he made his first appearances in Josef von Sternberg's Die Scharlachrote Kaiserin (1934) alongside Marlene Dietrich and in Resurrection , directed by Rouben Mamoulian , in 1934 . In 1937 he played the adversary at the theater in Franz Werfels and Kurt Weill's monumental drama The Eternal Road . In Frank Capra's classic fantasy film In the Fetters of Shangri-La (1937), he made a big impression in the role of the "High Lama". He then became known for his role as "Gunga Din" in George Stevens ' adventure classic Uprising in Sidi Hakim from 1939. In the film drama Tabu der Righteous (1947), directed against anti-Semitism in the USA , he played "Professor Fred Lieberman". His greatest success was the role of a crook in Asphalt Jungle (1950), which earned him an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor.

He then took part in numerous films, including The Day the Earth Stood Still . His film career was badly damaged when shortly after the production of this film he was summoned to the committee for un-American activities and then on the " black list " of the Hollywood studios (compare Hollywood Ten ). It wasn't until 1957 that his name reappeared in the credits of a film, and in 1959 he had success again with a supporting role in Ben Hur . In the 1960s he played a permanent role in the doctor series Ben Casey . In addition, he continued to act in various average films for cinema and television and had some guest appearances in television series . One of his best-known later film appearances was the small but memorable role as a sinister antiquarian in the Walt Disney film The Daredevil Witch in Her Flying Bed (1972).

Jaffe died in 1984 at the age of 93 years to cancer . He is buried in Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery . He was married to actress Bettye Ackerman from June 7, 1956 until his death . Sam Jaffe's estate is in the Library of Congress .

Filmography (selection)

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personal data
SURNAME Jaffe, Sam
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Jaffe, Shalom
BRIEF DESCRIPTION US-American actor
DATE OF BIRTH March 8, 1891 or March 10, 1891
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City
DATE OF DEATH March 24, 1984
Place of death Beverly Hills