Sam Jaffe

This article is about the actor. For the producer, see Sam Jaffe (producer).

Sam Jaffe
Jaffe as David Zorba in Ben Casey, 1961
Born	Shalom Jaffe (1891-03-10)March 10, 1891 New York City, U.S.
Died	March 24, 1984(1984-03-24) (aged 93) Beverly Hills, California, U.S.
Resting place	Williston Cemetery in Williston, South Carolina
Other names	Sam C. Jaffe
Education	City College of New York (B.Sc. Engineering, 1912)
Occupations	Actor teacher engineer
Years active	1918–1984
Spouses	Lillian Taiz ​ ​ (m. 1926; died 1941)​ Bettye Ackerman ​ ​ (m. 1956)​

Shalom "Sam" Jaffe (March 10, 1891 – March 24, 1984) was an American actor, teacher, musician, and engineer. In 1951, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Asphalt Jungle (1950). He also appeared in The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) and Ben-Hur (1959), and is additionally known for his roles as the titular character in Gunga Din (1939) and as the "High Lama" in Lost Horizon (1937).

Early life

Jaffe was born to Ukrainian Jewish parents Heida (Ada) and Barnett Jaffe at 97 Orchard Street (current location of the Lower East Side Tenement Museum) in New York City, New York. His mother was a Yiddish actress in Odesa, 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 and vaudeville star. He graduated from Townsend Harris High School and studied engineering at City College of New York, graduating in 1912. He later attended Columbia University for 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.

Career

Jaffe and Ruth Foster on set of Ben Casey

As a young man, he lived in Greenwich Village in the same apartment building as a young John 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 Jungle and The Barbarian and the Geisha. Jaffe's closest friends included Zero Mostel, Edward G. Robinson, Ray Bradbury, and Igor Stravinsky. In 1923 he appeared in the Broadway premiere of God of Vengeance (Got fun Nekome) by Sholem 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. Jaffe began to work in film in 1934, rising to prominence with his first role as the mad Tsar Peter III in The Scarlet Empress. In 1938, Jaffe was forty-seven years old when he played the title role of bhisti (waterbearer) Gunga Din.

Jaffe was blacklisted by the Hollywood movie studio bosses during the 1950s, supposedly for being a communist sympathizer. Despite being blacklisted, he was hired first by Robert Wise for The Day the Earth Stood Still and then by director William Wyler for his role in the 1959 Academy Award-winning version of Ben-Hur.

Jaffe co-starred in the ABC television series, Ben Casey, as Dr. David Zorba from 1961 to 1965, alongside Vince Edwards. He also had many guest-starring roles on other series, including Batman (as Mr. Zoltan Zorba) and in the western Alias Smith and Jones. In 1975, he co-starred as a retired doctor who is murdered by Janet Leigh in the Columbo episode "Forgotten Lady". He also appeared with an all-star cast in the TV pilot film of Rod Serling's Night Gallery and as Emperor Norton in one episode of Bonanza.

Personal life and death

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 actress Bettye Ackerman, 33 years his junior, with whom he later co-starred in Ben Casey. She died on November 1, 2006. He had no children from either marriage.

A Democrat, Jaffe supported the campaign of Adlai Stevenson II during the 1952 presidential election.

Jaffe died of cancer in Beverly Hills, California, in 1984, two weeks after his 93rd birthday. He was cremated at 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.

Filmography

Jaffe (left) and Jack Albertson in the 1976 TV special The Sad and Lonely Sundays.

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

• 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, with Vince 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
• 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)

Further reading

• 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. ISBN 978-0-940410-79-4.

External links

• Sam Jaffe at the American Film Institute Catalog
• Works by or about Sam Jaffe at the Internet Archive
• Sam Jaffe at Find a Grave
• Sam Jaffe at IMDb 
• Sam Jaffe at TCM Movie Database
• Sam Jaffe at the Internet Broadway Database
• Sam Jaffe at the Internet Off-Broadway Database