Sam Jaffe

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

Sam Jaffe
Jaffe as David Zorba in Ben Casey, 1961
Born	Shalom Jaffe (1891-03-10)March 10, 1891 New York City, New York, 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	Samuel Jaffe Sam C. Jaffe
Education	City College of New York (B.Sc. Engineering, 1912) Columbia University
Occupations	Actor teacher
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 and teacher, known for his portrayals of intelligent but eccentric characters. He achieved prominence in Hollywood for his portrayal of the titular character in the adventure film Gunga Din (1939). He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor for his performance in the classic film noir The Asphalt Jungle (1950).

Jafee subsequently played notable roles in films like The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), Ben-Hur (1959), and Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971). He also had a co-starring role as neurosurgeon Dr. David Zorba on the television medical drama Ben Casey (1961–65), which earned him a Primetime Emmy Award nomination in 1962.

Early life

Shalom Jaffe (Yiddish: שלום יפה) 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. His mother was a Yiddish actress in Odesa (then in the Russian Empire), 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.

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.

Career

Jaffe and Ruth Foster on the set of Ben Casey

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

Theatre

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. Two years later, he played Yudelson in the original Broadway production of The Jazz Singer.

His other Broadway credits included Grand Hotel (1930–31), The Eternal Road (1937), A Doll's House (1937–38), and Cafe Crown (1942).

Film

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 47-years-old when he played the title role of bhisti (waterbearer) Gunga Din.

In 1950, he won the Best Actor Award at the Venice Film Festival for his portrayal of criminal mastermind "Doc" Erwin Riedenschneider in John Huston's film noir The Asphalt Jungle. He was also nominated for an Academy Award for his performance.

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.

Television

Jaffe co-starred in the ABC television series, Ben Casey, as Dr. David Zorba from 1961 to 1965, alongside Vince Edwards. He was nominated for an Emmy Award for that role in 1962.

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

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.

Jaffe's closest friends included Zero Mostel, Edward G. Robinson, Ray Bradbury, and Igor Stravinsky

Death

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

Film

Year	Title	Role	Director	Notes
1916	A Cheap Vacation		P.D. Hugon	Short film
1934	The Scarlet Empress	Grand Duke Peter	Josef von Sternberg
	We Live Again	Gregory Simonson	Rouben Mamoulian
1937	Lost Horizon	The High Lama	Frank Capra
1939	Gunga Din	Gunga Din	George Stevens
1943	Stage Door Canteen	Himself	Frank Borzage
1946	13 Rue Madeleine	Mayor Galimard	Henry Hathaway
1947	Gentleman's Agreement	Prof. Fred Lieberman	Elia Kazan
1949	The Accused	Dr. Romley	William Dieterle
	Rope of Sand	Dr. Francis Hunter
1950	The Asphalt Jungle	"Doc" Erwin Riedenschneider	John Huston
1951	I Can Get It for You Wholesale	Sam Cooper	Michael Gordon
	The Day the Earth Stood Still	Prof. Jacob Barnhardt	Robert Wise
1953	Main Street to Broadway	First Nighter	Tay Garnett	Uncredited
1957	Les Espions	Sam Cooper	Henri-Georges Clouzot
1958	The Barbarian and the Geisha	Henry Heusken	John Huston
1959	Ben-Hur	Simonides	William Wyler
1967	A Guide for the Married Man	Shrink	Gene Kelly	Uncredited
1968	La Bataille de San Sebastian	Father Joseph	Henri Verneuil
1969	The Great Bank Robbery	Lilac Bailey	Hy Averback
1970	The Dunwich Horror	Old Whateley	Daniel Haller
	Quarantined	Mr. Berryman	Leo Penn
	The Old Man Who Cried Wolf	Abe Stillman	Walter Grauman
1971	Bedknobs and Broomsticks	Bookman	Robert Stevenson
1980	Battle Beyond the Stars	Dr. Hephaestus	Jimmy T. Murakami
1984	On the Line	El Gabacho	José Luis Borau
	Nothing Lasts Forever	Father Knickerbocker	Tom Schiller

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1960–61	Alfred Hitchcock Presents	The Abbot/Hal Ballew	2 episodes
	The Law and Mr. Jones	Martin Berger
1961	The Westerner	Old Man McKeen	Episode: "The Old Man"
	The Untouchables	Luigi Valcone	Episode: "Augie 'The Banker' Ciamino"
	Naked City	Lazslo Lubasz	Episode: "Economy of Death"
	The Islanders	Papa Matthews	Episode: "To Bell a Cat"
1961–65	Ben Casey	Dr. David Zorba	Main cast; Seasons 1-4
1965	Daniel Boone	Jed Tolsen	Episode: "The First Beau"
1966	Batman	Zoltan Zorbra	Episode: "Walk the Straight and Narrow"
	Bonanza	Joshua Norton	Episode: "The Emperor Norton"
1969	Night Gallery	Bleum	Segment: "The Escape Route"
1970	Quarantined	Berryman	TV movie
	The Old Man Who Cried Wolf	Abe Stillman
1971–72	Alias Smith and Jones	Soapy Saunders	3 episodes
1971	Enemies	Gittelmann	TV movie
	Who Killed the Mysterious Mr. Foster?	Toby	TV movie
1973	Saga of Sonora	Old Sam	TV movie
	The Snoop Sisters	Issac Waldersack	Episode: "Corpse and Robbers"
1974	QB VII	Dr. Mark Tessler	Miniseries
	Mooch	Himself	TV movie
	The Best of Times	Rabbi Roth
	The Streets of San Francisco	Alex Zubatuk	Episode: "Mr. Nobody"
1975	S.W.A.T.	Dr. Brunner	Episode: "Omega One"
	Columbo	Dr. Henry Willis	Episode: "Forgotten Lady"
	Harry O	Dr. Howard Cambridge	Episode: "The Acolyte"
1976	The Bionic Woman	Admiral Richter	Episode: "Kill Oscar: Part 3"
	The Sad and Lonely Sundays	Dr. Sweeney	TV movie
1977	Kojak	Papa	Episode: "Tears for All Who Loved Her"
1980	Buck Rogers in the 25th Century	Council Leader	Episode: "Flight Of The War Witch"
	The Love Boat	Prof. Weber	Episode: "The Professor Has Class"
1984	Gideon's Trumpet	Supreme Court Justice	TV movie

Awards and nominations

Institution	Year	Category	Work	Result	Ref.
Academy Awards	1951	Best Supporting Actor	The Asphalt Jungle	Nominated
Primetime Emmy Awards	1962	Outstanding Supporting Actor	Ben Casey	Nominated
Venice Film Festival	1950	Best Actor	The Asphalt Jungle	Won

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 (archived)