Sam Jaffe

Sam Jaffe (March 10, 1891 – March 24, 1984) was an American actor, teacher and engineer. In 1951, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Asphalt Jungle (1950) and appeared in other classic films such as Ben-Hur (1959) and The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951). He may be best remembered for playing the title role in Gunga Din (1939), and the High Lama in Lost Horizon (1937).

Biography

He was born to Heida (Ada) and Barnet Jaffe, a Russian Jewish family in New York City, New York. His mother, Ada Jaffe, was a Yiddish actress in Odessa, Russia prior to moving to the United States. He was the youngest of four children, and his siblings were Abraham, Sophie and Annie. As a child, he appeared in Yiddish theater productions with his mother, who was a prominent actress and vaudeville star. He studied engineering at Columbia University and then worked for several years as a math teacher before turning to acting as a career. As a young man he lived in the Village in the same apartment building with a young John Houston. The two became good friends and remained friends for life. He was also good friends with Zero Mostel, Ray Bradbury and Igor Stravinsky. He began to work in film in 1934, rising to prominence with his very first role as the mad Czar Peter III in The Scarlet Empress.

Jaffe was blacklisted by the Hollywood movie studio bosses during the 1950s, supposedly for being a Communist sympathizer. Despite this, he was hired by director William Wyler for his role in the 1959 Academy Award winning version of Ben-Hur.

Jaffe co-starred in the American TV series Ben Casey as Dr. David Zorba from 1961 to 1965 and had many guest starring roles on other series, including the western Alias Smith and Jones starring Pete Duel and Ben Murphy. In 1975, he co-starred as a retired doctor, who is murdered by Janet Leigh in the Columbo episode Forgotten Lady.

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, who later also starred with him in Ben Casey. She died on November 20, 2006, he had no children from either marriage.

Sam Jaffe died in 1984 of cancer in Beverly Hills, California and was interred in Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.

He is survived by his great nieces Deborah Saint Clare Jaffe of Los Angeles, California, Leah Elizabeth Ann Jaffe of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Linda Louise Jaffe Franklin of Warrenton, Virginia, and his great nephew David Toby Jaffe, (all children of his nephew Samuel Adason Jaffe, journalist, son of Abraham and Dorothy Jaffe) and also by great nephew Nicholas Dembling of New York City and great niece Sophia Dembling of Dallas, Texas, grandchildren of his sister Anne.

Select filmography

• The Scarlet Empress (1934)
• We Live Again (1934)
• Lost Horizon (1937)
• Gunga Din (1939)
• 13 Rue Madeleine (1947)
• Gentleman's Agreement (1947)
• The Accused (1949)
• Rope of Sand (1949)
• The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
• Under the Gun (1951)
• I Can Get It for You Wholesale (1951)
• The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)

This six-year gap in his work was due to him being blacklisted.

• The Spies (1957)
• The Barbarian and the Geisha (1958)
• Ben-Hur (1959)
• A Guide for the Married Man (1967)
• Tarzan's Jungle Rebellion (1967)
• Guns for San Sebastian (1968)
• The Great Bank Robbery (1969)
• Quarantined (TV, 1970)
• The Dunwich Horror (1970)
• The Old Man Who Cried Wolf (TV, 1970)
• Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971)
• The Tell-Tale Heart (1971)
• Enemies (TV, 1971)
• Ghost Story (TV, 1972)
• Saba of Sonora (TV, 1973)
• Columbo: Forgotten Lady (TV, 1975)
• Gideon's Trumpet (TV, 1980)
• Battle Beyond the Stars (1980)
• Nothing Lasts Forever (1984)
• Rio Abajo (1984)

Television

• The Law and Mr. Jones, 1960-1961, two episodes as Martin Berger
• Ben Casey (series, 1961-1965), with Vince Edwards
• QB VII (miniseries, 1974)
• Alias Smith and Jones (1971-1972)
• Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979)

External links

• Sam Jaffe (actor) at the Internet Movie Database
• Sam Jaffe (actor) at the Internet Broadway Database
• Sam Jaffe (actor) at Find a Grave