Editing Sam Jaffe

{{short description|American actor, teacher, musician and engineer (1891-1984)}}
{{about|the actor|the producer|Sam Jaffe (producer)}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Sam Jaffe
| image              = Sam Jaffe David Zorba Ben Casey.jpg
| caption            = Jaffe as David Zorba in ''[[Ben Casey]]'', 1961
| birth_name         = Shalom Jaffe
| birth_date         = {{birth date|1891|03|10}}
| birth_place        = New York City, U.S.
| death_date         = {{death date and age|1984|03|24|1891|03|10}}
| death_place        = [[Beverly Hills, California]], U.S.
| resting_place      = Williston Cemetery in Williston, South Carolina
| othername          = Sam C. Jaffe
| occupation         = {{flatlist|
* Actor
* teacher
* engineer}}
| education          = [[City College of New York]] <br>(B.Sc. Engineering, 1912)
| yearsactive        = 1918–1984
| spouse             = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Lillian Taiz|1926|1941|end=died}}
* {{marriage|[[Bettye Ackerman]]<br>|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 film)|Ben-Hur]]'' (1959), and is additionally known for his roles as the titular character in ''[[Gunga Din (film)|Gunga Din]]'' (1939) and as the "High Lama" in ''[[Lost Horizon (1937 film)|Lost Horizon]]'' (1937).

==Early life==
Jaffe was born to Ukrainian Jewish parents Heida (Ada) and Barnett Jaffe<ref name="NYTOBIT" /> at 97 [[Orchard Street]] (current location of the [[Lower East Side Tenement Museum]])<ref>{{cite web| date=February 5, 2021| title=Top 10 Secrets of the Tenement Museum| url=https://untappedcities.com/2021/02/05/secrets-tenement-museum-nyc/| access-date=2021-02-07| website=Untapped New York| language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| date=2016-08-30| title=Gettin' Schooled: A History Lesson| url=https://www.tenement.org/blog/gettin-schooled-a-history-lesson/|access-date=2021-02-07| website=Tenement Museum| language=en-US}}</ref> in New York City, [[New York (state)|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.<ref name="NYTOBIT"/>

==Career==
[[File:Sam Jaffe & Ruth Foster 1965.jpg|thumb|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.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://blog.mcny.org/2012/06/19/the-god-of-vengeance-is-the-play-immoral/| title="The God of Vengeance": Is the Play Immoral?| date=19 June 2012| website=Museum of the City of New York blog}}</ref> Jaffe began to work in film in [[1934 in film|1934]], rising to prominence with his first role as the mad [[Peter III of Russia|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 [[Hollywood ten|blacklisted]] by the [[Cinema of the United States|Hollywood]] [[movie studio]] bosses during the 1950s, supposedly for being a [[Communism|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 in film|1959]] [[Academy Award]]-winning version of ''[[Ben-Hur (1959 film)|Ben-Hur]]''.

Jaffe co-starred in the [[American Broadcasting Company|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 (TV series)|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]]''.<ref name="NYTOBIT">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/03/25/obituaries/sam-jaffe-a-character-actor-on-stage-and-film-dies-at-93.html |title=Sam Jaffe, A Character Actor On Stage and Film, Dies at 93 |first=Peter B. |last=Flint |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=25 March 1984 |url-access=subscription|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150214223136/http://www.nytimes.com/1984/03/25/obituaries/sam-jaffe-a-character-actor-on-stage-and-film-dies-at-93.html |archive-date=February 14, 2015}}</ref>

==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.{{Citation needed |date=July 2023}} 

A [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]], Jaffe supported the campaign of [[Adlai Stevenson II]] during the [[1952 United States presidential election|1952 presidential election]].<ref>''Motion Picture and Television Magazine''. November 1952. page 33.</ref>

Jaffe died of [[cancer]] in [[Beverly Hills, California]], in 1984, two weeks after his 93rd birthday.<ref>{{cite news| last=Pearson| first=Richard| date=March 26, 1984| title=Character Actor Sam Jaffe, 93, Dies of Cancer| url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1984/03/26/character-actor-sam-jaffe-93-dies-of-cancer/db9743b9-8830-4d92-a9f8-e49878a6857c/| newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref> 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.<ref name="auto">{{cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FOHgDAAAQBAJ&q=Sam+Jaffe&pg=PA7| title=Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons| edition=3d| first=Scott| last=Wilson| date=19 August 2016| publisher=McFarland| isbn=978-1-4766-2599-7| via=Google Books}}</ref>

==Filmography==
[[File:1976 Sad Lonely Sundays Oath Jack Albertson Sam Jaffe.jpg|thumb|center|Jaffe (left) and [[Jack Albertson]] in the 1976 TV special ''The Sad and Lonely Sundays''.]]
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Film
! Role
! Director
! class="unsortable" | 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 (1937 film)|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 (film)|Gunga Din]]''
| Gunga Din
| [[George Stevens]]
| 
|-
| 1943
| ''[[Stage Door Canteen (film)|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 (1949 film)|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 (film)|I Can Get It for You Wholesale]]''
| Sam Cooper
| [[Michael Gordon (film director)|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 (1959 film)|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 (1969 film)|The Great Bank Robbery]]''
| Brother Lilac Bailey (Art Forger)
| [[Hy Averback]]
| 
|-
| 1970
| ''[[The Dunwich Horror (film)|The Dunwich Horror]]''
| Old Whateley
| [[Daniel Haller]]
| 
|-
| 1970
| ''[[Quarantined (film)|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 (director)|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 (film)|Gideon's Trumpet]]''
| 1st Supreme Court Justice
| 
| 
|-
| 1980
| ''[[Battle Beyond the Stars]]''
| Dr. Hephaestus
| [[Jimmy T. Murakami]]
| 
|-
| 1984
| ''[[Nothing Lasts Forever (film)|Nothing Lasts Forever]]''
| Father Knickerbocker
| [[Tom Schiller]]
| 
|-
| 1984
| ''[[On the Line (1984 film)|On the Line]]''
| El Gabacho (final film role)
| 
| 
|-
|}

==Television credits==
{{div col|colwidth=26em}}
* ''[[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 (TV series)|The Westerner]]'', episode "The Old Man" (1961) – Old Man McKeen
* ''[[The Untouchables (1959 TV series)|The Untouchables]]'', episode "Augie 'The Banker' Ciamino" (1961) – Luigi Valcone
* ''[[Naked City (TV series)|Naked City]]'', ''Economy of Death'' (1961) – Lazslo Lubasz
* ''[[The Islanders (TV series)|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 (TV series)|Batman]]'', episode "[[Walk the Straight and Narrow]]" (1966) – Zoltan Zorba (uncredited)
* ''[[Night Gallery (film)|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 (miniseries)|QB VII]]'' (1974 miniseries) : Dr. Mark Tessler<ref>{{cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OtQ8DuHHouQC&pg=PA179| page=179| title=Epic Television Miniseries: A Critical History| author1-first=John| author1-last=De Vito| author2-first=Frank| author2-last=Tropea| publisher=[[McFarland & Company|McFarland]]| year=2009| isbn=978-0-7864-5733-5}}</ref>
* ''[[The Streets of San Francisco]]'', episode "Mr. Nobody" (1974) – Alex Zubatuk
* ''[[S.W.A.T. (1975 TV series)|S.W.A.T.]]'', episode "Omega One" (1975) – Dr. Brunner
* ''[[List of Columbo episodes#Season 5|''Columbo'': "Forgotten Lady"]]'' (1975)
* ''[[Harry O (TV series)|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 (TV series)|Buck Rogers in the 25th Century]]'', episode "Flight Of The War Witch" (1980) – Council Leader
* ''[[The Love Boat]]'', Professor Weber, (1983)
{{div col end}}

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |last=Young |first=Jordan R. |title=Reel Characters: Great Movie Character Actors |chapter=Sam Jaffe
|pages=43–56 |year=1986 |edition=Sixth |orig-year=First published 1975 |type=softcover |publisher=Moonstone Press |location=Beverly Hills, Calif |isbn=978-0-940410-79-4}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* {{AFI person | 137907-Sam-Jaffe }}
*{{Internet Archive author |sname=Sam Jaffe |sopt=t}}
*{{Find a Grave}}
*{{IMDb name}}
* [https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/93646%7C137907/Sam-Jaffe#overview Sam Jaffe] at [[TCM Movie Database]]
*{{IBDB name}}
*{{IOBDB name|33680}}

{{Volpi Cup for Best Actor}}
{{Portal bar|Biography|New York City|Los Angeles|Theatre|Film|Television|Judaism}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jaffe, Sam}}
[[Category:1891 births]]
[[Category:1984 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American Jews]]
[[Category:20th-century American male actors]]
[[Category:American male film actors]]
[[Category:American male stage actors]]
[[Category:American male television actors]]
[[Category:American people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:California Democrats]]
[[Category:City College of New York alumni]]
[[Category:Columbia University alumni]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in California]]
[[Category:Hollywood blacklist]]
[[Category:Jewish American male actors]]
[[Category:Jews from New York (state)]]
[[Category:Male actors from Manhattan]]
[[Category:New York (state) Democrats]]
[[Category:Townsend Harris High School alumni]]
[[Category:Volpi Cup for Best Actor winners]]