Sam Jaffe
| Sam Jaffe | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
Shalom Jaffe March 10, 1891 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Died | March 24, 1984 (aged 93) Beverly Hills, California, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Cancer |
| Resting place | Eden Memorial Park Cemetery in Mission Hills, California |
| Other names | Sam C. Jaffe |
| Education | City College of New York, (B.Sc. Engineering, 1912) |
| Occupation | Actor, teacher, engineer |
| Years active | 1934–1984 |
| Spouse(s) | Lillian Taiz (1926-1941; her death) Bettye Ackerman (1956-1984; his death) |
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) 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).
He was born Shalom Jaffe to Heida (Ada) and Barnett Jaffe, a Russian Jewish family in New York City, New York. His mother, Ada Jaffe, was a Yiddish actress in Odessa, Ukraine, prior to moving to the United States; his father was a jeweler. He was the youngest of four children; his siblings were Abraham, Sophie, and Annie. As a child, he appeared in Yiddish theater 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. Jaffe's closest friends included Zero Mostel, Edward G. Robinson, Ray Bradbury, and Igor Stravinsky. He began to work in film in 1934, rising to prominence with his very 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 water "boy" Gunga Din. He also made an uncredited appearance in The Adventures of Robin Hood, telling the men to "meet Robin at Gallows Oaks".
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