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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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
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, they were buried with her in Williston Cemetery, Williston, South Carolina.
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.
Sam Jaffe at the American Film Institute Catalog
Works by or about Sam Jaffe at the Internet Archive