Sam Jaffe mini-bio: He was born Shalom Jaffe but became known to the world as Sam Jaffe (also as Sam C. Jaffe). He was from a Jewish family of New York City, New York, and as a child he appeared in Yiddish theater productions with his mother, who was a well known regional stage actress. He graduated from the City College of New York and then attended grad school specializing in engineering at Columbia University. Afterward he worked as a mathematics teacher for some years in his native Bronx environs. Sometime around 1915 Jaffe's acting genes asserted themselves, and he joined the troupe known as the Washington Square Players. By 1918 he was no stranger to Broadway, having debuted in the original play "Youth". He appeared regularly through the 1920s; about half as much through the 1930s; and sporadically through the 1940s. All told he did 21 plays on Broadway during his acting career (last in 1979). Jaffe was a method actor before it was defined and early on sported his signature shock of curly hair that some people would later misinterpret as part of some Harpo Marx characterization. Jaffe was anything but.
His acting talents were considerable, and Hollywood noticed him first for the unusual role of the mad Grand Duke Peter in Josef von Sternberg's image-ridden historical fantasy of Catherine the Great, The Scarlet Empress (1934). Jaffe was down right frightening in his bug-eyed, leering lunatic rendition of Peter, dispatched by the machinations of the always magnificent Marlene Dietrich. Jaffe was no matinee idol; but his homely features were made for unusual - indeed, unique -- character roles. And certainly in his few early films, he did not disappoint in providing unforgettable performances. Frank Capra cast him as the mysterious - and as Jaffe played him, immediately haunting -- High Lama in Lost Horizon (1937). Columbia Pictures head Harry Cohn did not care for Jaffe's interpretation but after other actors' screen tests, he was admitted to be the best for the role. It would be another two years before Jaffe was once more called to Hollywood - he was back quite busy on Broadway. George Stevens was director and producer of the big budget RKO Gunga Din (1939) which sported big star names as well. But someone unusual was needed for the title role - and he gave Jaffe the part of the lead, Gunga Din, native water bearer-"regimental beastie". It was probably Jaffe's most familiar role, and he was tinted dark-perhaps too dark (as were featured supporting actors and extras as well) all over his body. It was a standout part which Jaffe handled with great humanity, and the film was a huge hit.
Even so, Jaffe would not work in another film for eight years. His second of two movies in 1947 was the powerful anti-Semitic expose of Elia Kazan, Gentleman's Agreement (1947) in which Jaffe played an Albert Einstein-like professor, partially based on his resemblance. Jaffe would play doctors of one sort or another in the handful of movies for the next few years. Then in 1950 he played a very different doctor - Doc Erwin Riedenschneider, criminal mastermind -- in the taunt The Asphalt Jungle (1950). Jaffe would receive a nomination for a supporting actor Oscar for this effort. Of the three films he did in 1951, Jaffe was particularly chosen for another Einstein-like role in Robert Wise's thought-provoking sci fi classic The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951).
At this point in his life Jaffe experienced first hand the destructive potential latent in the anti-communist furor at the beginning of the decade. His name was included on a listing of performers sympathetic to communism called the Red Channels pamphlet and like many was repudiated by the big Hollywood studios. In reality Jaffe was in fact a rather benign liberal without radical views. He was considered essential by producer Julian Blaustein and Wise to play Professor Jacob Barnhardt, and 20th Century Fox boss Darryl Zanuck (who had resisted much heat for Gentleman's Agreement) agreed. It was ironic that Einstein, veiled as the character Barnhardt, was a pacifist and being watched by the U.S. government at that time. There was some credence that Jaffe -- the mathematician, remember -- provided the calculus equations (mainly the gravitational force between bodies) on Barnhardt's blackboard - solved so easily by alien Michael Rennie.
Jaffe's next hiatus of seven years to follow in Hollywood was from the punitive effects of the blacklisting. But by 1958, John Huston wanted him for his very original The Barbarian and the Geisha (1958) with John Wayne, and director William Wyler also came forward later to cast him as faithful servant Simonides in the blockbuster Ben-Hur (1959). From then on Jaffe was very busy, especially with episodic TV through the 1960s which included his own recurring role as Dr. Zorba in the very popular Ben Casey series. He was almost as busy on the 1970s small screen along with a few movies. Jaffe also appeared with his lifelong best friend screen icon Edward G. Robinson in the made-for-TV film "The Old Man Who Cried Wolf" (1971). Jaffe remained active into the year of his passing, a thoroughly engaging and unique actor and human being who never pushed his views - or his vegetarianism, for that matter -- on anyone.
