Oscar Profile #251: Sam Jaffe

Born Shalom Jaffe in New York City on March 10, 1891, Sam Jaffe’s mother Ada Jaffe was a star in the Yiddish Theatre. His father Barnett was a jeweler. Young Sam graduated with a degree in engineering from City College of New York and earned his post-graduate degree at Columbia University. Having acted with his mother in the Yiddish Theatre, he later turned to acting full time. John Huston was an early roommate.

Jaffe first appeared on screen in the silent short, A Cheap Vacation, in 1916. He made his Broadway debut in 1918 in Youth and continued to appear in many productions during the next two decades including The Jazz Singer and Grand Hotel in which he originated the role of the bookkeeper played on screen by Lionel Barrymore. He would later alternate his stage roles with his screen roles.

The actor made his official screen debut as Czar Peter II opposite Marlene Dietrich in 1934’s The Scarlet Empress. He would appear in only two more films in the 1930s, but along with his mad Czar Peter, they would be iconic roles any actor would be proud of. He was the High Lama in 1937’s Lost Horizon and the title character in 1939’s Gunga Din.

Jaffe was next on screen as himself in 1943’s Stage Door Canteen and would appear in only three other films within in the decade, but once again they were important roles in important films. He played professors and doctors in 1947’s Gentleman’s Agreement and 1949’s The Accused and Rope of Sand. Also in 1949 he appeared in TV’s The Big Story. Old friend John Huston gave him a plum role in 1950’s The Asphalt Jungle for which he received his only Oscar nomination. Despite being blacklisted as a Communist sympathizer, Robert Wise, with Daryl Zanuck’s support, fought for and got him to play the Einstein like scientist in 1951’s The Day the Earth Stood Still. Not able to get any further work in film or TV in the decade, Huston once again came to his rescue with a prominent role in 1958’s The Barbarian and the Geisha. William Wyler gave him an even more prominent role in 1959’s Ben-Hur and his Hollywood career was back on track.

Jaffe’s first wife, musical comedy star Lillian Taiz, died in 1941. His second wife, actress Bettye Ackerman, co-starred with him in the popular TV series, Ben Casey (1961-1965) in which he played the head doctor and she played the head nurse to Vince Edwards’ title character.

In constant demand through the rest of his life, Jaffe provided distinctive characterizations in such films as 1967’s Guns for San Sebastian, 1969’s The Great Bank Robbery, 1970’s The Dunwich Horror, 1971’s Bedknobs and Broomsticks, 1980’s Battle Beyond the Stars and 1984’s Nothing Lasts Forever and On the Line.

Sam Jaffe died on March 24, 1984 at 93. Bettye Ackerman died on November 1, 2006 at 82.

ESSENTIAL FILMS

THE SCARLET EMPRESS (1934), directed by Josef von Sternberg

Few actors have made their screen debuts in a role as stunning as that of the mad Czar Peter III opposite the legendary Marlene Dietrich in one of her signature roles as Catherine the Great.

The film, like The Rise of Catherine the Great, released earlier the same year, centers on the court intrigues that lead to the coup d’etat that allowed her to assume the Russian throne she would hold for thirty-three years. The von Sternberg version is surreal with standout performances from Dietrich and Louise Dresser as Empress Elisabeth as well, but it is Jaffe’s one-of-a-kind portrayal of the insane czar that towers above all.

LOST HORIZON (1937), directed by Frank Capra

Capra’s film of James Hilton’s beloved novel is a visual masterpiece featuring many fine performances, including those of Ronald Colman, Jane Wyatt, John Howard, Margo, Thomas Mitchell, Edxward Everett Horton, Isabel Jewell, H.B. Warner (Oscar nominated as the visitor’s guide through the secluded world of Shangri-La) and especially Jaffe as the 200-year-old High Lama who rules the peaceful world.

The only explanation I can offer for Warner receiving the Oscar nomination that should have been Jaffe’s was that Warner was the bigger name at the time, having played Jesus in DeMille’s The King of Kings ten years earlier and was probably considered due whereas Jaffe’s screen career was still burgeoning.

GUNGA DIN (1939), directed by George Stevens

Jaffe was forty-eight when he played the grueling role of the regimental Indian water carrier in Stevens’ film taken from Rudyard Kipling’s immortal poem, with an expanded story from Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur.

Cary Grant, Victor McLaglen and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. were the three friends around whom the action swirls, but Jaffe’s Din is a soldier, too, even though his status does not allow him that official designation. How good a soldier he is, is fully realized with his death and Grant’s immortal line, “you’re a better man than I am, Gunga Din!”

THE ASPHALT JUNGLE (1950), directed by John Huston

Jaffe finally received an Oscar nomination for his rare portrayal of a villain, the criminal mastermind in lifelong buddy Huston’s heist film.

There were strong performances, as well, from Sterling Hayden, Louis Calhern, Jean Hagen, James Whitmore, Marc Lawrence, John McIntire, Brad Dexter, Barry Kelley and in an impressive bit, Marilyn Monroe as Calhern’s mistress.

Crtics have always been split on whether Jaffe or Calhern gave the film’s greatest performance, but Calhern received his only Oscar nomination that year as Best Actor for his portrayal of Oliver Wendell Holmes in The Magnificent Yankee, allowing Jaffe to finally be recognized in support. It seems fair to me.

THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (1951), directed by Robert Wise

Having played an Einstein like scientist in Fox’s 1947 Oscar winner, Gentleman’s Agreement, Jaffe seemed a natural choice to play a similar role in Fox’s science fiction masterpiece. Director Wise and studio head Daryl F. Zanuck both fought for him, and he got the standout role despite his having been blacklisted as a Communist sympathizer during the witch hunts of the 1950s. He would not work again until old friend John Huston gave him a role in The Barbarian and the Geisha six years later. That and the following year’s Ben-Hur resurrected his Hollywood career.