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Sam Jaffe
Birth name	Shalom Jaffe
Born	March 8, 1891(1891-03-08) New York, New York USA
Died	March 24, 1984 (aged 93) (cancer) Beverly Hills, California USA
Resting place	Eden Memorial Park Mission Hills, California USA 34°16′57″N 118°27′57″W / 34.2825, -118.4658Coordinates: 34°16′57″N 118°27′57″W / 34.2825, -118.4658
Other name(s)	Sam C. Jaffe
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1934 - 1984
Spouse(s)	Bettye Ackerman (1956-1984) (his death) Lillian Tiaz (1926-1941) (her death)

Sam Jaffe (March 8, 1891 – March 24, 1984) was an American actor, teacher 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 the playing the title role in Gunga Din (1939), and the High Lama in the 1937 version of Lost Horizon.

Born to a Jewish family in New York City, New York, as a child he appeared in Yiddish theater productions with his mother Ada Jaffe, who was a prominent actress and vaudeville star. He studied engineering at Columbia University and then worked for several years as a math teacher before turning to acting as a career. He began to work in film in 1934 and continued for the rest of his life.

For a time during the 1950s, Jaffe was blacklisted by the Hollywood movie studio bosses, supposedly for being a Communist sympathizer. Despite this, he was hired by director William Wyler for his role in the 1959 Academy Award winning version of Ben-Hur.

Jaffe co-starred in the American TV series Ben Casey as Dr. David Zorba from 1961 to 1965 and had many guest starring roles on other series, including the western Alias Smith and Jones starring Pete Duel and Ben Murphy.

Jaffe married American operatic soprano and musical comedy star Lillian Taiz in 1926 and they were married until her death from cancer in 1941. In 1956 he married actress Bettye Ackerman, who later also starred with him in Ben Casey. She died on November 20, 2006. He had no children from either marriage.

Sam Jaffe died of cancer in Beverly Hills, California and was interred in Eden Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.

The six-year gap in his filmography was due to being blacklisted.

• Nothing Lasts Forever (1984)
• Rio Abajo (1984)
• Battle Beyond the Stars (1980)
• Gideon's Trumpet (TV, 1980)
• Columbo: Forgotten Lady (TV, 1975)
• QB VII (TV, 1974)
• Saba of Sonora (TV, 1973)
• Ghost Story (TV, 1972)
• Enemies (TV, 1971)
• The Tell-Tale Heart (1971)
• Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971)
• The Old Man Who Cried Wolf (TV, 1970)
• Quarantined (TV, 1970)
• The Dunwich Horror (1969)
• The Great Bank Robbery (1969)
• Guns for San Sebastian (1968)
• Tarzan's Jungle Rebellion (1967)
• A Guide for the Married Man (1967)
• Ben Casey (TV series, 1961-1965)
• Ben-Hur (1959 film)
• The Barbarian and the Geisha (1958)
• The Spies (1957)
• The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
• I Can Get It for You Wholesale (1951)
• Under the Gun (1951)
• The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
• Rope of Sand (1949)
• The Accused (1949)
• Gentleman's Agreement (1947)
• 13 Rue Madeleine (1947)
• Gunga Din (1939)
• Lost Horizon (1937)
• We Live Again (1934)
• The Scarlet Empress (1934)

• Sam Jaffe at the Internet Movie Database
• Sam Jaffe at the Internet Broadway Database
• Sam Jaffe Memorial at Find A Grave