Shalom "Sam" Jaffe

 Shalom "Sam" Jaffe (March 10, 1891 – March 24, 1984)

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 is also remembered for other outstanding performances such as the title role in Gunga Din (1939) and the High Lama in Lost Horizon (1937). 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. Jaffe was blacklisted by the Hollywood movie studio bosses during the 1950s, supposedly for being a communist sympathizer. Despite this, 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. 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, with whom he later co-starred in Ben Casey.

She died on November 20, 2006. He had no children from either marriage. Jaffe died of cancer in Beverly Hills, California two weeks after his 93rd birthday in 1984. He was cremated, and the ashes given to his wife. Upon her death, his ashes were interred with her at Williston Cemetery in Williston, South Carolina.