Lou Jacobi

 Lou Jacobi, born Louis Harold Jacobovitch (December 28, 1913 – October 23, 2009)

Jacobi began acting as a boy, making his stage debut in 1924 at a Toronto theater, playing a violin prodigy in The Rabbi and the Priest. After working as the drama director of the Toronto Y.M.H.A., the social director at a summer resort, a stand-up comic in Canada’s equivalent of the Borscht Belt, and the entertainment at various weddings and bachelor parties, Jacobi moved to London to work on the stage, appearing in Guys and Dolls and Pal Joey. Jacobi made his Broadway debut in 1955 in The Diary of Anne Frank playing Hans van Daan, a role he also had in the 1959 film version. Other Broadway performances included Paddy Chayefsky’s The Tenth Man (1959), Woody Allen’s Don’t Drink the Water (1966), and Neil Simon’s debut play Come Blow Your Horn (1961). Jacobi also made two dozen feature films. His film debut was in the 1953 British comedy, Is Your Honeymoon Really Necessary? with the country’s blond sex symbol of the day, Diana Dors. Other notable films in which he appeared include, Irma la Douce, Penelope, Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask) (1972), Arthur (1981), and My Favorite Year (1982). He guest-starred on such television shows as Playhouse 90,Too Close for Comfort,Tales from the Darkside, Love, American Style, That Girl and The Man from U.N.C.L.E., and was a regular on The Dean Martin Show. Jacobi made successful comedy LP recordings with titles like "Al Tijuana and His Jewish Brass" and "The Yiddish Are Coming! The Yiddish Are Coming!". Jacobi was married to Ruth Ludwin from 1957 until her death in 2004. Lou Jacobi died Friday, October 23, 2009, of natural causes, at his home in Manhattan. He was 95. Jacobi is buried at Beth-El Cemetery in Paramus, New Jersey.