John Houseman

 John Houseman, born Jacques Haussmann (September 22, 1902 – October 31, 1988).

He became known for his highly publicized collaboration with director Orson Welles from their days in the Federal Theatre Project through to the production of Citizen Kane and his storied collaboration with writer Raymond Chandler's intoxicated screenplay rendering as producer of The Blue Dahlia. He is perhaps best known for his role as Professor Charles W. Kingsfield in the film The Paper Chase (1973), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He reprised his role as Kingsfield in the subsequent television series adaptation of The Paper Chase. Houseman was also known for his commercials for the brokerage firm Smith Barney. He had a distinctive Mid-Atlantic English accent, in common with many actors of his generation. He was educated in England at Clifton College, became a British subject, and worked in the grain trade in London before emigrating to the United States in 1925, where he took the stage name of John Houseman. He became a United States citizen in 1943. Houseman died at age 86 of spinal cancer on October 31, 1988 at his home in Malibu, California.