Sam Jaffe

Stage actor with wildly staring eyes and a fascinating whispery voice who made a brilliantly memorable Hollywood debut as the crazed Peter in Josef von Sternberg's unique biopic of Catherine the Great, "The Scarlet Empress" (1934), starring Marlene Dietrich. Jaffe subsequently divided his time among theater and (primarily as a character player) film and TV; he was especially memorable as one of the robbery gang in John Huston's "The Asphalt Jungle" (1950) for which he won an Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actor. Baby boomers would recall the actor for his role as Dr. Zorba on the popular ABC medical drama "Ben Casey" (1961-66).