Abraham Sofaer - Biography

Abraham Sofaer (October 1, 1896 – January 21, 1988) was a stage actor of Burmese-Jewish descent who became a familiar supporting player on film and television in his later years. He was born in Rangoon, Burma (now Yangon, Myanmar). Sofaer's strong features and resonant voice complemented the many exotic character parts he played.

He began his acting career on the London stage in 1921, but soon was alternating between London and Broadway. By the 1930s, he was appearing in both British and American films. Among his more prominent performances were the dual role of the Judge and Surgeon in Powell and Pressburger's A Matter of Life and Death (1946) and St. Paul in Quo Vadis (1951).

He also appeared on television from its earliest days in the late 1930s and on radio. Although his film appearances diminished after the 1950s, he continued to have guest roles on dozens of major U.S. television series throughout the 1960s, including Star Trek ("Charlie X") & ("Spectre of the Gun") , The Twilight Zone ("The Mighty Casey"), Daniel Boone ("Not in Our Stars"), Lost in Space ("The Flaming Planet") and The Outer Limits ("Demon with a Glass Hand"), until retiring in the mid 1970s. He may be best-remembered for his recurring role as Hadji, the master of all genies, on I Dream of Jeannie.

Sofaer married Psyche Angela Christian, with whom he had two sons and four daughters. He died in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, as the result of congestive heart failure in 1988.

The noted jurist of the same name is the son of one of the actor's cousins.

Partial filmography

• Dreyfus (1931)
• The Flying Squad (1932)
• The Flag Lieutenant (1932)
• Ask Beccles (1933)
• Trouble (1933)
• High Finance (1933)
• Things to Come (1936) (uncredited)
• Rembrandt (1936)
• The House of the Spaniard (1936)
• Crook's Tour (1941)
• A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
• The Ghosts of Berkeley Square (1947)
• Calling Paul Temple (1948)
• Christopher Columbus (1949)
• Cairo Road (1950)
• Pandora and the Flying Dutchman (1951)
• Quo Vadis (1951)
• His Majesty O'Keefe (1954)
• The Naked Jungle (1954)
• Elephant Walk (1954)
• Out of the Clouds (1955)
• Bhowani Junction (1956)
• The Story of Mankind (1957)
• The Sad Sack (1957)
• Taras Bulba (1962)
• Twice-Told Tales (1963)
• Journey to the Center of Time (1967)
• Head (1968)

External links