Abraham Sofaer

For the US jurist, see Abraham David Sofaer.

Abraham Sofaer
File:Sofaer.jpg Sofaer in Mission: Impossible
Born	(1896-10-01)1 October 1896 Rangoon, Burma
Died	Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1921-1974

Abraham Sofaer (October 1, 1896 – January 21, 1988) was a Burmese stage actor who became a familiar supporting player in film and on television in his later years. He was born in Rangoon and originally worked as a school teacher. Sofaer's strong features and resonant voice (he modified his Burmese accent to sound more like English Received Pronunciation) 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. He made three appearances on Perry Mason, including the role of defendant Elihu Laban in the 1963 episode, "The Case of the Two-Faced Turn-a-Bout." He also featured in Star Trek ("Charlie X" and "Spectre of the Gun" - voice only), The Twilight Zone ("The Mighty Casey"), Daniel Boone ("Not in Our Stars"), Lost in Space ("The Flaming Planet"), The Asphalt Jungle ("The McMasters Story"), 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 and as The Swami who advises Peter Tork in the "Sauna" scene in The Monkees' 1968 film Head.

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 actor's first cousin, once removed.

Partial filmography

• Dreyfus (1931)
• The Flying Squad (1932)
• The Flag Lieutenant (1932)
• Ask Beccles (1933)
• Karma (1933)
• Trouble (1933)
• Little Miss Nobody (1933)
• High Finance (1933)
• The Private Life of Don Juan (1934)
• Oh No Doctor! (1934)
• Things to Come (1936) (uncredited)
• Rembrandt (1936)
• The House of the Spaniard (1936)
• Crook's Tour (1941)
• Freedom Radio (1941)
• A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
• The Ghosts of Berkeley Square (1947)
• Dual Alibi (1947)
• Calling Paul Temple (1948)
• Christopher Columbus (1949)
• Cairo Road (1950)
• Pandora and the Flying Dutchman (1951)
• Quo Vadis (1951)
• Judgment Deferred (1952)
• His Majesty O'Keefe (1954)
• The Naked Jungle (1954)
• Elephant Walk (1954)
• Out of the Clouds (1955)
• Bhowani Junction (1956)
• The First Texan (1956)
• The Story of Mankind (1957)
• The Sad Sack (1957)
• Taras Bulba (1962)
• Captain Sindbad (1963)
• Twice-Told Tales (1963)
• 4 for Texas (1963)
• The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)
• Journey to the Center of Time (1967)
• Head (1968)
• Che! (1969)
• Chisum (1970)

Partial television appearances

• The Twilight Zone - The Mighty Casey as Dr. Stillman (June 17, 1960)
• Peter Gunn - A Penny Saved (April 3, 1961)
• Kolchak: The Night Stalker - Horror in the Heights (1974)
• Thriller - The Weird Tailor as Nicolai (October 16, 1961)

External links

• Abraham Sofaer at the Internet Movie Database
• Abraham Sofaer at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)