Image: Wikimedia Commons

Sam Jaffe

American actor, teacher, musician and engineer (1891-1984)

PersonDied aged 93humanQ719247

Born: March 10, 1891
1
Sources
1.Stated in BnF authoritiesRetrieved 2015-10-10
View statement on Wikidata ↗
, March 10, 1893
1
Sources
1.Stated in Integrated Authority FileRetrieved 2014-05-04
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Died: March 24, 1984
2
Sources
1.Stated in Integrated Authority FileRetrieved 2014-05-04
2.Stated in BnF authoritiesRetrieved 2015-10-10
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Birthplace: New York City
Place of death: Beverly Hills
Citizenship: United States
Occupation: actor
2
Sources
1.Stated in IMDbRetrieved 2022-10-20
2.Stated in Integrated Authority FileRetrieved 2026-04-20
View statement on Wikidata ↗
, stage actor
, television actor
+5 more
Education: City College of New York
, Townsend Harris High School
Spouse: Bettye Ackerman(1956–1984)

Overview

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · Read full article · Text CC BY-SA 4.0

Shalom "Sam" Jaffe was an American actor and teacher, known for his portrayals of intelligent but eccentric characters. He achieved prominence in Hollywood for his portrayal of the titular character in the adventure film Gunga Din (1939). He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor for his performance in the classic film noir The Asphalt Jungle (1950).

Overview

Life at a glance

Positions, education, employers and awards over time

Spans and dates from Wikidata qualifiers (start/end/point in time). Hover for details; click to open.

Appears in

27 linked to Sam Jaffe in Wikidata

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Produced

2 linked to Sam Jaffe in Wikidata

All data

97 statements · 19% with external sources · numbers in brackets are citations

Given name: Sam
1
Sources
1.Stated in International Standard Name IdentifierRetrieved 2015-10-16
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Nominations: Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor(February 12, 1951) for work: The Asphalt Jungle · statement is subject of: 23rd Academy Awards
Manner of death: natural causes
Cause of death: cancer
Place of burial: Eden Memorial Park
Awards: Paul Robeson Award(1978)
Volpi Cup for Best Actor
Family name: Jaffe
Sex or gender: male
3
Sources
1.Stated in BnF authoritiesRetrieved 2015-10-10
2.Stated in IMDbRetrieved 2022-10-20
3.Stated in Integrated Authority FileRetrieved 2024-07-06
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Start of work period: 1934
Native language: English
Writing language: English
Has works in the collection: Harvard Film Archive
1
Sources
1.Stated in HOLLISid.lib.harvard.edu/alma/99157880266303941/catalogRetrieved 2024-07-29
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Copyright status as a creator: works protected by copyrights applies to jurisdiction: countries with longer than 50 years pma

On other databases

61 identifiers linking Sam Jaffe across the web's reference databases

Data quality

statements

19%

externally sourced

Source last edited September 6, 2026. AIDB refreshes this page daily.

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AIDB. (2026). Sam Jaffe (Q719247). Retrieved from https://aidb.si/e/sam-jaffe-Q719247