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Abraham Sofaer

For the US jurist, see Abraham David Sofaer.
Abraham Sofaer
Sofaer in a 1966 episode of Mission: Impossible
Born
Abraham Isaac Sofaer

(1896-10-01)1 October 1896
Rangoon, British Burma
Died21 January 1988(1988-01-21) (aged 91)
Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
OccupationActor
Years active1921–1974
Spouse
Angela Psyche Christian
​
​
(m. 1920)​
Children5

Abraham Isaac Sofaer (1 October 1896 – 21 January 1988) was a British actor. He began his career on stage and became a familiar supporting player in film and on television in his later years.

Early life and education

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Sofaer was born in Rangoon, Burma (present-day Yangon, Myanmar) — then a part of the British Empire.[1] His father was Isaac Sofaer, a successful architect and merchant of Baghdadi Jewish origin (who established the Sofaer Building, Rangoon, which still stands today), who had emigrated to British Burma from Iraq as a child.[2]

Soafer was educated locally at the Diocesan Boys' High School.[1] His education continued in England, and he initially worked as a school teacher in Rangoon and later in London.[3]

Career

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He began his acting career on the London stage in 1921, but soon he was alternating between theatre productions in London and New York.[4] He appeared in the 1933 musical He Wanted Adventure alongside Bobby Howes. In 1935, he gained widespread attention on Broadway portraying Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli in Victoria Regina.[3][5]

During the 1930s he also began appearing in both British and American films. Among his more prominent performances were his dual role as the Judge and Surgeon in Powell and Pressburger's A Matter of Life and Death (1946) and as Saint Paul in Quo Vadis (1951).[6]

He also appeared on television from its earliest days in the late 1930s and on radio, including a small part in Dorothy L. Sayers' The Man Born to Be King.[4][7]

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.[8] He made three appearances on Perry Mason including as Dr. Maitland in “The Case of the Deadly Double” (1958), Sylvester Robey in the 1960 episode "The Case of the Crying Cherub", and defendant Elihu Laban in the 1963 episode "The Case of the Two-Face Turnabout" and his voice was featured in two episodes of Star Trek.[9]

Other guest appearances were in Wagon Train, Gunsmoke, The Twilight Zone, The Investigators, Daniel Boone, The Time Tunnel, Lost in Space, and The Outer Limits.[8] He may be best remembered for his recurring role as Haji, 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.[10][11]

Personal life

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Soafer was the cousin, first removed, of American jurist Abraham David Sofaer.

Death

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Sofaer died at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, as the result of congestive heart failure in 1988, aged 91.[3]

Complete filmography

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Selected television appearances

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Abraham Sofaer". bbashakespeare.warwick.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 22 September 2023. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
  2. ^ "Sofaer's Building – Architectural Guide: Yangon". Archived from the original on 2024-12-26. Retrieved 2025-07-28.
  3. ^ a b c "A. Sofaer, 91; Veteran Film, Stage Actor" Archived 2024-01-23 at the Wayback Machine, obituary, Los Angeles Times, January 22, 1988. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
  4. ^ a b "Abraham Sofaer | Biography". AllMovie.com. Archived from the original on October 12, 2022. Retrieved November 19, 2022.
  5. ^ "Abraham Sofaer" Archived 2018-05-14 at the Wayback Machine, Internet Broadway Database (IBDB), The Broadway League, New York, NY. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
  6. ^ "Abraham Sofaer". BFI. Archived from the original on March 12, 2016.
  7. ^ "King Lear (1939)". bbashakespeare.warwick.ac.uk. Retrieved November 19, 2022.
  8. ^ a b "Abraham Sofaer | TV Guide". TVGuide.com. Archived from the original on 2019-07-23. Retrieved 2019-07-23.
  9. ^ "Abraham Sofaer | TV, Documentary and Other Appearances". AllMovie. Archived from the original on 2019-07-23. Retrieved 2019-07-23.
  10. ^ "I Dream of Jeannie: There Goes the Bride (1967)". AllMovie.com. Archived from the original on July 23, 2019. Retrieved November 19, 2022.
  11. ^ "Head (1968)". AllMovie.com. Archived from the original on January 5, 2023. Retrieved November 19, 2022.
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