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.
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Early life and education
Sofaer was born in Rangoon, Burma (present-day Yangon, Myanmar) — then a part of the British Empire. 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.
Soafer was educated locally at the Diocesan Boys' High School. His education continued in England, and he initially worked as a school teacher in Rangoon and later in London.
Career
He began his acting career on the London stage in 1921, but soon he was alternating between theatre productions in London and New York. 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.
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).
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.
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 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.
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. 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.
Personal life
Soafer was the first cousin, once removed, of American jurist Abraham David Sofaer.
Death
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.
Selected television appearances
Perry Mason (TV series) (1958) (Season 1 Episode 24: "The Case of the Deadly Double") — Dr. Maitland
Wagon Train (1958) (Season 2 Episode 7: "The Bije Wilcox Story") — Bull Man
Zane Grey Theatre (1959) (Season 4 Episode 7: "Mission") — Comanche Chief Alou
The Real McCoys (1959) (Season 2 Episode 21: "The Rainmaker") — Arapaho Chief
Wagon Train (1959) (Season 3 Episode 1: "The Stagecoach Story") — Antonio DeVargo
Gunsmoke (1960) (Season 5 Episode 24: "Kitty's Killing") — Jeremiah Leech
The Twilight Zone (1960) (Season 1 Episode 35: "The Mighty Casey") — Dr. Stillman
Perry Mason (TV series) (1960) (Season 3 Episode 29: "The Case of the Crying Cherub") — Sylvester Robey
Thriller (1960) (Season 1 Episode 10: "The Prediction") — Gus Kostopulos
Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1961) (Season 6 Episode 14: "The Changing Heart") — Ulrich Klemm
Peter Gunn (1961) (Season 3 Episode 26: "A Penny Saved") — Boris Petrov
Thriller (1961) (Season 2 Episode 4: "The Weird Tailor") — Nicolai
Rawhide (1961) (Season 4 Episode 5: "The Lost Tribe") — Little Hawk