Jacob Joseph "Jack" Kruschen (March 20, 1922 – April 2, 2002) was a Canadian-American actor, known for his many character roles. He was nominated the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Dr. Dreyfuss in the 1960 comedy-drama The Apartment.
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Early life
Kruschen was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1922, the son of a watchmaker. His parents were of Russian Jewish descent, though by the time of Kruschen's birth both had converted to Christianity, and Kruschen himself was raised a Baptist.
Kruschen and his family moved to Los Angeles when he was a teenager, where he attended Hollywood High School. His acting in a school operetta brought him to the attention of CBS.
Career
Radio
Kruschen began working at a radio station in Los Angeles when he was 16. During World War II, he served in the Army, assigned to the Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS). Following the war, he resumed working on network programs, including Broadway Is My Beat (as Mugovin, a detective), and Pete Kelly's Blues (as club owner George Lupo), as well as frequent episodic roles on anthology series, westerns and crime dramas.
He also performed on Escape; Dragnet; Gunsmoke (usually as law-abiding locals); Full House; Crime Classics; Frontier Gentleman; Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar; Nightbeat and Suspense.
Film
Kruschen received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as Dr. Dreyfuss in Billy Wilder's The Apartment. That same year, the ever-profiled Kruschen also appeared in the films The Bellboy, Studs Lonigan, Seven Ways from Sundown, Where the Boys Are, and The Last Voyage, as Chief Engineer Pringle.
Kruschen's film debut came in Red, Hot, and Blue. His other films included George Pal's The War of the Worlds (as Salvatore, one of the first three victims, a role he reprised on the Lux Radio Theater adaptation); in Cecil B. DeMille's final film, The Buccaneer; as astronaut Sam Jacobs in the 1959 cult classic The Angry Red Planet; The Unsinkable Molly Brown (as saloon owner Christmas Morgan); Abbott and Costello Go to Mars; Lover Come Back; McLintock! (with John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara); Follow That Dream (with Elvis Presley); Cape Fear, starring Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum; and Money to Burn with Eve McVeagh.
Stage
Kruschen appeared as Maurice Pulvermacher in the original 1962 Broadway production of I Can Get It for You Wholesale. In 1969, he co-starred in the London staging of the musical drama Promises, Promises, reprising his film role in this show based on The Apartment.
Television
Kruschen was performing on television as early as 1939, appearing in dramas on Don Lee's experimental television station in Los Angeles, where he was seen on some two hundred television sets with three-inch screens. Thereafter, Kruschen's television career included guest villain Eivol Ekdol, a villainous magicians' craftsman on Batman (episodes 9 and 10). He was seen in twelve episodes of NBC's Dragnet (portraying a pedophile ice cream vendor in one infamous episode) as well as the ABC/Disney series, Zorro. He also appeared in a color episode of Adventures of Superman. He had a recurring role across three seasons on Bonanza (Italian grapegrower Giorgio Rossi). He also played Clyde Bailey in "The Retired Gun" (episode 17) and Sammy in "One Went to Denver" (episode 25).
In 1969, Kruschen co-starred with Stefanie Powers in an unsold ABC sitcom pilot, Holly Golighty, adapted from Truman Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's. The husky, mustachioed Kruschen seemed to specialize in playing benevolent ethnic paternal figures. His roles included Sam Markowitz on Busting Loose, fireman Mike Woiski on Emergency!, Morris Sheinfeld on E/R, Tully on Hong Kong, and Jay Burrage on The Rifleman. He also appeared on Columbo (The Most Dangerous Match, 1973), Barney Miller, The Odd Couple, The Incredible Hulk, and, in later years, Murphy Brown and Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.
He appeared in the recurring role of "Grandpa Papadopolis" on Webster series (1985–87), and in the early 1990s, as another Greek grandfather and as Pam and Jesse's grandfather, Iorgos "Papouli" Katsopolis on Full House, appearing in only two episodes before his character is killed off in the episode, "The Last Dance". He also appeared as Kitty's grandfather, Fred Avery, on the CBC sitcom Material World from 1990 to 1993.
His final on-screen appearance was in the 1997 film 'Til There Was You as "Mr. Katz".
Personal life
Kruschen was married three times. For many years, he was a parishioner at Shepherd Church in Porter Ranch, Los Angeles.
Death
Kruschen died at his residence in Kelowna, British Columbia, on April 2, 2002, at the age of 80. He had been in ill health for some time. Cause of death is given as a heart attack (myocardial infarction) following years of Type 2 diabetes. His death was not widely reported to the media until mid-late May.
