Abraham Sofaer
Abraham Isaac Sofaer 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.
Sofaer was born in Rangoon, Burma — then a part of the British Empire. His father was Isaac Sofaer, a successful architect and merchant of Baghdadi Jewish origin, 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 and as Saint Paul in Quo Vadis.
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”, 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.
Complete filmography
Dreyfus - DuboisThe House Opposite - FahmyStamboul - Mahmed PashaThe Flying Squad - Li YosephInsult - Ali Ben AchmedThe Flag Lieutenant - Meheti SalosLong Live the King - AlexisKarma - Holy ManThe Wandering Jew - ZapportasTrouble - AliLittle Miss Nobody - Mr. BealHigh Finance - MyersAsk Beccles - BakiOh No Doctor! - SkeltonNell Gwynn The Admiral's Secret - Don Pablo y GonzalesThe Private Life of Don Juan - Street Bookseller Things to Come - Wadsky The House of the Spaniard - VidalRembrandt - Dr. MenassehThe Switchback Caesar's Friend - AnnasThe Deacon and the Jewess - Benedict the Pointer, Jew of OxfordThe Great Adventure - EbagFreedom Radio - HeiniThe Prime Minister - Turkish ambassador Crook's Tour - AliThe Queen of Spades - TchekalinskyThe Man with the Cloak Full of Holes - Luis de SantángelA Matter of Life and Death - The JudgeCaesar's Friend - Joseph CaiaphasThe Merchant of Venice - ShylockDual Alibi - French JudgeTrilby - SvengaliThe Ghosts of Berkeley Square - Benjamin DisraeliDim'at Ha'Nehamah Ha'Gedolah - Corporal / Commentator: Jordan's TaleCalling Paul Temple - Dr. KohimaTilly of Bloomsbury - Mehta RamCounsellor at Law - George SimonA Man's House - SalathielThe Gentle People - Jonah GoodmanChristopher Columbus - Luis de SantángelThe Squeaker - Lew FriedmanDick Whittington - SultanCairo Road - CommandantPandora and the Flying Dutchman - JudgeQuo Vadis - Paul the ApostleJudgment Deferred - ChancellorMusic at Night - Nicholas LengelHis Majesty O'Keefe - Fatumak, Medicine ManThe Naked Jungle - IncachaElephant Walk - AppuhamyOut of the Clouds - The IndianBhowani Junction - SurabhaiThe First Texan - Don CarlosOmar Khayyam - TutushThe Story of Mankind - Indian ChiefThe Sad Sack - HassimSong Without End - Emissary in Rome Hitler - Morris KaplanTaras Bulba - AbbotCaptain Sindbad - GalgoTwice-Told Tales - Professor Pietro Baglioni4 for Texas - PulaskiThe Greatest Story Ever Told - Joseph of ArimathaeaJourney to the Center of Time - Dr. 'Doc' GordonHead - SwamiChe! - Pablo RojasJustine - ProprietorChisum - Chief White Buffalo
Selected television appearances
Perry Mason (TV series) — Dr. MaitlandWagon Train — Bull ManZane Grey Theatre — Comanche Chief Alou The Real McCoys — Arapaho ChiefWagon Train — Antonio DeVargoGunsmoke — Jeremiah Leech The Twilight Zone — Dr. StillmanPerry Mason (TV series) — Sylvester RobeyThriller — Gus KostopulosAlfred Hitchcock Presents — Ulrich KlemmPeter Gunn — Boris PetrovThriller — NicolaiRawhide — Little Hawk Gunsmoke — Harvey Easter The Alfred Hitchcock Hour — Dr. MacFarlanePerry Mason (TV series) — Elihu LabanThe Alfred Hitchcock Hour — Dr. R.D. ShankaraOuter Limits — ArchStar Trek: The Original Series — The Thasian The Man from U.N.C.L.E. — Mr. Gabhail Samoy, head of U.N.C.L.E. operations in CalcuttaThe Time Tunnel — EpeiosThe Time Tunnel — FatherThe Rat Patrol — Holy ManI Dream of Jeannie — HajiI Dream of Jeannie — HajiI Dream of Jeannie — HajiStar Trek: The Original Series — Melkotian Lost in Space — SobramKolchak: The Night Stalker — Ali Lakshmi