Saul Rubinek


Saul Hersh Rubinek is a Canadian actor, director, producer, and playwright.
He is widely known for his television roles, notably Artie Nielsen on Warehouse 13, Donny Douglas on Frasier, Lon Cohen on A Nero Wolfe Mystery, and Louis B. Mayer on The Last Tycoon. He also starred in the films Against All Odds, Wall Street, The [Bonfire of the Vanities (film)|The Bonfire of the Vanities], Unforgiven, Nixon, True Romance, The Express, Barney's Version, and The Ballad of Buster Scruggs.
Rubinek is a five-time Genie Award nominee, winning Best Supporting Actor for Ticket to Heaven, and a two-time Gemini Award nominee. His directorial film debut, Jerry and Tom, was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival. He was previously a stage actor and director, working with the Stratford Shakespeare Festival and Theatre Passe Muraille, and co-founding the Canadian Stage Company.

Early life

Rubinek was born in Föhrenwald, a displaced-persons camp in Allied-occupied Germany. His parents, Frania and Israel Rubinek, were both Yiddish-speaking Polish Jews who were hidden by Polish farmers for over two years during World War II. So Many Miracles, a book written by Rubinek and published by Penguin Canada in 1988, recounts his parents' experiences in Poland during the Holocaust.
The family emigrated to Canada soon after Rubinek was born. His family settled down in Canada's capital city, Ottawa. He spoke Yiddish, French and then learned heavily accented English, which caused him to be bullied when he was in school. In his youth, he attended Camp B'nai Brith, a Jewish summer overnight camp in Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts, Quebec. At the encouragement of his parents, Rubinek began taking acting lessons and joined the Ottawa Little Theatre in 1965.

Career

Rubinek began performing at the Stratford Festival in 1969. He contributed to the Toronto theatre scene, co-founding the Toronto Free Theatre and working with Theatre Passe Muraille as an actor and producer. He began working in the United States in the 1970s, acting in Off-Broadway productions. In 1984, he won a Drama-Logue Award for Des McAnuff's La Jolla production of As You Like It.
Early in his career, Rubinek gained the attention of Canadian audiences when he starred as detective Benny Cooperman in two TV films: The Suicide Murders and Murder Sees the Light. These are based on the series of mystery novels by author Howard Engel set in the Niagara Region of Canada. Rubinek starred as Owen Hughes, the antagonist, in Obsessed. In the 1987 Canadian film Taking Care, he played Carl, the husband of the main protagonist, played by his then spouse Kate Lynch. It was a medical drama based on the Toronto hospital baby deaths that was the foundation of the Susan Nelles false-conviction case. In another TV film, Liberace: Behind the Music, he played Seymour Heller, the long-time friend and manager of Liberace.
In 1982, he played Allan in the sex-themed romantic comedy Soup for One, directed and written by Jonathan Kaufer and produced by Marvin Worth. Rubinek appeared in: Taylor Hackford's Against All Odds ; Alan Alda's Sweet Liberty as director Bo Hodges; Oliver Stone's Wall Street, as a lawyer; The Outside Chance of Maximilian Glick, as a fun-loving rabbi; Brian De Palma's The Bonfire of the Vanities, again as a lawyer; and in a lead part as a rabbi in The Quarrel. He is noted for his performance in Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven as a pulp fiction writer. He had a notable role in Tony Scott's True Romance as Lee Donowitz, a pompous, cocaine-addicted film producer based on Joel Silver.
He co-starred in the 1993 Emmy Award-winning American made-for-television docudrama And the Band Played On as Dr. Jim Curran. Rubinek played the character Kivas Fajo in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Most Toys." Rubinek, an ardent Star Trek fan, took over the part on short notice after David Rappaport, the actor originally cast in the role, attempted suicide shortly after the filming of the episode had begun. Photographs of Rubinek in character were used on two cards in Decipher's 1994 ST:TNG card game: a character card entitled "Kivas Fajo" and an event card entitled "Kivas Fajo: Collector." In 1998, "The Fajo Collection," a limited edition set of 18 new cards, was released as an addition to this card game.
Another science fiction role portrayed by Rubinek was as a documentary film director named Emmett Bregman, on the seventh season of the Canadian-American military science fiction television series Stargate SG-1, in a two-part episode called "Heroes, Parts 1 & 2".
He played Donny Douglas in several episodes of the American sitcom Frasier.
He appeared, in various roles, in two episodes of the 1995 revival of The Outer Limits. He played the role of Louis the Lion on YTV's The Adventures of Dudley the Dragon. He had a cameo appearance as a casino pit boss in the film Rush Hour 2.
Rubinek played Alan Mintz opposite Nicolas Cage in the 2000 film The Family Man. In 2000, Rubinek played Detective Saul Panzer in The Golden Spiders: A Nero Wolfe Mystery, the series pilot for the 2001–02 A&E TV series A Nero Wolfe Mystery, in which he would subsequently play the recurring role of reporter Lon Cohen. In 2005 he appeared in the short-lived American television series Blind Justice, and has appeared from 2006 to 2012 in the supporting role of Hasty Hathaway in the Jesse Stone series of TV films, starring Tom Selleck.
File:Saul_Rubinek_and_Eddie_McClintock_cropped.jpg|thumb|Rubinek with his Warehouse 13 costar Eddie McClintock
His single-episode guest appearances during the 2000s include two 2004 episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm as Dr. Saul Funkhouser, the "Adrift" episode in the beginning of Lost's second season in 2005, the 2006 "Invincible" episode of Eureka, the 2007 episode of the TV series Masters of Horror "The Washingtonians", and a 2008 episode of the TV series Psych. That same year he guest-starred as Victor Dubenich, the antagonist in the pilot episode of Leverage, reappearing in 2012 for the last two episodes of season 4. In 2013, he guest-starred in two subsequent episodes of the TV series Person of Interest.
In 2005, he directed the independent film Cruel but Necessary. The following year he appeared in a supporting role in the 2009 Canadian feature comedy The Trotsky. Rubinek starred in the Syfy series Warehouse 13 as Artie Nielsen, a covert agent employed by a secretive council to recover mystical artifacts with his team. The series finale was aired on May 19, 2014, on Syfy.
His first play, Terrible Advice, premiered in September 2011 at the Menier Chocolate Factory Theatre in London, starring Scott Bakula, Sharon Horgan, Andy Nyman and Caroline Quentin. In 2018, he was cast as a series regular on the Amazon Prime series Hunters.
From October 26 to December 8, 2024 and again in April 2025, he appeared on stage in Toronto as a fictionalized version of himself as a Jewish second generation Holocaust survivor in the one act production Playing Shylock in which the Jewish actor plays a Jewish actor who portrays Shylock in a production of Merchant of Venice that is cancelled during intermission because of concerns that the play encourages antisemitism and the theatre can't guarantee security as there are demonstrators. Ironically this is the actor's dream role because Jews are rarely cast as Shylock and because the actor's late father wanted to play the role and never could.
From October 22 to December 7, 2025, Rubinek performed in Playing Shylock in its US premiere, off Broadway at the Polonsky Shakespeare Center in Brooklyn.

Filmography

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1975–1977King of KensingtonJerry Beck / Ansons PhelpsEpisodes: "The Gambler" & "The End of the World"
1978Love on the NoseThe IdealistTV movie
1979The WordsmithMervyn KaplanskyTV movie
1980The Littlest HoboTim ReaganEpisode: "Escape"
1980BizarreVarious characters24 episodes
1981Clown WhiteMr. FreedTV movie
1983The Terry Fox StoryDan GreyTV movie
1984Seeing ThingsJeffriesEpisode: "An Eye on the Future"
1984Hill Street BluesArmand BittarEpisode: "Fuched Again"
1985The Suicide MurdersBenny CoopermanTV movie
1985Oakmount HighPaul GreenTV movie
1985–1986The EqualizerJason Masur3 episodes
1986Murder Sees the LightBenny CoopermanTV movie
1988The Ray Bradbury TheaterJohn GriffthsEpisode: "Gotcha!"
1988Liberace: Behind the MusicSeymour HellerTV movie
1988Street LegalGrant MitchellEpisode: "The Homecoming"
1989MenPaul Armas6 episodes
1990Star Trek: The Next GenerationKivas FajoEpisode: "The Most Toys"
1993MatrixJeremy WinterEpisode: "Collateral Damage"
1993And [the Band Played On (film)|And the Band Played On]Dr. Jim CurranTV movie
1994L.A. LawHarold SchoenEpisode: "Finish Line"
1995HiroshimaDr. Leo SzilardTV movie
1995–1999The Outer LimitsProfessor Hugaro/Aaron ZgierskiEpisode: "Caught in the Act" & "Tribunal"
1996InkAlan Mesnick22 episodes
1998BlackjackThomasTV movie
1999The PracticeArnold HunterEpisodes: "Home Invasions" & "Infected"
1999MentorsNapoleon BonaparteEpisodes: "Little Emperor"
1999–2002FrasierDonny Douglas15 episodes
2000The Bookfair MurdersMartin P. BarrettTV movie
2000The Golden Spiders: A Nero Wolfe MysterySaul PanzerTV movie
2001Laughter on the 23rd FloorIra StoneTV movie
2001–2002Once and AgainColin FleischerEpisodes: "Kind of Blue" & "Chance of a Lifetime"
2001–2002A Nero Wolfe MysteryLon Cohen10 episodes
2002GleasonGeorge "Bullets" DurgomTV movie
2002The Brady Bunch in the White HouseSal AstorTV movie
2003Coast to CoastGary PereiraTV movie
2003Law & OrderIra SimpkisEpisode: "Genius"
2003And Starring Pancho Villa as HimselfEli MortonTV movie
2003NYPD BlueBarry TytelEpisode: "Only Schmucks Pay Income Tax"
2004Curb Your EnthusiasmDr. Saul FunkhouserEpisodes: List of [Curb Your Enthusiasm episodes|"The Weatherman"] & "The 5 Wood"
2004Stargate SG-1Emmett BregmanEpisodes: "Heroes"
2004Dr. VegasJonathan SelznickEpisode: "Lust for Life"
2004Threat MatrixPeter TomashevskiEpisode: "19 Seconds"
2004Call Me: [The Rise and Fall of Heidi Fleiss]Paul FleissTV movie
2004Jack & BobbyNahum MayhewEpisode: "Today I am a Man"
2005Blind JusticeDr. Alan Galloway7 episodes
2005Jesse Stone: Stone ColdHasty HathawayTV movie
2005Trump UnauthorizedPeter WennikTV movie
2005LostClark FinneyEpisode: "Adrift"
2006Jesse Stone: Night PassageHasty HathawayTV movie
2006EurekaDr. Carl CarlsonEpisode: Eureka episodes|"Invincible"]
2007Masters of HorrorProfessor HarkinsonEpisode: "The Washingtonians"
2007Jesse Stone: Sea ChangeHasty HathawayTV movie
2007BlackoutSolTV movie
2008PsychLanceEpisode: "Lights, Camera... Homicidio"
2008The Trojan HorseRafe KottTV movie
2008Boston LegalDonald FeldcampEpisode: "List of [Boston Legal episodes|Kill, Baby, Kill]"
2008–2012LeverageVictor Dubenich3 episodes
2009–2014Warehouse 13Artie Nielsen64 episodes
2010RubiconDavid Hadas2 episodes
2010Jesse Stone: No RemorseHasty HathawayTV movie
2011Jesse Stone: Innocents LostHasty HathawayTV movie
2012Jesse Stone: Benefit of the DoubtHasty HathawayTV movie
2013Law & Order: Special Victims UnitMr. PriceEpisode: "Funny Valentine"
2013–2014Person of InterestArthur ClaypoolEpisodes: Person of Interest episodes|"Lethe"] & "Aletheia"
2015Beauty & the BeastDr. GlenroyEpisode: "Heart of the Matter"
2015The Good WifeJudge Thomas TreemEpisode: "Taxed"
2016Angie TribecaPfoopaEpisode "Boyz II Dead"
2016Blue BloodsSy GoodmanEpisode: "The Price of Justice"
2017DoubtJudge Julius RoutbortEpisode: "Finally"
2017The Last TycoonLouis B. Mayer6 episodes
2017Survivor's RemorseLeonard MoscowitzEpisode: "Optics"
2018CaughtAndre Lefevre2 episodes
2018Grey's AnatomyRabbi EliEpisode: "One Day Like This"
2018–2022The Marvelous Mrs. MaiselPauly AuerbachEpisodes: "We're Going to the Catskills!" & "Everything is Bellmore"
2019For All MankindRep. Charles SandmanEpisode: "He Built the Saturn V"
2019–2020BillionsHap Halloran3 episodes
2020HuntersMurray Markowitz10 episodes
2020Schitt's CreekTippy BernsteinEpisode: "Sunrise, Sunset"
2023FBIDavid BeckerEpisode: "Privilege"
2025The Copenhagen TestVictor Simonek8 episodes

Accolades

Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television
Broadcast Film Critics Association
  • 2001 Alan J. Pakula Award for Artistic Excellence: The Contender
FilmOut LGBT Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival