Lou Jacobi
Encyclopedia
Louis Harold "Lou" Jacobi (December 28, 1913October 23, 2009) was a Canadian
character actor
.
to Joseph and Fay Jacobivitch. He began acting as a boy, making his stage debut in 1924 at a Toronto theater, playing a violin prodigy in The Rabbi and the Priest. After working as the drama director of the Toronto Y.M.H.A.
, the social director at a summer resort, a stand-up comic in Canada’s equivalent of the Borscht Belt, and the entertainment at various weddings and bachelor parties, Jacobi moved to London to work on the stage, appearing in Guys and Dolls and Pal Joey
. Jacobi made his Broadway debut in 1955 in The Diary of Anne Frank
as Hans van Daan, a role he reprised in the 1959 film version. Other Broadway performances included Paddy Chayefsky
’s The Tenth Man (1959); Woody Allen
’s Don’t Drink the Water
(1966); and Neil Simon
’s debut play Come Blow Your Horn
(1961).
Jacobi made his film debut in the 1953 British comedy Is Your Honeymoon Really Necessary?
, alongside Diana Dors
. Other notable film roles include Uncle Morty in My Favorite Year
; Moustache in Irma La Douce
; Penelope (1966), which starred Natalie Wood
; a transvestite
husband in Woody Allen
's Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex (But Were Afraid to Ask)
; Barry Levinson
's Avalon
; and Amazon Women on the Moon
. His final film role was in 1994's I.Q.
, playing philosopher/mathematician Kurt Gödel
.
Jacobi was a guest star in a variety of television shows, including Playhouse 90
, Tales from the Darkside, That Girl
and The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
, and was a regular on The Dean Martin Show
. In 1976, he starred in the short lived television series Ivan the Terrible
, a sitcom about a family living in the Soviet Union.
He made a spoof record album for Capitol Records
called Al Tijuana and his Jewish Brass in he which he acted as a master of ceremonies/bandleader of dance band that plays songs such as "Downtown
." He also was part of a group that made the comic shtick records You Don't Have to Be Jewish and When You're in Love, the Whole World Is Jewish.
In 1999, Jacobi was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame
.
Jacobi was married to Ruth Ludwin from 1957 until her death in 2004. Jacobi died on October 23, 2009, aged 95.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
character actor
Character actor
A character actor is one who predominantly plays unusual or eccentric characters. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a character actor as "an actor who specializes in character parts", defining character part in turn as "an acting role displaying pronounced or unusual characteristics or...
.
Life and career
Jacobi was born Louis Harold Jacobovitch in Toronto, OntarioOntario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
to Joseph and Fay Jacobivitch. He began acting as a boy, making his stage debut in 1924 at a Toronto theater, playing a violin prodigy in The Rabbi and the Priest. After working as the drama director of the Toronto Y.M.H.A.
Bathurst Jewish Community Centre
The Bathurst Jewish Community Centre was the Jewish Community Centre for the Toronto area. It was located along Bathurst Street in the Bathurst Manor neighbourhood of Toronto and had over 100 programs and services, serving daycare to stroke recovery, seniors, Maccabi athletes, and campers...
, the social director at a summer resort, a stand-up comic in Canada’s equivalent of the Borscht Belt, and the entertainment at various weddings and bachelor parties, Jacobi moved to London to work on the stage, appearing in Guys and Dolls and Pal Joey
Pal Joey
Pal Joey is a 1940 epistolary novel by John O'Hara, which became the basis of the 1940 stage musical comedy and 1957 motion picture of the same name, with music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Lorenz Hart....
. Jacobi made his Broadway debut in 1955 in The Diary of Anne Frank
The Diary of Anne Frank (play)
The Diary of Anne Frank is a stage adaptation of the book The Diary of a Young Girl. The play is a dramatization by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett. It opened at the Cort Theatre, Broadway, on October 5, 1955, in a production by Kermit Bloomgarden, directed by Garson Kanin and designed by Boris...
as Hans van Daan, a role he reprised in the 1959 film version. Other Broadway performances included Paddy Chayefsky
Paddy Chayefsky
Sidney Aaron "Paddy" Chayefsky , was an American playwright, screenwriter, and novelist. He is the only person to have won three solo Academy Awards for Best Screenplay....
’s The Tenth Man (1959); Woody Allen
Woody Allen
Woody Allen is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, jazz musician, author, and playwright. Allen's films draw heavily on literature, sexuality, philosophy, psychology, Jewish identity, and the history of cinema...
’s Don’t Drink the Water
Don't Drink the Water (play)
Don't Drink the Water is a play written by Woody Allen that premiered on Broadway on November 17, 1966 and played for 598 performances at three different Broadway theaters. The farce takes place inside an American Embassy behind the Iron Curtain...
(1966); and Neil Simon
Neil Simon
Neil Simon is an American playwright and screenwriter. He has written numerous Broadway plays, including Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues, and The Odd Couple. He won the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play Lost In Yonkers. He has written the screenplays for several of his plays that...
’s debut play Come Blow Your Horn
Come Blow Your Horn
Come Blow Your Horn was Neil Simon's first play, which premiered in the United States in 1961 and had a London production in 1962 at the Prince of Wales Theatre.-Act Summaries:Time: The Present...
(1961).
Jacobi made his film debut in the 1953 British comedy Is Your Honeymoon Really Necessary?
Is Your Honeymoon Really Necessary?
Is Your Honeymoon Really Necessary? is a 1953 British comedy film directed by Maurice Elvey. The film was based on Vivian Tidmarsh's play by the same name.-Plot:...
, alongside Diana Dors
Diana Dors
Diana Dors was an English actress, born Diana Mary Fluck in Swindon, Wiltshire. Considered the English equivalent of the blonde bombshells of Hollywood, Dors described herself as: "The only sex symbol Britain has produced since Lady Godiva."-Early life:Diana Mary Fluck was born in Swindon,...
. Other notable film roles include Uncle Morty in My Favorite Year
My Favorite Year
My Favorite Year is a 1982 American comedy film directed by Richard Benjamin which tells the story of a young comedy writer. It stars Peter O'Toole, Mark Linn-Baker, Jessica Harper, Joseph Bologna, Lou Jacobi, Bill Macy, Lainie Kazan, Selma Diamond, Cameron Mitchell, and Gloria Stuart. O'Toole was...
; Moustache in Irma La Douce
Irma la Douce
Irma la Douce/Irma la Dolce is a 1963 romantic comedy starring Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine, directed by Billy Wilder.It is based on the 1956 French musical Irma La Douce by Marguerite Monnot and Alexandre Breffort.-Plot:...
; Penelope (1966), which starred Natalie Wood
Natalie Wood
Natalie Wood, born Natalia Nikolaevna Zacharenko was an American film and television actress. After first working in films as a child, Wood became a successful Hollywood star as a young adult, receiving three Academy Award nominations before she was 25 years old.Wood began acting in movies at the...
; a transvestite
Transvestism
Transvestism is the practice of cross-dressing, which is wearing clothing traditionally associated with the opposite sex. Transvestite refers to a person who cross-dresses; however, the word often has additional connotations. -History:Although the word transvestism was coined as late as the 1910s,...
husband in Woody Allen
Woody Allen
Woody Allen is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, jazz musician, author, and playwright. Allen's films draw heavily on literature, sexuality, philosophy, psychology, Jewish identity, and the history of cinema...
's Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex (But Were Afraid to Ask)
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex (But Were Afraid to Ask) (film)
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* is Woody Allen's fourth film, consisting of a series of short sequences loosely inspired by Dr. David Reuben's book of the same name....
; Barry Levinson
Barry Levinson
Barry Levinson is an American screenwriter, film director, actor, and producer of film and television. His films include Good Morning, Vietnam, Sleepers and Rain Man.-Early life:...
's Avalon
Avalon (1990 film)
Avalon is a feature film directed by Barry Levinson. It is a mostly autobiographical story of a family of Polish-Jewish immigrants to the United States who settle in Baltimore, Maryland, at the beginning of the 20th century. The movie follows the family as they grow, become more prosperous, and...
; and Amazon Women on the Moon
Amazon Women on the Moon
Amazon Women on the Moon is a 1987 American satirical comedy film that parodies the experience of watching low-budget movies on late-night television...
. His final film role was in 1994's I.Q.
I.Q. (film)
I.Q. is a 1994 American romantic comedy film directed by Fred Schepisi and starring Tim Robbins, Meg Ryan, and Walter Matthau. The original music score was composed by Jerry Goldsmith...
, playing philosopher/mathematician Kurt Gödel
Kurt Gödel
Kurt Friedrich Gödel was an Austrian logician, mathematician and philosopher. Later in his life he emigrated to the United States to escape the effects of World War II. One of the most significant logicians of all time, Gödel made an immense impact upon scientific and philosophical thinking in the...
.
Jacobi was a guest star in a variety of television shows, including Playhouse 90
Playhouse 90
Playhouse 90 is an American television anthology series that was telecast on CBS from 1956 to 1960 for a total of 133 episodes. It originated from CBS Television City in Los Angeles, California...
, Tales from the Darkside, That Girl
That Girl
That Girl is an American television situation comedy that ran on ABC from 1966 to 1971. It stars Marlo Thomas as the title character, Ann Marie, an aspiring actress, who had moved from her hometown of Brewster, New York to make it big in New York City...
and The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is an American television series that was broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1964, to January 15, 1968. It follows the exploits of two secret agents, played by Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, who work for a fictitious secret international espionage and law-enforcement...
, and was a regular on The Dean Martin Show
The Dean Martin Show
The Dean Martin Show is a TV variety-comedy series that ran from 1965 to 1974 for 264 episodes. It was broadcast by NBC and hosted by crooner Dean Martin...
. In 1976, he starred in the short lived television series Ivan the Terrible
Ivan the Terrible (TV series)
Ivan the Terrible was an American sitcom that aired on CBS for five episodes during 1976.The short-lived series parodied American attitudes toward the Soviet Union during the height of the Cold War...
, a sitcom about a family living in the Soviet Union.
He made a spoof record album for Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
called Al Tijuana and his Jewish Brass in he which he acted as a master of ceremonies/bandleader of dance band that plays songs such as "Downtown
Downtown (Petula Clark song)
"Downtown" is a pop song composed by Tony Hatch which, as recorded by Petula Clark, became an international hit – No. 1 in the US and No. 2 in the UK – at the end of 1964.-Original recording:...
." He also was part of a group that made the comic shtick records You Don't Have to Be Jewish and When You're in Love, the Whole World Is Jewish.
In 1999, Jacobi was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame
Canada's Walk of Fame
Canada's Walk of Fame , located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is a walk of fame that acknowledges the achievements and accomplishments of successful Canadians...
.
Jacobi was married to Ruth Ludwin from 1957 until her death in 2004. Jacobi died on October 23, 2009, aged 95.
Further reading
- Oderman, Stuart, Talking to the Piano Player 2. BearManor Media, 2009. ISBN #1-59393-320-7.