Vladimir Sokoloff
Encyclopedia
Vladimir Nikolayevich Sokoloff was a character actor
with many films to his credit.
, Russia
. He became an actor and assistant director with the Moscow Art Theatre
, before emigrating to Berlin
in 1923. With the rise of Nazism
, he moved first to Paris
in 1932, then to the United States in 1937.
He quickly found work in American films, playing characters of a wide variety of nationalities
, for example, Filipino (Back to Bataan
), Greek (Mr. Lucky
), Arab (Road to Morocco
), Chinese (Macao
), and Mexican (The Magnificent Seven
). Among his better known parts are the Old Man in The Magnificent Seven (1960) and Anselmo in For Whom the Bell Tolls
(1943).
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, he also appeared on a number of television series, including three episodes of The Twilight Zone
("Dust
", "The Gift
" and "The Mirror
").
After a long career, he died of a stroke
in West Hollywood, California
in 1962.
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...
with many films to his credit.
Biography
Sokoloff was born in MoscowMoscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. He became an actor and assistant director with the Moscow Art Theatre
Moscow Art Theatre
The Moscow Art Theatre is a theatre company in Moscow that the seminal Russian theatre practitioner Constantin Stanislavski, together with the playwright and director Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, founded in 1898. It was conceived as a venue for naturalistic theatre, in contrast to the melodramas...
, before emigrating to Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
in 1923. With the rise of Nazism
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
, he moved first to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in 1932, then to the United States in 1937.
He quickly found work in American films, playing characters of a wide variety of nationalities
Nationality
Nationality is membership of a nation or sovereign state, usually determined by their citizenship, but sometimes by ethnicity or place of residence, or based on their sense of national identity....
, for example, Filipino (Back to Bataan
Back to Bataan
Back to Bataan is a World War II war film produced by Robert Fellows, directed by Edward Dmytryk and starring John Wayne and Anthony Quinn. It was produced by RKO Radio Pictures. It depicts events that took place after the Battle of Bataan on the island of Luzon in the Philippines...
), Greek (Mr. Lucky
Mr. Lucky (film)
Mr. Lucky is a 1943 film directed by H.C. Potter, starring Cary Grant and Laraine Day. It tells the story of a romance between a shady gambler and a wealthy socialite in the early days of World War II....
), Arab (Road to Morocco
Road to Morocco
Road to Morocco is an 1942 American comedy film about two fast-talking guys tossed up on a desert shore and sold into slavery to a beautiful princess...
), Chinese (Macao
Macao (film)
Macao is a 1952 black-and-white film noir adventure film directed by Josef von Sternberg and Nicholas Ray. Producer Howard Hughes fired director von Sternberg during filming and hired Nicholas Ray to finish it...
), and Mexican (The Magnificent Seven
The Magnificent Seven
The Magnificent Seven is an American Western film directed by John Sturges, and released in 1960. It is a fictional tale of a group of seven American gunmen who are hired to protect a small agricultural village in Mexico from a group of marauding Mexican bandits...
). Among his better known parts are the Old Man in The Magnificent Seven (1960) and Anselmo in For Whom the Bell Tolls
For Whom the Bell Tolls (film)
For Whom the Bell Tolls is a 1943 film in Technicolor based on the novel of the same name by Ernest Hemingway. It stars Gary Cooper, Ingrid Bergman, Akim Tamiroff and Katina Paxinou. This was Ingrid Bergman's first technicolor film. Hemingway handpicked Cooper and Bergman for their roles. The film...
(1943).
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, he also appeared on a number of television series, including three episodes of The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)
The Twilight Zone is an American anthology television series created by Rod Serling, which ran for five seasons on CBS from 1959 to 1964. The series consisted of unrelated episodes depicting paranormal, futuristic, dystopian, or simply disturbing events; each show typically featured a surprising...
("Dust
Dust (The Twilight Zone)
"Dust" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone.-Synopsis:An unscrupulous peddler, after selling the executioner some rope needed for a hanging, sells a bag of "magic dust" to the condemned man's father. The condemned man had just been found guilty for murdering a...
", "The Gift
The Gift (The Twilight Zone)
"The Gift" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone.-Synopsis:A humanoid alien crash-lands outside a mountain village just across the Texas-Mexico border. He accidentally kills a police officer and is wounded by another. When he reaches a village bar, he collapses...
" and "The Mirror
The Mirror (The Twilight Zone)
"The Mirror" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone.-Synopsis:A Fidel Castro lookalike, Ramos Clemente , celebrates the victory of the "people's revolution", led by him and his four life-long confidantes...
").
After a long career, he died of a stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
in West Hollywood, California
West Hollywood, California
West Hollywood, a city of Los Angeles County, California, was incorporated on November 29, 1984, with a population of 34,399 at the 2010 census. 41% of the city's population is made up of gay men according to a 2002 demographic analysis by Sara Kocher Consulting for the City of West Hollywood...
in 1962.
Selected filmography
- The Love of Jeanne NeyThe Love of Jeanne NeyThe Love of Jeanne Ney is a 1927 silent German drama film directed by Georg Wilhelm Pabst.-Cast:* Édith Jéhanne - Jeanne Ney* Uno Henning - Andreas Labov* Fritz Rasp - Khalibiev* Brigitte Helm - Gabrielle* Adolf E...
(1927) - AbschiedAbschiedAbschied is a 1930 German romantic comedy film directed by Robert Siodmak and written by Emeric Pressburger. The film starred Brigitte Horney and Aribert Mog.-Plot:...
(1930) - The Flute Concert of Sans-SouciThe Flute Concert of Sans-SouciThe Flute Concert of Sans-Souci is a 1930 German drama film directed by Gustav Ucicky and starring Otto Gebühr.-Cast:* Otto Gebühr - Friedrich II.* Renate Müller - Blanche von Lindeneck* Hans Rehmann - Major von Lindeneck* Walter Janssen - Maltzahn...
(1930) - L'AtlantideL'Atlantide (1932 film)L'Atlantide is a German drama film directed by Georg Wilhelm Pabst. The film was made in three languages - French, English, and German - with Brigitte Helm starring in all three versions.-Cast:* Brigitte Helm - Antinéa...
(1932) - Dans les ruesDans les ruesDans les rues , is a French crime drama romance film from 1933, directed by Victor Trivas, written by Joseph Henri and Alexandre Arnoux, starring Vladimir Sokoloff and Jean Marais. The film was based on novel of Francis de Croisset. It is also known under the title "Song of the Streets"...
(1933) - High and LowHigh and Low (1933 film)High and Low is a 1933 French drama film directed by Georg Wilhelm Pabst.-Cast:* Ariane Borg – * Pauline Carton – Seamstress* Janine Crispin – Marie de Ferstel * Christiane Delyne* Jean Gabin – Charles Boulla...
(1933) - MayerlingMayerling (1936 film)Mayerling is a 1936 French historical drama film directed by Anatole Litvak and produced by Seymour Nebenzal from a screenplay by Marcel Achard, Joseph Kessel and Irma von Cube, based on the novel Idol's End by Claude Anet. The film stars Charles Boyer and Danielle Darrieux with Jean-Louis...
(1936) - The Life of Emile ZolaThe Life of Emile ZolaThe Life of Emile Zola is a 1937 American biographical film about French author Émile Zola. Set in the mid through late 19th century, it depicts his friendship with noted painter Paul Cézanne, and his rise to fame through his prolific writing, with particular focus on his involvement in the Dreyfus...
(1937) - West of ShanghaiWest of ShanghaiWest of Shanghai is a 1937 adventure film directed by John Farrow and starring Boris Karloff as a Chinese warlord.-Plot:On a train bound for lawless northern China, businessman Gordon Creed encounters acquaintance Myron Galt and his attractive daughter Lola...
(1937) - The Amazing Dr. ClitterhouseThe Amazing Dr. ClitterhouseThe Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse is a 1938 American crime film starring Edward G. Robinson, Claire Trevor and Humphrey Bogart. It was directed by Anatole Litvak for Warner Bros. and written by John Wexley and John Huston, based on the first play written by short-story writer Barré Lyndon, which ran for...
(1938) - JuarezJuarez (1939 film)Juarez is a 1939 American historical drama film directed by William Dieterle. The screenplay by Aeneas MacKenzie, John Huston, and Wolfgang Reinhardt is based on the novel The Phantom Crown by Bertita Harding and the play Juarez and Maximilian by Franz Werfel.-Plot:The film focuses on the conflict...
(1939) - The Real GloryThe Real GloryThe Real Glory is a 1939 Samuel Goldwyn Company action film starring Gary Cooper, David Niven, and Broderick Crawford released by United Artists in the weeks immediately following Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland. Based on a 1937 novel of the same name by Charles L...
(1939) - Comrade XComrade XComrade X is a 1940 lighthearted spy movie, starring Clark Gable and Hedy Lamarr and directed by King Vidor.-Plot summary:In the Soviet Union, American reporter McKinley "Mac" Thompson secretly writes unflattering stories, attributed to "Comrade X", for his newspaper...
(1940) - Love CrazyLove CrazyLove Crazy is a 1941 screwball comedy film pairing William Powell and Myrna Loy as a couple whose marriage is on the verge of being broken up by the husband's old girlfriend and the wife's disapproving mother.-Plot:...
(1941) - Road to MoroccoRoad to MoroccoRoad to Morocco is an 1942 American comedy film about two fast-talking guys tossed up on a desert shore and sold into slavery to a beautiful princess...
(1942) - Mr. LuckyMr. Lucky (film)Mr. Lucky is a 1943 film directed by H.C. Potter, starring Cary Grant and Laraine Day. It tells the story of a romance between a shady gambler and a wealthy socialite in the early days of World War II....
(1943) - For Whom the Bell TollsFor Whom the Bell Tolls (film)For Whom the Bell Tolls is a 1943 film in Technicolor based on the novel of the same name by Ernest Hemingway. It stars Gary Cooper, Ingrid Bergman, Akim Tamiroff and Katina Paxinou. This was Ingrid Bergman's first technicolor film. Hemingway handpicked Cooper and Bergman for their roles. The film...
(1943) - Passage to MarseillePassage to MarseillePassage to Marseille is a 1944 war film made by Warner Brothers, directed by Michael Curtiz and produced by Hal B. Wallis with Jack L. Warner as executive producer. The screenplay was by Casey Robinson and Jack Moffitt from the novel Sans Patrie by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall...
(1944) - A Royal ScandalA Royal Scandal (film)A Royal Scandal, also known as Czarina, is a 1945 film about the love life of Russian Empress Catherine the Great. It stars Tallulah Bankhead, Charles Coburn, Anne Baxter, and William Eythe...
(1945) - Back to BataanBack to BataanBack to Bataan is a World War II war film produced by Robert Fellows, directed by Edward Dmytryk and starring John Wayne and Anthony Quinn. It was produced by RKO Radio Pictures. It depicts events that took place after the Battle of Bataan on the island of Luzon in the Philippines...
(1945) - Paris UndergroundParis Underground (film)Paris Underground is a 1945 film directed by Gregory Ratoff and based on the book by Etta Shiber.It starred Constance Bennett and Gracie Fields as an American and an Englishwoman trapped in Paris when Nazi Germany invades in 1940, who rescue British airmen shot down in France and help them escape...
(1945) - Scarlet StreetScarlet StreetScarlet Street is a 1945 American film noir directed by Fritz Lang and based on the French novel La Chienne by Georges de La Fouchardière, that previously had been dramatized on stage by André Mouëzy-Éon, and cinematically as La Chienne by director Jean Renoir.The principal actors Edward G...
(1945) - Two Smart PeopleTwo Smart PeopleTwo Smart People is a film starring Lucille Ball and John Hodiak, and directed by Jules Dassin.-Cast:* Lucille Ball - Ricki Woodner* John Hodiak - Ace Connors* Lloyd Nolan - Bob Simms* Hugo Haas - Seïnor Rodriquez, Dept. of Agriculture...
(1946) - A Scandal in ParisA Scandal in ParisA Scandal in Paris is a fictionalized 1946 biographical film, directed by Douglas Sirk and starring George Sanders. It depicts the life of Eugène François Vidocq, a French criminal who reformed and became a famous French prefect of police during the Napoleonic era.-Plot:The rogue who would later...
(1946) - Cloak and Dagger (1946)
- To the Ends of the EarthTo the Ends of the Earth (film)To the Ends of the Earth is an American crime film noir directed by Robert Stevenson and written by Sidney Buchman and Jay Richard Kennedy. The drama features Dick Powell, Signe Hasso, and others.-Plot:...
(1948) - MacaoMacao (film)Macao is a 1952 black-and-white film noir adventure film directed by Josef von Sternberg and Nicholas Ray. Producer Howard Hughes fired director von Sternberg during filming and hired Nicholas Ray to finish it...
(1952) - While the City Sleeps (1956)
- I Was a Teenage WerewolfI Was a Teenage WerewolfI Was a Teenage Werewolf is a 1957 horror film starring Michael Landon as a troubled teenager and Whit Bissell as the primary adult. It was co-written and produced by cult film producer Herman Cohen, and was one of the most successful films released by American International Pictures...
(1957) - IstanbulIstanbul (film)Istanbul is a 1957 American drama film directed by Joseph Pevney and starring Errol Flynn, Cornell Borchers and John Bentley. An American becomes mixed up with various criminal activities in Istanbul...
(1957) - Twilight for the GodsTwilight for the GodsTwilight for the Gods is a 1958 drama film directed by Joseph Pevney and starring Rock Hudson and Cyd Charisse. The story is based on the novel Twilight for the Gods by Ernest K. Gann.-Plot synopsis:...
(1958) - The Magnificent SevenThe Magnificent SevenThe Magnificent Seven is an American Western film directed by John Sturges, and released in 1960. It is a fictional tale of a group of seven American gunmen who are hired to protect a small agricultural village in Mexico from a group of marauding Mexican bandits...
(1960) - CimarronCimarron (1960 film)Cimarron is a 1960 western film based on the Edna Ferber novel Cimarron, featuring Glenn Ford and Maria Schell. It was directed by Anthony Mann, known for his westerns and film noirs....
(1960) - Taras Bulba (1962)