Actor Lou Jacobi died 23 October 2009 at his home in New York City. Born Louis Harold Jacobovitch on 28 December 1913 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, he began acting as a boy, and made his stage debut in 1924, playing a violin prodigy in The Rabbi and the Priest (he really did play the violin).
As a young actor and entertainer, he performed in Toronto, as a comedian, and at weddings. Then he moved to London, England, where he got stage roles in American musicals such as Guys and Dolls and Pal Joey. His film debut came in the British comedy Is Your Honeymoon Really Necessary? (1953). Then he returned to North America, and debuted on Broadway in 1955’s The Diary of Anne Frank (he later reprised the role in the 1959 movie). He appeared in supporting, character, and comedic roles in American film, television, and stage in a career spanning five decades.
His genre roles include: Amazon Women on the Moon (1987), ABC Weekend Specials‘ “The Day the Kids Took Over” (1986), Tales from the Darkside‘s “Pain Killer” (1984), Tales of the Unexpected‘s “In the Bag” (1982), Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex, But Were Afraid to Ask (1972), The Man from U.N.C.L.E.‘s “The Nowhere Affair” (1966), Play of the Week‘s “Volpone” (1960), and A Kid for Two Farthings (1955). His last film role was as Kurt Gödel in I.Q. (1994), and his last Broadway play was Cheaters (1978), but he continued acting on the stage into the 1980s.
Jacobi’s wife, Ruth Ludwin, died in 2004 (they’d been married 47 years). He is survived by a brother and a sister.