Jack Kruschen Biography

Canadian actor (1922–2002)

Jacob "Jack" Kruschen (March 20, 1922 – April 2, 2002) was a Canadian character actor who worked primarily in American film, television and radio. Kruschen was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Dr. Dreyfuss in the 1960 comedy-drama The Apartment.

Early life

Kruschen was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba. His acting in an operetta produced at Hollywood High School brought him to the attention of CBS.

Career

Radio

Kruschen began working at a radio station in Los Angeles when he was 16. During World War II, he served in the Army, *igned to the Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS). Following the war, he resumed working on network programs, including Broadway Is My Beat (as Mugovin, a detective), and Pete Kelly's Blues (as club owner George Lupo),: 269  as well as frequent episodic roles on anthology series, westerns and crime dramas.

He also performed on Escape, Dragnet, Gunsmoke (usually as law-abiding locals), Full House, Crime Cl*ics, Frontier Gentleman, Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, Nightbeat and Suspense.

Films

Front row, from left to right: Jack Kruschen, John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara and Chill Wills in McLintock!

Kruschen received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as Dr. Dreyfuss in Billy Wilder's The Apartment. That same year, the ever-prolific Kruschen also appeared in the filmsThe Bellboy, Studs Lonigan, Seven Ways from Sundown, Where the Boys Are, and The Last Voyage, as Chief Engineer Pringle.

Kruschen's film debut came in Red, Hot, and Blue. His other films included George Pal's The War of the Worlds (as Salvatore, one of the first three victims, a role he reprised on the Lux Radio Theater adaptation), in Cecil B. DeMille's final film, The Buccaneer, as astronaut Sam Jacobs in the 1959 cult cl*ic The Angry Red Planet, The Unsinkable Molly Brown (as saloon owner Christmas Morgan), Abbott and Costello Go to Mars, Lover Come Back, McLintock! (with John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara), Follow That Dream (with Elvis Presley), Cape Fear, starring Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum, and Money to Burn with Eve McVeagh.

Stage

Kruschen appeared as Maurice Pulvermacher in the original 1962 Broadway production of I Can Get It for You Wholesale. In 1969, he co-starred in the London staging of the musical drama Promises, Promises, reprising his film role in this show based on The Apartment.

Television

Kruschen was performing on television as early as 1939, appearing in dramas on Don Lee's experimental television station in Los Angeles, where he was seen on some two hundred television sets with three-inch screens. Thereafter, Kruschen's television career included guest villain Eivol Ekdol, a villainous magicians' craftsman on Batman (episodes 9 and 10). He was seen in twelve episodes of NBC's Dragnet (portraying a pedophile in one infamous episode) as well as the ABC/Disney series, Zorro. He also appeared in a color episode of Adventures of Superman. He had a recurring role across three seasons on Bonanza (Italian grapegrower Giorgio Rossi). He also played Clyde Bailey in "The Retired Gun" (episode 17) and Sammy in "One Went to Denver" (episode 25).

In 1969, Kruschen co-starred with Stefanie Powers in an unsold ABC sitcom pilot, Holly Golighty,: 467  adapted from Truman Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's. The husky, mustachioed Kruschen seemed to specialize in playing benevolent ethnic paternal figures. His roles included Sam Markowitz on Busting Loose, fireman Mike Woiski on Emergency!,: 306  Morris Sheinfeld on E/R,: 310  Tully on Hong Kong,: 474  and Jay Burrage on The Rifleman.: 895  He also appeared on Columbo (The Most Dangerous Match, 1973), Barney Miller, Odd Couple (TV series), The Incredible Hulk, and, in later years, Murphy Brown, Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.

He appeared in the recurring role of "Grandpa Papadopolis" on Webster series (1985–87), and in the early 1990s, as another Greek grandfather and as Pam and Jesse's grandfather, Iorgos "Papouli" Katsopolis on Full House, appearing in only two episodes before his character is killed off in the episode, "The Last Dance". He also appeared as Kitty's Grandfather, Fred Avery, on the CBC sitcom Material World from 1990-1993.

His final on-screen appearance was in the 1997 film 'Til There Was You as "Mr. Katz".

Death

Kruschen died on April 2, 2002, in Chandler, Arizona, while vacationing. He had been in ill health for some time. He was 80. Though he died on April 2, his death was not widely reported to the media until mid-late May.

Complete filmography

  • Red, Hot and Blue (1949) as Steve
  • Women from Headquarters (1950) as Sam
  • Where Danger Lives (1950) as Cosey – Ambulance Driver (uncredited)
  • No Way Out (1950) as Undetermined Minor Role (uncredited)
  • Gambling House (1950) as Burly Italian Immigrant (uncredited)
  • Cuban Fireball (1951) as Lefty
  • The Lemon Drop Kid (1951) as Muscleman (uncredited)
  • Comin' Round the Mountain (1951) as Gangster in Night Club
  • The People Against O'Hara (1951) as Detective (uncredited)
  • Meet Danny Wilson (1951) as Drunken Heckler (uncredited)
  • Confidence Girl (1952) as Detective Sergeant Quinn
  • Just Across the Street (1952) as Bit Part (uncredited)
  • Shadow in the Sky (1952) as Intern (uncredited)
  • The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima (1952) as Sidonio (uncredited)
  • Tropical Heat Wave (1952) as Stickey Langley
  • The War of the Worlds (1953) as Salvatore
  • Abbott and Costello Go to Mars (1953) as Harry
  • Ma and Pa Kettle on Vacation (1953) as Jacques Amien (uncredited)
  • Fast Company (1953) as Doc – Poker Player (uncredited)
  • A Blueprint for Murder (1953) as Det.ective Lt. Harold Y. Cole
  • The Long, Long Trailer (1953) as Mechanic (uncredited)
  • Money from Home (1953) as Short Boy
  • The Great Diamond Robbery (1954) as Cafe Counterman (uncredited)
  • It Should Happen to You (1954) as Joe (uncredited)
  • Tennessee Champ (1954) as Andrews
  • Untamed Heiress (1954) as Louie
  • Prince of Players (1955) as Rabble-Rouser (uncredited)
  • Carolina Cannonball (1955) as Hogar
  • Dial Red O (1955) as Lloyd Lavalle
  • Soldier of Fortune (1955) as Austin Stoker
  • The Night Holds Terror (1955) as Detective Pope
  • The Benny Goodman Story (1956) as Murph Podolsky
  • The Steel Jungle (1956) as Truckdriver Helper
  • Outside the Law (1956) as Agent Phil Schwartz
  • Julie (1956) as Det. Mace
  • Badlands of Montana (1957) as Cavalry Sergeant
  • Reform School Girls (1957) as Mr. Horvath
  • Hear Me Good (1957) as Gaffer (uncredited)
  • Cry Terror! (1958) as F.B.I. Agent Charles Pope
  • Fräulein (1958) as Sgt. Grischa
  • The Decks Ran Red (1958) as Alex Cole
  • The Buccaneer (1958) as Hans
  • The Man Who Understood Women (1959) as Mickey (uncredited)
  • The Jayhawkers! (1959) as Cattleman (uncredited)
  • Beloved Infidel (1959) as Darby Forsythe – Beach Bum (uncredited)
  • The Angry Red Planet (1959) as CWO Sam Jacobs
  • The Gazebo (1959) as Taxi Driver (uncredited)
  • The Last Voyage (1960) as Chief Engineer Pringle
  • The Apartment (1960) as Dr. Dreyfuss
  • The Bellboy (1960) as Jack E. Mulcher, President of Paramount Pictures (uncredited)
  • Studs Lonigan (1960) as Charlie the Greek
  • Seven Ways from Sundown (1960) as Beeker
  • Where the Boys Are (1960) as Max – Cafe Counterman (uncredited)
  • The Ladies Man (1961) as Graduation Emcee Professor
  • Lover Come Back (1961) as Doctor Linus Tyler
  • Follow That Dream (1962) as Carmine
  • Cape Fear (1962) as Attorney Dave Grafton
  • Convicts 4 (1962) as Resko's Father
  • McLintock! (1963) as Jake Birnbaum
  • The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964) as Christmas Morgan
  • Dear Brigitte (1965) as Doctor Volker
  • Harlow (1965) as Louis B. Mayer
  • The Happening (1967) as Inspector
  • Caprice (1967) as Matthew Cutter
  • Istanbul Express (1968 TV movie) as Captain Granicekm
  • Holly Golightly (1969 TV movie)
  • The Million Dollar Duck (1971) as Doctor Gottlieb
  • Deadly Harvest (1972 TV movie)
  • Freebie and the Bean (1974) as Red Meyers
  • The Log of the Black Pearl (1975 TV movie)
  • The Whiz Kid and the Carnival Caper (1976 TV movie)
  • Guardian of the Wilderness (1976) as Madden
  • The November Plan (1977 TV movie)
  • Satan's Cheerleaders (1977) as Billy
  • Incredible Rocky Mountain Race (1977 TV movie)
  • The Time Machine (1978 TV movie)
  • Once Upon a Starry Night (1978 TV movie)
  • Sunburn (1979) as Gela
  • Cheaters (1980 TV movie)
  • The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1980 TV movie)
  • Under the Rainbow (1981) as Louie
  • Legend of the Wild (1981)
  • Money to Burn (1983) as Pops
  • Dark Mirror (1984 TV movie)
  • Deadly Intentions (1985 TV movie)
  • Penny Ante: The Motion Picture (1990) as Isadore (Izzy) Perlman
  • The American Clock (1993 TV movie)
  • Hart to Hart: Home Is Where the Hart Is (1994 TV movie)
  • 'Til There Was You (1997) as Mr. Katz

Partial television credits

For TV movies, see above.
  • Dragnet - 12 episodes (1951-1959)
  • Terry and the Pirates - episode "Macao Gold" (1952) as Chopstick Joe
  • Craig Kennedy, Criminologist- "The Big Shakedown" (1952) as Jack Brown
  • Treasury Men in Action - "Case of the Swindler's Gold" (1955) as Miguel
  • The Adventures of Jim Bowie - "The Birth of the Blade" (1956) as Louis, and "Jackson's **ination" (1957) as Frost
  • Gunsmoke - "Spring Term" (1956) as Jed
  • Crusader - "A Deal in Diamonds" (1956) as Leon
  • Adventures of Superman - "Tomb of Zaharan" (1957) as First Airport Robber
  • Zorro - "The Man with the Whip" and "The Cross of the Andes" (1958) as Jose Mordante
  • Trackdown - "The Kid" (1958) as Milo York
  • The Rifleman - "One Went to Denver" (1959) as Sammy, "The Retired Gun" (1959) as Clyde Bailey, "Baranca" (1960) as Doc Burrage, "Trail of Hate" (1960) as Doc Burrage
  • Bat Masterson - "The Inner Circle" (1959) as Patch Finley, "The Desert Ship" (1959) as Ben Tarko
  • Wanted: Dead or Alive - "The Empty Cell" (1959) as Hunt Willis, "Railroaded" (1959) as Sheriff Pig Wells
  • The Rough Riders - "Ransom of Rita Renee" (1959) as Tully
  • The D.A.'s Man - "Guns for Hire" (1959) as Leo Muller
  • Sugarfoot - "The Desperadoes" (1959) as Sam Bolt
  • The Detectives - "Twelve Hours to Live" (1960) as Fred Hambrough, "Secret *ignment" (1961) as Jonesy
  • The Westerner - "Going Home" (1960) as Rigdon
  • Richard Diamond, Private Detective - "The Lovely Fraud" (1960) as Max Schilling
  • Death Valley Days - "Eagle in the Rocks" (1960) as Manuel Garcia
  • Black Saddle - "The Apprentice" (1960) as Ben Winkleman
  • Rawhide - "Canliss" (1964) as Barkeep
  • I Spy - "Lisa" (1966) as Aram Kanjarian
  • The Red Skelton Show - "The Bum Who Came in from the Cold" (1966) as Dr. Shnorba
  • The John Forsythe Show - "Engagement, Italian Style" (1966) as Constantino
  • Batman - "Zelda the Great" (1966) and "A Death Worse Than Fate" (1966) as Eivol Ekdal
  • Bonanza - "Big Shadow on the Land" (1966), "The Deed and the Dilemma" (1967) and "The Sound of Drums" (1968) as Giorgio Rossi
  • I Spy - "The Medarra Block" (1967) as Isaac
  • The Mike Douglas Show (1967) as Himself
  • Ironside - "The Macabre Mr. Micawber (1968) as McKay, "Memory of an Ice Cream Stick" (1968) as Busch
  • Daniel Boone - "Sweet Molly Malone" (1969) as Herman
  • Hawaii Five-O - "For a Million... Why Not?" (1971) as Blumberg
  • Emergency! - "The Wedsworth-Townsend Act" (1972) as State *emblyman Michael Wolski
  • The Magician - "Ovation for Murder" (1973) as Albie Allikolos
  • Columbo - "The Most Dangerous Match (1973)" as Tomlin Dudek
  • *ignment: Vienna - "So Long, Charlie" (1973) as Orloff
  • McCloud - "Shivaree on Delancy Street" (1974) as Selditz
  • The Rockford Files - "Gearjammers, Part 2" (1975) as John Koenig
  • Movin' On - "Living It Up!" (1976) as Mr. Nash
  • Ellery Queen - "The Adventure of the Judas Tree" (1976) as Gunther Starr
  • Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color - "The Whiz Kid and the Carnival Caper: Parts 1 & 2" (1976) as Abner Debney
  • The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams - Home of the Hawk (1977) as Metcalf, "Once Upon a Starry Night" (1978) as Frost-bite Foley
  • Busting Loose - 12 episodes (1977) as Sam Markowitz
  • Barney Miller - "Burial" (1977) as Julius Wittenour
  • The Incredible Hulk - "Terror in Times Square" (1978) as Norman Abrams
  • Trapper John, M.D. - "Deadly Exposure" (1979) as Nicholas Bulgari
  • Alice - "Mel, the Magi" (1979) as Santa Claus
  • Barney Miller - "The DNA Story" (1979) as Rudolph Kamen
  • Vega$ - "Vendetta" (1980) as Carlo
  • Little House on the Prairie - "Gambini the Great" (1981) as Rudolpho 'The Great' Gambini
  • Trapper John, M.D. - "Cooperative Care" (1981) as Marvin Krakowsky
  • CHiPs - "Home Fires Burning" (1981) as Frank Higgins
  • Alice - "Carrie Chickens Out" (1981) as Benny Conway
  • The Devlin Connection - "Brian and Nick" (1982) as Max Salkall
  • No Soap, Radio - 5 episodes (1982) as Skit Performer
  • Hart to Hart - "Hart and Sole" (1982) as Harry Fulterman
  • Barney Miller - "Examination Day" (1982) as Benjamin Diamond
  • Matt Houston - "The Crying Clown" (1983) as Jonas Van Poolen, "Company Secrets" (1985) as Reels
  • Zorro and Son - "Zorro and Son" (1983) as Commandante La Brea
  • The A-Team - "The Out-of-Towners" (1983) as Bernie Shatzman
  • Hill Street Blues - "Fuched Again" (1984) as Isadore *enbaum
  • Webster - 18 episodes (1984-1989) as 'Papa' Papadapolis
  • Too Close for Comfort - "Reconcilable Differences" (1985) as Dr. Axel Schreiber
  • Remington Steele - "Springtime for Steele" (1985) as Buddy Brokaw
  • Magnum, P.I. - "Laura" (1987) as Doheny's partner and speaker at the retirement
  • Full House - "Greek Week" (1990) and "The Last Dance" (1994) as Iorgos 'Papouli' Katsopolis
  • Material World - 8 episodes (1990-1991) as Fred Avery
  • Matlock - "The Nightmare" (1991) as Judge Ogilvie/Bus Repairman
  • Murder, She Wrote - "Tainted Lady" (1991) as Dr. John Logan
  • The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air - "Home Is Where the Heart Attack Is" (1993) as Mr. Melville
  • Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman - "Madame Ex" (1994) as Captain Keene
  • Empty Nest - "What's a Mother to Do?" (1994) as Heshy

References

    External links

    • Jack Kruschen at IMDb

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    Jack Kruschen