Vladimir Sokoloff
{{Short description|Russian actor (1889–1962)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2023}}
{{for|the pianist|Vladimir Sokoloff (pianist)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Vladimir Sokoloff
| image = Vladimir Sokoloff.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Vladimir Sokoloff in Scarlet Street (1945)
| native_name = Владимир Соколов
| native_name_lang = ru
| birth_name = {{nowrap|Vladimir Aleksandrovich Sokoloff}}
| birth_date = {{birth date|1889|12|26}}
| birth_place = Moscow, Russian Empire
| death_date = {{death date and age|1962|2|15|1889|12|26}}
| death_place = West Hollywood, California, U.S.
| other_names = Wladimir Sokoloff
Waldemar Sokoloff
Wladimir Sokolow
| occupation = Actor
| years_active = 1926–1962
| spouse = {{marriage|Elizabeth Alexanderoff|1922|1948|end=died}}
}}
Vladimir Aleksandrovich Sokoloff ({{langx|ru|Влади́мир Алекса́ндрович Соколо́в}}; December 26, 1889 – February 15, 1962) was a Russian actor of stage and screen.{{cite news |title=Vladimir Sokoloff, 71, Character Actor, Dies |newspaper=Modesto Bee |agency=Associated Press |date=February 16, 1962 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/1323614/vladimir_sokoloff_obituary/ |via = Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}} After studying theatre in Moscow, he began his professional film career in Germany and France during the Silent era, before emigrating to the United States in the 1930s. He appeared in over 100 films and television series, often playing supporting characters of various nationalities and ethnicities.
Early life and education
Sokoloff was born in Moscow, Russian Empire. He was raised bilingual, speaking both Russian and German. He studied theatre in Moscow, first at the Moscow State University and later at the Russian Academy of Theatre Arts, graduating in 1913. At one point a pupil of Constantin Stanislavski, he would later reject Method acting (as well as all other acting theories).{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/1323653/vladimir_sokoloff_on_acting/|title=Hollywood Glances!|author=Erskine Johnson|date=April 20, 1960|newspaper=Miami (Oklahoma) Daily News-Record|via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}}
Career
Upon graduation, he joined the Moscow Art Theatre as an actor and assistant director. Later in the decade, he joined the Kamerny Theatre. In the early 1923, he toured with his troupe in Germany, where he met theatre director and producer Max Reinhardt, who invited him to stay in Berlin. He appeared in numerous stage productions, and began acting in German and Austrian films, including The Love of Jeanne Ney (1927), The Ship of Lost Souls (1929), Farewell (1930), and Darling of the Gods (1930).
With the rise of Nazism, the Jewish Sokoloff moved first to Paris in 1932, where he continued to act on stage and screen. In 1937, he emigrated to the United States.{{cite journal| title=The remarkable story of the Jewish film-makers in Germany during the early sound years, 1929-33| url=http://www.ajr.org.uk/index.cfm/section.journal/issue.Aug14/article=15492| last=Finler| first=Joel| date=August 2014| journal=AJR Journal}} Although he spoke very little English at the time of his arrival, his first stage role there was a lead in Georg Büchner's play Danton's Death, under the direction of Orson Welles.
That same year, he had his English-language breakthrough starring in fellow expat William Dieterle's The Life of Emile Zola, portraying Paul Cézanne. He appeared in a number of Broadway plays from 1937 to 1950.{{IBDB name|68775}} He also quickly found work in American films, playing characters of a wide variety of nationalities (he himself once estimated 35), for example, Filipino (Back to Bataan), French (Passage to Marseille), Greek (Mr. Lucky), Arab (Road to Morocco), Romanian (I Was a Teenage Werewolf), and Chinese (Macao). Among his better known parts are the Spanish guerrilla Anselmo in For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943) and the Mexican Old Man in The Magnificent Seven (1960).
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, he also appeared on a number of television series, including three episodes of CBS's The Twilight Zone ("Dust", "The Gift" and "The Mirror"). On January 1, 1961, Sokoloff guest-starred as "Old Stefano", a wise shepherd, in the ABC/Warner Brothers western series Lawman, with John Russell and Peter Brown. He also appeared in one episode of The Untouchables entitled "Troubleshooter".
His final roles were in Escape from Zahrain and Taras Bulba, both of which starred Yul Brynner. Both films were released posthumously.
Death
Partial stage credits
Filmography
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |
|---|
| 1926
|Rag Collector | |
| rowspan="2" |1927
|Poleto | |
| The Love of Jeanne Ney
|Zacharkiewicz | |
| 1928
|Dinas Vater | |
| rowspan="3" |1929
|Sensation im Wintergarten |Berry | |
| The Ship of Lost Souls
|Grischa | |
| Katharina Knie
|Julius | |
| rowspan="5" | 1930
|Meal Orderly |Uncredited |
| Morals at Midnight
|The Overseer | |
| Farewell
|The Baron | |
| Darling of the Gods
|Boris Jussupoff | |
| The Flute Concert of Sanssouci
|Russian Envoy | |
| rowspan="5" |1931
| | |
| The Threepenny Opera
|rowspan="2" |Smith, the Jailer | |
| L'opéra de quat'sous
| |
| The Sacred Flame
| | |
| Hell on Earth
|Lewin | |
| rowspan="4" |1932
|Graf Bielowski | |
| Teilnehmer antwortet nicht
|Zeichner Body | |
| Strafsache von Geldern
| | |
| Haunted People
| | |
| rowspan="4" |1933
|Don Quichotte |Gypsy King | |
| Don Quixote
|Servant |Uncredited |
| On the Streets
|Father Schlamp | |
| High and Low
|Monsieur Berger | |
| rowspan="2" |1934
|Baron Dobbersberg | |
| Count Woronzeff
|rowspan="2" |Petroff | |
| rowspan="2" |1935
| |
| Napoléon Bonaparte
|Trista Fleuri | |
| rowspan="4" |1936
|The Chief of Police | |
| Under Western Eyes
|Rector | |
| Compliments of Mister Flow
|Merlow | |
| The Lower Depths
|Kostylev | |
| rowspan="7" |1937
| |
| Alcatraz Island
|The Flying Dutchman | |
| Conquest
|Dying Soldier | |
| West of Shanghai
|Chow Fu-Shan | |
| Expensive Husbands
|Andrew Brenner | |
| Beg, Borrow or Steal
|Sascha | |
| Tovarich
| |Scenes deleted |
| rowspan="5" |1938
|Ivan Pavloff | |
| Blockade
|Basil | |
| The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse
|Popus | |
| Spawn of the North
|Dimitri | |
| Ride a Crooked Mile
|Glinka | |
| rowspan="3" |1939
|Camilo | |
| Sons of Liberty
|Jacob |Short; uncredited |
| The Real Glory
|The Datu | |
| 1940
|Michael Bastakoff | |
| 1941
|Dr. Klugle | |
| rowspan="2" |1942
|Carlos Le Duc |Uncredited |
| Road to Morocco
|Hyder Khan | |
| rowspan="3" |1943
|President Mikhail Kalinin | |
| Mr. Lucky
|Greek Priest |Uncredited |
| For Whom the Bell Tolls
|Anselmo | |
| rowspan="4" |1944
|Alexander Meschkov | |
| Passage to Marseille
|Grandpère | |
| Till We Meet Again
|Cabeau | |
| The Conspirators
|Miguel | |
| rowspan="4" |1945
|Malakoff | |
| Back to Bataan
|Señor Buenaventura J. Bello | |
| Paris Underground
|Undertaker | |
| Scarlet Street
|Pop LeJon | |
| rowspan="3" |1946
|Monsieur Jacques Dufour | |
| A Scandal in Paris
|Uncle Hugo | |
| Cloak and Dagger
|Polda | |
| 1948
|Commissioner Lum Chi Chow | |
| 1950
|Pepito | |
| 1952
|Kwan Sum Tang | |
| 1956
|George "Pop" Pilski | |
| rowspan="4" |1957
|Aziz Rakim | |
| Monster from Green Hell
|Dr. Lorentz | |
| I Was a Teenage Werewolf
|Pepe the Janitor | |
| Sabu and the Magic Ring
|Old Fakir | |
| 1958
|Feodor Morris | |
| rowspan="4" |1960
|Sergei Mitrov | |
| Beyond the Time Barrier
|The Supreme | |
| The Magnificent Seven
|The Old Man | |
| Cimarron
|Jacob Krubeckoff | |
| 1961
|Henryk Toleslawski | |
| rowspan="2" |1962
|Abdul |Uncredited; posthumous release |
| Taras Bulba
|Old Stepan |Posthumous release |
Television credits
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Episodes |
|---|
| 1955
|Crusader |Grandfather |"The Bargain" |
| 1956
|Uncle Jacques Monet |"The Story of Lucky Swanson" |
| rowspan="4" |1957
|Prime Minister |"No Peace in Lo Dao" / "A Matter of Conscience" |
| Cavalcade of America
|Jake Bartosh |"The Last Signer" |
| Suspicion
|Enrique Bartolo |"The Flight" |
| Have Gun – Will Travel
|Gourken |"Helen of Abajinian" |
| 1957-1959
|Bartok / Anselmo |"For I Have Loved Strangers" / "For Whom the Bell Tolls", parts 1 and 2 |
| rowspan="2" |1958
|Uncle Fernaud |Season 3 Episode 22: "The Return of the Hero" |
| Father Knows Best
|Man |"The Great Experiment" |
| rowspan="3" |1959
|Victor Majeski |"Edge of the Night" |
| Johnny Staccato
|Father Keeley |"Nature of the Night" |
| Sunday Showcase
|Dr. Alexis Rostov |"Murder and the Android" |
| rowspan="5" |1960
|Peter Vestos |"The Judas Goat" |
| Tightrope!
|Emile Kovacs |"Cold Ice" |
| The Alaskans
|Chanook |"Peril at Caribou Crossing" |
| Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
|Alf |"Knife of Hate" |
| Lawman
|Old Stefano |"Old Stefano" |
| 1960-1961
|Stanley Tannenbaum / Sam |"The Tommy Karpeles Story" / "The Troubleshooter" |
| rowspan="11" |1961
|Dr. Harding |"Lethal Weapons" |
| Hennesey
|Papa Bronsky |"Max Remembers Papa" |
| Maverick
|Pedro Rubio |"The Forbidden City" |
| The Donna Reed Show
|Dr. Steinhaus |"Donna's Helping Hand" |
| Death Valley Days
|Tarabal |"The Stolen City" |
| Adventures in Paradise
|Sada |"Adam San" |
| Harrigan and Son
|Kowalski |"The Legacy" |
| Wagon Train
|Felipe |"The Don Alvarado Story" |
| The Rifleman
|Abuelito |"The Vaqueros" |
| Whispering Smith
|Father Antonio |"Prayer of a Chance" |
| Checkmate
|Pedro Moreno |"Juan Moreno's Body" |
| rowspan="2" |1961-1962
|Papa Glockstein / The Janitor |"The Terror in Teakwood" / "Flowers of Evil" |
| The Twilight Zone
|Gallegos / Father Tomas / Guitarist |"Dust" / "The Mirror" / "The Gift" |
| rowspan="2" |1962
|Marco |"Death in a Village" |
| Hawaiian Eye
|Dr. Anton Miklos |"The Missile Rogues" |
References
{{reflist}}
{{Portal|Biography|Russia|California|Film|Television}}
External links
- {{IMDb name}}
- {{IBDB name}}
- {{Find a Grave}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sokoloff, Vladimir}}
Category:American people of Russian-Jewish descent
Category:Burials at Hollywood Forever Cemetery
Category:Jewish American male actors
Category:Male actors from Los Angeles
Category:Male actors from Moscow
Category:Russian male film actors
Category:Russian male silent film actors
Category:Russian male stage actors
Category:White Russian emigrants to Germany
Category:White Russian emigrants to the United States