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Abraham Sofaer
Sofaer in a 1966 episode ofMission: Impossible
Born	Abraham Isaac Sofaer (1896-10-01)1 October 1896 Rangoon,British Burma
Died	21 January 1988(1988-01-21) (aged 91) Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1921–1974
Spouse	Angela Psyche Christian ​ ​ (m. 1920)​
Children	5

Abraham Isaac Sofaer (1 October 1896 – 21 January 1988) was a Burmese-born British actor who began his career on stage and became a familiar supporting player in film and on television in his later years.

Sofaer was born inRangoon, Burma — then a part of theBritish Empire.^[1]

The son of a very successful merchant, Isaac Sofaer (who established the Sofaer Building, Rangoon, which still stands today), he was educated locally at the Diocesan Boys' High School.^[1] His education continued in England, and he initially worked as a school teacher in Rangoon and later inLondon.^[2]

He began his acting career on theLondon stage in 1921, but soon he was alternating between theatre productions in London and New York.^[3] He appeared in the 1933 musicalHe Wanted Adventure alongsideBobby Howes. In 1935, he gained widespread attention onBroadway portraying Prime MinisterBenjamin Disraeli inVictoria Regina.^[2][4]

During the 1930s he also began appearing in both British and American films. Among his more prominent performances were his dual role as the Judge and Surgeon inPowell and Pressburger'sA Matter of Life and Death (1946) and asSaint Paul inQuo Vadis (1951).^[5]

He also appeared on television from its earliest days in the late 1930s and on radio, including a small part inDorothy L. Sayers'The Man Born to Be King.^[3][6]

Although his film appearances diminished after the 1950s, he continued to have guest roles on dozens of major U.S. television series throughout the 1960s.^[7] He made three appearances onPerry Mason including as Dr. Maitland in “The Case of the Deadly Double” (1958), Sylvester Robey in the 1960 episode "The Case of the Crying Cherub", and defendant Elihu Laban in the 1963 episode "The Case of the Two-Face Turnabout" and his voice was featured in two episodes ofStar Trek.^[8]

Other guest appearances were inWagon Train,Gunsmoke,The Twilight Zone,The Investigators,Daniel Boone,The Time Tunnel,Lost in Space, andThe Outer Limits.^[7] He may be best remembered for his recurring role as Haji, the master of allgenies, onI Dream of Jeannie and as The Swami who advisesPeter Tork in the "Sauna" scene inThe Monkees' 1968 filmHead.^[9][10]

Sofaer died at theMotion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital inWoodland Hills,Los Angeles,California, as the result ofcongestive heart failure in 1988, aged 91.^[2]

• Perry Mason (TV series) (1958) (Season 1 Episode 24: "The Case of the Deadly Double")  — Dr. Maitland
• Wagon Train (1958) (Season 2 Episode 7: "The Bije Wilcox Story")  — Bull Man
• Zane Grey Theatre (1959) (Season 4 Episode 7: "Mission")  —Comanche Chief Alou
• The Real McCoys (1959) (Season 2 Episode 21: "The Rainmaker")  —Arapaho Chief
• Wagon Train (1959) (Season 3 Episode 1: "The Stagecoach Story")  — Antonio DeVargo
• Gunsmoke (1960) (Season 5 Episode 24: "Kitty's Killing")  — Jeremiah Leech
• The Twilight Zone (1960) (Season 1 Episode 35: "The Mighty Casey")  — Dr. Stillman
• Perry Mason (TV series) (1960) (Season 3 Episode 29: "The Case of the Crying Cherub")  — Sylvester Robey
• Thriller (1960) (Season 1 Episode 10: "The Prediction")  — Gus Kostopulos
• Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1961) (Season 6 Episode 14: "The Changing Heart")  — Ulrich Klemm
• Peter Gunn (1961) (Season 3 Episode 26: "A Penny Saved")  — Boris Petrov
• Thriller (1961) (Season 2 Episode 4: "The Weird Tailor")  — Nicolai
• Rawhide (1961) (Season 4 Episode 5: "The Lost Tribe")  — Little Hawk
• Gunsmoke (1962) (Season 7 Episode 15: "The Do-Badder")  — Harvey Easter
• The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1962) (Season 1 Episode 2: "Don't Look Behind You")  — Dr. MacFarlane
• Perry Mason (TV series) (1963) (Season 6 Episode 18: "The Case of the Two-Faced Turn-a-Bout")  — Elihu Laban
• The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1964) (Season 2 Episode 14: "Beyond the Sea of Death")  — Dr. R.D. Shankara
• Outer Limits (1964) (Season 2 Episode 5: "Demon with a Glass Hand")  — Arch
• Star Trek: The Original Series (1966) (Season 1 Episode 2: "Charlie X")  — The Thasian
• The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1965) (Season 1 Episode 23: "The Brain-Killer Affair")  — Mr. Gabhail Samoy, head ofU.N.C.L.E. operations inCalcutta
• The Time Tunnel (1966) (Season 1 Episode 7: "Revenge of the Gods")  — Epeios
• The Time Tunnel (1967) (Season 1 Episode 20: "The Walls of Jericho")  — Father
• The Rat Patrol (1967) (Season 1 Episode 23: "The Holy War Raid")  — Holy Man
• I Dream of Jeannie (1967) (Season 2 Episode 27: "There Goes the Bride")  — Haji
• I Dream of Jeannie (1967) (Season 2 Episode 29: "The Birds and the Bees Bit")  — Haji
• I Dream of Jeannie (1968) (Season 3 Episode 22: "Divorce, Genie Style")  — Haji
• Star Trek: The Original Series (1968) (Season 3 Episode 6: "Spectre of the Gun")  — Melkotian (voice)
• Lost in Space (1968) (Season 3 Episode 22: "The Flaming Planet")  — Sobram
• Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1974) (Season 1 Episode 11: "Horror in the Heights")  — Ali Lakshmi (final appearance)

• Abraham Sofaer atIMDb
• Abraham Sofaer at theInternet Broadway Database
• Abraham Sofaer atMemory Alpha

• 1896 births
• 1988 deaths
• 20th-century Burmese male actors
• Burmese emigrants to the United States
• Burmese Jews
• Burmese male film actors
• Burmese male stage actors
• Burmese people of Iraqi-Jewish descent
• Male actors from Yangon
• British people of Iraqi-Jewish descent
• British male film actors
• British male stage actors
• British expatriate male actors in the United States
• 20th-century British male actors
• Burmese emigrants to the United Kingdom
• Jewish British male actors
• British people of Indian-Jewish descent
• Baghdadi Jews
• English emigrants to the United States

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