Sam Jaffe | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 21, 1901 |
| Died | January 10, 2000(2000-01-10) (aged 98) |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Movie producer |
| Spouse | Mildred Gersh |
| Children | 3 |
| Relatives | Matt Tolmach (grandson) Adeline Schulberg (sister) Budd Schulberg (nephew) Phil Gersh (brother-in-law) B. P. Schulberg (brother-in-law) John Kohn (son-in-law) |
Sam Jaffe (May 21, 1901 – January 10, 2000)[1] was, at different points in his career in themotion picture industry, an agent, a producer, and a studio executive.
Jaffe was born in theHarlem neighborhood of New York City, the son ofRussian-Jewish immigrants[2] Hannah and Max Jaffe. He had three older siblings: Joseph, David, and Adeline. He was raised on theLower East Side ofManhattan.[3]
After dropping out ofDeWitt Clinton High School, he took a job as an office boy for theFamous Players–Lasky Corporation where his brother-in-law, B. P. Schulberg, was an executive.[1] He eventually worked his way up through the ranks to become the executive in charge of production[2] including films directed byErnst Lubitsch,Josef von Sternberg, andRouben Mamoulian.[1] In 1932, he was released from Paramount over internal politics.[4]
He worked briefly forHarry Cohn atColumbia Pictures[1] before joining the Schulberg-Feldman agency, co-founded by his older sisterAdeline Schulberg withCharles K. Feldman.[5] In 1933, his sister left the firm to form the Ad Schulberg agency after her divorce fromB.P. Schulberg; the firm represented such top actors asMarlene Dietrich,Fredric March, andHerbert Marshall before she sold it and moved to London.[3]
In 1935, Jaffe opened his own talent agency named the Jaffe Agency.[6][1] While running the agency, he convinced20th Century Fox headDarryl F. Zanuck to let him produceThe Fighting Sullivans in 1944.[1] He successfully represented several stars and directors of the era, includingHumphrey Bogart,Fritz Lang,Raoul Walsh,Stanley Kubrick,[1]Lauren Bacall,David Niven,Zero Mostel,Richard Burton,Mary Astor,Barbara Stanwyck,Lee J. Cobb, andJennifer Jones.[2] In the late 1940s, his business was negatively affected by the investigations of many of his clients by theHouse Un-American Activities Committee investigations into Hollywood.[1] In 1949, he sold the Jaffe Agency to his brother-in-law,Phil Gersh, who had been working with him.[7]
In 1959, Jaffe retired and moved to London.[2] There he produced several films, includingBorn Free (1966) andTheater of Blood (1973).[1] In 1985, he returned to Los Angeles[2] and became a collector ofmodern art. He died in 2000 at age 98
Jaffe was married to Mildred Gersh, also from New York. One of her younger brothers wasPhil Gersh, who moved from New York to Los Angeles and became a Hollywood agent. After working with Jaffe, Gersh purchased the Jaffe Agency in 1949. He renamed it in the 1960s asThe Gersh Agency.[7]
Sam and Mildred Jaffe had three daughters: Naomi Jaffe Carroll, Barbara Jaffe Kohn, and Judith Jaffe Tolmach Silber.[1]
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