Konstantin Shayne (born Konstantin Veniaminovich Olkenitski; russian: Константин Вениаминович Олькеницкий, November 29, 1888 – November 15, 1974) was a Russian-American actor.
Biography
Shayne was born in
Kharkov
Kharkiv ( uk, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest city and municipality in Ukraine. , Russian Empire (now Kharkiv,
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
) to the family of
Veniamin Olkenitsky-Nikulin, a Jewish actor. His siblings were actress
Tamara Shayne
Tamara Shayne (25 November 1902 – 23 October 1983), also known as Tamara Nikoulina, was a Russian-born actress and long-time resident in the United States.
Early life
Tamara Shayne was born Tamara Veniaminovna Olkenitskaya on 25 November 1902 i ...
and writers Lev and Yuriy Nikulin.
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
intervened before he could join the
Moscow Arts Theatre, and during the conflict he fought with
General Wrangel and the White Armies. Shayne was married two times and he also had children.
Shayne emigrated to the United States in 1928, travelling as a second-class passenger on board the S/S ''Berengaria'', which arrived at the Port of New York on September 14, 1928. He was listed as Konstantin Schein, an artist residing in Berlin, Germany.
As an actor, Shayne performed in movies such as ''
None but the Lonely Heart'' (1944) and ''
The Stranger'' (1946), starring (and directed by)
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...
. He performed in ''
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
"The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" (1939) is a short story by James Thurber. The most famous of Thurber's stories, it first appeared in ''The New Yorker'' on March 18, 1939, and was first collected in his book '' My World and Welcome to It'' ( Ha ...
'' (1947), which featured
Danny Kaye in the lead role. His performance in ''
For Whom the Bell Tolls
''For Whom the Bell Tolls'' is a novel by Ernest Hemingway published in 1940. It tells the story of Robert Jordan, a young American volunteer attached to a Republican guerrilla unit during the Spanish Civil War. As a dynamiter, he is assigned ...
'' (1943) was cut from the final release.
In his penultimate film appearance Shayne dominates two minutes of
Alfred Hitchcock's ''
Vertigo
Vertigo is a condition where a person has the sensation of movement or of surrounding objects moving when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. This may be associated with nausea, vomiting, sweating, or difficulties w ...
'' (1958), playing the old bookseller Pop Leibel.
Filmography
Film
Select TV series
* ''
Mr. & Mrs. North'' (1 episode, 1952) – Andre Stulik
* ''
Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' (2 episodes, 1956–1958) – Abdul Ismael / Customs Officer
* ''
The Outer Limits'' (2 episodes, 1963–1964) – Murdock – The Gardener / Dr. Philip Fletcher
* ''
The Rogues'' (1 episode, 1965) – Commandant
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shayne, Konstantin
1888 births
1974 deaths
Actors from Kharkiv
Jewish Russian actors
Russian male film actors
White Russian emigrants to the United States