Robert Ellenstein (June 18, 1923 – October 28, 2010) was an American actor. The son of

Meyer C. Ellenstein Meyer C. Ellenstein (October 15, 1886 – February 11, 1967) served as mayor of Newark, New Jersey from 1933 to 1941. Biography Ellenstein was born in New York City on October 15, 1886, the son of Max Ellenstein and the former Libby Bzuroff. El ...

, a Newark dentist, Ellenstein grew up to see his father become a two-term mayor from 1933 to 1941. He served in the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

: earning a

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, ...

during his service. He attended New York University and graduated with honors from the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 coll ...

. He began acting, directing and teaching in Cleveland, Ohio.

Film and television career

A veteran of the "Golden Age" of live television (he played Quasimodo in a live '' Robert Montgomery Presents'' (1950) version of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame"), for the same show played the lead in "A Case of Identity", later turned into the film '' The Wrong Man'' (1956), he was the first actor to play Albert Einstein on television. Ellenstein made his first film in 1954 ( MGM's '' Rogue Cop''), he was featured in

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...

's '' North by Northwest''. In 1961, he played the mobster

Legs Diamond Jack "Legs" Diamond (possibly born John Thomas Diamond, though disputed; July 10, 1897 – December 18, 1931), also known as Gentleman Jack, was an Irish American gangster in Philadelphia and New York City during the Prohibition era. A boot ...

in an episode of NBC's 1920s

crime drama Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

'' The Lawless Years'' with James Gregory. Among his television appearances, Ellenstein guest starred in three episodes of '' Perry Mason''. In 1957 he played defendant John Addison in "The Case of the Vagabond Vixen." In 1959 he played murder victim Arthur Cartright in "The Case of the Howling Dog," and in 1960 he played Medical Examiner Dr. McBride in "The Case of the Madcap Modiste." In 1965 he played a character curiously of 65 years of age (in obviously inadequate makeup) in a second season episode of '' The Man From U.N.C.L.E.'' He appeared in two episodes of the WWII drama, '' Combat!'', first in 1965 in "The Tree of Moray" and in 1966 he was in the episode "Counterplay". He also made three guest appearances on '' The Untouchables'', five appearances on ''

The Wild Wild West ''The Wild Wild West'' is an American Western, espionage, and science fiction television series that ran on the CBS television network for four seasons from September 17, 1965, to April 11, 1969. Two satirical comedy television film sequels ...

'', four on '' Ironside'', and five on '' Mission: Impossible''. He also directed television with an episode of the 1960s

sitcom A sitcom, a Portmanteau, portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troup ...

, '' Love on a Rooftop'', and many live television episodes. Ellenstein had over 200 television appearances. He performed hundreds of stage roles as an actor. He directed many theatre productions in New York, Los Angeles and in regional theater. He was artistic director of The Company of Angels and Founding Artistic Director of the Los Angeles Repertory Company.

Death

Ellenstein died in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

of natural causes on October 28, 2010 at age 87.Obituary ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'', November 4, 2010, page AA1
Robert Ellenstein, actor and director, dies at 87
/ref>

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ellenstein, Robert 1923 births 2010 deaths Male actors from Newark, New Jersey American male film actors American male stage actors American male television actors United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II