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Robert Ellenstein

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Robert Ellenstein
Ellenstein in the TV series One Step Beyond, episode Message from Clara, 1959
Born(1923-06-18)June 18, 1923
DiedOctober 28, 2010(2010-10-28) (aged 87)
Other namesBob Ellenstein
Occupation(s)Actor, director
Years active1954–1998
Spouse
Lois Sylvia Stang
(m. 1952⁠–⁠2010)
(his death)

Robert Ellenstein (June 18, 1923 – October 28, 2010) was an American actor. The son of Meyer C. Ellenstein, 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 during World War II, earning a Purple Heart during his service.[1]

Film and television career

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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"),[2] 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's North by Northwest. In 1961, he played the mobster Legs Diamond in an episode of NBC's 1920s crime drama The Lawless Years with James Gregory.[citation needed]

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, four on Ironside, and five on Mission: Impossible. He also directed television with an episode of the 1960s sitcom, Love on a Rooftop, and many live television episodes.[citation needed]

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.[1]

Death

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Ellenstein died in Los Angeles of natural causes on October 28, 2010, at age 87.[3]

Filmography

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Year Title Role Notes
1954 Rogue Cop Det. Sidney Y. Myers
1955 Illegal Joe Knight
1956 Gunsmoke Tewksbury S1 E33 Prairie Happy
1957 The Garment Jungle Fred Kenner
1957 3:10 to Yuma Ernie Collins
1957 The Walter Winchell File Melk 1 episode
1958 The Young Lions Rabbi Joseph Silverstein Uncredited
1958 Too Much, Too Soon Gerald Frank
1959 One Step Beyond Captain Peabody The Navigator
1959 One Step Beyond Mr. Tomachek Message From Clara
1959 North by Northwest Licht
1959 The Gazebo Ben
1960 Pay or Die Luigi Di Sarno
1961 The Big Bankroll Lenny
1965 Deathwatch Guard
1966 Bonanza Harry Fitts Episode: "The Code"
1968 The Wild Wild West Dr. Occularis Second Episodes: "The Night of the Winged Terror – Parts I & II"
1968 The Legend of Lylah Clare Mike
1969 The Big Valley Dr. Amos Pearce Episode: "Top of the Stairs"
1972 Mission Impossible Vincent Vochek Episode: "Stone Pillow"
1978 Hawaii Five-O Bart Warren
1979 Love at First Bite VW Man
1981 Magnum P.I. (1980 TV series) Saul Greenberg Episode: "Never Again...Never Again"
1985 Brewster's Millions Mr. Carter
1986 Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home Federation Council President
1987 Star Trek: The Next Generation Steven Miller Episode: "Haven"
1989 L.A. Law Dr. Lacker Episode: "I'm in the Nude for Love" (uncredited)

References

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  1. ^ a b Lentz, Harris M. III (March 21, 2016). Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2010. McFarland. pp. 119–120. ISBN 9780786486496. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  2. ^ Hawes, William (2001). Live Television Drama, 1946–1951. McFarland. p. 119. ISBN 978-14-76608-49-5. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  3. ^ Obituary Los Angeles Times, November 4, 2010, page AA14.Robert Ellenstein, actor and director, dies at 87
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