Abraham Sofaer

Abraham Isaac Sofaer (1 October 1896 – 21 January 1988) was a British actor born in Rangoon, Burma, in the territory then administered as part of the British Empire. His father, Isaac Sofaer, was an architect and merchant of Baghdadi Jewish origin who had emigrated to British Burma from Iraq as a child and established the Sofaer Building in Rangoon, a structure that still stands today. Sofaer received his early schooling locally at the Diocesan Boys' High School before continuing his education in England. He subsequently worked as a school teacher, first in Rangoon and later in London, before turning to acting.

Sofaer launched his stage career in London in 1921 and went on to divide his time between theatre productions in London and New York. His Broadway appearances spanned the years 1930 to 1938 and included the plays The Matriarch and Victoria Regina. In the latter production, which opened in 1935, he attracted considerable attention for his portrayal of Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli. He also appeared in the 1933 London musical He Wanted Adventure alongside Bobby Howes.

During the 1930s, Sofaer began taking on roles in both British and American films. Among his most prominent screen performances were a dual role as the Judge and the Surgeon in Powell and Pressburger's A Matter of Life and Death (1946) and the role of Saint Paul in Quo Vadis (1951). He was also active in television from its earliest days in the late 1930s and contributed to radio productions, including a small part in Dorothy L. Sayers' The Man Born to Be King.

Although his film work became less frequent after the 1950s, Sofaer maintained a steady presence on American television throughout the 1960s, accumulating guest appearances on numerous major series. He appeared three times on Perry Mason: as Dr. Maitland in "The Case of the Deadly Double" (1958), as Sylvester Robey in "The Case of the Crying Cherub" (1960), and as defendant Elihu Laban in "The Case of the Two-Face Turnabout" (1963). His other television credits included Wagon Train, Gunsmoke, The Twilight Zone, The Investigators, Daniel Boone, The Time Tunnel, Lost in Space, and The Outer Limits. His voice was featured in two episodes of Star Trek. He played the recurring role of Haji, the master of all genies, on I Dream of Jeannie, and appeared as The Swami who advises Peter Tork in the "Sauna" scene of the 1968 Monkees film Head.

Sofaer was the first cousin, once removed, of American jurist Abraham David Sofaer. He died on 21 January 1988 at the Motion Picture and Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, from congestive heart failure, at the age of 91.