Jack Kruschen

Jack Kruschen (March 20, 1922 – April 2, 2002) was a Canadian character actor born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, whose career spanned radio, film, television, and Broadway from the late 1930s through the 1990s. He is perhaps best known for earning an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Dr. Dreyfuss in Billy Wilder's 1960 comedy-drama The Apartment.

Kruschen's early exposure to performance came through an operetta he appeared in at Hollywood High School, which drew the attention of CBS. He began working at a Los Angeles radio station at age 16, and during World War II served in the Army with the Armed Forces Radio Service. After the war he returned to network radio, taking on recurring roles in programs including Broadway Is My Beat, where he played detective Mugovin, and Pete Kelly's Blues, in which he portrayed club owner George Lupo. His radio work also included appearances on Escape, Dragnet, Gunsmoke, Crime Classics, Frontier Gentleman, Yours Truly Johnny Dollar, Nightbeat, and Suspense.

His film career began with Red, Hot, and Blue and encompassed a wide range of productions. He appeared in George Pal's The War of the Worlds as Salvatore, one of the first three victims, a role he later reprised for the Lux Radio Theater adaptation. Additional film credits included Cecil B. DeMille's final film The Buccaneer, Abbott and Costello Go to Mars, Cape Fear starring Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum, Follow That Dream with Elvis Presley, McLintock! with John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara, and The Unsinkable Molly Brown, in which he played saloon owner Christmas Morgan. In 1959 he appeared as astronaut Sam Jacobs in the cult film The Angry Red Planet. The year of his Oscar nomination, 1960, also saw him appear in The Bellboy, Studs Lonigan, Seven Ways from Sundown, Where the Boys Are, and The Last Voyage, in which he played Chief Engineer Pringle. His final screen appearance came in the 1997 film 'Til There Was You, in which he played Mr. Katz.

Television work began remarkably early for Kruschen, who appeared in dramas as far back as 1939 on Don Lee's experimental Los Angeles station, broadcast to an audience watching on sets with three-inch screens. His subsequent television career included twelve episodes of NBC's Dragnet, guest appearances on Batman as villain Eivol Ekdol in episodes nine and ten, a recurring role across three seasons of Bonanza as Italian grapegrower Giorgio Rossi, and appearances on Zorro and Adventures of Superman. He played Jay Burrage on The Rifleman and Tully on Hong Kong, and later took on recurring roles as Sam Markowitz on Busting Loose, fireman Mike Woiski on Emergency!, and Morris Sheinfeld on E/R. He appeared on Columbo, Barney Miller, The Odd Couple, The Incredible Hulk, Murphy Brown, and Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. From 1985 to 1987 he held the recurring role of Grandpa Papadopolis on Webster, and in the early 1990s played the Greek grandfather Iorgos "Papouli" Katsopolis on Full House across two episodes, before his character was written out in the episode "The Last Dance." He also appeared as Kitty's grandfather Fred Avery on the CBC sitcom Material World from 1990 to 1993. In 1969 he co-starred with Stefanie Powers in the unsold ABC pilot Holly Golightly, adapted from Truman Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's.

Kruschen's Broadway career ran from 1962 to 1970. He appeared in the original 1962 Broadway production of I Can Get It for You Wholesale, playing Maurice Pulvermacher. He later appeared on Broadway in Promises, Promises, reprising a role connected to The Apartment, the film on which that musical was based, having previously co-starred in the London staging of the production in 1969.

Kruschen died on April 2, 2002, at his residence in Kelowna, British Columbia. The cause of death was recorded as a myocardial infarction following years of Type 2 diabetes. He was 80 years old. Though he died in early April, his death was not widely reported until mid-to-late May of that year.