Lou Jacobi
1913–2009
Lou Jacobi, a sad-faced longtime character actor acclaimed for playing both comic ethnic stereotypes and serious dramatic roles, made his Broadway debut in 1955 in The Diary of Anne Frank. He won rave reviews as the pathetic weakling Hans Van Daan, who shares the Amsterdam attic where the Frank family is hiding. Jacobi played the same role in the 1959 film version, and went on to appear in nine other Broadway plays, including Paddy Chayefsky’s Tenth Man in 1959 and
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Neil Simon’s Come Blow Your Horn in 1961.
Toronto native Louis Harold Jacobovitch made his stage debut at a local theater in 1924 and later worked as a stand-up comic “in Canada’s equivalent of the Borscht Belt,” said The New York Times, entertaining at weddings and bachelor parties. Moving to London, he appeared in the American musicals Guys and Dolls and Pal Joey, and made his film debut in the British comedy Is Your Honeymoon Really Necessary? with Britain’s “blond sex symbol of the moment, Diana Dors.” After settling in the U.S., he appeared in several TV series ranging from Playhouse 90 to The Man From UNCLE. In 1976, he starred as a Russian headwaiter “living with nine other people in a small Moscow apartment” in the CBS comedy series Ivan the Terrible. His film credits include Woody Allen’s Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex and Barry Levinson’s Avalon.
The late critic Clive Barnes once panned a short-lived Broadway comedy that Jacobi starred in, but nevertheless was taken by Jacobi’s aura. “He has a face of sublime weariness,” Barnes wrote, “and the manner of a man who has seen everything, done nothing, and is now only worried about his heartburn.”
-
The 8 best dark comedies of the 21st centuryFrom Santa Claus to suicide terrorism, these movies skewered big, taboo subjects
-
France’s ‘red hands’ trial highlights alleged Russian disruption operationsUNDER THE RADAR Attacks on religious and cultural institutions around France have authorities worried about Moscow’s effort to sow chaos in one of Europe’s political centers
-
Codeword: October 30, 2025The Week's daily codeword puzzle
-
R&B singer D’AngeloFeature A reclusive visionary who transformed the genre
-
Kiss guitarist Ace FrehleyFeature The rocker who shot fireworks from his guitar
-
Robert Redford: the Hollywood icon who founded the Sundance Film FestivalFeature Redford’s most lasting influence may have been as the man who ‘invigorated American independent cinema’ through Sundance
-
Patrick Hemingway: The Hemingway son who tended to his father’s legacyFeature He was comfortable in the shadow of his famous father, Ernest Hemingway
-
Giorgio Armani obituary: designer revolutionised the business of fashionIn the Spotlight ‘King Giorgio’ came from humble beginnings to become a titan of the fashion industry and redefine 20th-century clothing
-
Ozzy Osbourne obituary: heavy metal wildman and lovable reality TV dadIn the Spotlight For Osbourne, metal was 'not the music of hell but rather the music of Earth, not a fantasy but a survival guide'
-
Brian Wilson: the troubled genius who powered the Beach BoysFeature The musical giant passed away at 82
-
Sly Stone: The funk-rock visionary who became an addict and recluseFeature Stone, an eccentric whose songs of uplift were tempered by darker themes of struggle and disillusionment, had a fall as steep as his rise
