Jack Kruschen (March 20, 1922 - April 2, 2002) was a Canadian-born character actor who worked primarily in American film, television, and radio.
Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Kruschen began his career in the 1940s as staple of West Coast radio drama. He had regular or recurring roles on Broadway Is My Beat (as Sgt. Muggavan), and Pete Kelly's Blues (as Red, the bass player), as well as frequent episodic roles on anthology series, Westerns, and crime dramas. He was heard on such high-profile series as Escape, Dragnet, The Rifleman, Gunsmoke (usually as law abiding locals), Crime Classics, Frontier Gentleman, Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, Nightbeat, and Suspense.
He was better known for his film roles, however, including his memorable performance as neighbor Dr. Dreyfuss in Billy Wilder's The Apartment (for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor). Other film assignments included parts in George Pál's The War of the Worlds (as Salvatore, one of the first three victims, a role he reprised on the Lux Radio Theater adaptation), The Unsinkable Molly Brown (as saloon owner Christmas Morgan), Abbott and Costello Go to Mars, Lover Come Back, McLintock! (with John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara), and Cape Fear.
Television roles included the regular role of Grandpa Papadopolis on the situation comedy Webster, the role of guest villain Eivol Ekdol, a villainous magicians' craftsman on Batman, and parts on Dragnet, Zorro, Barney Miller, and in later years, Murphy Brown, Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, and Full House. His final on-camera appearance was in the 1997 film, Til There Was You (with Sarah Jessica Parker).
He died in Chandler, Arizona, aged 80, from undisclosed causes.
Canadian-born Jack Kruschen entered films after years on the stage, and became a dependable character actor both in movies and on television. Often cast as ethnic comedy relief, Kruschen occasionally landed a role as a villain, but was more often the volatile, emotional Italian or Jewish neighbor patriarch. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role in Apartment, The (1960).
