Salem Ludwig (July 31, 1915 – April 1, 2007) was an American character actor and highly esteemed acting instructor.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, Ludwig was blacklisted in 1957 and could only find minimal stage work. He had many film and television credits and remained active, even after his 90th birthday, until his death at age 91. A biographical film, An Actor's Life was made by budding director/actress Carol Schaye, who wanted to portray actors as talented, working individuals rather than just the character they see.The Reno Gazette-Journal, An Actor's Life 4/26/2002 04:38 pm He was represented by Theatrical Agent Archer King.
He is known for many films including: Life on the Ledge (2005, Grandfather), Unfaithful (2002, Man with Suitcase), The Business of Strangers (2001, Man at Pool), Fast Food, Fast Women (2000, Leo), The Object of My Affection (1998, Mr Shapiro), I'm Not Rappaport (1996, Walter), For Love Or Money (1993, Customer), Family Business (1989, Nat), Heartburn (1986, Judge), Endless Love (1981, Mr Switzer), The Arab Conspiracy (1976, Ghassan Kaddara), I Love You, Alice B. Toklas (1968, Mr Fine), What's So Bad About Feeling Good? (1968), Three Sisters (1966, Ferapont), America, America (1963, Odysseus Topouzoglou), and Never Love a Stranger (1958, Moishe Moscowitz).
His television roles included attorney Solomon Rabinowitz, in an early episode of All in the Family. Rabinowitz memorably advised Archie Bunker not to pursue a whiplash case, telling him "In a court of law, you can't beat a station wagon full of nuns." (The nuns would all have been witnesses against Archie.) He also played 2 roles on the NBC-TV afternoon daytime soap opera The Doctors in 1967 as Dr. Roth and again in 1975 as George Watson. in 1985 he played Jules Rosenfeld, the dry cleaner, in the CBS-TV comedy series Kate & Allie.
Filmography Year Title Role Notes1958 Never Love a Stranger Moishe Moscowitz 1963 America, America Odysseus Topouzoglou 1966 Three Sisters Ferapont 1968 What's So Bad About Feeling Good? Witter Uncredited1968 I Love You, Alice B. Toklas Mr. Fine 1971 All in the Family Solomon Rabinowitz 1974 The Rehearsal 1976 The Arab Conspiracy Ghassan Kaddara 1981 Endless Love Mr Switzer 1986 Heartburn Judge 1986 Désordre Réceptionniste 1989 Family Business Nat 1993 For Love Or Money Customer 1996 I'm Not Rappaport Waiter 1997 Lesser Prophets Uncle Paulie 1998 Wrestling with Alligators Old Man 1998 The Object of My Affection Mr Shapiro 2000 Fast Food Fast Women Leo 2001 The Business of Strangers Man at Pool 2002 Unfaithful Man with Suitcase 2005 Life on the Ledge Grandfather 2007 The Savages Mr. Sperry 2009 A Killing on Brighton Beach Moisheh (final film role)
References
External links
Salem Ludwig at the University of Wisconsin's Actors Studio audio collection Bio