Allan Franklin Arbus (February 15, 1918 – April 19, 2013) was an American actor and photographer. He was the former husband of photographer Diane Arbus. He is known for his role as psychiatrist Dr. Sidney Freedman on the CBS television series M*A*S*H.

Early life Arbus was born in New York City, to a Jewish family, the son of fur retailer Harry Arbus and his wife Rose (). He attended DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx, where he first developed an interest in acting while appearing in a student play.

Also a music lover, before becoming an actor, he was reportedly so taken by Benny Goodman's recordings that he took up playing the clarinet.

Photography career During the 1940s, Arbus became a photographer for the United States Army. In 1946, after he completed his military service, he and his first wife, photographer Diane Arbus (née Nemerov, whom he had married in 1941), started a photographic advertising business in Manhattan. Arbus was primarily known for advertising photography that appeared in Glamour, Seventeen, Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, and other magazines, as well as the weekly newspaper advertising photography for Russeks, a Fifth Avenue department store in Manhattan co-founded by Diane's grandfather, Frank Russek.

Edward Steichen's noted photo exhibition The Family of Man includes a photograph credited to the couple. MoMA PDF document The Arbuses' professional partnership ended in 1956, when Diane quit the business; the couple formally separated three years later. Allan Arbus continued on as a solo photographer, but had given up the business to pursue an acting career by the time the couple divorced in 1969.

Acting career After the breakup of his first marriage and the dissolution of his business, Arbus moved to California in 1969 to pursue a new career in acting. His new career took off after he landed the lead role in Robert Downey Sr.'s 1972 cult film, Greaser's Palace, in which he appears with Robert Downey, Jr., who would go on to star as Diane Arbus's muse in Fur. The 2006 Fur is a fictional account of the end of the Arbuses' marriage. Arbus also starred opposite Bette Davis in Scream, Pretty Peggy (1973), and was featured as Gregory LaCava in W.C. Fields and Me (1976).

These roles led to his casting as Maj. Sidney Freedman on M*A*S*H. His work on M*A*S*H helped his career as a character actor, and he eventually appeared in more than seventy TV shows and movies. He appeared briefly in the 1973 film Cinderella Liberty as a drunken sailor; another 1973 film, Coffy (starring Pam Grier), featured Arbus as a drug dealer with strange sexual needs; in Damien - Omen II (1978), he played Pasarian, one of Damien's many victims in The Omen trilogy. In 1979, he portrayed a dance choreographer in The Electric Horseman.

Arbus is far better known for his television work, which includes over forty-five titles, with works as recent as Curb Your Enthusiasm in 2000. Among Arbus's non-M*A*S*H work for television are guest and recurring roles in such television series as Law & Order, In the Heat of the Night, L.A. Law, Matlock, Starsky and Hutch, and Judging Amy.

Personal life and death Allan and Diane Arbus married in 1941, Allan having dated Diane since she was age 14. They had two daughters, photographer Amy Arbus, and writer and art director Doon Arbus. The couple separated in 1959 and divorced in 1969.

Arbus married actress Mariclare Costello in 1977. The couple had one daughter, Arin Arbus, who is the artistic director at Theatre for a New Audience.

Arbus died of congestive heart failure on April 19, 2013, in Los Angeles. He was 95. He was cremated and his ashes given to his family.

Selected filmography

Year Title Role Type Notes1961Hey, Let's Twist!The doctor Film(Uncredited)1969Putney SwopeMr. Bad News Film 1971The Christian Licorice StoreMonroe (Smith) Film 1972Cisco PikeSim Valensi Film 1972Greaser's PalaceJessy Film1973The Young NursesKrebs Film 1973CoffyArturo Vitroni Film1973Scream, Pretty PeggyDr. SaksTV movie (ABC)1973Cinderella LibertyDrunken sailor Film 1974 Chopper OneTim SeeleyTV Episode: "Ambush"1974 The Odd CoupleErnie Ferguson (Hypnotist) / Mr. Lennox (Director)TV Episodes: "Cleanliness Is Next To Impossible", "The Hollywood Story"1974Law and DisorderDr. Richter1976Hawaii Five-OVince Maynard TVSeason 81976W.C. Fields and MeGregory LaCava Film1977Raid on EntebbeEli Melnick TV movie(NBC)1978Damien - Omen IIPasarian1978 TaxiJerry MartinTVEpisode: "One-Punch Banta"1978The Rockford FilesMyron KatzinTVEpisode: "Black Mirror"1978Wonder WomanBleakerTVEpisode: "The Girl from Ilandia"1979AmericathonMoishe Weitzman, the 2nd Hebrab Film 1979The Electric HorsemanDanny Film 1980The Last Married Couple in AmericaAl Squib Film 1981Gangster WarsGoodman TV movie Also, as a TV miniseries, known as The Gangster Chronicles1982Quincy, M.E.Dr. EllerickTVEpisode: "For Love of Joshua"1973–1983M*A*S*HMajor Sidney FreedmanTV12 Episodes1984The World of Don CamilloChrist (voice)Film In Italian and English1985Cagney & LaceyArthur StaceyTVEpisode: "Violation"1985VolunteersAlbert Bardenaro Film 1985Hardcastle and McCormickDr. FriedmanTVEpisode: "Do Not Go Gentle"1986CrossroadsDr. Santis Film 1986Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color (anthology)Dr. Andreas HellmanTV movieA Fighting Choice1987From the HipPhil Ames Film 1987SpiesJanoTVEpisode: "Baby"1987Daniel and the TowersSimon 'Sam' Rodia (Wonder Works, PBS)1987OharaSol RostoffTVEpisode: "The Intruders"1987DuetMr. ColemanTVEpisode: "Born, Bred and Buttered in Brooklyn"1987MatlockPeter LeoniTVEpisode: "The Chef"1989L.A. LawLawrence StoneTVEpisode: I'm in the Nude for Love1989MatlockAaron MitchellTVEpisode: "The Star"1989When He's Not a StrangerJudge Thomas J. GrayTV movie1990HunterNorman TateTVEpisode: "Unfinished Business"1991StatHesh CooperTVEpisodes: "Safe Smuggling" & "Fantasy"1991–1992Brooklyn BridgeDr. SchulmanTV3 episodes1993Law & OrderDominique KeithTVEpisode: "Animal Instinct"1993Josh and S.A.M.Businessman on plane Film 1992–1993In The Heat of the NightDr. AtwillTVEpisodes: "Discovery" & "Little Girl Lost"1994Mad About YouAlbertTVEpisode: "The Last Scampi"1997In Dark PlacesDory1998L.A. DoctorsMr. MitskiTVEpisode: "A Prayer for the living"1999NYPD BlueSeymore EpsteinTVEpisode: "Don't Meth with Me"1999Judging AmyJudge FowlerTV3 episodes2000Curb Your EnthusiasmUncle NathanTVEpisode: "The Group"2016Chief ZabuGeorge Dankworth Film(In production from 1986, completed and released 2016)

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