Robert Ellenstein

Robert Ellenstein
Robert Ellenstein
	Ellenstein in the TV series One Step Beyond, episode Message from Clara, 1959
Born	June 18, 1923; Newark, New Jersey, U.S.
Died	October 28, 2010 (aged 87); Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Other names	Bob Ellenstein
Occupation(s)	Actor, director
Years active	1954–1998
Spouse	Lois Sylvia Stang (m. 1952⁠–⁠2010) (his death)

Robert Ellenstein (June 18, 1923 – October 28, 2010) was an American actor. The son of Meyer C. Ellenstein, a Newark dentist, Ellenstein grew up to see his father become a two-term mayor from 1933 to 1941. He served in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II, earning a Purple Heart during his service.^[1]

Film and television career

A veteran of the "Golden Age" of live television (he played Quasimodo in a live Robert Montgomery Presents (1950) version of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame"),^[2] for the same show played the lead in "A Case of Identity", later turned into the film The Wrong Man (1956), he was the first actor to play Albert Einstein on television. Ellenstein made his first film in 1954 (MGM's Rogue Cop). He was featured in Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest. In 1961, he played the mobster Legs Diamond in an episode of NBC's 1920s crime drama The Lawless Years with James Gregory.^{[citation needed]}

Among his television appearances, Ellenstein guest starred in three episodes of Perry Mason. In 1957 he played defendant John Addison in "The Case of the Vagabond Vixen." In 1959 he played murder victim Arthur Cartright in "The Case of the Howling Dog," and in 1960 he played Medical Examiner Dr. McBride in "The Case of the Madcap Modiste." In 1965 he played a character curiously of 65 years of age (in obviously inadequate makeup) in a second-season episode of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. He appeared in two episodes of the WWII drama, Combat!, first in 1965 in "The Tree of Moray" and in 1966 he was in the episode "Counterplay". He also made three guest appearances on The Untouchables, five appearances on The Wild Wild West, four on Ironside, and five on Mission: Impossible. He also directed television with an episode of the 1960s sitcom, Love on a Rooftop, and many live television episodes.^{[citation needed]}

Ellenstein had over 200 television appearances. He performed hundreds of stage roles as an actor. He directed many theatre productions in New York, Los Angeles and in regional theater. He was artistic director of The Company of Angels and Founding Artistic Director of the Los Angeles Repertory Company.^[1]

Death

Ellenstein died in Los Angeles of natural causes on October 28, 2010, at age 87.^[3]

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1954	Rogue Cop	Det. Sidney Y. Myers
1955	Illegal	Joe Knight
1956	Gunsmoke	Tewksbury	S1 E33 Prairie Happy
1957	The Garment Jungle	Fred Kenner
1957	3:10 to Yuma	Ernie Collins
1957	The Walter Winchell File	Melk	1 episode
1958	The Young Lions	Rabbi Joseph Silverstein	Uncredited
1958	Too Much, Too Soon	Gerald Frank
1959	One Step Beyond	Captain Peabody	The Navigator
1959	One Step Beyond	Mr. Tomachek	Message From Clara
1959	North by Northwest	Licht
1959	The Gazebo	Ben
1960	Pay or Die	Luigi Di Sarno
1961	The Big Bankroll	Lenny
1965	Deathwatch	Guard
1966	Bonanza	Harry Fitts	Episode: "The Code"
1968	The Wild Wild West	Dr. Occularis Second	Episodes: "The Night of the Winged Terror – Parts I & II"
1968	The Legend of Lylah Clare	Mike
1969	The Big Valley	Dr. Amos Pearce	Episode: "Top of the Stairs"
1972	Mission Impossible	Vincent Vochek	Episode: "Stone Pillow"
1978	Hawaii Five-O	Bart Warren
1979	Love at First Bite	VW Man
1981	Magnum P.I. (1980 TV series)	Saul Greenberg	Episode: "Never Again...Never Again"
1985	Brewster's Millions	Mr. Carter
1986	Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home	Federation Council President
1987	Star Trek: The Next Generation	Steven Miller	Episode: "Haven"
1989	L.A. Law	Dr. Lacker	Episode: "I'm in the Nude for Love" (uncredited)