S.Z.(Cuddles) Sakall
(1884 - 1955)"Cuddles" Sakall was one of my first favorite character actors. I can remember how sad I was, as a kid, the day in 1955 that I learned he had died. As an actor he fell into many categories, comedy, drama, avuncular and foreign but "huggable" was another. He was like a giant teddy bear. His nice smile, jell-o jowls, excitable demeanor and Hungarian accent were his trademarks. It's easy to see why he was dubbed "Cuddles" He was born Eugene Gero Szakall on February 2, 1884 in Budapest, Hungary and early in his career used the name Szoke Szakall from where he got the S.Z. He began in the German talkies in "Rutschbahn" (1928) until the rise of the Nazi Party and left for Hungary and Austria where he appeared in films. He arrived in Hollywood after the outbreak of World War II and began a very successful film career. He appeared in many classic films including: "Rutschbaum" (1928), his film debut; "Fraulein Lili" (1936) as Prokurist Seidl, a German film; "The Lilac Domino" (1937) as Sandor, an English film. His Hollywood debut came in "It's a Date" (1940) as Karl Ober; "Florian" (1940) as Max; "Spring Parade" (1940) as The Baker; "The Man Who Lost Himself" (1941) as Paul; "That Night in Rio" (1941) as Arthur Penna; "Ball of Fire" (1941) as Prof. Magenbruch; "The Devil and Miss Jones" (1941) as George; "Broadway" (1942) as Nick; "Casablanca" (1942) as Carl the headwaiter; "Yankee Doodle Dandy" (1942) as Schwab; "Seven Sweethearts" (1942) as Mr. Van Maaster; "Wintertime" (1943) as Hjalmar Ostgaard; "The Human Comedy" (1943) uncredited as Mr. Ara; "Thank Your Lucky Stars" (1943) as Dr. Schlenna; "Shine on Harvest Moon" (1944) as Poppa Carl; "San Antonio" (1945) as Sacha Bozic; "The Dolly Sisters" (1945) as Uncle Latzie; "Christmas in Connecticut" (1945) as Felix Bassenak; "Wonder Man" (1945) as Schmidt; "Cinderella Jones" (1946) as Gabriel Popik; "Two Guys from Milwaukee" (1946) as Count Oswald; "Never Say Goodbye" (1946) as Luigi; "The Time, the Place and the Girl" (1946) as Ladislaus Cassell; "Cynthia" (1947) as Prof. Rosenkrantz; "Embraceable You" (1948) as Sammy; "April Showers" (1948) as Mr. Curley; "Romance on the High Seas" (1948) as Uncle Lazlo Lazlo; "Whiplash" (1948) as Sam; "In the Good Old Summertime" (1949) as Otto Oberkugen; "Look for the Silver Lining" (1949) as Shendorf; "My Dreasm is Yours" (1949) as Felix Hofer; "Oh, You Beautiful Doll" (1950) as Fred Fisher; "Montana" (1950) as Poppa Schultz; "The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady" (1950) as Miklos Teretzky; "Tea for Two" (1950) as J. Maxwell Bloomhaus; "It's A Big Country" (1951) as Stefan Szabo; "Sugarfoot" (1951) as Don Miguel; "Lullaby of Broadway" (1951) as Adolph Hubbell; "Painting the Clouds with Sunshine" (1951) as Felix Hoff/Uncle Felix; "Small Town Girl" (1953) as Eric Schlemmer and "The Student Prince" (1954) as Joseph Ruder, his final film role. On TV he appeared only once on "The Ford Television Theatre" in "Yours for a Dream" in April 1954. He was married twice. His first wife was Giza Grossner whom he married in 1916 and they remained married until her death in 1918. He later married Ann Kardos in 1920 and they were married until his death. He died on February 12, 1955 in Los Angeles, California of a heart attack.
From Great Character Actors, Page 1.
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