Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.

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Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. (born November 30, 1918 in New York, New York) is an American actor best known for his roles in the television series 77 Sunset Strip and The F.B.I. and for several appearances as "Dandy Jim Buckley" on TV's Maverick.

Zimbalist is the son of violinist Efrem Zimbalist, Sr. (1889-1985) and operatic soprano Alma Gluck (1884-1938). Like his father before him he is also an accomplished violinist and a composer.

A 1940 graduate of Yale University, Zimbalist had a stage career as both actor and producer. He also appeared in leading and supporting roles in several feature films, including Harlow, Wait Until Dark, and Airport 1975.

Born Jewish, Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. became involved with Jews for Jesus.^{[citation needed]} Efrem has had a close association with evangelical Christianity, having appeared on some Christian radio and television shows including "The 700 Club", Pat Boone's radio show^{[citation needed]} and TBN.

His wife was Stephanie Spaulding Zimbalist, who died of lung cancer on February 4, 2007. She was 73 years old. [1]

Zimbalist is the father of actress Stephanie Zimbalist and of Efrem Zimbalist III. He had a recurring role on his daughter's 1980s mystery series, Remington Steele. In 1989, Zimbalist played the father of Zorro in the (then Christian Broadcasting Network's- aka CBN) Family Channel's remake "The New Zorro". Zimbalist relinquished the role after the program's first season, due to time being spent on location. Zimbalist had a small recurring role in the 1990s science fiction TV series Babylon 5 as William Edgars.

Zimbalist also provided the voice of the German-accented Dr. Octopus on the 1990s Spider-Man: The Animated Series and Alfred Pennyworth in Batman: The Animated Series. He has appeared on the Trinity Broadcasting Network.[2]