Maurice Moscovitch

Maurice Moscovitch (November 23, 1871 – June 18, 1940) was a Russian-born Jewish American theatre actor who appeared in films such as The Great Dictator near the end of his life.

Life and career

Maurice Moscovitch was born in the former Russian Empire in Odessa, which is today part of Ukraine. He emigrated to the USA not later than 1897 and performed for decades in the Yiddish theatre in New York and appeared in two 1930 Broadway plays.^[1] In the last four years of his life, Moscovitch played supporting roles in 14 films. With his distinctive accent, he mostly portrayed wise, friendly, often Jewish old men. He played a shopkeeper in the highly praised Make Way for Tomorrow (1937) and the art dealer Maurice Cobert in Love Affair with Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer.

He had his probably most famous role in his last film: Charlie Chaplin's Hitler-satire The Great Dictator, in which he played Chaplin's character's friendly Jewish neighbour, Mr. Jaeckel, who flees into exile to his brother.

Maurice Moskovitch died at the age of 68, following surgery. At the time of his death, he was playing the role of a dancing master in Dance, Girl, Dance. His role had to be quickly rewritten for actress Maria Ouspenskaya. He is buried with his wife Ruth (1872–1944) at the Beth Olam Cemetery in Hollywood.^[2]

Moscovitch's son Noel Madison (1897-1975) was also a character actor.

Filmography

• Winterset (1936)
• Make Way for Tomorrow (1937)
• Lancer Spy (1937)
• Gateway (1938)
• Suez (1938)
• Love Affair (1939)
• Susannah of the Mounties (1939)
• In Name Only (1938)
• Rio (1939)
• The Great Commandment (1939)
• Everything Happens at Night (1939)
• South to Karanga (1940)
• The Great Dictator (1940)

References

External links

• Maurice Moscovitch at the Internet Movie Database