Alan Mandell (born Albert Mandell on 27 December 1927) is a Canadian-American actor known for playing Rabbi Marshak in the Coen Brothers' 2009 film A Serious Man. With several decades of experience as a stage actor, he is especially acclaimed as an interpreter of the works of Samuel Beckett.
Life Albert Mandell was born to a Jewish family in Toronto, Ontario in 1927. He acted on stage in both Canada and the United States, building a reputation in San Francisco's theater scene in the 1950s. In 1968 he legally changed his given name to Alan to avoid being confused with noted mobster Albert Anastasia.
Mandell's association with Beckett began in 1957, with a production of Waiting for Godot at the San Francisco Actor's Workshop. He subsequently played Lucky in a production of Godot directed by Beckett himself.
Outside of Beckett, Mandell has acted in productions of Harold Pinter's No Man's Land and Arthur Miller's The Price. In 2007 he appeared as Juror #9 in a Los Angeles production of Twelve Angry Men, directed by Scott Ellis and costarring Richard Thomas and George Wendt.
Filmography
Film YearTitleRoleNotes1988Illegally YoursJuror #81991The Marrying ManMurch1993Midnight WitnessShaw2001Hedwig and the Angry InchPatron at BarUncredited role2006ShortbusTobias, the Mayor2009A Serious ManRabbi Marshak2013Herblock: The Black & the WhiteHerbert Blockdocumentary2015Addicted to FresnoArthur Lupka2019Velvet BuzzsawVentril Dease
Television YearTitleRoleNotes1974Great PerformancesDistrict Police InspectorEpisode: "Enemies"1975The Invisible ManSenator BaldwynEpisode: "Man of Influence"1975CannonBillingsEpisode: "Fall Guy"1976The Six Million Dollar ManTechnicianEpisode: "The Secret of Bigfoot: Part 2 "1976BarettaAssistant DA MerrimanEpisode: "The Left Hand of the Devil"1976BarettaRichmondEpisode: "Runway Cowboy"1977Man from AtlantisGrant StockwoodEpisode: "The Death Scouts"197879 Park AvenueDr. George WaldheimTV miniseries1978Eight is EnoughunknownEpisode: "Cinderella's Understudy"1980Breaking AwayPinball playerEpisode: "Grand Illusion"1991SistersOwen GlendowerEpisode: "One to Grow On"2010Grey's AnatomyHenry StammEpisode: "Shiny Happy People"
References
External links