Herschel Bernardi

Birthday: 1923-10-30
Deathday: 1986-05-09
Birthplace: New York City, New York, USA
Gender: Male
Owned By: Unowned

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Herschel Bernardi (30 October 1923, New York City – 9 May 1986, Los Angeles, California) was an American film, Broadway, and television actor.

He is best known for his starring roles on Broadway including Fiddler on the Roof (as Tevye), Zorba, and Bajour, but he also acted in many television shows, including Harbor Command and The Eleventh Hour (both with Wendell Corey), as well as State Trooper, Peter Gunn. He was the lead in the CBS sitcom Arnie.

Bernardi wrote at least one script for Peter Gunn. In Arnie, he starred for two years as someone plucked from the loading dock of a flange company to become an executive. Originally, the character was to receive a $25,000 annual salary, which was very good in those days. But, national economic woes caused producers to substitute the figure of $20,000 per year before airing.

Born into the Yiddish theatre, Bernardi was appearing on the stages of 2nd Avenue with his acting family before he could talk.

In the 1930s, Bernardi appeared in the Yiddish films of Edgar G. Ulmer and was later among those actors who made the transition from Yiddish-speaking roles in film to American films.

Bernardi was also in several notable films, including Irma La Douce, Love with the Proper Stranger and the 1976 film The Front, a film about blacklisting in the entertainment industry. Bernardi was the victim of blacklisting during the 1950s, as were several other performers and the screenwriter and director on that film.

Bernardi was a noted voiceover artist and narrator with hundreds of films, commercials and cartoons to his credit and was the original voice of StarKist Tuna animated character, "Charlie the Tuna".

Herschel Bernardi also had two minor record hits, 1967's "If I Were A Rich Man", reflecting his success as Tevye, and 1971's "Pencil Marks On The Wall".

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Credits

Year Title Character
1986-04-25 David and Goliath Goliath (voice)
1986-04-06 I-Man Bogosian
1985-08-09 Almonds and Raisins
1981-03-12 The Million Dollar Face Nick Ravenna
1978-02-21 Actor Nahum Favel Weissenfreund
1976-09-17 The Front Philip Sussman
1976-02-05 No Deposit, No Return Sgt. Max Turner
1974-04-07 The Story of Jacob and Joseph Laban
1974-01-28 Judgment: The Trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
1972-12-14 Journey Back to Oz Woodenhead Pinto Stallion III (voice)
1972-10-17 Sand Castles Alexis
1972-09-19 No Place to Run Hyam Malsh
1971-12-01 The Big Freeze
1970-10-06 But I Don't Want to Get Married! Walter Benjamin
1968-03-03 A Hatful of Rain John Pope, Sr.
1967-05-21 The Honey Pot Oscar Ludwig (uncredited) (scenes deleted)
1965-04-03 The Man from Button Willow The Captain / Saloon Man#1
1964-10-14 Send Me No Flowers TV Announcer (voice) (uncredited)
1963-12-25 Love with the Proper Stranger Dominick Rossini
1963-06-05 Irma la Douce Inspector Lefevre
1963-01-01 The Great Rights
1961-11-22 The George Raft Story Sam
1961-07-26 A Cold Wind in August Juley Franz
1960-06-06 The Savage Eye Kirk
1959-12-01 1001 Arabian Nights The Jinni of the Lamp (voice)
1958-12-18 Murder by Contract George
1958-05-03 Stakeout on Dope Street Mr. Fennel
1938-11-01 The Singing Blacksmith Yankel, as a boy