Robert Ellenstein

Robert Ellenstein (June 18, 1923 – October 28, 2010) was an American actor. The son of Meyer C. Ellenstein, a Newark dentist, Ellenstein grew up to see his father become a two-term mayor from 1933 to 1941. He served in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II, earning a Purple Heart during his service.

Early years Ellenstein's parents were Meyer C. Ellenstein and Hilda Ellenstein. His interest in acting began while he was a prep school student and after his university years he studied theater in New York with Stella Adler.

Film and television career A veteran of the "Golden Age" of live television (he played Quasimodo in a live Robert Montgomery Presents (1950) version of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame"), for the same show played the lead in "A Case of Identity", later turned into the film The Wrong Man (1956), he was the first actor to play Albert Einstein on television. Ellenstein made his first film in 1954 (MGM's Rogue Cop). He was featured in Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest. In 1961, he played the mobster Legs Diamond in an episode of NBC's 1920s crime drama The Lawless Years with James Gregory.

Among his television appearances, Ellenstein guest starred in three episodes of Perry Mason. In 1957 he played defendant John Addison in "The Case of the Vagabond Vixen." In 1959 he played murder victim Arthur Cartright in "The Case of the Howling Dog," and in 1960 he played Medical Examiner Dr. McBride in "The Case of the Madcap Modiste." In 1965 he played a character curiously of 65 years of age (in obviously inadequate makeup) in a second-season episode of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. He appeared in two episodes of the WWII drama, Combat!, first in 1965 in "The Tree of Moray" and in 1966 he was in the episode "Counterplay". He also made three guest appearances on The Untouchables, five appearances on The Wild Wild West, four on Ironside, and five on Mission: Impossible. He also directed television with an episode of the 1960s sitcom, Love on a Rooftop, and many live television episodes.

Ellenstein had over 200 television appearances.

Stage Ellenstein's career began on stage in 1947 at the Cleveland Play House.

Partial filmography Year Title Role Notes1954 Rogue Cop Det. Sidney Y. Myers 1955 Illegal Joe Knight 1956 Gunsmoke Tewksbury Episode: "Prairie Happy"1957 The Garment Jungle Fred Kenner 1957 3:10 to Yuma Ernie Collins 1957 The Walter Winchell File Melk Episode: "Where Is Louise Melk?"1958 The Young Lions Rabbi Joseph Silverstein Uncredited1958 Too Much, Too Soon Gerald Frank 1959 One Step Beyond Captain Peabody Episode: "The Navigator"1959 One Step Beyond Mr. Tomachek Episode: "Message from Clara"1959 North by Northwest Licht 1959 The Gazebo Ben 1960 Pay or Die Luigi Di Sarno 1961 The Big Bankroll Lenny 1965 Deathwatch Guard 1965 The Wild Wild West Luis Vasquez Episode: "The Night of the Flaming Ghost"1966Get SmartAlexEpisode: "Double Agent"1966 Bonanza Harry Fitts Episode: "The Code"1968 The Wild Wild West Dr. Occularis Second Episodes: "The Night of the Winged Terror – Parts I & II"1968 The Legend of Lylah Clare Mike 1969 The Big Valley Dr. Amos Pearce Episode: "Top of the Stairs"1972 Mission: Impossible Vincent Vochek Episode: "Stone Pillow"1978 Hawaii Five-O Bart Warren Episode: "Death Mask"1979 Love at First Bite VW Man 1981 Magnum, P.I. Saul Greenberg Episode: "Never Again...Never Again"1985 Brewster's Millions Mr. Carter 1986 Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home Federation Council President 1987 Star Trek: The Next Generation Steven Miller Episode: "Haven"1989 L.A. Law Dr. Peter Lacker Episode: "I'm in the Nude for Love" (uncredited)