Rolfe Sedan


Rolfe Sedan was an American character actor, best known for appearing in bit parts, often uncredited, usually portraying clerks, train conductors, postmen, cooks, waiters etc.

Early life

Born Edward Sedan in New York City, his mother was a Broadway theatre fashion designer and his father an orchestra conductor.

Career

He began his career in show business as a nightclub and vaudeville performer and began acting in East Coast theatre. Sedan debuted on Broadway in 1916 and appeared in his first motion picture for Metro Pictures Corporation in 1921.
He became a prolific character actor and is probably best remembered by movie buffs as the hotel manager in Ninotchka starring Greta Garbo. Around the same time, he appeared in an uncredited role as the Emerald City's Balloon Ascensionist in The Wizard of Oz. He returned to Broadway, performing in several different shows during the first half of the 1940s and in the 1950s began a sequence of guest roles in television series such as The Jack Benny Program. His most frequent TV work came from recurring roles as hapless mail carriers. He was also seen as the train conductor in the film Young Frankenstein, and in bit parts in two other Gene Wilder pictures. Rolfe Sedan remained active throughout a career that spanned more than six decades.

Death

Sedan died in 1982 in Pacific Palisades, California from heart problems at age 86.

Selected filmography

- Admirer