Leonid Kinskey

Leonid Kinskey (1893/1894 – September 8, 1998) was a Russian-born American film and television actor, best known for his role as "Sascha" in the film ''Casablanca'' (1942). His last name was sometimes spelled Kinsky.

Life and career

Kinskey was born in St. Petersburg, Russia. He started his career as a mime in various imperial theatres in Russia in the mid-1910s. In 1921, he fled Russia for Germany.Oliver, Myrna (1998)
"Leonid Kinskey; Actor in 'Casablanca'"
obituary. ''Los Angeles Times'', September 11, 1998. Retrieved April 24, 2019. He acted on stage in Europe and South America before arriving in New York City from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in January 1924. He joined the road production of Al Jolson's musical ''Wonder Bar'', and in 1926 he made an appearance in the silent film ''The Great Depression'', although his scenes were deleted, before making his appearance in '' Trouble in Paradise'' (1932).

His looks and accent helped him gain supporting roles in several movies, including the Sylvanian "agitator" in the Marx Bros. film '' Duck Soup'' (1933). He told Aljean Harmetz, author of ''Round Up the Usual Suspects: The Making of Casablanca'', that he was cast in his best-known role, Sascha in ''Casablanca'', which he reportedly landed because he was a drinking buddy of star Humphrey Bogart.

Kinskey performed in episodes on no less than three dozen television series between the 1950s and early 1970s. His first appearances on the "small screen" were in 1954 on '' Passport to Danger'', ''The Spike Jones Show'', and ''Lux Video Theater.'' Later, in 1962, he portrayed a visiting Soviet dignitary (with most of his dialogue in Russian) in the episode "The Good Will Tour" on the sitcom ''The Real McCoys''.

In 1965, Kinskey was a cast member in the pilot episode of ''Hogan's Heroes'', performing as another Soviet character, who was an allied soldier and fellow prisoner-of-war. He, however, decided not to join the cast when that series went into formal production, for he reportedly "was uncomfortable playing let's-pretend with people in Nazi garb." His final roles on television were in 1971, as a professor on the series ''Mayberry R.F.D.''; a mortician on ''O'Hara, U.S. Treasury;'' and as a deli butcher on the sitcom ''The Chicago Teddy Bears''.

Personal life and death

Kinskey married three times, first to Josephine Tankus from 1930 until her death in 1939. Four years later he married actress Iphigenie Castiglioni, a union that lasted until her death in 1963. His final marriage, in 1985 in New York, was to Tina York, who was 38 years his junior."New York City Marriage Licenses Index, 1950-1995"
Leonid Kinskey and Tina York, 1985, Manhattan, New York City Clerk's Office. FamilySearch, archives of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah. Retrieved April 24, 2019. They remained wed until 1998, when Kinskey died in Fountain Hills, Arizona from complications of a stroke.

Filmography

Film

*''The Big Broadcast'' (1932) as Ivan
*'' Trouble in Paradise'' (1932) as Russian Visitor (uncredited)
*''Storm at Daybreak'' (1933) as Serbian Villager (uncredited)
*'' Duck Soup'' (1933) as Agitator
*''Girl Without a Room'' (1933) as Gallopsky
*'' The Cat and the Fiddle'' (1934) as Hans - Conservatory Violinist (uncredited)
*''Manhattan Melodrama'' (1934) as Trotskyite Slapping Poppa Rosen (uncredited)
*'' Change of Heart'' (1934) as Party Guest (uncredited)
*'' Strictly Dynamite'' (1934) as Garçon (uncredited)
*'' Hollywood Party'' (1934) as Jake the Cabbie (uncredited)
*''Fugitive Road'' (1934) as Nicholas Petrovich,- Smuggler
*'' Straight Is the Way'' (1934) as Mechanic (uncredited)
*''The Merry Widow'' (1934) as Shepherd (uncredited)
*''Marie Galante'' (1934) as Arohnson (uncredited)
*''We Live Again'' (1934) as Simon Kartinkin
*'' The Lives of a Bengal Lancer'' (1935) as Snake Charmer (uncredited)
*'' The Gilded Lily'' (1935) as Vocal Teacher (uncredited)
*''Les Misérables'' (1935) as Genflou
*''Goin' to Town'' (1935) as Cecil - Interior Decorator (uncredited)
*''I Live My Life'' (1935) as Waiter (uncredited)
*''Peter Ibbetson'' (1935) as Prisoner (uncredited)
*'' Three Godfathers'' (1936) as Card Player (uncredited)
*''The Road to Glory'' (1936) as Wounded Soldier
*''Rhythm on the Range'' (1936) as Mischa
*''A Son Comes Home'' (1936) as Hoodlum (uncredited)
*''The General Died at Dawn'' (1936) as Stewart
*''The Big Broadcast of 1937'' (1936) as Russian (uncredited)
*'' The Garden of Allah'' (1936) as Voluble Arab (uncredited)
*'' Love on the Run'' (1936) as Man on Train (uncredited)
*''We're on the Jury'' (1937) as Professor Nicholas Krakin
*''Espionage'' (1937) as Maxie Burgos
*'' Maytime'' (1937) as Student in Bar (uncredited)
*'' The Woman I Love'' (1937) (uncredited)
*''Cafe Metropole'' (1937) as Artist
*''The Girl from Scotland Yard'' (1937) as Mischa
*''Married Before Breakfast'' (1937) as Mischa Lapidoff (uncredited)
*''Meet the Boyfriend'' (1937) as Dr. Sokoloff
*'' Make a Wish'' (1937) as Moe
*''One Hundred Men and a Girl'' (1937) as Pianist at Mrs. Frost's Party (uncredited)
*''The Sheik Steps Out'' (1937) as Allusi Ali
*''My Dear Miss Aldrich'' (1937) as A Waiter
*'' Nothing Sacred'' (1937) as Ferdinand Roassare - Poet (uncredited)
*'' Wise Girl'' (1937) as Eccentric Greenwich Village Writer (uncredited)
*'' Outside of Paradise'' (1938) as Cafe Owner Ivan Petrovich
*''The Big Broadcast of 1938'' (1938) as Ivan (uncredited)
*''A Trip to Paris'' (1938) as Emile
*''Three Blind Mice'' (1938) as Young Man
*''Professor Beware'' (1938) as Tableau Director (uncredited)
*''Algiers'' (1938) as L'Arbi
*'' The Great Waltz'' (1938) as Dudelman
*'' Flirting with Fate'' (1938) as Pedro Lopez
*''The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle'' (1939) as Artist
*''Exile Express'' (1939) as David
*''The Spellbinder'' (1939) as Harry Beldon - Saxophone Player
*''On Your Toes'' (1939) as Ivan Boultonoff
*'' Day-Time Wife'' (1939) as Coco
*''Everything Happens at Night'' (1939) as Groder
*''He Stayed for Breakfast'' (1940) as Comrade Nicky
*''Down Argentine Way'' (1940) as Tito Acuna
*''So Ends Our Night'' (1941) as The Chicken
*''That Night in Rio'' (1941) as Pierre
*''Broadway Limited'' (1941) as Ivan
*''Week-End in Havana'' (1941) as Rafael
*''Ball of Fire'' (1941) as Prof. Quintana
*'' Lady for a Night'' (1942) as Boris
*''Brooklyn Orchid'' (1942) as Ignatz Rachkowsky
*''I Married an Angel'' (1942) as Zinski
*'' The Talk of the Town'' (1942) as Jan Pulaski
*''Somewhere I'll Find You'' (1942) as Dorloff (uncredited)
*''Casablanca'' (1942) as Sacha
*'' Cinderella Swings It'' (1943) as Vladimir Smitkin
*'' Let's Have Fun'' (1943) as Gregory Loosnikoff
*'' El circo'' (1943) as Cliente ruso zapatero
*''Presenting Lily Mars'' (1943) as Leo
*''Gildersleeve on Broadway'' (1943) as Window Washer
*''Five Were Chosen'' (1944)
*''The Fighting Seabees'' (1944) as Johnny Novasky
*'' That's My Baby!'' (1944) as Doctor Svatsky
*''Can't Help Singing'' (1944) as Koppa
*'' Monsieur Beaucaire'' (1946) as Rene
*''Alimony'' (1949) as Joe Wood
*''The Great Sinner'' (1949) as Bandleader in Park (uncredited)
*'' Nancy Goes to Rio'' (1950) as Ivan Putroff (uncredited)
*''Honeychile'' (1951) as Chick Lister
*''Gobs and Gals'' (1952) as Ivan
*''The Man with the Golden Arm'' (1955) as Dominiwski
*'' Glory'' (1956) as Vasily
*''The Helen Morgan Story'' (1957) as Stanislausky - Accordion Player (uncredited)

Television

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kinskey, Leonid
Year of birth uncertain
1998 deaths
20th-century American male actors
American male film actors
Male actors from Saint Petersburg
Russian Christians
Russian male film actors
Russian male television actors
White Russian emigrants to the United States