--- name: "Howard Da Silva" canonical: "https://film.one/person/howard-da-silva" roles: ["Actor"] born: "4 May 1909" died: "16 February 1986" reviewed_on_fi1m: 3 average_fi1m_score: 77 average_as: "actor" average_over: 3 updated: "2026-09-20T01:15:59.794731+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Howard Da Silva Actor. Born 4 May 1909 in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. Died 16 February 1986. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 4 May 1909, Cleveland, Ohio, USA - **Died:** 16 February 1986 - **Active:** 1941–1963 - **Also known as:** Howard Silverblatt, Howard DaSilva, Howard DaSylva - **Primetime Emmy Awards:** 1 Emmy (1 won) - **Average Fi1m score:** 77, as actor, over 3 titles - **Fi1m score by decade:** 1940s 74 (2), 1960s 84 (1) - **Score spread:** 2 at 80+, 1 at 60–79, 0 under 60 - **Lead roles:** 0 of 2 acting credits billed first or second - **Genres:** Drama 3, Action & Adventure 1, History 1, Mystery 1, War 1 - **Screen time:** 4 hours of reviewed films - **Box office:** $27m across 2 films with figures - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_da_Silva, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1631771, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0196247/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/79247 ## Streaming the US now - **Tubi:** [*Sergeant York*](https://film.one/film/sergeant-york.md) (66) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Biography Howard da Silva (born Howard Silverblatt) was an American actor and director who worked in theatre, film, television and radio. Born in Cleveland, Ohio, on 4 May 1909, he began his career on the New York stage in the late 1920s and appeared in more than fifty feature films. On Broadway he originated the role of Jud Fry in the 1943 production of *Oklahoma!* and played Benjamin Franklin in the musical *1776* (1969–1972), reprising the part in the 1972 film. His film roles include Lem in *Sergeant York* (1941), Nat the bartender in *The Lost Weekend* (1945), and Louis B. Mayer in *Mommie Dearest* (1981). He also directed the 1961 Broadway production of *Purlie Victorious*. Da Silva was blacklisted in the early 1950s after refusing to cooperate with the House Un-American Activities Committee; he continued stage work during this period and returned to screen roles in the 1960s. He died in Ossining, New York, on 16 February 1986. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, catalog.afi.com, imdb.com, nytimes.com.* ## On Fi1m (3) - *The Fugitive* (1963), Fi1m 84, as Pete Dawes — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-fugitive-1963.md) - *The Lost Weekend* (1945), Fi1m 82, as Nat the Bartender — [page](https://film.one/film/the-lost-weekend.md) - *Sergeant York* (1941), Fi1m 66, as Lem — [page](https://film.one/film/sergeant-york.md) ## Complete filmography (66) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Garbo Talks* (1984), as Angelo Dakakis - *Masquerade* (1983), series, as General Breznin - *American Playhouse* (1982), series, as Critic - *Mommie Dearest* (1981), as L.B. Mayer - *The Greatest Man in the World* (1981), as Conkin - *Power* (1980), series, as Jack Eisenstadt - *Archie Bunker's Place* (1979), series, Actor - *Verna: USO Girl* (1978), as Eddie - *The Private Files of J. Edgar Hoover* (1977), as Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt - *I'm a Stranger Here Myself* (1975), as Narrator (voice) - *The Missiles of October* (1974), as Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev - *The Missiles of October* (1974), series, as Nikita Khrushchev - Soviet Premier - *The Great Gatsby* (1974), as Meyer Wolfsheim - *Smile Jenny, You're Dead* (1974), as Lt. Humphrey Kenner - *1776* (1972), as Dr. Benjamin Franklin - *Kung Fu* (1972), series, as Otto Schultz - *Great Performances* (1971), series, as Eddie - *Mannix* (1967), series, Actor - *Nevada Smith* (1966), as Warden - *The Loner* (1965), series, Actor - *For the People* (1965), series, Actor - *The Outrage* (1964), as Prospector - *The Man from U.N.C.L.E.* (1964), series, as Captain Basil Calhoun - *Hamlet* (1964), as Claudius - *The Fugitive* (1963), series, as Pete Dawes — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-fugitive-1963.md) - *The Outer Limits* (1963), series, as Thurman Cutler (as Howard da Silva) - *David and Lisa* (1962), as Dr. Swinford - *Ben Casey* (1961), series, Actor - *The Defenders* (1961), series, as Peter Cole, Arnold Fermuller - *Fourteen Hours* (1951), as Deputy Police Chief Moskar - *M* (1951), as Inspector Carney - *Three Husbands* (1950), as Dan McCabe - *Tripoli* (1950), as Capt. Demetrios - *Wyoming Mail* (1950), as Cavanaugh - *The Underworld Story* (1950), as Carl Durham - *They Live by Night* (1949), as Chicamaw One-Eye Mobley - *Border Incident* (1949), as Owen Parkson - *The Great Gatsby* (1949), as Wilson - *Unconquered* (1947), as Garth - *Variety Girl* (1947), as Howard Da Silva - *Blaze of Noon* (1947), as Mike Gafferty - *Two Years Before the Mast* (1946), as Captain Francis A. Thompson - *The Blue Dahlia* (1946), as Eddie Harwood - *The Lost Weekend* (1945), as Nat the Bartender — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/the-lost-weekend.md) - *Duffy's Tavern* (1945), as Tough Guy - *Tonight We Raid Calais* (1943), as Sgt. Block - *Keeper of the Flame* (1943), as Jason Rickards - *Reunion in France* (1942), as Anton Stregel - *The Omaha Trail* (1942), as Ben Santley - *The Big Shot* (1942), as Sandor - *Juke Girl* (1942), as Cully - *Native Land* (1942), as Jim - *Bullet Scars* (1942), as Frank Dillon - *Wild Bill Hickok Rides* (1942), as Ringo - *Steel Against the Sky* (1941), as Bugs - *Blues in the Night* (1941), as Sam Paryas - *At the Stroke of Twelve* (1941), as Angie the Ox - *Sergeant York* (1941), as Lem — Fi1m 66, [page](https://film.one/film/sergeant-york.md) - *Nine Lives Are Not Enough* (1941), as City Editor - *Bad Men of Missouri* (1941), as Greg Bilson - *Strange Alibi* (1941), as Prison Guard Monson - *The Sea Wolf* (1941), as Harrison - *I'm Still Alive* (1940), as Red Garvey - *Abe Lincoln in Illinois* (1940), as Jack Armstrong - *Marie Antoinette* (1938), as Toulon (uncredited) - *Once in a Blue Moon* (1935), Actor ## Gallery - ![Howard da Silva in the American public domain film International Crime (1951) - cropped screenshot](https://film.one/media/person/467599/gallery-80f580bd5785.jpg) Howard da Silva in the American public domain film International Crime (1951) - cropped screenshot — Film screenshot (Gloria Productions Inc.), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/28/Howard_da_Silva_in_Three_Husbands.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Cast photograph of Howard Da Silva, playing the role of Larry Foreman in the Federal Theatre Project production of The Cradle Will Rock at Maxine Elliott's Thea (1937)](https://film.one/media/person/467599/gallery-c6255f1b1af0.jpg) Cast photograph of Howard Da Silva, playing the role of Larry Foreman in the Federal Theatre Project production of The Cradle Will Rock at Maxine Elliott's Thea (1937) — Federal Theatre Project, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Cradle_Will_Rock_Howard_Da_Silva_412-9.jpg/1280px-Cradle_Will_Rock_Howard_Da_Silva_412-9.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Howard Da Silva](https://film.one/media/person/467599/gallery-466c2277161a.jpg) Howard Da Silva — Trailer screenshot (Paramount Pictures), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/Howard_Da_Silva_Unconquered_trailer.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) ## Awards ### Primetime Emmy Awards — 1 won - 1978: Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie (won), for *Verna: USO Girl* *From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.* --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/howard-da-silva