Biography
Vladimir Sokoloff was a Russian-born character actor who appeared in over 100 films and television productions, often playing supporting roles of varied nationalities.
Born in Moscow in 1889, he trained at the Moscow Art Theatre as an actor and assistant director under Constantin Stanislavski before emigrating to Berlin in 1923. With the rise of Nazism he moved to Paris in 1932 and then to the United States in 1937, where he appeared in numerous Broadway plays and quickly established himself in Hollywood films.
Among his best-known roles are Anselmo in For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943) and the Old Man in The Magnificent Seven (1960). He also featured in The Life of Emile Zola (1937) as Paul Cézanne, Scarlet Street (1945), and episodes of The Twilight Zone. Sokoloff died in West Hollywood in 1962.
