- Born
- Died
- Birth nameIan Marcus Wolfe
- Height5′ 9″ (1.75 m)
- Respected character actor whose on-screen work included everything from Shakespeare to Dick Tracy (1990) (his last film). After a long apprenticeship in the theatre, the 38-year-old Wolfe finally debuted in films in The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934), recreating his Broadway role. He then toiled away steadily in Hollywood for the next several decades, working as a supporting player in literally hundreds of film and TV productions well into his 90s. Though capable of a wide range of parts, Wolfe's gentle, patrician manner found him most often cast as a butler, a minister or a kindly doctor. He finally gained his greatest fame at the age of 85, effortlessly stealing scenes as Mama Carlson's doddering yet feisty butler "Hirsch" in several episodes of the MTM sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati (1978).- IMDb mini biography by: Rudyard Kennedy
- SpouseEva Elizabeth Moreton Schroder(December 24, 1923 - January 23, 1992) (his death, 2 children)
- ParentsMarcus Aurelius WolfeMary Rose Wilson
- He was a volunteer medical specialist during World War I.
- He appeared in 14 films that were nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award: Mutiny on the Bounty (1935), Romeo and Juliet (1936), You Can't Take It with You (1938), Foreign Correspondent (1940), Mrs. Miniver (1942), Random Harvest (1942), The Song of Bernadette (1943), Wilson (1944), Johnny Belinda (1948), A Place in the Sun (1951), Julius Caesar (1953), Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954), Witness for the Prosecution (1957) and Reds (1981). Of those, Mutiny on the Bounty (1935),You Can't Take It with You (1938), Mrs. Miniver (1942) are winners in the category.
- He appeared in three Best Picture Academy Award winners: Mutiny on the Bounty (1935), You Can't Take It with You (1938) and Mrs. Miniver (1942).
- He wrote and self-published two poetry books: "Forty-Four Scribbles and a Prayer: Lyrics and Ballads" and "Sixty Ballads and Lyrics in Search of Music".
- Along with Felix Locher, Judith Anderson, Morgan Farley, Richard Hale, Anthony Jochim, Celia Lovsky, Leonard Mudie, Charles Seel, Bill Borzage and Abraham Sofaer, he is one of only eleven "Star Trek" actors to have been born in the 19th Century. He played Septimus in Bread and Circuses (1968) and Mr. Atoz and his android duplicates in All Our Yesterdays (1969). Of the eleven actors in question, he was the last survivor, having outlived Judith Anderson by 20 days.
- (on being recognized in public) Mostly, they know the face, but they don't know the name. Some people are funny. Some are nice. They don't try to take up your time. They say, "I see you a lot and I sure enjoy you" and they're gone. It's my voice, too, that people recognize. I had no idea that my voice is distinctive in any way. But people will say, "I knew you by your voice".
- My face in repose is either very sad or menacing.
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