Robert Ellenstein(1923-2010)
- Actor
- Director
The son of a Newark dentist, Robert Ellenstein grew up in that New
Jersey city and saw his father go on to become its two-term mayor. He
got his feet wet acting-wise prior to serving with the Air Corps during
World War II; earning a Purple Heart during his service, he began
acting, directing and teaching in Cleveland, Ohio. A veteran of the
"Golden Age" of live television (he played Quasimodo in a live
Robert Montgomery Presents (1950)
version of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame"), he made his first film in
1954 (MGM's Rogue Cop (1954)) and was
still active in television and regional theater. He taught theatre
professionally and academically for over 50 years, founding the Los
Angeles Academy of Stage and Cinematic Arts. He was artistic director
of The Company of Angels and founding artistic director of the Los
Angeles Repertory Company. He was best known for having played the
villain in the pilot episode of
Moonlighting (1985), and then
the Federation President in
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986).
Robert Ellenstein died at age 87 of natural causes on October 28, 2010.
