Jack Gilford (born Jacob Aaron Gellman; July 25, 1908 – June 4, 1990)[2] was an American Broadway, film, and television actor.

His parents were Romanian-born Jewish immigrants Sophie "Susksa" (née Jackness), who owned a restaurant, and Aaron Gellman, a furrier.

His first appearance on film was a short entitled Midnight Melodies in which he did his imitations of George Jessel, Rudy Vallee and Harry Langdon.

[4][citation needed] In 1938, Gilford worked as the master of ceremonies in the first downtown New York integrated nightclub, Café Society, which was owned and operated by Barney Josephson.

His was a unique blend of the earlier style of the Yiddish theater, vaudeville and burlesque, and started the tradition of monology such as later comedians Lenny Bruce and Woody Allen used.

Gilford was nominated for several Tony Awards, including for best supporting actor as Hysterium in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1963), and for his role as Herr Schultz in Cabaret (1966).

Sir Rudolf Bing engaged Gilford for the comic speaking role of the tippling jailer Frosch in the operetta Die Fledermaus.

[1][8] The couple had difficulty finding work during much of the rest of the 1950s due to the Hollywood blacklist, and often had to borrow money from friends to make ends meet.