Alfie Bass Movies and Career Information

Alfred Bass (born Abraham Basalinsky, 12 April 1916 – 15 July 1987) was an English actor. He was born in Bethnal Green, London, the youngest in a Jewish family with ten children; their parents had fled persecution in Russia. He appeared in a variety of stage, film, television and radio productions throughout his career. After leaving elementary school in Bethnal Green at the age of 14, he worked as a tailor's apprentice, a messenger boy and a shop-window display fitter, before taking to the stage. Bass's acting career began at Unity Theatre, London in the late 1930s, appearing in Plant In The Sun, and as the pantomime King in Babes In The Wood. After the outbreak of the Second World War, Bass joined the Middlesex regiment as a despatch rider. Despite being kept busy with his duties, he found time to become involved in concert parties, as well as taking part in documentaries for the Army Film Unit. His stage career included plays by Shakespeare and Shaw. During the 1950s he continued to direct shows at Unity, and on one occasion appeared in court (along with Vida Hope) charged with putting on a play without a licence. His stage work also included an adaptation of Gogol's short story