Howard Da Silva Movies and Career Information

Howard Da Silva (May 4, 1909 – February 16, 1986) was an American actor. He was born Howard Silverblatt in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of Benjamin and Bertha Silverblatt. His parents were both Yiddish speaking Jews born in Russia. He had a job as a steelworker before beginning his acting career on the stage. He changed his surname to the Portuguese Da Silva, despite not having any relationship with Portugal or Brazil. (The name is sometimes misspelled Howard De Silva) Da Silva appeared in a number of Broadway musicals, including the role of "Larry Foreman" in the legendary first production of Marc Blitzstein's musical, The Cradle Will Rock (1937). Later, he costarred in the original 1943 stage production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma!, playing the role of the psychopathic "Jud Fry". He was the easygoing Ben who opposed Tammany Hall in the Pulitzer winning musical Fiorello!. In 1969 he originated the role of Benjamin Franklin in the musical 1776 and played him in the 1972 film version as well. Da Silva did summer stock at the Pine Brook Country Club, located in the countryside of Nichols, Connecticut, with the Group Theatre (New York) formed by Harold Clurman, Cheryl Crawford