Herschel Bernardi
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Herschel Bernardi (30 October 1923, New York City – 9 May 1986, Los Angeles, California) was an American film, Broadway, and television actor.
He is best known for his starring roles on Broadway including Fiddler on the Roof (as Tevye), Zorba, and Bajour, but he also acted in many television shows, including Harbor Command and The Eleventh Hour (both with Wendell Corey), as well as State Trooper, Peter Gunn. He was the lead in the CBS sitcom Arnie.
Bernardi wrote at least one script for Peter Gunn. In Arnie, he starred for two years as someone plucked from the loading dock of a flange company to become an executive. Originally, the character was to receive a $25,000 annual salary, which was very good in those days. But, national economic woes caused producers to substitute the figure of $20,000 per year before airing.
Born into the Yiddish theatre, Bernardi was appearing on the stages of 2nd Avenue with his acting family before he could talk.
In the 1930s, Bernardi appeared in the Yiddish films of Edgar G. Ulmer and was later among those actors who made the transition from Yiddish-speaking roles in film to American films.
Bernardi was also in several notable films, including Irma La Douce, Love with the Proper Stranger and the 1976 film The Front, a film about blacklisting in the entertainment industry. Bernardi was the victim of blacklisting during the 1950s, as were several other performers and the screenwriter and director on that film.
Bernardi was a noted voiceover artist and narrator with hundreds of films, commercials and cartoons to his credit and was the original voice of StarKist Tuna animated character, "Charlie the Tuna".
Herschel Bernardi also had two minor record hits, 1967's "If I Were A Rich Man", reflecting his success as Tevye, and 1971's "Pencil Marks On The Wall".
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Known for
Matinee Theater
Murder, She Wrote
Avery Mendelsohn
Dr. Kildare
Pico
Dr. Kildare
Nathan Agurski
The Walter Winchell File
Route 66
Route 66
Gerald Ward
The Flintstones
Silky (uncredited) (voice)
The Flintstones
Doctor #1 (voice)
The Flintstones
Detective (voice)
The Flintstones
Agent (voice)
State Trooper
Jake Carney
Profiles in Courage
Gen. Daniel Sickles
The Detectives
Peter Gunn
Lieutenant Jacoby
The Fugitive
Captain Ames
Sam Benedict
Insp. Tony Delgano
Tony Awards
Self - Nominee
Cain's Hundred
Louis Strode
Burke's Law
Kid McCoy
Arnie
Vacation Playhouse
Jerome P. Baggley
Mr. Novak
Mr. Otis
Grindl
Highway to Heaven
Kraft Suspense Theatre
Joe Monti
Harbor Command
Honey West
The Untouchables
Benno Fisk
The Untouchables
Julius Albert Vernon
Kraft Music Hall
Naked City
Stanley Dorkner
Naked City
Gus Slate
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
Self
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
Guest Performer (uncredited)
Checkmate
Ned Hazly
Good Heavens
Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer
Joe Sale
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
Eddie
The Art of Being Nick
Sweepstakes
Irma la Douce
Inspector Lefevre
Hail to the Chief
Helmut Luger
The Front
Philip Sussman
No Deposit, No Return
Sgt. Max Turner
Send Me No Flowers
TV Announcer (voice) (uncredited)
The Story of Jacob and Joseph
Laban
Love with the Proper Stranger
Dominick Rossini
Journey Back to Oz
Woodenhead Pinto Stallion III (voice)
Murder by Contract
George
The Million Dollar Face
Nick Ravenna
The Honey Pot
Oscar Ludwig (uncredited) (scenes deleted)
The Man from Button Willow
The Captain / Saloon Man#1
The George Raft Story
Sam
But I Don't Want to Get Married!
Walter Benjamin
The Merv Griffin Show
Self
No Place to Run
Hyam Malsh
1001 Arabian Nights
The Jinni of the Lamp (voice)
A Cold Wind in August
Juley Franz
Stakeout on Dope Street
Mr. Fennel
David and Goliath
Goliath (voice)
I-Man
Bogosian
A Hatful of Rain
John Pope, Sr.
A Storm of Strangers: Jewish American
Narrator
Flying South
Wolf (voice) (uncredited)
Sand Castles
Alexis
Actor
Nahum Favel Weissenfreund
A Look Back at Crossbow
Narrator (uncredited) (voice)
Judgment: The Trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
The Savage Eye
Kirk
The Singing Blacksmith
Yankel, as a boy
The Great Rights
The Mike Douglas Show
Self
The Hangman
Narrator
The Red Skelton Show
Muggsy - a Hobo
The Dick Cavett Show
Self - Guest
The Big Freeze
The Ed Sullivan Show
Self
Almonds and Raisins
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
McCarthy