Efrem Zimbalist Jr.

Early years

Zimbalist was born in New York City, the son of Jewish parents. His parents were Russian-born violinist Efrem Zimbalist, Sr. and Romanian-born operatic soprano Alma Gluck. His stepmother was Mary Louise Curtis Bok Zimbalist, the founder of the Curtis Institute of Music. He attended Fay School in Southborough, Massachusetts.

Zimbalist attended Yale University in the late 1930s, worked as a page for NBC radio in New York, and served in the United States Army for five years during World War II, where he became friends with Garson Kanin. He was awarded the Purple Heart for a leg wound received during the battle of Hürtgen Forest.

Early career

Following the war, Zimbalist returned to New York and made his Broadway acting debut in The Rugged Path, starring Spencer Tracy. This led to a stage career as both an actor and producer. His producing successes included bringing three Gian Carlo Menotti operas to Broadway, one of which, The Consul, won the Pulitzer Prize for music in 1950.

In 1954–1955 he co-starred in his first television series, Concerning Miss Marlowe.

Warner Bros. star

In 1956, Zimbalist was put under contract by Warner Bros. and moved to Hollywood. Zimbalist's first recurring role in a Warner Bros. Television series was as roguish gambler "Dandy Jim Buckley" on Maverick, opposite James Garner in 1957, and making five appearances as the character. In 1958, Zimbalist played the co-lead Stuart "Stu" Bailey in 77 Sunset Strip, a popular detective series running until 1964. During this period, he made several concurrent appearances in other Warner Bros. television shows, such as Hawaiian Eye, The Alaskans, and Bronco. He also starred as the lead in several feature films for Warners, such as Bombers B-52, The Deep Six, A Fever in the Blood, and The Chapman Report. Zimbalist was in such demand that he was given leave by Jack L. Warner due to exhaustion from his busy schedule.

Jack Warner lent him to Columbia Pictures for By Love Possessed in exchange for adding several years to his Warners' contract, but refused to let him make BUtterfield 8 for MGM.

In 1959, he was awarded the Golden Globe for "Most Promising Newcomer – Male".

The F.B.I. television series

Zimbalist was most widely known for his starring role as Inspector Lewis Erskine in the Quinn Martin television production The F.B.I., which premiered on September 19, 1965 and ended with its final episode on September 8, 1974. Zimbalist was generous in his praise of producer Martin and of his own experience starring in the show. Those who worked with him on the show were equally admiring of the star's professionalism and likable personality.

Zimbalist maintained a strong personal relationship with J. Edgar Hoover, who requested technical accuracy for the show and that agents be portrayed in the best possible light. Actors who played F.B.I. employees were required by Hoover to undergo a background check. Zimbalist passed his background check with ease. He subsequently spent a week in Washington, D.C.., where he was interviewed by Hoover, and at the F.B.I. Academy in Quantico, Virginia. Hoover and Zimbalist remained mutual admirers for the rest of Hoover's life. Hoover later held Zimbalist up as an image role model for F.B.I. employees to emulate in their personal appearance.

The Society of Former Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation honored the character of Lewis Erskine in 1985 with a set of retired credentials. On June 8, 2009 FBI Director Robert Mueller presented Zimbalist with a plaque of an honorary special agent for his work on the television series The F.B.I., on which he worked in collaboration with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and his friend J. Edgar Hoover. The run of the show on ABC was followed in the 1980s by a revival show, Today's FBI starring Mike Connors.

Other television work

After 77 Sunset Strip, he appeared in other series, including CBS's short-lived The Reporter starring Harry Guardino as journalist Danny Taylor of the fictitious New York Globe. He also appeared in leading and supporting roles in several feature films, including Harlow, A Fever in the Blood (a film about a ruthless politician), Wait Until Dark, and Airport 1975.

Zimbalist had a recurring role as Daniel Chalmers, a white-collar con man, on his daughter Stephanie Zimbalist's 1980s television detective series Remington Steele, and in the television dramatic series Hotel.

In 1990, he played the father of Zorro in the Christian Broadcasting Network's remake, The New Zorro. Zimbalist relinquished the role after the program's first season due to the filming at studios outside Madrid, Spain, and the role subsequently went to Henry Darrow. He had a small recurring role in the 1990s hit science fiction television series Babylon 5 as William Edgars.

Also in the 1990s, Zimbalist played Alfred Pennyworth in Batman: The Animated Series as well as in Superman: The Animated Series, The New Batman Adventures, Justice League, Static Shock, and the animated films Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero, Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman, and villain Doctor Octopus in Spider-Man: The Animated Series. He appeared on the Trinity Broadcasting Network and as himself in the 1998 Smithsonian Institution production of Gemstones of America. He performed as the narrator in "Good Morning, America" by Elinor Remick Warren—Cambria CD #1042 (1993).

Zimbalist wrote an autobiography, My Dinner of Herbs, published by Limelight Editions, New York.

In 2008, he appeared in the short film The Delivery, where he played a professor who helps a young girl in her struggles for literacy. The film won first place in fantasy at the Dragon*Con Film Festival and was an official selection at the Los Angeles International Children's Festival and the Reel Women International Film Festival in 2009.

Personal life and religion

Zimbalist married his first wife, Emily Munroe McNair, in 1945. She died of cancer five years later in 1950. Zimbalist's second marriage was to Loranda Stephanie Spaulding in 1956. She died of lung cancer on February 5, 2007, at the age of 73. Zimbalist was the father of Efrem Zimbalist III and Nancy Zimbalist by Emily McNair, and actress Stephanie Zimbalist by Stephanie Spaulding.

Zimbalist considered himself to be a man of abiding faith and was involved in a number of Christian media productions. His parents, Alma Gluck and Efrem Zimbalist, Sr., were assimilated non-practicing Jews who rejected their Jewish heritage. Efrem Sr. was raised in a non-practicing household and later stated, "As far as I am concerned, there has been no Jew in the family for sixty-five years." Alma and Efrem Sr. had their children baptized Christians in the Episcopal Church and raised them in that church. Efrem Jr. stated that he was taken to church every Sunday and attended St. Paul's School, an Episcopal boarding school in New Hampshire. He also attended church every Sunday with his first wife, and it was his faith which allowed him peace when she succumbed to cancer.

A spiritual pilgrim, Zimbalist was an early practitioner and proponent of Transcendental Meditation, as taught by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. He described the Maharishi Yogi as a "fascinating character", but found that his nine-year association with the meditation method "... was a total waste of energy for me." He returned to the Episcopal Church for a time. In the late 1970s, Zimbalist was drawn to the Charismatic Christianity first to Jim Bakker and Tammy Faye Bakker's PTL Club and later, after serving for several years, on PTL's board, to its principal televangelistic successor the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN). Efrem's face and voice have appeared on scores of TBN announcements, including the station identification at the top of every hour. In a five-minute segment called "The Word" which aired on TBN at 25 after the hour, Zimbalist read through the entire Bible, verse by verse; later these segments appeared in interludes and station breaks on TBN. He told a reporter in 1989, "for a while I did go overboard in my association with a fundamentalist group", but never made a verbal association with any ministry. As of January 2016, TBN still uses his spots where he reads scripture, as well as his voice on TBN network identifications. Eventually, he resumed active participation in the Episcopal Church, feeling comfortable with that denominational style.

In 1963 and 1964, Zimbalist joined fellow actors William Lundigan, Chill Wills, and Walter Brennan in making appearances on behalf of U.S. Senator Barry Goldwater, the Republican candidate, in his election campaign against U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson.

Death

Zimbalist died on May 2, 2014 from natural causes at the age of 95.