John Garfield

John Garfield, the actor, was born Jacob Julius Garfinkle on Manhattan's lower east side on March 4, 1913.  His parents were Jewish immigrants from Russia.  As a child at P.S. 45, Garfield was first introduced to acting.  Later, he took "lessons at a drama school" and began to appear in theatrical productions in New York. He made his Broadway debut in 1932.  

In 1938, Garfield made his film debut in the Warner Bros. picture, Four Daughters, directed by Michael Curtiz, for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor (lost to Walter Brennan in Kentucky).  In 1939, he was in Juarez with Paul Muni.  In 1945, Garfield starred in Pride of the Marines.  In 1946, he was cast opposite Lana Turner in The Postman Always Rings Twice.  In 1947, Garfield was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in Body and Soul (lost to Ronald Coleman in A Double Life).

Also in 1947, Garfield appeared in a supporting role in the groundbreaking film, Gentleman's Agreement, which won three Academy Awards including Best Picture.  In the story, Philip Green (Gregory Peck, who was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor, but also lost to Ronald Coleman in A Double Life), a journalist, moves to New York City to write for a magazine.  His publisher asks him to do an article about antisemitism.  In order to get a different perspective, Green, a gentile, adopts a Jewish identity, Philip Greenberg.

Green's Jewish friend, Dave Goldman (Garfield), is staying with Green in his Manhattan apartment while Goldman looks for an apartment for himself.  One night, the two are in a restaurant for dinner. Goldman, an officer in the U.S. Army, is in uniform.  A drunken customer walks by their table and bumps into Goldman.

Noting Goldman's uniform, the drunk says, "I don't like officers."

Goldman responds in jest, "Neither do I."

"What's your name, Bud?" asks the drunk.  

"Dave, Dave Goldman.  What's yours?"

"I especially don't like them if they're yids."

Furious, Goldman jumps up from his seat and grabs the man by his lapels.  However, he is cool enough not to hit the physically impotent drunk.  Goldman releases him and sits back down.

In a documentary about Garfield, another Jewish actor, Richard Dreyfuss (1978 Academy Award winner for Best Actor in The Goodbye Girl), referred to this scene as "the scene."  As a fellow Jew, I think I understand what he meant.

Tragically, John Garfield died of a heart attack on May 21, 1952 at the age of only 39.  That he had scarlet fever as a child contributed to his untimely death.  A great actor was taken from us far too soon.