Actor. Born in New York City, Sloane turned to performing after losing his Wall Street job in the 1929 stock market crash. In 1938 he joined Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre and made a memorable screen debut in "Citizen Kane" (1941), playing Bernstein, Kane's faithful flunky. He was equally fine in "The Lady From Shanghai" (1948), fighting to the death with Welles and Rita Hayworth in the Hall of Mirrors climax, and as a tyrannical corporate boss in Rod Serling's "Patterns" (1956). His other movie credits include "Journey Into Fear" (1943), "The Men" (1950), "The Big Knife" (1955), "Somebody Up There Likes Me" (1956), "Lust for Life" (1956), and "Marjorie Morningstar" (1958). Sloane was a small man whose somewhat gnomish features could be used for both menacing and comic effect, but tended to limit the types of film roles he was given. He had greater opportunities to demonstrate his versatility in radio. In the early 1940s he was a regular on the series "The Goldbergs" while simultaneously providing the voice of Hitler in dozens of other wartime programs. Sloane's last two films were Jerry Lewis vehicles, "The Patsy" (1964) and "The Disorderly Orderly" (1964). In "Home From the Hill" (1960), Sloane played a half-blind character who commits suicide. Tragically, life imitated art in the actor's case. In August of 1965, after learning he was losing his eyesight, Sloane took his life with an overdose of sleeping pills.
Actor. Born in New York City, Sloane turned to performing after losing his Wall Street job in the 1929 stock market crash. In 1938 he joined Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre and made a memorable screen debut in "Citizen Kane" (1941), playing Bernstein, Kane's faithful flunky. He was equally fine in "The Lady From Shanghai" (1948), fighting to the death with Welles and Rita Hayworth in the Hall of Mirrors climax, and as a tyrannical corporate boss in Rod Serling's "Patterns" (1956). His other movie credits include "Journey Into Fear" (1943), "The Men" (1950), "The Big Knife" (1955), "Somebody Up There Likes Me" (1956), "Lust for Life" (1956), and "Marjorie Morningstar" (1958). Sloane was a small man whose somewhat gnomish features could be used for both menacing and comic effect, but tended to limit the types of film roles he was given. He had greater opportunities to demonstrate his versatility in radio. In the early 1940s he was a regular on the series "The Goldbergs" while simultaneously providing the voice of Hitler in dozens of other wartime programs. Sloane's last two films were Jerry Lewis vehicles, "The Patsy" (1964) and "The Disorderly Orderly" (1964). In "Home From the Hill" (1960), Sloane played a half-blind character who commits suicide. Tragically, life imitated art in the actor's case. In August of 1965, after learning he was losing his eyesight, Sloane took his life with an overdose of sleeping pills.
Bio by: Bobb Edwards
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