Ben Astar

Actor Ben Astar got his start in Hollywood when he starred in two episodes of the anthology series "Fireside Theatre" in 1950 and 1951. In 1952, Astar appeared in the Academy Award-nominated "5 Fingers" a spy film starring James Mason about a valet for the British ambassador to Turkey who begins selling information to the Nazis during World War II. The same year, he had a small role in the Golden Globe-nominated Cold War thriller "Assignment: Paris," which starred Dana Andrews as a newspaper reporter who is captured in Hungary when covering the espionage trial of an American. In 1963, Astar appeared alongside Ann-Margret, Dick Van Dyke, and Janet Leigh in the classic musical comedy "Bye Bye Birdie," a film adaptation of the famed staged musical of the same name; the actor played an arrogant ballet manager who refuses to shorten a performance on a television broadcast to leave time for a rock and roll song. He also had a small role in the 1966 romantic comedy "Walk Don't Run" starring Cary Grant. Outside of film, Astar appeared in small roles in a multitude of television shows, including playing an innkeeper in mystery series "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" in 1959, and the Moldavian prime minister in the popular action series "Batman" in 1966.