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Sabu (actor)

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Sabu
Born
Sabu Dastagir
Other namesSelar Shaik Sabu
OccupationActor
Years active1937–1963
SpouseMarilyn Cooper (1948-1963) (his death) 2 children

Sabu Dastagir (27 January 1924 – 2 December 1963) was a film actor of Indian origin—although he later took American citizenship. He was normally credited only by his first name, Sabu, and is primarily known for his work in film during the 1940s.

Biography

Born in 1924 in Karapur, Mysore, Kingdom of Mysore, then a Princely State of British India, Sabu was the son of an Indian mahout (elephant driver). While most reference books have his full name as "Sabu Dastagir", research by journalist Philip Leibfried suggests that was his brother's name, and that Sabu was in fact Selar Shaik Sabu or Sabu Francis. His brother managed his career.[1] (His brother was killed in a robbery of his furniture store, a failing business jointly owned by the two men.)

Sabu was discovered by documentary film-maker Robert Flaherty who cast him in the role of an elephant driver in the 1937 British film Elephant Boy, based on Toomai of the Elephants, a story by Rudyard Kipling. Sabu is perhaps best known for his role as Abu in the 1940 British film The Thief of Bagdad. In 1942 he once again played a role based on a Kipling story, namely Mowgli in Jungle Book directed by Zoltán Korda.

After becoming an American citizen in 1944, Sabu joined the U.S Army Air Force as a tail gunner. He flew several dozen missions over the Pacific and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his valor and bravery.[2]

After World War II, unable to secure the equivalent roles in Hollywood that British films had offered him, his career went into decline. He occasionally did get significant parts, such as his supporting role in the classic British film Black Narcissus (1947).

Through most of the 1950s he starred in largely unsuccessful European films. In 1952, he starred in the Harringay Circus with an elephant act.[3]

On 2 December 1963, Sabu suddenly died in Chatsworth, California of a heart attack at the age of 39. He is interred at the Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery. His last completed film, A Tiger Walks, was released after his death in March 1964.

Personal life

In 1948, Sabu married actress Marilyn Cooper, with whom he had two children. Their marriage lasted until his death. Their son Paul Sabu established the rock band Sabu in the 1980s. Daughter Jasmine Sabu was an animal trainer on various films. She died in 2001.

Sabu was the subject of a famous paternity suit that resulted in a published opinion by the California Court of Appeal, Dastagir v. Dastagir, 241 P.2d 656 (Cal. App. 1952). Sabu was sued by an infant girl (born in 1948), through her mother, an unnamed unmarried English actress, who claimed to have had an affair with Sabu and that he was the infant's father. The suit was tried by a jury which returned a nine to three verdict in favor of Sabu.

Sabu in pop culture

Sabu the Elephant Boy was featured in story and song, Sabu Visits The Twin Cities Alone, by folk singer John Prine, and also in the teen novel The Snarkout Boys and the Baconburg Horror, by Daniel M. Pinkwater.

ECW wrestler Sabu was given his ring name at an early age by his uncle Ed Farhat, who was a big fan of The Jungle Book and Dastagir.

Filmography

References

  1. ^ Leibfried, Philip (2004). Alexander Korda's The Thief of Bagdad, An Arabian Fantasy. Hollywood, Calif.: Hypostyle Hall Publishers. ISBN 0-967-52531-4. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ "People:Reservations". TIME, 19 March 1945.
  3. ^ Sabu, Philip Leibfried, Films in Review, October 1989
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