Lou Jacobi on AllMovie

Bald-pated, mustachioed Canadian character actor Lou Jacobi began entertaining theatre audiences as a child. Though many of his characterizations were urban-American ethnic types, Jacobi was well into his career before ever setting foot on an American stage. Among his more memorable screen roles were the explosive Mr. Van Daan in The Diary of Anne Frank (1959) and the philosophical Parisian bartender Moustache in Irma La Douce (1963). After his cameo as a middle-aged transvestite in Woody Allen's Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex, But Were Afraid to Ask (1972), the hapless Mr. Jacobi found himself called upon to don women's garb on a nearly-weekly basis for the various TV variety series of the early 1970s. Lou Jacobi's other television work included supporting parts on The Dean Martin Show, Somerset and Melba, and the lead in the 1976 sitcom Ivan the Terrible.