Sabu Dastagir
Encyclopedia
Sabu Dastagir was a film
actor of India
n 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 1930s-40s
in Britain and America.
, 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. His brother was killed in a robbery of his furniture store, a failing business jointly owned by the two men.
-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
. In 1938 producer Alexander Korda
commissioned A. E. W. Mason to script The Drum
as a starring vehicle for the young actor. 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
.
and served as a tail gunner
and ball turret gunner on B-24 Liberator
s. He flew several dozen missions with the 370th Bomb Squadron of the 307th Bomb Group in the Pacific
, and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his valor and bravery.
After World War II
, unable to secure the equivalent roles in Hollywood that British films had offered him, he saw his career go into decline. He occasionally did get significant parts, such as his supporting role in the classic British film Black Narcissus
(1947).
His last completed film, A Tiger Walks
, was released in March 1964, the year after 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.
at the age of 39. He is interred at the Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery
.
, 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.
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
actor of India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n origin—although he later took American citizenship
United States nationality law
Article I, section 8, clause 4 of the United States Constitution expressly gives the United States Congress the power to establish a uniform rule of naturalization. The Immigration and Naturalization Act sets forth the legal requirements for the acquisition of, and divestiture from, citizenship of...
. He was normally credited only by his first name, Sabu, and is primarily known for his work in film during the 1930s-40s
1940s in film
The decade of the 1940s in film involved many significant films. Hundreds of full-length films were produced during the decade of the 1940s. The great actor Humphrey Bogart made his most memorable films in this decade. Orson Welles's masterpiece Citizen Kane was also released...
in Britain and America.
Early life
Born in 1924 in Karapur, Mysore, Kingdom of MysoreKingdom of Mysore
The Kingdom of Mysore was a kingdom of southern India, traditionally believed to have been founded in 1399 in the vicinity of the modern city of Mysore. The kingdom, which was ruled by the Wodeyar family, initially served as a vassal state of the Vijayanagara Empire...
, then a Princely State
Princely state
A Princely State was a nominally sovereign entitity of British rule in India that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule such as suzerainty or paramountcy.-British relationship with the Princely States:India under the British Raj ...
of British India
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
, Sabu was the son of an Indian mahout
Mahout
A mahout is a person who drives an elephant. The word mahout comes from the Hindi words mahaut and mahavat. Usually, a mahout starts as a boy in the 'family business' when he is assigned an elephant early in its life and they would be attached to each other throughout the elephant's life.The most...
(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. His brother was killed in a robbery of his furniture store, a failing business jointly owned by the two men.
Career
When he was 13, Sabu was discovered by documentary filmDocumentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
-maker Robert Flaherty who cast him in the role of an elephant driver in the 1937 British film Elephant Boy
Elephant Boy (film)
Elephant Boy is a 1937 British adventure film starring Sabu in his film debut. Documentary filmmaker Robert J. Flaherty and Zoltan Korda won the Best Director Award at the Venice Film Festival...
, based on Toomai of the Elephants
Toomai of the Elephants
"Toomai of the Elephants" is a short story by Rudyard Kipling from The Jungle Book about a young elephant-handler.The story was filmed in 1937 as Elephant Boy directed by Robert J. Flaherty and Zoltan Korda starring Sabu Dastagir....
, a story by Rudyard Kipling
Rudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature...
. In 1938 producer Alexander Korda
Alexander Korda
Sir Alexander Korda was a Hungarian-born British producer and film director. He was a leading figure in the British film industry, the founder of London Films and the owner of British Lion Films, a film distributing company.-Life and career:The elder brother of filmmakers Zoltán Korda and Vincent...
commissioned A. E. W. Mason to script The Drum
The Drum (1938 film)
The Drum is a 1938 British Technicolor film from the book by A. E. W. Mason. The film was directed by Zoltan Korda and produced by Alexander Korda...
as a starring vehicle for the young actor. Sabu is perhaps best known for his role as Abu in the 1940 British film The Thief of Bagdad
The Thief of Bagdad (1940 film)
The Thief of Bagdad is a 1940 British fantasy film produced by Alexander Korda, and directed by Michael Powell, Ludwig Berger, and Tim Whelan, with contributions by Korda's brothers Vincent and Zoltán, and William Cameron Menzies...
. In 1942 he once again played a role based on a Kipling story, namely Mowgli
Mowgli
Mowgli is a fictional character from India who originally appeared in Rudyard Kipling's short story "In the Rukh" and then went on to become the most prominent and memorable character in his fantasies, The Jungle Book and The Second Jungle Book , which also featured stories about other...
in Jungle Book
Jungle Book (1942 film)
Jungle Book is a 1942 American color action-adventure film based on the Rudyard Kipling book, The Jungle Book. The film was directed by Zoltán Korda based on a screenplay adaptation by Laurence Stallings. The cinematography was by Lee Garmes and W. Howard Greene and music by Miklós Rózsa...
directed by Zoltán Korda
Zoltán Korda
Zoltan Korda was a Hungarian-born motion picture screenwriter, director and producer.Born Zoltán Kellner, Kellner Zoltán in Hungarian name order, of Jewish heritage in Pusztatúrpásztó, Túrkeve in Hungary , he was the middle brother of filmmakers Alexander and Vincent Korda.Zoltan Korda went to...
.
World War II
After becoming an American citizen in 1944, Sabu joined the United States Army Air ForcesUnited States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II, and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force....
and served as a tail gunner
Tail gunner
A tail gunner or rear gunner is a crewman on a military aircraft who functions as a gunner defending against enemy fighter attacks from the rear, or "tail", of the plane. The tail gunner operates a flexible machine gun emplacement on either the top or tail end of the aircraft with a generally...
and ball turret gunner on B-24 Liberator
B-24 Liberator
The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and a small number of early models were sold under the name LB-30, for Land Bomber...
s. He flew several dozen missions with the 370th Bomb Squadron of the 307th Bomb Group in the Pacific
Pacific War
The Pacific War, also sometimes called the Asia-Pacific War refers broadly to the parts of World War II that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in East Asia, then called the Far East...
, and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his valor and bravery.
After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, unable to secure the equivalent roles in Hollywood that British films had offered him, he saw his career go into decline. He occasionally did get significant parts, such as his supporting role in the classic British film Black Narcissus
Black Narcissus
Black Narcissus is a 1947 film by the British director-writer team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, based on the novel of the same name by Rumer Godden...
(1947).
Europe
Through most of the 1950s he starred in largely unsuccessful European films. In 1952, he starred in the Harringay Circus with an elephant act.His last completed film, A Tiger Walks
A Tiger Walks
A Tiger Walks is a 1964 family drama film, directed by Norman Tokar and produced by Walt Disney Productions. It is based on a novel of the same name by Ian Niall...
, was released in March 1964, the year after his death.
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
Paul Sabu
-Early life:Born January 2, 1960. Paul is the son of Indian-born film star Sabu and Marilyn Cooper.-Career:Paul Sabu is best known for his work with his band Only Child plus an arsenal of artists such as David Bowie, Alice Cooper, Little Caesar, Lee Aaron, Madonna, Malice, Robbie Neville, Motels,...
established the rock band
Rock Band
Rock Band is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems, published by MTV Games and Electronic Arts. It is the first title in the Rock Band series. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions were released in the United States on November 20, 2007, while the PlayStation 2 version was...
Sabu in the 1980s. Daughter Jasmine Sabu was an animal trainer
Animal training
Animal training refers to teaching animals specific responses to specific conditions or stimuli. Training may be for the purpose of companionship, detection, protection, entertainment or all of the above....
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
California Court of Appeal
The California Courts of Appeal are the state intermediate appellate courts in the U.S. state of California. The state is geographically divided into six appellate districts...
, 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.
Death
On 2 December 1963, Sabu suddenly died in Chatsworth, California of a heart attackMyocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
at the age of 39. He is interred at the Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery
Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)
Forest Lawn – Hollywood Hills Cemetery is part of the Forest Lawn chain of Southern California cemeteries. It is at 6300 Forest Lawn Drive in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles, California, on the lower north slope at the far east end of the Santa Monica...
.
Sabu in pop culture
"Sabu the Elephant Boy" was featured in story and song, Sabu Visits The Twin Cities Alone, by folk singer John PrineJohn Prine
John Prine is an American country/folk singer-songwriter. He has been active as a recording artist and live performer since the early 1970s.-Biography:...
, and also in the teen novel The Snarkout Boys and the Baconburg Horror, by Daniel M. Pinkwater.
ECW
Extreme Championship Wrestling
Extreme Championship Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion that was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1992 by Tod Gordon and closed when his successor, Paul Heyman, declared bankruptcy in April 2001...
wrestler Sabu
Sabu (wrestler)
Terry Michael Brunk , better known by his ring name Sabu, is an American professional wrestler best known for his extreme wrestling style...
was given his ring name at an early age by his uncle Ed Farhat
Ed Farhat
Edward George Farhat was an American professional wrestler best known as by his ring name The Sheik...
, who was a big fan of The Jungle Book and Dastagir.
Filmography
- Elephant BoyElephant Boy (film)Elephant Boy is a 1937 British adventure film starring Sabu in his film debut. Documentary filmmaker Robert J. Flaherty and Zoltan Korda won the Best Director Award at the Venice Film Festival...
(1937) - The DrumThe Drum (1938 film)The Drum is a 1938 British Technicolor film from the book by A. E. W. Mason. The film was directed by Zoltan Korda and produced by Alexander Korda...
(1938) - The Thief of BagdadThe Thief of Bagdad (1940 film)The Thief of Bagdad is a 1940 British fantasy film produced by Alexander Korda, and directed by Michael Powell, Ludwig Berger, and Tim Whelan, with contributions by Korda's brothers Vincent and Zoltán, and William Cameron Menzies...
(1940) - Jungle BookJungle Book (1942 film)Jungle Book is a 1942 American color action-adventure film based on the Rudyard Kipling book, The Jungle Book. The film was directed by Zoltán Korda based on a screenplay adaptation by Laurence Stallings. The cinematography was by Lee Garmes and W. Howard Greene and music by Miklós Rózsa...
(1942) - Arabian NightsArabian Nights (1942 film)Arabian Nights is a 1942 adventure film starring Sabu, Maria Montez, Jon Hall and Leif Erickson and directed by John Rawlins. The film is derived from The Book of One Thousand and One Nights but owes more to the imagination of Universal Pictures than the original Arabian stories...
(1942) - White Savage (1943)
- Cobra WomanCobra WomanCobra Woman is a 1944 American melodrama/adventure film of the South Seas genre, directed by Robert Siodmak. It was mad in and starring Jon Hall, Sabu, Mary Nash, Lon Chaney, Jr. and, in a dual role, Maria Montez...
(1944) - TangierTangier (film)Tangier is a 1946 black-and-white thriller film set in the city of Tangier, Morocco that was directed by George Waggner and filmed on Universal's backlot...
(1946) - Black NarcissusBlack NarcissusBlack Narcissus is a 1947 film by the British director-writer team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, based on the novel of the same name by Rumer Godden...
(1947) - The End of the RiverThe End of the RiverThe End of the River is a British film made in Brazil about a South American Indian boy who leaves the jungle to the city, where he is accused of murder. It was directed by Derek Twist and written by Wolfgang Wilhelm, based on a novel by Desmond Holdridge...
(1947) - Man-Eater of KumaonMan-Eater of KumaonMan-Eater of Kumaon is a 1948 film directed by Byron Haskin. It stars Sabu and Wendell Corey. The film was made after a success of Jim Corbett book Man-Eaters of Kumaon, published in 1944. The film was not based on any of the stories of the Corbett's bestselling book, instead the film was based on...
(1948) - Song of India (1949)
- Savage Drums (1951)
- Baghdad (1952)
- Buongiorno, elefante! (1952)
- Il Tesoro del Bengala (1954)
- The Black Panther (1956)
- Jungle HellJungle HellJungle Hell is a 1955 American film.In the film several Natives visit a physician who, against the advice of a witch doctor, proceeds to try to heal burns....
(1956) - Sabu and the Magic Ring (1957)
- Herrin der Welt - Part I (1960)
- RampageRampage (1963 film)Rampage is a 1963 adventure film about big game hunters set in Malaysia and starring Robert Mitchum, Jack Hawkins, and Elsa Martinelli. The movie was directed by Phil Karlson from the novel by Alan Caillou and features a musical score by Elmer Bernstein....
(1963) - A Tiger WalksA Tiger WalksA Tiger Walks is a 1964 family drama film, directed by Norman Tokar and produced by Walt Disney Productions. It is based on a novel of the same name by Ian Niall...
(1964)