- Sam Jaffe, Gunga Din, 1939. “Though I’ve belted you and flayed you by the living God that made you, you’re a better man than I am, Gunga Din.” India’s first superstar, the revelation of Alexander Korda’s 1937 Elephant Boy, was director George Stevens’ inevitable first choice for the British troops’ heroic water-boy in 19th Century India. Korda refused to loan hm. Sam Jaffe heard this story and asked director George Stevens for an interview…. And became the awfully black-upped water boy, absurdly. at age 46! Sabu was… 14
- Turhan Bey, Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, 1941. Jon Hall-Maria Montez were the cut-price Errol Flynn-Olivia De Havilland in Arabian adventures … usually with a cheeky-looking Turk Bey and India’s Sabu as third and fourh wheels. Nop this time, when Bey actuallyt took over Sabu’s intended role of Jamiel. Falling out of favour, Bey had a break of 41 years between Prisoners of the, 1953, and Healer, 1994!
- Francis Matthews, Bhowani Junction, 1955. MGM made John Masters’ India novel in… Pakistan! The Boy was now 31 and nearly won Ranjit, the intelligent, dedicated Sikh. Apart from a fistful of Metro dollars, he missed nothing. The British Matthews said huge chunks of his part ended up on the cutting-room floor. Sabu became a US citizen in 1944 and served with distinction in combr with the USAF during WWII.
Birth year: 1924Death year: 1963Other name: Sabu Dastagir (or Selar Shaik Sabu)Casting Calls: 3