From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia Eduard Franz born Eduard Franz Schmidt October 31 1902 February 10 1987 was an American actor of theatre film and television Franz portrayed King Ahab in the 1953 biblical lowbudget film Sins of Jezebel Jethro in Cecil B DeMilles The Ten Commandments 1956 and Jehoam in Henry Kosters The Story of Ruth 1960 By 1936 Franz was a player on the national stage performing from coast to coast He became a leading Broadway actor for nearly 30 years in such plays as First Stop to Heaven and Embezzled Heaven and Conversation At Midnight He made his film debut in a bit part in 1947 in Killer at Large but followed that brief appearance the next year with a memorable role in the motion picture The Scar also titled Hollow Triumph His fourth movie saw him acting with John Wayne in Wake of the Red Witch in 1948 He portrayed Chief Broken Hand in White Feather He played such intellectuals as Dr Stern in The Thing from Another World 1951 a university professor in The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake 1959 and Justice Louis Brandeis in The Magnificent Yankee 1950 a role he reprised in the 1965 television adaptation He appeared in a 1957 television adaptation of A J Cronins novel Beyond This Place which was directed by Sidney Lumet Franz performed as well in two separate remakes of Al Jolsons 1927 cinema classic The Jazz Singer each time playing the key role of the aged and ailing synagogue cantor upset by his sons decision to pursue a secular showbusiness career rather than continue the family tradition and follow in his fathers religious footsteps Those remakes were the 1952 film version of the story starring Danny Thomas and the 1959 television version starring Jerry Lewis Franz performed in a number of television series including Gunsmoke Have Gun Will Travel The Law and Mr Jones The Barbara Stanwyck Show and Cimarron City Franz was cast as psychiatric clinic director Dr Edward Raymer in 30 episodes of the weekly ABC medical drama Breaking Point