David Abraham Cheulkar (Actor) Age, Death, Wife, Children, Family, Biography & More

Bio/Wiki
Profession	Actor
Physical Stats & More
Eye Colour	Dark Brown
Hair Colour	Grey
Career
Debut	Film: Zambo - The Ape Man (1937)
Last Film	Door Desh (1986)
Awards, Honours, Achievements	• Padma Shri Award (1969) • Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for Boot Polish (1955)
Personal Life
Date of Birth	Year, 1908
Birthplace	Thane, Bombay Presidency, British India (Present-day Maharashtra, India)
Date of Death	2 January 1982
Place of Death	Toronto, Canada
Age (at the time of death)	73 Years
Death Cause	Heart Attack [1]The Times of India Directory and Year Book Including Who's who by Sir Stanley Reed Bennett, Coleman
Nationality	Indian
Hometown	Mumbai, Maharashtra
School	St Joseph’s School, Mumbai
College/University	• Wilson College, Mumbai, Maharashtra • Government Law College, Mumbai, Maharashtra
Educational Qualification	BA LLB
Religion	Judaism [2]Cinestaan
Hobbies	Bodybuilding
Relationships & More
Marital Status (at the time of death)	Unmarried
Family
Wife/Spouse	N/A
Parents	Father- Abraham Mother- Dinah Cheulkar
Siblings	Brother • Shalome Abraham Cheulkar (Headmaster at Jacob Sassoon School, Mumbai) • Daniel Abraham Cheulkar (Doctor)

 

Some Lesser Known Facts About David Abraham Cheulkar

• David Abraham Cheulkar was an Indian character actor who is known for his comic roles in more than 100 Bollywood films. He was also the recipient of Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award in India.

• David Abraham Cheulkar was born in an Indo-Israeli family from Ashdod. He was raised by his older brothers as his father Abraham died when David was young. His mother Dinah, who had Marathi background, lived a long life, who died at the age of 104 years.

• David Abraham Cheulkar, as a kid, liked to act in plays. He was part of many french plays that he used to perform in his neighbor’s garden.

• After six years of failed attempts to get a job, David Abraham Cheulkar became part of  IPTA (Indian People’s Theatre Association).
  

  David Abraham Cheulkar in his younger days

• David Abraham Cheulkar was introduced to M. Bhavnani, a producer-director, through one of his friends who was a character actor, and it helped him land his first film Zambo-The Ape Man (1937).

•  In the Bollywood film Boot Polish (1954) that won the Filmfare award for best film, David Abraham Cheulkar’s character as “John Chacha” became very popular.

•   Asha Bhosle and Mohammed Rafi‘s song “Nanhe Munne Bachche Teri Mutthi Mein Kya Hai” from Boot Polish (1954) was picturized on David Abraham Cheulkar who played a teacher to slum kids to inspire them for a better future. This song remains popular among all generations.

• Some of his finest performances came in movies like Chupke Chupke (1975), Baton Baton Mein (1979), and Gol Maal (1979). In all these movies, David Abraham Cheulkar played a comic role.

• David Abraham Cheulkar was a compère not only in Filmfare ceremonies but also in many other events. Jawaharlal Nehru, in one of his speeches, said that an event would be incomplete without David’s speech.
  

  David Abraham Cheulkar with Jawaharlal Nehru

• David Abraham Cheulkar was a sports enthusiast, and he had various opinions and perspectives about sports development in India. He once stated-:
  

  Please take away politics from sport and introduce sporting values in politics.”

• For 50 years, David Abraham Cheulkar was president of the Maharashtra Weightlifting Federation and vice-president of the Indian Weightlifting Federation for 35 years.

• David Abraham Cheulkar used to spent a lot of time at the Cricket Club of India at Churchgate and even had his own room at the club. He was one of the first members of the club and had a lifetime membership with the club. There was a corner named David’s corner at the club.

• David Abraham Cheulkar was also representative of the Indian Olympics Association, and he attended the Olympic games held in Helsinki in 1952, Rome in 1960, Tokyo in 1964, Mexico City in 1968, and Munich in 1972.

• In 1970, David Abraham Cheulkar, who remained unmarried throughout his life, moved to Hamilton in Canada, where he lived with his nephew and niece Victor and Diana.

• He died on 2 January 1982 and he was buried at the Beth Jacob synagogue cemetery. His headstone reads,
  

  Here’s a man who smiled through his tears and laughed in the midst of a sigh. He mingled his youth with advancing years and was happy to live or die

  

  David Abraham Cheulker’s headstone at the Beth Jacob synagogue cemetery