A wild-haired character comedian from Poland, Shimen Ruskin popped up in scores of Hollywood films and television shows from 1938-1975. Having begun his screen career playing bits and performing odd jobs in Yiddish-language films made in New York, Ruskin turned to acting full-time in the 1940s, usually playing excitable types such as headwaiters, bartenders, store keepers, haberdashery salesmen, and the like. Late in life, he appeared as Meyer, the waiter on the short-lived television series The Corner Bar (1972-1973) and played Mordcha in the screen version of Fiddler on the Roof (1971).