Sabu Dastagir (27 January 1924 – 2 December 1963) was a
film actor of
Indian 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 1940s in Britain and America.
Early life
Born in 1924 in
Karapur, Mysore,
Kingdom of Mysore, 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.
Career
When he was 13, Sabu was discovered by
documentary film-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. 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.
World War II
After becoming an American citizen in 1944, Sabu joined the
United States Army Air Forces and served as a
tail gunner and ball turret gunner on
B-24 Liberators. He flew several dozen missions with the 370th Bomb Squadron of...
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