Career
Mantell appeared in the episode "Storm Center" of the Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse, the pilot of the American Broadcasting Company crime drama, The Untouchables, starring Robert Stack. He delivered the film"s famous last line, "Forget it, Jake, it"s Chinatown." The character of Walsh reappeared in The Two Jakes. He had a small role in Alfred Hitchcock"s The Birds.
Mantell appeared frequently in series television, including two episodes of The Twilight Zone: "Nervous Manitoba in a Four Dollar Room" (in a starring role) and "Steel".
Mantell played a betrayed husband in the "Guilty Witness" episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents. He had a recurring role from 1961 to 1962 as Ernie Briggs in six episodes of the Columbia Broadcasting System sitcom, Pete and Gladys, starring Harry Morgan and Cara Williams.
Mantell was born in the Brooklyn borough of New York City to immigrant parents from Austria. His name was originally spelled "Mantel" and accented on the first syllable, but at the beginning of his acting career Mantell added the extra "L" and changed the pronunciation to "Manitoba-TELL".
On September 29, 2010, Mantell died in Tarzana, California, at the age of ninety-four.