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Frank Campanella

{{Short description|American actor (1919–2006)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2014}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Frank Campanella

| image = Frank_Campanella_in_Mission_Impossible_1968.jpg

| caption = Frank Campanella in Mission Impossible 1968

| birth_date = {{birth date|1919|03|12|mf=yes}}

| birth_place = New York City, New York, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|2006|12|30|1919|03|12|mf=yes}}

| death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S.

| education = Manhattan College

| occupation = Actor

| years_active = 1947–2006

| relatives = Joseph Campanella (brother)

}}

Frank Campanella (March 12, 1919 – December 30, 2006) was an American actor. He appeared in numerous television series, as well as a few films and Broadway productions.

Early life and career

Campanella was born in New York City, the son of Philip and Mary O. Campanella, both born in

Sicily.{{cite web|url=http://www.filmreference.com/film/7/Joseph-Campanella.html|title=Joseph Campanella Biography (1927–)|work=filmreference.com|accessdate=April 21, 2015}} The family lived in the Washington Heights section of upper Manhattan. He was the older brother of actor Joseph Campanella, and Philip Campanella (who became a union plumber) and spoke mostly Italian growing up; this proved useful during World War II, when he worked as a civilian translator for the U.S. government. Campanella graduated from Manhattan College in 1940,{{cite web|url=http://www.jasperjottings.com/2007/jasperjottings20070107.htm#_JObit2_1|title=Sunday 07 January 2007|work=jasperjottings.com|accessdate=April 21, 2015}} where he studied drama.{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/06/obituaries/06campanella.html|title=Frank Campanella, Character Actor, 87, Dies| date=January 6, 2007| work=The New York Times| agency=Associated Press| accessdate=2017-08-07}}

Campanella's first film role was as Mook, the Moon-Man in the 1949 science-fiction series Captain Video and His Video Rangers{{cite news| url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=348&dat=20070105&id=kXYwAAAAIBAJ&sjid=hzsDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3407,650321| title=Frank Campanella|date=January 5, 2007| work=Rome News-Tribune| page=6A| accessdate=September 28, 2014}} and went on to appear in more than 100 film and television episodes, usually playing the "tough guy". Campanella appeared as a bartender in Mel Brooks' The Producers (1967), starring Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder, and his many film credits included roles in What's So Bad About Feeling Good? (1968); The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight (1971); The Stone Killer (1973); Capone (1975, as Big Jim Colosimo); Chesty Anderson, USN (1976); Heaven Can Wait (1978); The North Avenue Irregulars (1979); High Noon, Part II: The Return of Will Kane (1980); Death Wish II (1982); Young Doctors in Love (1982); The Flamingo Kid (1984); Nothing in Common (1986); Overboard (1987); Beaches (1988); Blood Red (1989); Pretty Woman (1990) and Dick Tracy (1990). He helped Robert De Niro learn Sicilian for his role as young Vito Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather: Part II (1974).

Campanella's early television roles included three appearances as different police lieutenants on the syndicated crime drama, Decoy, starring Beverly Garland as the first female police lead in a television series. In one of the Decoy episodes, he appeared with his brother Joseph. Over his career, he appeared, often in police roles, in such well-known series as Ironside; Mannix; The Rockford Files; Quincy, M.E.; Chico and the Man; All in the Family; Mission: Impossible; Maude; Rhoda; and The Love Boat. In 1969, Campanella appeared as Sheriff Quartermine on the TV Series The Virginian in the episode titled "Journey to Scathelock".

Campanella's Broadway credits include Guys and Dolls (1965), Nobody Loves an Albatross (1963), Nowhere to Go But Up (1962), The Deadly Game (1960), Sixth Finger in a Five Finger Glove (1956), Remains to Be Seen (1951), Stalag 17 (1951), Volpone (1948), and Galileo (1947).{{cite web|title=Frank Campanella|url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/frank-campanella-99086|website=Internet Broadway Database|publisher=The Broadway League|accessdate=28 May 2018|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180528195540/https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/frank-campanella-99086|archivedate=28 May 2018}}

Death

Campanella died on December 30, 2006, at his home in Los Angeles. He was 87.{{cite book|last1=Lentz|first1=Harris M. III|title=Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2006: Film, Television, Radio, Theatre, Dance, Music, Cartoons and Pop Culture|date=2007|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9780786452118|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bXzGCwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Frank+Campanella%22&pg=PA59|accessdate=28 May 2018|language=en}}

Selected filmography

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References

{{reflist}}

External links

{{Portal|Biography|New York City|Film|Television}}

  • {{IMDb name|0132100|name=Frank Campanella}}
  • {{IBDB name}}
  • [http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/01/03/america/NA_GEN_US_Obit_Frank_Campanella.php Obituary]

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Category:1919 births

Category:2006 deaths

Category:20th-century American male actors

Category:21st-century American male actors

Category:American male film actors

Category:American male television actors

Category:American people of Italian descent

Category:Manhattan College alumni

Category:Male actors from Manhattan