Vincent Gardenia

Vincent Gardenia
Vincent Gardenia and wife at 1988 Academy Awards
Born	Vincenzo Scognamiglio January 7, 1920(1920-01-07) Naples, Italy
Died	December 9, 1992(1992-12-09) (aged 72) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

Vincent Gardenia (born Vincenzo Scognamiglio, January 7, 1920 – December 9, 1992) was an Italian American stage, film, and television actor.

Early life

Gardenia was born Vincenzo Scognamiglio in Naples, Italy, the son of Elisa and Gennaro Gardenia Scognamiglio. After emigrating to the United States at the age 2, he lived most of his life in Brooklyn, New York. As a child, he performed in a family acting troupe in Italian-American neighborhoods in and around New York City.

When Vincent Gardenia was 2-years-old, the family immigrated to the United States and settled in Brooklyn, New York City, and his father established an Italian-language acting troupe that specialized in melodramas. "The titles changed, but they were usually about a son or daughter who gets in trouble, runs away, then begs forgiveness," Gardenia said. At age 5, he made his stage debut in his father's company as a shoeshine boy, and while still a teen-ager he was playing character roles. He continued acting in the company until 1960, five years after he took his first English-language stage role.

Career

Gardenia first spoke English onstage in 1955, as a pirate in the Broadway play "In April Once." The following year at age 28, he appeared as Piggy in his off Broadway debut was in The Man with the Golden Arm in 1956. He described his role in the film Little Murders as a "turning point". He won Obie Awards in 1960 and 1969.

In 1972, he won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his performance in The Prisoner of Second Avenue and in 1979 he was nominated for Best Actor in a Musical for his performance in Ballroom. In film, he was twice nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performances in Bang the Drum Slowly and Moonstruck.

In television, Gardenia won the 1990 Emmy Award for his performance in Age-Old Friends, with Hume Cronyn. Among his best remembered TV roles is his portrayal of Frank Lorenzo, Archie Bunker's neighbor on All in the Family (1973–74) and as J. Edgar Hoover in the miniseries Kennedy (1983).

Death

In December 1992, Gardenia was in Philadelphia to perform in the stage production of the Tom Dulack comedy “Breaking Legs”, beginning a three-week run in the off Broadway hit, at the famed Forrest Theatre on Walnut St. In the play, Gardenia had performed the role of restauranteur ‘Lou Garziano’, since the show’s New York opening in May 1991.

In the early morning hours of Dec. 9, 1992, just hours after the Philly preview of “Breaking Legs”, Gardenia had returned to his hotel about 1 a.m. after dining with stage director John Tillinger, producer Elliot Martin and the play’s cast after the show’s preview. According to Martin, Gardenia showed no signs of illness, adding, “It was just a jolly evening.”

According to authorities, when Gardenia failed to appear for a radio interview to promote the play’s run, press representative Irene Gandy and a fellow cast member Vince Viverito became alarmed. When they arrived at Gardenia’s hotel, and there was no answer from Gardenia, they entered his hotel room. It was there where they found him dead of a heart attack, in his room, dressed and clutching a telephone. He was 71. In true theatrical tradition of “the show must go on”, hours after the sad discovery, the play’s official opening went on that evening at the Forrest Theatre.

He is interred in Saint Charles Cemetery in Farmingdale, Long Island, New York, along with his parents Elisa (1901–1967) and Gennaro Gardenia Scognamiglio (1896–1965). A section of 16th Ave. in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, New York, where he lived until his death, bears the secondary name of Vincent Gardenia Boulevard in his honor.

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1945	The House on 92nd Street	spy trainee
1958	Cop Hater	Danny Gimp
1962	A View From the Bridge	Liperi
1960	Murder, Inc.	Lawyer Laslo
1961	The Hustler	Bartender
1967	The Rat Patrol	Colonel Centis
	Gunsmoke		Season 12, episode 24 (Noose of Gold)
1971	Little Murders	Mr. Newquist
	Cold Turkey	Mayor Wappler
1973	Bang the Drum Slowly	Dutch Schnell	Nominated - Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
1973-74	All in the Family	Frank Lorenzo
1974	Death Wish	Det. Frank Ochoa
1974	The Front Page	Sheriff Pete Hartmann
1976	The Big Racket	Pepe
1977	Fire Sale	Benny Fikus
1977	The Mary Tyler Moore Show	Frank Coleman	Season 7, episode 24 (The Last Show)
1980	Home Movies	Doctor Byrd
1981	Odd Squad	General Brigg
1982	Death Wish II	Det. Frank Ochoa
1986	Movers & Shakers	Saul Gritz
	Little Shop of Horrors	Mr. Mushnik
1987	Moonstruck	Cosmo Castorini	Nominated — Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
1989	Skin Deep	Barny the Barkeeper
1991	The Super	Big Lou Kritski

External links

• Vincent Gardenia at Find a Grave
• Vincent Gardenia at the Internet Broadway Database
• Vincent Gardenia at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Vincent Gardenia at the Internet Movie Database
• Vincent Gardenia at the TCM Movie Database