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'''Joseph Calleia''' (born Giuseppe Maria Spurrin-Calleja, in [[Malta]], [[August 4]], [[1897]]; died [[October 31]], [[1975]] in [[Malta]]), was a singer, composer, and actor, both on [[Broadway]] and in film. Calleia played against some Hollywood greats, including [[William Holden]], [[Errol Flynn]], [[Mae West]], [[Bette Davies]], [[Jane Russell]], [[Mario Lanza]], [[Charlton Heston]], [[Dean Martin]] and [[Jerry Lewis]], [[Orson Welles]], [[Tyrone Power]], [[Alan Ladd]] and [[Anthony Quinn]]. |
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Joseph Calleia was born at Saqqajja Square, [[Malta|Rabat]], Malta, to Pasquale and Elena Calleja. He left [[Malta]] in [[1914]], and began his career touring Europe as a teenage singer with a harmonica band, appearing in the cafés and music halls of many war-torn and weary capital cities. By [[1931]], Calleia had landed an [[MGM]] contract in [[Hollywood]], where he successfully pursued a career in the film industry, appearing in more than 50 movies between then and 1955. He made his screen debut in [[1935]] with appearances in two B-films:''His Woman'' (1931) and ''The Girl in the Cab'' (1933). He very quickly made his mark, playing the role of a criminal in ''Public Hero No. 1'', followed by ''[[Riff Raff]]'' (1935) in which he played a womanizer, co-starring with [[Jean Harlowe]], [[Spencer Tracy]] and [[Mickey Rooney]]. He went on to appear in a total of 57 movies. Calleia frequently played cops or a villain in gangster or western films. He played [[Juan Seguín]] in ''[[The Alamo (1960 film)|The Alamo]]'' and the border-town detective in [[Orson Welles]]' ''[[Touch of Evil]]'' ([[1958]]). Other films include the comedy ''[[My Little Chickadee]]'' ([[1940]]), Disney's ''The Littlest Outlaw'' ([[1955]]). Calleia also appeared in the films noir ''[[Deadline at Dawn]]'' ([[1946]]) and ''[[Gilda]]'' ([[1946]]), where he co-starred with [[Rita Hayworth]], [[Glenn Ford]] and [[George Macready]]. He also appeared with [[Susan Hayward]] and [[Lola Lane]] in ''Deadline at Dawn'' ([[1946]]), in ''Lured'' ([[1947]]) and ''[[The Glass Key]]'' ([[1942]]), ''Valentino'', ''The Light Touch'', ''Underwater'', ''Cry Tough'', ''After the Thin Man'', and [[''Johnny Cool'']]. In ''The Caddy'' ([[1953]]) -- the movie that brought the song ''That's Amore'' into popular culture -- Calleia co-starred with [[Dean Martin]], [[Jerry Lewis]], [[Donna Reed]], [[Fred Clark]] and [[Barbara Bates]]. He co-starred with [[Luther Adler]] and [[Jane Russell]] in the [[1956]] action adventure film ''Hot Blood''. |
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In ''Tough Guy'', Calleia, together with child-star [[Jackie Cooper]], sings a couple of bars of a [[Maltese]] folk tune ''"Ah, Lilek tal-Gallerija"'' (Ah! To you, up there on your balcony). This is possibly the only time that a ballad in Maltese has ever been heard in a Hollywood movie. |
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Earlier in his career, he wrote the screenplay for the western take on [[Robin Hood]] with ''The Robin Hood of El Dorado'' ([[1936]]). |
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Calleia received the Critics' Award for his performance in the [[1938]] [[John Cromwell]] film ''Algiers''. |
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The [[1958]] film ''Touch of Evil'' in which Calleia co-starred along with [[Charlton Heston]], [[Janet Leigh]], [[Orson Welles]], [[Marlene Dietrich]] and [[Zsa Zsa Gabor]], was re-released in [[1998]]. |
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It is said that [[Francis Ford Coppola]] had originally wanted Calleia to play the leading part of 'Il Padrino', the Sicilian Mafia boss in the immortal film ''The Godfather''. |
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Although Calleia made over 50 films, he always claimed to enjoy stage performance to film acting. He was considered a "bright light" on [[Broadway]] between [[1935]] and [[1945]], and appeared in several hit plays, including ''Ten-minute Alibi'', ''The Front Page'', ''Grand Hotel'' and ''Broadway''. |
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He retired in [[1963]] in [[Malta]], and died in [[Sliema]] on [[October 31]], [[1975]]. He was honoured by the Malta postal authority with a set of two commemorative stamps issued in his memory in 1997. A monument, consisting of a bust of Joseph Calleia, was erected in front of his house in Rabat, in October, 2005, by Eman Bonnici, a young fellow, aged at the time 17. It has since been defaced by vandals, and remains to be repaired. |
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== External link == |
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* {{imdb name|id=0130407|name=Joseph Calleia}} |
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[[Category:1897 births|Calleia, Joseph]] |
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[[Category:1975 deaths|Calleia, Joseph]] |
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[[Category:Maltese film actors|Calleia, Joseph]] |
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[[Category:Maltese culture]] |
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