Vincent Gardenia | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Gardenia at the 1988 Academy Awards | |
| Born | Vincenzo Scognamiglio January 7, 1920[1] Ercolano, Città Metropolitana di Napoli, Campania, Italy |
| Died | December 9, 1992 (aged 72) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1945–1992 |
Vincent Gardenia (born Vincenzo Scognamiglio; January 7, 1920 – December 9, 1992) was an Italian-American stage, film and television actor. He was nominated twice for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, first for Bang the Drum Slowly (1973) and again for Moonstruck (1987). He also portrayed Det. Frank Ochoa in Death Wish (1974) and its 1982 sequel, Death Wish II, and played Mr. Mushnik in the musical film adaptation Little Shop of Horrors (1986).
Gardenia's other notable feature films include Murder Inc. (1960), The Hustler (1961), The Front Page (1974), Greased Lightning (1977), Heaven Can Wait (1978) and The Super (1991).
In 1990, Gardenia was awarded the Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actor in a television movie or television series for the HBO production Age-Old Friends. Gardenia was twice honored for his performances on Broadway. In 1972, he won the Tony Award for Best Supporting Actor in The Prisoner of Second Avenue, and was nominated for Best Actor in a Musical in 1979 for Ballroom. Off-Broadway, he was twice awarded with the Most Distinguished Performance Award by an actor, 1960 for Machinal, and again in 1969 for Passing Through From Exotic Places.[citation needed]
- ^ Brennan, Sandra (2012). "Vincent Gardenia". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 21, 2012. Retrieved June 22, 2009.