Frank Puglia

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Frank Puglia (born March 9, 1892 in Linguaglossa , Sicily , † October 25, 1975 in South Pasadena , California ) was an Italian - American actor.

life and career

As a member of a traveling opera group, Frank Puglia appeared on stage for the first time at the age of 13. Born in Sicily, Puglia emigrated to the USA with his family in 1907. There he initially worked as a washer, but eventually found entry into an Italian-speaking theater group in New York City . When Puglia appeared in the play The Two Orphans by Adolphe d'Ennery and Eugène Cormon about the turmoil of the French Revolution, he was discovered by star director David Wark Griffith , who was planning a film adaptation of the play. In this film version , Puglia made his film debut in the supporting role of Pierre Frochard in 1921 on the side of Lillian and Dorothy Gish . Puglia's character was originally supposed to die a film death, but the viewers in the previews were so taken with his portrayal that Griffith ultimately let her survive. Three years later Griffith and Puglia collaborated again on the socially critical melodrama Isn't life wonderful? .

After the sound film began in the late 1920s, the roles for Puglia were mostly smaller. Because of his accent, he mainly played exotic southern characters; often priests, diplomats, aristocrats or musicians. In the 1940s he had supporting roles in films such as In the Sign of Zorro , Tarzan, Conqueror of the Desert , Ali Baba and the forty robbers and letters from the afterlife . In the classic film Casablanca (1942) he made a striking brief appearance as a Moroccan carpet dealer negotiating prices with Ingrid Bergman . The character actor's larger film roles included "the scholar" in the 1942 film adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book and the zoologist Dr. Leonardo in the monster film The Beast from Space from 1957. From the 1950s, Puglia also appeared regularly in front of the camera as a guest actor in US television series such as Bonanza , A Thousand Miles of Dust , The Boss and Columbo .

A later highlight for Puglia could have been the role of the undertaker Bonasera in the opening scene of The Godfather (1972) ( "I believe in America. I got rich in America ..." ). However, Puglia had to stop filming due to illness and was replaced at short notice by Salvatore Corsitto . The actor played his last role in 1975 in the crime film What good is a beef steak for a dead dog? next to Dean Martin . He died that same year at the age of 83. In total, he had participated in almost 240 film and television productions in the course of his long career.

Frank Puglia was buried next to his wife Irene (1892–1973) in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood .

Filmography (selection)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Frank Puglia at Allmovie
  2. ↑ Frank Puglia at Find A Grave
  3. ↑ The Godfather Legacy by Harlan Lebo, on Google Books
  4. ↑ Frank Puglia at Find A Grave
personal data
SURNAME Puglia, Frank
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian-American actor
DATE OF BIRTH March 9, 1892
PLACE OF BIRTH Sicily , Italy
DATE OF DEATH October 25, 1975
Place of death South Pasadena , California , United States