Nick Cravat

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Nick Cravat (right) with Burt Lancaster

Nick Cravat actually Nicholas Cuccia (born January 11, 1912 in New York City , † January 29, 1994 in Woodland Hills , California ) was an American film actor, stuntman and acrobat of Italian origin. His parents and grandparents on both sides are all from Sicily .

life and work

At the age of about 9, Nick Cravat met Burt Lancaster , who was one year his junior and with whom he remained close friends, at a summer school . Both trained to be professional acrobats and were active from 1932 under the name "Lang & Cravat" as trapeze artists and high wire artists in circus shows. In 1941 Lancaster had to give up his work as an artist due to injury.

After Lancaster rose to a Hollywood star in the late 1940s , he made sure that his childhood friend Cravat was hired regularly as a supporting actor in his films. Since Cravat spoke a heavy Brooklyn accent and had no special acting skills, he was either seen in very small roles or appeared as a mute partner of Lancaster.

The stage name "Cravat" comes from a character role in a play that he had seen and liked very much. He adopted the name because he thought the Americans could not pronounce his real name "Cuccia" (Kutscha) correctly.

In 1950 Cravat was seen for the first time as Lancaster's partner in the coat-and-sword film The Rebel and played his mute companion Piccolo. The two former circus partners performed daring acrobatic tricks in the colorful adventure film without stunt doubles. Cravat, squat and dark-haired, was the exact opposite of the blond, athletic Lancaster and seemed to have bear-strength. For example, in one of the many stunt scenes in the film, Lancaster does gymnastics on a tall, vertical pole that Cravat balances on his head.

After The Rebel had become a cinematic success, the humorous pirate film The Red Corsair was produced using the same formula in 1952 and became a classic of its genre. Lancaster (as pirate captain Vallo) and his mute partner Cravat (as Ojo) were once again seen as crafty freedom fighters who demonstrate their acrobatic skills with jumps and somersaults or daring stunt scenes in the rigging of sailing ships.

Cravat's later appearances were less spectacular. By 1977 he was seen nine times in his childhood friend's films and also took on parts that were more like an extra role (such as in Airport , 1970, where he was seen as a passenger).

In 1963, Cravat appeared in one of the most famous episodes of the TV series Twilight Zone : He played a sinister gremlin who demolished an airplane wing at 20,000 feet, which the passenger watching the scene ( William Shatner ), but nobody wants to believe. (This episode was parodied in an episode of The Simpsons .)

Cravat's first wife, Arlene, died in the 1950s. He had two daughters from his second and last marriage, Marcelina "Marcy" Cravat-Overway and Christina "Tina" Cravat, also named Tina Cuccia.

Photo of Nick Cravat and Burt Lancaster performing as "Lang & Cravat" on the bars with the Federal Theater Project Circus

Marcy Cravat is an environmental documentary filmmaker. Her debut film "Angel Azul", completed in 2014, was awarded 12 prizes. The film explores issues related to coral reefs through arts activism. "Dirt Rich", her second film, explores solutions to reverse the effects of global warming by restoring safe atmospheric carbon levels by returning carbon to the soil. [8th]

Nick Cravat died of lung cancer in January 1994 , nine months before his childhood friend Lancaster.

Filmography (selection)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Cravat, Nick
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Cuccia, Nicholas (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American film actor
DATE OF BIRTH January 11, 1912
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City
DATE OF DEATH January 29, 1994
Place of death Woodland Hills , California