Sal Ponti

Sal Ponti (born January 7, 1935 in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , † January 15, 1988 in Los Angeles , California ) was an American actor and screenwriter , who was also known under the stage name Anthony Hall .

Life

Ponti attended La Salle High School in Germantown and Saint Joseph's University . He then tried his hand at show business both as a songwriter for Frankie Avalon and as a stage actor , but then joined the United States Army . After retiring from the Army, he studied acting for two years at the Juilliard School in New York City and then moved to Hollywood , where he made a few guest appearances on various television series such as Wyatt Earp and had adventures underwater in the late 1950s . His feature film debut in 1960 in Ponti Titans alongside Richard Burton and Robert Ryan . The following year he got the lead role in the George Pal production Atlantis, the Lost Continent alongside Joyce Taylor . The fantasy film was not a commercial success and should remain Ponti's only major film role, as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer dissolved his film contract. For the remainder of the 1960s, he therefore played again in smaller television roles, including in Charming Jeannie and Tennis Rackets and Cannons . In the 1970s, his acting career gradually came to a standstill. In 1973 he tried his hand at screenwriting, but the horror film Doctor Death: Seeker of Souls remained his only work.

Ponti, who was said to have had affairs with Connie Francis and Jayne Mansfield , was a member of the Screen Actors Guild . He died at the age of 53 of complications from cancer . He was married and had no children.

personal data
SURNAME	Ponti, Sal
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Hall, Anthony (pseudonym)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American actor and screenwriter
DATE OF BIRTH	January 7, 1935
PLACE OF BIRTH	Philadelphia , Pennsylvania
DATE OF DEATH	January 15, 1988
Place of death	Los Angeles , California