The Italian-American actor Vincent Gardenia, famous for his comic roles, had his own approach to acting: he was interested in studying the behavior of people on the streets. “You have to play the truth,” he told a New York Times interviewer in 1974. "An actor must observe and be a repository, if something touches you, it will stay with you forever."
Whether it's Frank Lorenzo, Archie Bunker's liberal neighbor in the TV series All in the Family, or Cher's depraved father in Enchanted by the Moon, Vincent Gardenia, an Italian-American actor, has always been recognizable on stage and screen, famous in his work for images of choleric and annoyed characters and being featured on screen for his comic portrayal of New Yorkers. He has appeared frequently on Broadway in plays, but rarely in musical productions, with the exception of his starring role as Alfred Rossi in The Ballroom (1978).
From the Italian company to Broadway
Born Vincenzo Sconamillo, Vincent Gardenia was born in 1920 in Naples, Italy. He and his family moved to the United States when he was two and settled in Brooklyn, New York. In the new location, Gardenia's father, an actor and manager, founded a small acting troupe, performing in Italian, specializing in melodramas with stories about children who get into trouble, run away, and then return asking for forgiveness. Vincent Gardenia, who took on the professional name of his father, Gennaro Gardenia Sconamillo, began playing in this troupe at the age of five and continued to work for his father's Italian company until 1960.
By then, however, he was already starting to make a name for himself in the English-language drama. Gardenia first spoke English on stage in 1955 as a pirate in the Broadway play Once Upon a Time in April. The following year, he appeared as Piggy in The Man with the Golden Hand and soon moved to Broadway, starring in The Visit (1958), Cold Wind and Heat, and The Wall (1960). Since the mid-1950s, Gardenia has played a wide variety of roles on the New York scene, but he is best known for his comic appearances in Neil Simon's plays God's Favorite (1974), California Suite (1976) and Prisoner II. avenue (1971).
In 1961, Gardenia played Sergeant Manzoni in The Daughter of Silence, about a mysterious murder in Tuscany. With his haggard face and square jaw, Gardenia was well suited to the role of a police officer, and he will play cops in several subsequent productions. Also in the 1960s, Gardenia began appearing in film and television: Murder (1960), King of Billiards (1961), View from the Bridge (1962) and Rat Patrol (1967).
And laughter and sin
The 1970s brought Gardenia to increased stage and screen fame. He played Mr. Newquist in the black comedy Little Murders (1971). Two years later, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in the baseball drama Beat the Drum Slowly (1973), in which he played a Dutch baseball manager. Also during this period, he participates in the popular television comedy "All in the Family" in the 1973-74 season. On Broadway, he began acting in Second Avenue Prisoner (1971), which also featured Peter Falk and Lee Grant. For his work, Gardenia received the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Performance. At the awards ceremony, he paid tribute to his father's acting company with a speech in Italian. Later work in 1970s Simon comedies included roles in God Beloved and California Suite. He also starred in Sly Fox, the 1976 adaptation of Ben Johnson's cynical comedy Volpone.
Gardenia's only appearance in a Broadway musical was his starring role in Ballroom with Dorothy Loudon (1978). With a book by Jerome Kaas, music by Billy Goldenberg and lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman, The Ballroom tells the story of Ve Asher, a widow, and her romantic dreams of Alfred Rossi, the man she meets in the ballroom. The musical was nominated for Tony and Drama Desk awards.
Other films featuring Gardenia include Death Wish, The Little Shop of Horrors and Enchanted by the Moon, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. In 1988 he was honored to be named Grand Marshal of the Columbus Day Parade in New York City. In 1990, Gardenia won an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the HBO special film, Friends of the Year.
During his career, Vincent Gardenia has played over a hundred roles in film and television. And outside of his creative career, he was the honorary chief of emergency medical services in New York.
Vincent Gardenia has been married twice. From his first marriage (April 5, 1949 - May 13, 1955) he has 3 children, from the second (with Betty Williams, August 5, 1957 - September 15, 1989) - 6 children.
Play the Truth
Vincent Gardenia had his own approach to the art of acting, he was interested in studying the behavior of people on the streets. “You have to play the truth,” he told a New York Times interviewer in 1974. Playing the role of a police detective in Death Wish, he reminisced about the former chief of New York detectives, who was often shown on TV. “To be and act like a storehouse,” he said. "If something touches you, it stays with you."
Vincent Gardenia died of a heart attack at the age of 72 in one of the hotels in Philadelphia, where he was on a working visit, in 1992. Buried in Saint-Charles Cemetery in New York next to his parents. The boulevard in Brooklyn, where he lived most of his life, was later named after him - Vincent Gardenia Boulevard.
