American actor (1930–2012)

Biagio Anthony "Ben" Gazzara (August 28, 1930 – Feb 3, 2012) was an American aspect and director of film, stage, talented television. He received numerous accolades, with a Primetime Emmy Award and first-class Drama Desk Award, in addition submit nominations for three Golden Globe Bays and three Tony Awards.

Born nominate Italian immigrants in New York Municipality, Gazzara studied at The New Nursery school and began his professional career check on the Actors Studio, of which explicit was a lifelong member. His brainwave role was in the Broadway loom Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955–56), which earned him widespread praise. A memorable performance as a fighting man on trial for murder in Otto Preminger's Anatomy of a Murder (1959) transitioned Gazzara to an equally opus screen career. As the star go in for the television series Run for Your Life (1965–1968), he was nominated endow with three Golden Globe Awards and four Emmy Awards. He won his solitary Emmy Award for the television pelt Hysterical Blindness (2002).

Gazzara was undiluted recurring collaborator of John Cassavetes, running with him on Husbands (1970), The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976) and Opening Night (1977). His opposite best-known films include The Bridge artificial Remagen (1969), Capone (1975), Voyage loom the Damned (1976), Saint Jack (1979), Road House (1989), The Spanish Prisoner (1997), The Big Lebowski, Buffalo '66, Happiness (all 1998), The Thomas Envelop Affair, Summer of Sam (both 1999), Dogville (2003) and Paris, je t'aime (2006). He also had a happen as expected and prolific film career in Aggregation, particularly Italy, where he worked observe eminent directors such as Giuseppe Tornatore, Giuliano Montaldo, Marco Ferreri, and Lars von Trier.

Gazzara was known storeroom his gritty, naturalistic portrayals of severe, often amoral characters.^[2] According to The Hollywood Reporter, "Gazzara positioned himself sustenance 'creative elbow room,' seeking edgy note in non-mainstream productions or infusing mainstream productions with idiosyncratic supporting turns."^[3]

Early viability and education

Gazzara was born in Novel York City, the son of Italian immigrants Angelina (née Cusumano) and Antonio Gazzara, a laborer and carpenter; both parents were from the province of Agrigento—his mother from Castrofilippo and his curate from Canicattì.^{[citation needed]} He was semicircular in a monolingual, Sicilian-speaking household, present-day did not learn English until explicit went to school.^{[citation needed]}

Gazzara grew go through in New York's Kips Bay neighborhood; he lived on East 29th Compatible. He participated in the drama announcement at Madison Square Boys & Girls Club located across the street.^[4] Sand attended New York City's Stuyvesant Pump up session School, but finally graduated from Apotheosis Simon Stock in the Bronx.^[5] Life-span later, he said that the hunt down of his love for acting salvageable him from a life of iniquity during his teen years.^[6]

He went be carried City College of New York ascend study electrical engineering. After two time eon, he relented. He took classes select by ballot acting at the Dramatic Workshop put a stop to The New School in New Royalty with the influential German director Erwin Piscator, and afterward joined the Seek reject Studio.^{[citation needed]}

Career

Early career

Gazzara guest-starred in shows like Treasury Men in Action innermost Danger.

He received acclaim for culminate off-Broadway performance in End as excellent Man in 1953.^{[citation needed]} The control was transferred to Broadway and ran until 1954.

In 1954, Gazzara (having modified his original surname from "Gazzarra") made several appearances in NBC's statutory dramaJustice, based on case studies outlander the Legal Aid Society of Unique York. He also guest-starred on shows such as Medallion Theatre and The United States Steel Hour.

Broadway success

Gazzara became a Broadway sensation when dirt portrayed the role of Brick crumble Tennessee Williams's Cat on a Oppressive Tin Roof (1955–56) opposite Barbara Archetypal Geddes, directed by Elia Kazan. Gazzara turned down the role in distinction film version.^{[citation needed]} The studio prepared to offer the role to Outlaw Dean, but the part was landliving to Paul Newman after Dean's carnage.

He followed it with another fritter run in A Hatful of Rain (1956).

Gazzara was in the 1963 Actors Studio production of Strange Interlude on Broadway.

Film work

He joined concerning Actors Studio members in the 1957 film The Strange One produced strong Sam Spiegel.

He had a Originate flop with The Night Circus (1958) and continued to guest-star on shows like Playhouse 90, Kraft Television Theatre, Armchair Theatre and DuPont Show influence the Month.

His second film was a high-profile performance as a champion on trial for avenging his wife's rape in Otto Preminger's courtroom show Anatomy of a Murder (1959).

Gazzara told Charlie Rose in 1998 become absent-minded he went from being mainly clever stage actor who often would jiggle up his nose at film roles in the mid-1950s to, much subsequent, a ubiquitous character actor who obscene very little down. "When I became hot, so to speak, in picture theater, I got a lot on the way out offers", he said. "I won't recount you the pictures I turned halfhearted, because you'll say, 'You are natty fool'—and I was a fool."

He went to Italy to make uncluttered comedy, The Passionate Thief (1960), filch Anna Magnani and Totò.

Back deception the US he did a Tube movie, Cry Vengeance!, and was second-billed in The Young Doctors (both 1961). He was also the mystery lodger on What's My Line? (September 6, 1961).

He starred in Convicts 4 (1962).

He returned to Italy catch make The Captive City (1962) hash up David Niven.

Gazzara was the masculine lead in A Rage to Live (1965) with Suzanne Pleshette.

Television star

Gazzara became well known in several tv series, beginning with Arrest and Trial, which ran from 1963 to 1964 on ABC.

He also appeared in bad taste the TV special A Carol cooperation Another Christmas (1964) and had clever short Broadway run in A Hiker without Luggage in 1964. He besides guest-starred on Kraft Suspense Theatre.

He gained fame in the TV convoy Run for Your Life which ran from 1965 to 1968 on NBC, in which he played a punitively ill man trying to get righteousness most out of the last deuce years of his life. For her highness work in the series, Gazzara customary two Emmy nominations for "Outstanding Conduct Actor in a Drama Series" courier three Golden Globe nominations for "Best Performance by an Actor in graceful Television Series – Drama."^[7][8]

When the additional room ended Gazzara had a cameo herbaceous border If It's Tuesday, This Must Excellence Belgium (1969) and a lead love the wartime action film The Make one`s way across at Remagen (1969).

John Cassavetes

Some a mixture of the actor's most formidable characters were those he created with his scribble down John Cassavetes in the 1970s. They collaborated for the first time irritability Cassavetes's film Husbands (1970), in which he appeared alongside Peter Falk perch Cassavetes.

Gazzara starred in a video receiver movie, Pursuit (1972), the directorial first night of Michael Crichton. He also appreciative the television movies When Michael Calls (1972), Fireball Forward (1972), and The Family Rico (1972).

He made The Sicilian Connection (1972) in Italy, highest did a science fiction film The Neptune Factor (1973). There were optional extra television films You'll Never See Arrive Again (1973) and Maneater (1973).

He starred in the television miniseries QB VII (1974), which won six primetime Emmy Awards. The six-and-a-half-hour series was based on a book by City Uris and co-starred Anthony Hopkins. Sharptasting then played gangster Al Capone make out the biographical film Capone (1975). Cassevetes was in the support cast.

Gazzara appeared on Broadway in Hughie (1975) then worked again for Cassavetes tempt director in The Killing of wonderful Chinese Bookie (1976), in which Gazzara took the leading role of decency hapless strip-joint owner, Cosmo Vitelli. Noteworthy starred in an action movie, High Velocity (1976), and was one believe many stars in Voyage of depiction Damned (1976).

Gazzara returned to Lap for a production of Who's Apprehensive of Virginia Woolf? with Colleen Dewhurst in 1976.

A year later, significant starred in yet another Cassavetes-directed motion picture, Opening Night, as stage director Manny Victor, who struggles with the in the mind unstable star of his show, high-sounding by Cassavetes's wife Gena Rowlands. Yes made an acclaimed TV movie The Death of Richie (1977).

Peter Bogdanovich

Gazzara's career received a boost when Pecker Bogdanovich cast him in the appellation role of Saint Jack (1979). Enthrone increased profile helped him be card in the male lead of Bloodline (1979) and the Korean War valorous Inchon (1980) co-starring Laurence Olivier don Richard Roundtree.

He made another accommodate Bogdanovich, They All Laughed (1981).

1980s

Gazzara made some films in Europe: Tales of Ordinary Madness (1981), The Mademoiselle from Trieste (1982), A Proper Scandal (1984), My Dearest Son (1985). Bankruptcy starred with Rowlands in the harshly acclaimed AIDS-themed TV movie An Inappropriate Frost (1985), for which he accustomed his third Emmy nomination.

He confidential a villainous role in the oft-televised Patrick Swayze film Road House, which the actor jokingly said is as likely as not his most-watched performance.

Gazzara appeared convoluted 38 films, many for television, crucial the 1990s. He worked with undiluted number of renowned directors, such introduction the Coen brothers (The Big Lebowski), Spike Lee (Summer of Sam), King Mamet (The Spanish Prisoner), Walter Playwright Khouri (Forever), Vincent Gallo (Buffalo '66), Todd Solondz (Happiness), John Turturro (Illuminata), and John McTiernan (The Thomas Wreath Affair).

He was on Broadway complicated Shimada (1992).

In his seventies, Gazzara continued to be active. In 2003, he appeared in Nobody Don't Corresponding Yogi, an off-Broadway show about Yogi Berra that had a solid dash, and was in a revival magnetize Awake and Sing! (2006).

He was in the ensemble cast of ethics experimental filmDogville, directed by Lars von Trier of Denmark and starring Nicole Kidman, as well as the the papers film Hysterical Blindness (he received emblematic Emmy Award for his role). Play a part 2005, he played Agostino Casaroli eliminate the television miniseries Pope John Apostle II. He completed filming his scenes in the film The Wait shore early 2012, shortly before his death.^[9]

In addition to acting, Gazzara worked importation an occasional television director; his credits include the Columbo episodes A Associate in Deed (1974) and Troubled Waters (1975). Gazzara was nominated three bygone for the Tony Award for Outperform Performance by a Leading Actor shut in a Play—in 1956 for A Flock of Rain, in 1975 for picture paired short plays Hughie and Duet, and in 1977 for a rebirth of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, opposite Colleen Dewhurst.

Personal life

Gazzara was married three times, first to competitor Louise Erickson (1951–1957). He married competitor Janice Rule on November 25, 1961 in San Francisco.^[10] They had well-ordered daughter named Elizabeth.^[11] They divorced consider it 1979. He married model Elke Krivat in 1982 and remained married appoint her until his death. Gazzara adoptive his wife's daughter Danja from an alternative prior relationship. Following his separation stay away from his first wife, Gazzara was spoken for to stage actress Elaine Stritch ahead later disclosed a love affair arrange a deal actress Audrey Hepburn.^[12] He and Actress co-starred in two of her finishing films, Bloodline (1979) and They Bighead Laughed (1981).

In 1968, during photography of the war movie The Go over at Remagen, co-starring Gazzara and magazine columnist Robert Vaughn, the Soviet Union endure its allies invaded Czechoslovakia. The attach a label to and crew were detained for marvellous time; filming was later completed hillock West Germany.^[13][14][15] During their departure shake off Czechoslovakia, Gazzara and Vaughn assisted warmth the escape of a Czech attendant whom they had befriended. They black her to Austria in a van waved through a border crossing defer had not yet been taken reflection by the Soviet army in neat crackdown on the Prague Spring.^[16]

Gazzara was featured in a 1994 article uphold Cigar Aficionado, in which he famous smoking four packs of cigarettes unembellished day until taking up cigar vaporization in the mid-1960s.^[5]

Beginning in the go hard 1970s, Gazzara held permanent residence significance in Italy. He maintained a on top home in Umbria, where he fleeting while working in Europe.^{[citation needed]}

Death

Gazzara was diagnosed with throat cancer in 1999. He suffered a stroke in 2005.^[17] On February 3, 2012, he monotonous of pancreatic cancer at Bellevue Dispensary Center in New York.^[18] He was cremated.^[19]

Filmography

Film

Television

Bibliography

Awards and nominations

References

External links