Vincent Gardenia
Vincent Gardenia (born Vincenzo Scognamiglio; January 7, 1920 – December 9, 1992) was an Italian-American stage, film, and television actor. He was nominated twice for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, first for Bang the Drum Slowly (1973) and again for Moonstruck (1987). He also portrayed Det. Frank Ochoa in Death Wish (1974) and its 1982 sequel, Death Wish II, and played Mr. Mushnik in the musical film adaptation Little Shop of Horrors (1986). Gardenia's other notable feature films include Murder Inc. (1960), The Hustler (1961), The Front Page (1974), Greased Lightning (1977), Heaven Can Wait (1978), and The Super (1991). In 1990, Gardenia was awarded the Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actor in a television movie or television series for the HBO production Age Old Friends. Gardenia was twice honored for his performances on Broadway. In 1972, he won the Tony Award for Best Supporting Actor in The Prisoner of Second Avenue, and was nominated for Best Actor in a Musical in 1979 for Ballroom. Off-Broadway, he was twice awarded with the Most Distinguished Performance Award by an actor, 1960 for Machinal, and again in 1969 for Passing Through From Exotic Places. Early life Gardenia was born Vincenzo Scognamiglio in Ercolano, Città Metropolitana di Napoli, Campania, Italy, the elder son of Elisa ( Ausiello) and Gennaro Ettore Federico (also known as 'Gennaro') Scognamiglio. When he was almost three years old, the family immigrated to the United States (November, 1922) and settled in Brooklyn, New York. His father established an acting troupe that presented Italian-language melodramas. As a child, he performed in the troupe in Italian-American neighborhoods in and around New York City, having later said, "the titles changed, but they were usually about a son or daughter who gets in trouble, runs away, then begs forgiveness". He debuted in the company at age five, portraying a shoeshine boy. He graduated to character roles while still a teenager. He remained a member of the company until 1960, five years after his first English-speaking role on Broadway. Gardenia also served in the U.S. Army during World War II. Career Gardenia played a small role in the film The House on 92nd Street and bit parts in other films, including Cop Hater and A View From the Bridge. His first English-speaking role was in 1955, as a pirate in the Broadway play In April Once. The following year, at age 36, he appeared as Piggy in his Off-Broadway debut in The Man with the Golden Arm. He described his role in the film Little Murders as a "turning point". He won Obie Awards in 1960 and 1969. A life member of The Actors Studio, Gardenia won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play in 1972 for his performance in The Prisoner of Second Avenue, opposite Peter Falk. In 1979, he was nominated for Best Actor in a Musical for his performance in Ballroom. In film, he was twice nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for