1. Vincent Gardenia was nominated twice for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, first for Bang the Drum Slowly and again for Moonstruck.
18 Facts About Vincent Gardenia
1. 2.
In 1990, Vincent Gardenia was awarded the Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actor in a television movie or television series for the HBO production Age-Old Friends.
3.
Vincent Gardenia was born Vincenzo Scognamiglio in Ercolano, Citta Metropolitana di Napoli, Campania, Italy, the elder son of Elisa and Gennaro Ettore Federico Scognamiglio.
4.
Vincent Gardenia's father established an acting troupe that presented Italian-language melodramas.
5.
Vincent Gardenia debuted in the company at age five, portraying a shoeshine boy.
6.
Vincent Gardenia graduated to character roles while still a teenager.
7.
Vincent Gardenia remained a member of the company until 1960, five years after his first English-speaking role on Broadway.
8.
Vincent Gardenia served in the US Army during World War II.
9.
Vincent 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.
10.
Vincent Gardenia's first English-speaking role was in 1955, as a pirate in the Broadway play In April Once.
11.
Vincent Gardenia described his role in the film Little Murders as a "turning point".
12.
Vincent Gardenia was featured in an episode of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea titled "Escape From Venice".
13.
In 1972, Vincent Gardenia appeared in season 3, episode 13 of Kojak "A House of Prayer, a Den of Thieves" where he portrayed Vince LaGuardia, a former NYC police detective and close friend and colleague of Lt.
14.
In December 1992, Vincent Gardenia was in Philadelphia to perform in the stage production of the Tom Dulack comedy Breaking Legs.
15.
Vincent Gardenia was beginning a three-week run as restaurant owner Lou Graziano in the off-Broadway hit at the Forrest Theatre.
16.
Around 1 am on December 9,1992, hours after the final preview performance, Vincent Gardenia had returned to his hotel room after dining with stage director John Tillinger, producer Elliot Martin and cast members.
17.
The hotel sent an engineer who opened the door and Vincent Gardenia was discovered dead of a heart attack, dressed and clutching the telephone.
18.
Vincent Gardenia was survived by his younger brother, Ralph Frank Scognamiglio.