Robert Loggia

Salvatore "Robert" Loggia (January 3, 1930 – December 4, 2015) was an American actor and director. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Jagged Edge (1985) and won the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor for Big (1988).

Robert Loggia
Robert Loggia in 1983
Born	Salvatore Loggia (1930-01-03)January 3, 1930 Staten Island, New York
Died	December 4, 2015(2015-12-04) (aged 85) Los Angeles, California
Resting place	Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery, California, U.S.
Alma mater	University of Missouri (BA)
Occupation	Actor, director
Years active	1948–2015
Spouse(s)	Marjorie Sloan ​ ( m. 1954; div. 1981) Audrey O'Brien ( m. 1982)
Children	3 children, 1 stepdaughter[1]
Awards	Saturn Award (1988) Ellis Island Medal of Honor (2010)
Signature

In a career spanning over sixty years, Loggia performed in many films, including The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965), Revenge of the Pink Panther (1978), An Officer and a Gentleman (1982), Scarface (1983), Prizzi's Honor (1985), Oliver & Company (1988), Innocent Blood (1992), Independence Day (1996), Lost Highway (1997), Return to Me (2000), and Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie (2012). He also appeared on television series including the Walt Disney limited series, The Nine Lives of Elfego Baca (starring role-1958),[2] Mancuso, FBI (in which he starred-1989–1990), Malcolm in the Middle (2001), The Sopranos (2004), Men of a Certain Age (2011), and was also the star of the groundbreaking 1966–67 NBC martial arts / action series, T.H.E. Cat.[3][4][5][6]

Early life and education

Salvatore Loggia was born in Staten Island, New York City, New York, on January 3, 1930,[7] to Biagio Loggia, a shoemaker born in Palma di Montechiaro, Province of Agrigento, Sicily, and Elena Blandino, a homemaker born in Vittoria, Province of Ragusa, Sicily.[1][8][9] He grew up in the Little Italy neighborhood, where the family spoke Italian at home. He graduated from New Dorp High School before taking courses at Wagner College. In 1951, he earned a degree in journalism from University of Missouri.[10] He later studied acting with Alvina Krause at Northwestern University.

After serving in the United States Army during the Korean War, he married Marjorie Sloan in 1954 and began a long career at the Actors Studio, studying under Stella Adler.[11]

Career

At age 25, he made his debut on Broadway in The Man with the Golden Arm in 1955.[11]

Although Loggia made his first film in 1956, in an uncredited appearance, it was not until he was cast as a New Mexico lawman Elfego Baca, two years later, that he made a breakthrough in Hollywood. Loggia was a radio and TV anchor on the Southern Command Network in the Panama Canal Zone, and he came to prominence playing a real-life sheriff in The Nine Lives of Elfego Baca, a series of Walt Disney TV shows. He later starred as the proverbial cat-burglar-turned-good circus artist Thomas Hewitt Edward Cat in a short-lived detective series called T.H.E. Cat, first broadcast in 1966. At first, T.H.E. Cat appeared to be a success, Loggia said: "We're drawing about a 30 per cent share of the audience, which NBC considers fine for a new show with a new star."[12] After NBC cancelled the series when viewing figures failed to deliver, Loggia went into a mid-life crisis—a "Dante-esque descent into the inferno", as he called it later. For six years his career foundered, and his marriage fell apart. Restless and unnerved, constantly riddled with self-doubt, a chance meeting with Audrey O'Brien was his saving grace. She helped him out of the crisis, and they later married. Despite playing Frank Carver on the CBS soap opera The Secret Storm[13] in 1972, he took a new course when he decided to begin a career in directing.

He also carried on acting and amassed many television credits in a variety of roles, including appearances on Overland Trail, Target: The Corruptors!, The Untouchables, The Eleventh Hour, Breaking Point, Combat!, Custer, Columbo, Ellery Queen, The High Chaparral, Gunsmoke, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Big Valley, The Wild Wild West, Rawhide, Little House on the Prairie,"The Rockford Files", Starsky & Hutch, Charlie's Angels, Magnum, P.I., Quincy, M.E., Kojak, Hawaii Five-0, The Bionic Woman, Falcon Crest, Frasier, The Sopranos, Monk, and Oliver Stone's miniseries Wild Palms.

Robert Loggia as T.H.E. Cat (1966).

The director Blake Edwards often cast Loggia in his films in minor or supporting roles. These included Revenge of the Pink Panther (1978); S.O.B. (1981), which was a satire about Hollywood; and the Pink Panther sequels.

Loggia also acted in several widely acclaimed films such as An Officer and a Gentleman (1982), Scarface (1983), Prizzi's Honor (1985), and Independence Day (1996). Other films starring Loggia include Over The Top (1987), Necessary Roughness (1991), and Return to Me (2000).

Loggia was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of crusty private detective Sam Ransom in the crime thriller Jagged Edge (1985). He was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, his first such honor, for portraying FBI agent Nick Mancuso in the TV series Mancuso, FBI (1989–1990), a follow-up to the previous year's miniseries Favorite Son (1988). Loggia appeared as a mobster in multiple films, including Bill Sykes, the immoral loanshark and shipyard agent in Disney's animated film Oliver & Company (1988), Salvatore "The Shark" Macelli in John Landis' Innocent Blood (1992), Mr. Eddy in David Lynch's Lost Highway (1997), and Don Vito Leoni in David Jablin's The Don's Analyst (1997). Additionally, he played violent mobster Feech La Manna in several episodes of The Sopranos.

In 1998, Loggia appeared in a television commercial lampooning obscure celebrity endorsements. In it, a young boy names Loggia as someone he would trust to recommend Minute Maid orange-tangerine blend. Loggia instantly appears and endorses the drink, to which the boy exclaims, "Whoa, Robert Loggia!"[14] The commercial was later referenced in a Malcolm in the Middle episode in which Loggia made a guest appearance as "Grandpa Victor" (for which he received his second Emmy nomination); in it, Loggia drinks some orange juice, then spits it out and complains about the pulp.

In addition to voicing Sykes in Disney's Oliver & Company, Loggia had several other voice acting roles, in multiple media, including: Admiral Petrarch in the computer game FreeSpace 2 (1999), the narrator of the Scarface: The World is Yours (2006) game adaptation and the anime movie The Dog of Flanders (1997), crooked cop Ray Machowski in the video game Grand Theft Auto III (2001), and a recurring role on the Adult Swim animated TV comedy series Tom Goes to the Mayor (2004–2006).[15]

In August 2009, Loggia appeared in one of Apple's Get a Mac advertisements. The advertisement features Loggia as a personal trainer hired by PC to get him back on top of his game. On October 26, 2009, TVGuide.com announced Loggia had joined the cast of the TNT series Men of a Certain Age.[16]

Loggia also appeared several times in the series Family Guy as himself, denoting the passage of time in boring events. The script would cut away to Loggia saying "Eight f***ing hours later", then back to the story, further along in the plot. In 2012, Loggia portrayed Saint Peter during his final imprisonment in The Apostle Peter and the Last Supper. Loggia partnered with Canadian entrepreneur Frank D'Angelo from 2013, appearing in three films (Real Gangsters, The Big Fat Stone, and No Depo$it), with a fourth film in production (Sicilian Vampire) at the time of Loggia's death.

Loggia served as a director for episodes of Quincy M.E., Magnum, P.I., and Hart to Hart.

Loggia reprised his role from Independence Day, General William Grey, in a cameo appearance alongside his wife, Audrey, in the 2016 sequel Independence Day: Resurgence, filmed shortly before his death. The film was released posthumously and dedicated to him.

Personal life

Robert and wife Audrey at the 2012 Miami International Film Festival

Loggia was married to Marjorie Sloan from 1954 to 1981, with whom he had three children. Loggia and Sloan were divorced in 1981.[1]

In 1982, Loggia married Audrey O'Brien, a business executive and the mother of his stepdaughter Cynthia Marlette. Loggia and O'Brien remained married until his death in 2015.[1]

Illness and death

In 2010, Loggia was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.[17] He died on December 4, 2015, of complications from the disease, at his home in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, at the age of 85.[17][18]

Honors and recognitions

In 2010, Loggia was awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in recognition of his humanitarian efforts.[19]

On December 17, 2011, Loggia was honored by his alma mater, the University of Missouri, with an honorary degree for his career and his humanitarian efforts.[20]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1956	Somebody Up There Likes Me	Frankie Peppo	Uncredited
1957	The Garment Jungle	Tulio Renata
1958	Cop Hater	Detective Steve Carelli
	The Lost Missile	Dr. David Loring
1963	Cattle King	Johnny Quatro
1965	The Greatest Story Ever Told	Joseph
1966	The Three Sisters	Solyony
	Elfego Baca: Six Gun Law	Elfego Baca
1969	Che!	Faustino Morales
1974	Two Missionaries	Marches Gonzaga	Credited as Roberto Loggia.
1977	Speedtrap	Spillano
	First Love	John March
1978	Revenge of the Pink Panther	Al Marchione
1980	The Ninth Configuration	Lt. Bennish
	Flatfoot in Egypt	Edward Burns
1981	S.O.B.	Herb Maskowitz
1982	An Officer and a Gentleman	Byron Mayo	[21]
	Trail of the Pink Panther	Bruno Langois
1983	Psycho II	Dr. Bill Raymond
	Curse of the Pink Panther	Bruno Langois
	Scarface	Frank Lopez
1985	Prizzi's Honor	Eduardo Prizzi
	Jagged Edge	Sam Ransom
1986	Armed and Dangerous	Michael Carlino
	That's Life!	Father Baragone
1987	Over the Top	Jason Cutler
	Hot Pursuit	Mac MacClaren
	The Believers	Lt. Sean McTaggert
	Gaby: A True Story	Michel Brimmer
	Amazon Women on the Moon	Gen. McCormick	Uncredited Segment "The Unknown Soldier"
1988	Big	Mr. MacMillan
	Oliver and Company	Sykes	Voice
1989	Relentless	Bill Malloy
	Triumph of the Spirit	Father Arouch
1990	Opportunity Knocks	Milt Malkin
1991	The Marrying Man	Lew Horner	[22]
	Necessary Roughness	Coach Wally Rig
1992	Gladiator	Pappy Jack
	Innocent Blood	Sallie "The Shark" Macelli
	Spies Inc.	Mac
1993	Lifepod	Director Banks
1994	Bad Girls	Frank Jarrett
	The Last Tattoo	Cmdr. Conrad Dart
	I Love Trouble	Matt Greenfield
1995	Coldblooded	Gordon
	Man with a Gun	Philip Marquand
1996	Independence Day	General William Grey
1997	Lost Highway	Mr. Eddy / Dick Laurent
	Smilla's Sense of Snow	Moritz Jasperson
	The Dog of Flanders	Grandpa Jehan	English dub
	The Don's Analyst	Don Vito Leoni
1998	Wide Awake	Grandpa Beal
	The Proposition	Hannibal Thurman
	Holy Man	John McBainbridge
	Hard Time	Connie Martin	[23][24]
1999	The Suburbans	Jules
	Flypaper	Marvin
	American Virgin	Ronny
2000	Return to Me	Angelo Pardipillo
2001	Dodson's Journey	Opti Dodson
	The Shipment	Frank Colucci
	All Over Again	Zack
2005	The Deal	Jared Tolson
2006	Funny Money	Feldman
	Rain	Jake Marvin
	Forget About It	Carl Campobasso	[25]
	Wild Seven	Mackey Willis
2008	The Boneyard Collection
	The Least Of These	Father William Jennings
2009	Shrink	Dr. Robert Carter
2010	Harvest	Siv
	Obituary of the Sun	Samuel Levine
2011	Fake	Seamus White
	The Grand Theft	General McAvoy
	The Great Fight	Dr. Salvatore Reno
	The Life Zone	John Lation / Satan
2012	Apostle Peter and the Last Supper	Apostle Peter
	Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie	Tommy Schlaaang
	The Diary of Preston Plummer	John Percy
	Margarine Wars	Grandpa Griswold
2013	Real Gangsters	Gaitanno 'Tanno'
2014	Snapshot	Paul Grady
	Scavenger Killers	Dr. Montgomery
	An Evergreen Christmas	Pops
	The Big Fat Stone	Father Walter
2015	Bleeding Hearts	Sheriff Wilson
	No Deposit	Sydney Fischer
	Sicilian Vampire	Santino Trafficante Sr.
2016	Independence Day: Resurgence	General William Grey[26]	Cameo Posthumous release
	The Red Maple Leaf	Patrick Adams Senior	Posthumous release
2017	Cries of the Unborn	Mr. Lation	Posthumous release
2019	The Savant	Dr. Salvatore Reno	Posthumous release; Final film role

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1959	Rawhide	Jose Maria Moran	Episode: "The Jose Maria Moran Story"
1959	Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond	Tom Grant	Episode: "The Hand"
1962	The Untouchables	Leo Mencken	Episode: "Takeover"
1963	Alfred Hitchcock Presents	Driver	Episode: "You'll Be the Death of Me"
1965	Combat!	Etienne	Episode: "The Tree of Moray"
1965	Gunsmoke	Lieutenant Cal Tripp	Episode: "Chief Joseph"
1965	The Wild Wild West	Warren Trevor	Episode: "The Night of Sudden Death"
1966–1967	T.H.E. Cat	Thomas Hewitt Edward Cat	26 episodes
1968	The Big Valley	Vern Hickson	Episode: "The Profit and the Lost"
1968	The High Chaparral	Chio	Episode: "The Deceivers"
1974	Mannix	Inspector Varga	Episode: “Bird of Prey”
1975	Starsky & Hutch	Ben Forest	Episode: “The Fix”
1976	Columbo	Harry	Episode: "Now You See Me"
1976	The Moneychangers	Tony Bear	2 episodes
1976	The Rockford Files	Manny Arturis	Episode: "Drought at Indianhead River"
1976	Wonder Woman	Hans Eichler	Episode: "Wonder Woman vs Gargantua"
1976	Street Killing	Louis Spillane	Television film
1977	The Rockford Files	Manny Arturis	Episode: "Beamer's Last Case"
1977	Raid on Entebbe	Yigal Allon	Television film
1978	The Rockford Files	Russell Nevitt	Episode: "Rosendahl and Gilda Stern Are Dead"
1980, 1986	Magnum, P.I.	Philippe Trusseau	3 episodes
1982	A Woman Called Golda	Anwar Sadat	TV miniseries
1982	Little House on the Prairie	Thomas Stark	Episode: "Rage"
1983–1984	Emerald Point N.A.S.	Yuri Bukharin	16 episodes
1987	Echoes in the Darkness	Jay Smith	2 episodes
1987	Conspiracy: The Trial of the Chicago 8	William Kunstler	Television film
1988	Favorite Son	Nick Mancuso	Episode: "Part One"
1989–1990	Mancuso, F.B.I.	Nick Mancuso	20 episodes
1991	Sunday Dinner	Ben Benedict	6 episodes
1993	Wild Palms	Senator Anton Kreutzer	5 episodes
1993	Mercy Mission: the Rescue of Flight 771	Gordon Vette	Television film
1994	Picture Windows	Merce	Episode: "Armed Response"
1996	The Right to Remain Silent	Lt. Mike Brosloe	Television film
1996	Mistrial	Capt. Lou Unger	Television film
1999	Joan of Arc	Father Monet	2 episodes
2000	Malcolm in the Middle	Victor	Episode: "The Grandparents"
2000	Frasier	Stefano	Episode: "The Three Faces of Frasier"
2000	The Outer Limits	Justice Earl Clayton	Episode: "Final Appeal"
2000	Touched by an Angel	Chandler Crowne	Episode: "Restoration"
2003	Queens Supreme	Judge Thomas O'Neill	13 episodes
2004	The Sopranos	Feech La Manna	4 episodes
2006	Tom Goes to the Mayor	Lew Petersen (voice)	Episode: "Saxman"
2008	Monk	Louie Flynn	Episode: "Mr. Monk Takes a Punch"
2010	Hawaii Five-0	Boatswain's Mate, Ed McKay, 1st Class	Episode: "Ho'apano"
2010–2011	Men of a Certain Age	Artie	3 episodes
2011, 2013	Family Guy	Himself (voice)	2 episodes

Video games

Year	Title	Roles	Notes
1999	Freespace 2	Adm. Petrarch
2001	Grand Theft Auto III	Ray Machowski
2006	Scarface: The World Is Yours	Narrator, Civilian

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result	ref
1985	Academy Award	Best Supporting Actor	Jagged Edge	Nominated	[17]
1988	Cable ACE Award	Best Actor in a Theatrical or Dramatic Special	Conspiracy: The Trial of the Chicago 8	Nominated
1988	Saturn Award	Best Supporting Actor	Big	Won	[27]
1990	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series	Mancuso, F.B.I.	Nominated
1992	Fangoria Chainsaw Award	Best Actor	Innocent Blood	Nominated
2001	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series	Malcolm in the Middle	Nominated

References

1. Robert Loggia Biography, Film Reference. Retrieved 2015-12-05
2. "the nine lives of elfego baca – YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved March 19, 2018.
3. dalek7 (March 24, 2013). "T.H.E. Cat Robert Loggia" – via YouTube.
4. miksha natali (June 27, 2014). "T. H. E. Cat tv series 1x01 To Kill a Priest" – via YouTube.
5. miksha natali (July 5, 2014). "The Cat 1x10 To Bell The Cat" – via YouTube.
6. RwDt09 (September 21, 2007). "T.H.E. CAT" – via YouTube.
7. "UPI Almanac for Thursday, Jan. 3, 2019". United Press International. January 3, 2019. Archived from the original on January 3, 2019. Retrieved September 3, 2019. actor Robert Loggia in 1930
8. "News". Columbia Daily Tribune. Columbia, MO. October 24, 2006.
9. "Profile". Yahoo! Movies. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
10. Silvey, Janese. "Robert Loggia, William Least Heat-Moon to earn honorary MU degrees". Columbia Daily Tribune. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
11. The Daily Telegraph, December 7, 2015, (paper only), Obituary, p.31.
12. Gowran, Clay (October 31, 1966). "Plan More Kisses for Bone Busting Cat". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 4, 2016.
13. TV Guide Guide to TV. Barnes and Noble. 2004. pp. 562. ISBN 0-7607-5634-1.
14. Whoa, Robert Loggia! on YouTube
15. Justin Sevakis (March 6, 2008) The Dog of Flanders – Buried Treasure, animenewsnetwork.com; accessed April 12, 2015.
16. Adam Bryant (October 26, 2009). "Exclusive: Ray Romano's Men of a Certain Age Casts Robert Loggia". TVGuide.com.
17. Associated Press (December 4, 2015). "'Scarface,' 'Sopranos' actor Robert Loggia dies at 85". LA Times. Tribune Publishing. Retrieved December 4, 2015.
18. McNary, Dave (December 4, 2015). "Oscar-Nominated Actor Robert Loggia Dies at 85". Variety. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved January 15, 2015.
19. "Ellis Island Medal of Honor", NYU News and Publications, May 10, 2015. Retrieved 2015-12-05
20. "Robert Loggia, William Least Heat-Moon to earn honorary MU degrees". Columbia Daily Tribune. December 1, 2011. Archived from the original on July 22, 2012. Retrieved December 5, 2011.
21. "An Officer and a Gentleman". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media LLC. May 22, 2013. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
22. Canby, Vincent (April 5, 1991). "The Marrying Man (1991) Review/Film; Marriage as Eternal Punishment". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
23. Ray Richmond (December 10, 1998). "Review: 'Hard Time'". Variety. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
24. Steven Linan (December 12, 1998). "Reynolds' 'Hard Time' Gives Viewers a Rather Difficult Time". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
25. "Forget About It movie website". Internet Archive. February 7, 2006. Archived from the original on February 7, 2006. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
26. "Independence Day: Resurgence". War of 1996. Retrieved December 25, 2015.
27. Arar, Yardena (December 7, 1989). "`Beetlejuice` And `Roger Rabbit` Each Win 3 Awards". Chicago Tribune. Tribune Publishing. Retrieved December 4, 2015.

External links

• Robert Loggia at the Internet Broadway Database
• Robert Loggia on IMDb
• Robert Loggia at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Robert Loggia at the University of Wisconsin's Actors Studio audio collection
• Robert Loggia (Aveleyman)