Wally Cassell obit

Wally Cassell, Gangster in 'White Heat,' Dies at 103

He was not on the list.

Believed to have been one of the oldest living actors, he also starred in several other film noirs, including ‘Quicksand,’ ‘Breakdown’ and ‘City That Never Sleeps.’

Wally Cassell, a film-noir favorite who played Cotton Valletti, one of Jimmy Cagney’s gang, in the electric 1949 crime thriller White Heat, has died. He was 103.

Cassell died peacefully April 2 at his home in Palm Desert, Calif., his wife, actress, singer and songwriter Marcy McGuire, told The Hollywood Reporter. He was in good health until recently, she noted.

“He was the most wonderful man,” McGuire said. “We never had an argument.”

Mickey Rooney served as the best man at their 1947 wedding, and he gave Cassell — who was born Oswaldo Silvestri Trippilini Rolando Vicenza Castellano in Sicily — his more marquee-friendly moniker.

Cassell stood out in such film-noir movies as Cornell Woolrich’s The Guilty (1947); Quicksand (1950), which starred Rooney and Peter Lorre; the crime-doesn’t-pay drama Highway 301 (1950), opposite Steve Cochran; Breakdown (1952), a boxing saga with Ann Richards and Sheldon Leonard; and City That Never Sleeps (1953), starring Gig Young.

Cassell also played a jockey opposite Rooney in National Velvet (1944) and held the rank of private in the war tales Story of G.I. Joe (1945) and John Wayne’s Sands of Iwo Jima (1949).

In his final onscreen appearance, Cassell played LA Dodgers front-office executive Buzzie Bavasi (also featuring Leo Durocher, then a coach for the team) in a 1963 episode of The Beverly Hillbillies.

In the Warner Bros. classic White Heat, Cagney’s ruthless killer Cody Jarrett orders Cotton, Cassell’s character, to polish off fellow gangster Zuckie Hommell (Ford Rainey), who is badly scalded during a train robbery and left behind. Cotton, though, can’t bring himself to do it, and evidence left at the scene links the bad guys to the crime.

In addition to National Velvet, Cassell worked with his pal Rooney in such films as Thousands Cheer (1943) and Killer McCoy (1947).

Cassell started his movie career with a contract with MGM and made his debut in Fingers at the Window (1942), starring Basil Rathbone.

He was rather busy after that, seen in small roles in Presenting Lily Mars (1943), Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944), Anchors Aweigh (1945), The Thin Man Goes Home (1945), The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) and Homecoming (1948).

McGuire, a perky RKO contract player from Iowa, starred in such films as Higher and Higher (1943), Frank Sinatra’s first acting effort, and Sing Your Way Home (1945).

She and Cassell returned the favor as Rooney’s maid of honor and best man at his 1949 wedding to actress Martha Vickers, the third of Rooney’s eight wives.

“Mickey couldn’t understand how we were married so long,” the red-haired McGuire recalled. “He said, ‘It must be the red hair!’ ”

In addition to his wife, Cassell’s survivors include children, Michael and Cindy, grandsons Ian, Chris and Austin and great-granddaughter, Annabella.

Filmography

Year       Title       Role       Notes

1942      Fingers at the Window   Photographer    Uncredited

Dr. Gillespie's New Assistant       Gangster              Uncredited

Stand By for Action          Talker    Uncredited

1943      The Human Comedy       Man flirting         Uncredited

Presenting Lily Mars        Man       Uncredited

Pilot ♯5 Soldier Uncredited

Salute to the Marines     Marine corporal                Uncredited

Thousands Cheer             Jack        Uncredited

Swing Fever        Cassidy Uncredited

1943      Maisie Goes to Reno       Reporter              Uncredited

Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo           Sailor     Uncredited

The Thin Man Goes Home            Bill Burns             Uncredited

National Velvet Jockey   Uncredited

Music for Millions            Soldier Uncredited

1945      Main Street After Dark   Jenkins Uncredited

The Clock             Soda jerk             Uncredited

Son of Lassie      POW      Uncredited

Dangerous Partners        Drumman Son   Uncredited

Story of G.I. Joe                 Private Dondaro              

Anchors Aweigh                Sailor     Uncredited

1946      The Postman Always Rings Twice               Ben       

Bad Bascomb     Curley   Uncredited

Gallant Bess        Mike      Uncredited

1947      Ramrod                Virg Lea                Uncredited

The Guilty            Johnny Dixon    

Killer McCoy       Louie - Gambler                Uncredited

1948      Summer Holiday               Salesman             Uncredited

Saigon   Sgt. Pete Rocco

Homecoming     Patient Uncredited

The Loves of Carmen      Dragoon Stagecoach Passenger Uncredited

Joan of Arc          French Soldier Offering Amulet Uncredited

1949      Streets of San Francisco                 Den Driscoll       

We Were Strangers         Miguel

Arctic Manhunt                 Tooyuk

White Heat         Cotton Valletti  

Sands of Iwo Jima             PFC Benny Regazzi          

1950      Quicksand           Chuck   

Highway 301      Robert 'Bobby' Mais       

1951      Oh! Susanna       Trooper Muro   

Little Big Horn    Pvt. Danny Zecca             

The Wild Blue Yonder     Sgt. Pulaski        

1952      Sound Off            Tony Baccigalupi              

Breakdown         Pete Sampson  

One Minute to Zero        Pvt. Means          Uncredited

Thunderbirds     Pfc. Sam Jacobs                

1953      Law and Order   Durango Kid      

City That Never Sleeps   Gregg Warren   

The Charge at Feather River         Member of Rescue Party               Uncredited

Island in the Sky                D'Annunzia        

1954      Princess of the Nile          Goghi   

1955      Timberjack          Veazie  

Paris Follies of 1956        Harry    

1956      The Come On     Tony     

Wetbacks            Coast Guard lieutenant

Accused of Murder          Cipriano's Doorman        Uncredited

1957      Until They Sail    Phil Friskett aka Shiner  

1958      The Walter Winchell File               "David & Goliath" - Costa             

1960      The Rat Race      Hotel Clerk          Uncredited