Nicholas Georgiade obit

Nicholas Georgiade, One of Eliot Ness’ Agents on ‘The Untouchables,’ Dies at 88

After getting a big break from Lucille Ball, he portrayed Rico Rossi on the ultra-violent ABC series for four seasons.

 

He was not on the list.

Nicholas Georgiade, who played the brawny Eliot Ness ally Enrico “Rico” Rossi on the hard-hitting ABC crime drama The Untouchables, has died. He was 88.

Georgiade died Sunday in Las Vegas, his nephew and namesake Nick Georgiade announced.

On Facebook, his daughter, Stazi, wrote: “He lived 88 long years and had a beautiful life. He was also a wonderful father to me. I had the blessing to have him pass away in my arms tonight. Thank you in advance to all your kind words and prayers.”

The brother of a real-life cop, Georgiade was an inexperienced actor when he appeared in April 1959 as a thug apprehended in a brewery raid on a two-part episode of CBS’ Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse that would serve as the pilot of The Untouchables.

When the show began its four-season series run five months later, Georgiade was now on board as Rossi, a barber who, after a hoodlum kills his manicurist girlfriend amid a shootout, joins the core team of incorruptible Prohibition-era federal agents led by Ness (Robert Stack).

Georgiade appeared on 112 episodes of the Walter Winchell-narrated, fact-based series alongside Stack, Abel Fernandez as Agent William Youngfellow, Paul Picerni as Agent Lee Hobson and Steve London as Agent Jack Rossman.

“I’ve done a lot of research about Chicago and the skullduggery of the [Al] Capone era,” Georgiade noted in a 1960 interview. “Playing this part is a living experience and a new experience every time.”

Born in New York City on March 25, 1933, Georgiade was raised on the Lower East Side. He boxed in high school and the U.S. Army, then enrolled at Syracuse University, where he majored in sociology and psychology and appeared in a production of Tennessee Williams’ The Rose Tattoo before graduating in 1957.

He studied with famed acting teacher Herbert Berghof, came west and was signed as one of the first members of Lucille Ball’s Desilu Workshop in 1958 after being spotted in a small Hollywood theater portraying Marco in Arthur Miller’s A View From the Bridge.

The Untouchables was designed to be a one-off for Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse, but after Part 1 attracted a 56.3 share of the audience and Part 2 a 64.8 share, ABC jumped in to make it a series, which would become known for its violence.

Georgiade’s résumé also included such films as It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), The Young Runaways (1968), Stacey (1973), Seven (1979), Mugsy’s Girls (1985), Picasso Trigger (1988) and Indecent Proposal (1993), and TV shows including Whirlybirds, I Spy, Combat!, Run Buddy Run, Mannix, Quincy M.E. and The Equalizer.

He was married to his third wife, Alicia, from 1977 until her death in January 2017 at age 101.

Actor (45 credits)

 2007 Three Days to Vegas

Casino Boss

 1993 Fit to Kill

Nick the Robber (as Nick Georgiade)

 1993 Indecent Proposal

Croupier (as Nick Georgiade)

 1990 Lucky Chances (TV Mini Series)

N.Y. Detective

- Episode #1.3 (1990) ... N.Y. Detective

- Episode #1.2 (1990) ... N.Y. Detective

- Episode #1.1 (1990) ... N.Y. Detective

 1988 Picasso Trigger

Schiavo (as Nick Georgiade)

 1988 Crime Story (TV Series)

Lt. Peterson

- Last Rites (1988) ... Lt. Peterson (as Nick Georgiade)

 1987 The Equalizer (TV Series)

Agent #2

- Blood & Wine: Part 2 (1987) ... Agent #2 (as Nick Georgiade)

- Blood & Wine: Part 1 (1987) ... Agent #2 (as Nick Georgiade)

 1987 Kojak: The Price of Justice (TV Movie)

Detective (as Nick Georgiade)

 1984 Delta Pi

Cupcake (as Nick Georgiade)

 1983 T.J. Hooker (TV Series)

Pappas

- Undercover Affair (1983) ... Pappas (as Nick Georgiade)

 1978-1982 Quincy M.E. (TV Series)

Vince Lasker / Bob Gooden / Lew Malloy / ...

- Next Stop, Nowhere (1982) ... Vince Lasker (as Nick Georgiade)

- Deadly Protection (1982) ... Bob Gooden (as Nick Georgiade)

- Hot Ice (1979) ... Lew Malloy (as Nick Georgiade)

- Dead and Alive (1978) ... Andros (as Nick Georgiade)

 1981 Vega$ (TV Series)

Luis

- Sourdough Suite (1981) ... Luis (as Nick Georgiade)

 1979 Seven

Niko (as Nick Georgiade)

 1978 Kojak (TV Series)

Gino

- In Full Command (1978) ... Gino (as Nick Georgiade)

 1977 Delvecchio (TV Series)

Eddie Rehak

- Dying Can Be a Pleasure (1977) ... Eddie Rehak (as Nick Georgiade)

 1976 The Rockford Files (TV Series)

Danny

- Drought at Indianhead River (1976) ... Danny (as Nick Georgiade)

 1973 Stacey

Matthew

 1973 Poor Devil (TV Movie)

Bob Younger

 1972 Mod Squad (TV Series)

Case

- Corbey (1972) ... Case (as Nick Georgiade)

 1971 Eye for an Eye

Neil Robertson

 1970 Mission: Impossible (TV Series)

Vito Nicola

- Squeeze Play (1970) ... Vito Nicola (as Nick Georgiade)

 1970 Hawaii Five-O (TV Series)

Andreas

- The Second Shot (1970) ... Andreas (as Nick Georgiade)

 1970 Insight (TV Series)

Gordon

- The Dangerous Airs of Amy Clark (1970) ... Gordon (as Nick Georgiade)

 1967-1970 Get Smart (TV Series)

Marcus / Soldier

- And Only Two Ninety-Nine (1970) ... Marcus

- Viva Smart (1967) ... Soldier (as Nick Georgiade)

 1968 The Young Runaways

Driver

 1968 Hang 'Em High

Prisoner in Wagon (uncredited)

 1968 The Felony Squad (TV Series)

1st Guard

- The Human Target (1968) ... 1st Guard (as Nick Georgiade)

 1968 Mannix (TV Series)

Logan

- Deadfall: Part 2 (1968) ... Logan (uncredited)

- Deadfall: Part 1 (1968) ... Logan (as Nick Georgiade)

 1967 Hondo (TV Series)

Bartender

- Hondo and the Hanging Town (1967) ... Bartender

 1967 Batman (TV Series)

Kayo

- Ring Around the Riddler (1967) ... Kayo

 1966 Run Buddy Run (TV Series)

Wendell / Mobster

- Wild, Wild Wake (1966) ... Wendell (as Nick Georgiade)

- Steam Bath & Chicken Little (1966) ... Mobster (as Nick Georgiade)

 1966 Daniel Boone (TV Series)

Chief White Wolf

- Cibola (1966) ... Chief White Wolf

 1966 I Spy (TV Series)

1st Guard

- Turkish Delight (1966) ... 1st Guard (as Nick Georgiade)

 1964 The Age of Violence

Gangster

 1964 The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters (TV Series)

Rob / Cairo

- The Day of the Pretenders (1964) ... Rob (as Nick Georgiade)

- The Day of the Toll Takers (1964) ... Cairo (as Nick Georgiade)

 1963 Combat! (TV Series)

Londos

- The Party (1963) ... Londos (as Nick Georgiade)

 1963 It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World

Detective at Grogan's Crash Site (uncredited)

 1963 The Doctors and the Nurses (TV Series)

Muscles

- No Score (1963) ... Muscles

 1959-1963 The Untouchables (TV Series)

Enrico Rossi / Agent Enrico Rossi / Frank Kotter

- A Taste for Pineapple (1963) ... Enrico Rossi

- Line of Fire (1963) ... Enrico Rossi

- The Torpedo (1963) ... Enrico Rossi

- The Jazz Man (1963) ... Enrico Rossi

- The Charlie Argos Story (1963) ... Enrico Rossi

1959-1960 Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse (TV Series)

Tommy / Frank Kotter

- Meeting at Appalachia (1960) ... Tommy (as Nick Georgiade)

- The Untouchables: Part 1 (1959) ... Frank Kotter

- Chain of Command (1959)

 1959 Hawaiian Eye (TV Series)

Kala

- Three Tickets to Lani (1959) ... Kala

 1959 The Millionaire (TV Series)

Salvatore Rios

- Millionaire Lorraine Daggett (1959) ... Salvatore Rios (as Nick Georgiade)

 1959 Whirlybirds (TV Series)

Anders

- The Deacon (1959) ... Anders (as Nick Georgiade)

 1958-1959 Playhouse 90 (TV Series)

Calistri / Rocco

- The Killers of Mussolini (1959) ... Calistri

- Seven Against the Wall (1958) ... Rocco (as Nick Georgiade)

 1956 State Trooper (TV Series)

Novak

- The Bride Wore Bullets ... Novak (as Nick Georgiade)