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
