Danny Wells obit

Danny Wells, Luigi on ‘Super Mario Bros.’ Show, Dies at 72

He was not on the list.

Danny Wells, an actor with dozens of TV credits dating back to “Love, American Style” but best known for playing Luigi on “The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!,” died Nov. 28 in Toronto. He was 72.

The syndicated “Super Mario Bros.” show, based on the popular Nintendo videogame franchise, aired from 1989-91. Lou Albano played Mario and Wells his brother Luigi.

Wells recurred on “The Jeffersons” as Charlie the bartender, and he played studio boss Jack L. Warner in the 2002 telepic “Gleason,” which starred Brad Garrett as the comedian.

His vast number of television credits also included appearances on “Rhoda,” “Columbo,” “Starsky and Hutch,” “Kojak,” “Sanford and Son,” “The Bionic Woman,” “Fantasy Island,” “Eight Is Enough,” “Lou Grant,” “Happy Days,” “The A-Team” and “Murder She Wrote.”


He also appeared in feature films including “Magnolia,” “Gus,” “The Shaggy D.A.,” “Private Benjamin,” “Body and Soul” and “Protection.” In 1975 Wells made his film debut in The Strongest Man in the World.

Wells also did a number of TV movies including “A Guide for the Married Woman,” “The Man in the Santa Claus Suit,” “The Rousters” and “Snow in August.”

The actor was born Jack Westelman in Montreal, Quebec.

Filmography

Film Year             Title       Role       Notes

1975      The Strongest Man in the World                Drummer             Film debut

1975      Whiffs   Civilian Doctor  

1976      Gus        Referee               

1976      The Shaggy D.A.                Police Official    

1978      Going Coconuts                 Al           

1980      Private Benjamin              Slick Guy             

1981      Body and Soul    Announcer #1   

1982      Hey Good Lookin'             Stomper               Voice

1984      The Woman in Red          Maitre D'            

1986      Heathcliff: The Movie     General / Announcer      Voice

1991      Life Stinks            Mercedes Driver              

1999      Magnolia             Dick Jennings    

2001      Protection           Ryan     

2002      Swindle                Lieutenant Jackson Craig              

2006      The Last Kiss       Izzy's Uncle        

2007      Song of Solomon              Rabbi Aaron Rosenberg Short

2011      Textuality            Mitch   

2012      Old Stock             Harold  

Television Year Title       Role       Notes

1972-1973          Love, American Style      Fred / Bellhop    2 episodes (television debut)

1973-1974          Lotsa Luck           Ernie Kaplan       2 episodes

1974      Columbo              Bookstore Clerk / Gary Keppler 2 episodes

1976      Kojak     Riggs     

1976      Flo's Place           Abner    Television movie

1974-1976          Sanford and Son               Danny Taylor / Haywood Jones 3 episodes

1976-1977          What's Happening!!        Bert Frederick/Undercover Cop 2 episodes

1977      The Hunted Lady              Wally     Television movie

1978-1979          Carter Country Slippery Sam      2 episodes

1980      Nobody’s Perfect             Careful Eddie     2 episodes

1979-1981          Eight Is Enough Easy Art / Ed Foster         2 episodes

1979-1981          CHiPs     Gordy / Phil Davies          3 episodes

1982      Lou Grant            Vince     Episode: "Jazz"

1982      Happy Days         Mr. Parker           Episode: Chachi’s Future

1983-1984          The A-Team        Film Director / Artie Simmons     4 episodes

1984      Murder, She Wrote         Talk Show Host Episode: The Murder of Sherlock Holmes

1984-1985          Silver Spoons     Waiter 2 episodes

1975-1985          The Jeffersons   Charlie the Bartender     23 episodes

1983-1986          The Fall Guy        Alex / Mel Bresins            2 episodes

1986-1989          Small Wonder    H.L. / Eddie / Discount Dale         3 episodes

1989      The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!         Luigi       65 episodes

1985-1991          Hunter Jake Flam / Murray Green            2 episodes

1993      Renegade            Athletica 2000 M.C.         2 episodes

2002      Gleason                Jack L. Warner   Television movie

Voice Work Year               Title       Role       Notes

1982      Hey Good Looking            Stomper               Animated film

1984      Heathcliff & The Catillac Cats      Bush, Raul, General, Announcer                TV Series

1986      Heathcliff: The Movie     General, Announcer (2 segments)            Animated film

1987      The Real Ghostbusters   Cyrus Spengler Episode: Cry Uncle

1990      Barnyard Commandos   Voice     Television series

1993      Batman: The Animated Series     Guard    Episode: Birds of a Feather

1997      Johnny Bravo     The Bull                Episode: Did You See a Bull Run by Here?

1999      Descent 3            Voices   Video game

2002      Evolution Worlds              Voices   Video game

2004      Potatoes and Dragons    King Hugo III       78 episodes

2005      Splinter Cell Chaos Theory            Captain Arthur Partridge               Video game

2006-07               Grossology          The Detective    6 episodes

2009      Willa's Wild Life                Gus        Main Role

2011      Scaredy Squirrel                Lars Von Stacking             Guest Role, Episode: Awaken the Stacker Within

2012      The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About Christmas!               Voice     Televis

Jane Kean obit

Jane Kean, who played Trixie on ‘The Honeymooners,’ dies at 90

 

 She was not on the list.

The actress played Trixie alongside Jackie Gleason in a revival of the hit TV show. 

Jane Kean, a diverse performer who got her start in musical theater but was best known as Trixie alongside Jackie Gleason and Art Carney in a TV revival of The Honeymooners, has died. She was 90.

Kean, of Toluca Lake, died Tuesday at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, where she was taken after a fall that led to a hemorrhagic stroke, her niece, Deirdre Wolpert, said Thursday.

Kean first started working with Gleason in the 1940s, when they were both on the vaudeville circuit. 

Her big break, however, came in 1966 when Gleason moved to Miami and resurrected his hit show The Honeymooners, expanding it to an hour and adding musical numbers.

Kean, a talented singer with a belting voice, starred on the show for five years as Ed Norton's beleaguered wife, Trixie.

She often spoke about those years and her chance to appear on such a well-known program with Gleason, Wolpert said.

"One day she picked up the phone and [Gleason] said, 'Are you doing anything right now?' She said, 'No.' And he said, 'Come on down and be Trixie,' " Wolpert explained. "Two weeks later, she was on the plane to Florida."

Born in Hartford, Conn., on April 10, 1923, Kean got into show business at an early age along with her sister, Betty Kean, with the encouragement of her mother.

She appeared in a Broadway production of Early to Bed at age 16 and was eventually moved to Los Angeles, where she appeared in some films for MGM before forming a comedy act with her sister, who is Wolpert's mother. The all-female comedy team, a rarity at the time, played night clubs and rubbed shoulders with comedians such as Milton Berle.

The sisterly duo also performed in a comedy called Ankles Aweigh on Broadway, Wolpert said.

After jumping to TV, Kean stayed on The Honeymooners for five years before leaving to pursue other projects, including guest appearances, performing in Las Vegas and doing voice work. In 1977, she worked on the children's movie Pete's Dragon -- behind-the-scenes work that the usually glamorous actress didn't like because she didn't need to wear makeup, her niece said.

Last year, Kean put on a one-woman show that was a retrospective of her life's work and had plans to travel to London after Christmas with her niece. She also was preparing invitations for her annual Christmas party in the days before her death, Wolpert said.

"This was a really kicking 90-year-old. The number of friends that she had, the people who loved her ... she had a wonderful life and a wonderful career," she said. "She was a glamor girl, but she also had a lot of substance."

In addition to Wolpert, Kean is survived by a stepson from her second marriage, Joseph Hecht Jr., and his family as well as Wolpert's husband and two children.

Her sister, Betty, died in 1986. Her second husband, her manager Joe Hecht, died in 2006.

Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
1941 Sailors on Leave Sunshine

1942 Flying with Music Bobbie

1962 Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol Belle TV movie, Voice
1966 The Honeymooners Trixie Norton 44 episodes
1977 Chatterbox Eleanor Pittman

1977 Pete's Dragon Miss Taylor

1980 The Scarlett O'Hara War Louella Parsons TV movie
1985 Explorers    Voice
1990 Fatal Charm Home-Ec Teacher

1998 Gideon Karaoke Woman

1999 Dose Hermanos: Shadow of the Invisible Man Aunt Ida Voice
2013 Abner, The Invisible Dog Aunt Ida Voice, (final film role)

Tony Musante obit

Tony Musante, Actor Who Left ‘Toma,’ Dies at 77

He was not on the list.

Tony Musante, who appeared on numerous TV shows, in films and on Broadway, but was best known for starring in 1973 series “Toma,” died Tuesday in Manhattan of a hemorrhage after oral surgery. He was 77.

Musante left the ABC detective show after one season to pursue opportunities onstage such as his first Broadway role, “P.S. Your Cat is Dead!,” and in films. After he left, the show was relaunched a few years later as “Baretta” and became popular with Robert Blake in Musante’s .

He had a recurring role on “Oz” and was nominated for an Emmy for “Medical Story.”

Among his film roles were “The Last Run” opposite George C. Scott in 1971, “The Pope of Greenwich Village” and 1967’s “The Incident” with Martin Sheen. He appeared on Broadway with Meryl Streep in Tennessee Williams’s “27 Wagons Full of Cotton” in 1976.

Although “Toma” was performing fairly well against highly-rated “The Waltons” and “The Flip Wilson Show,” he left to play the title role in Stanley Kramer’s 1975 telefilm “Judgment: The Court Martial of Lt. William Calley.”

“People in Hollywood always asked him if he regretted it, but he really never did,” his wife, Jane, told the New York Times, adding: “He didn’t become the household name, or make the money he would have had he done it. But he needed variety.”

He also appeared in several Italian TV shows and films such as 2003’s “La Vita Come Viene.”

Musante was born in Bridgeport, Conn. and graduated Oberlin College in Ohio. He is survived by his wife, two sisters and a brother.

 

Filmography

 

    The DuPont Show of the Week: Ride with Terror (1963, TV series episode) - Joe Ferrone

    Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre: A Wind of Hurricane Force (1964, TV series episode) - Major DeGuisado

    Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Memo from Purgatory (1964, TV series episode) - Candle

    Once a Thief (1965) - Cleveland 'Cleve' Shoenstein

    The Trials of O'Brien: Bargain Day on the Street of Regret (1965, TV series episode) - Coley Thomas

    The Trials of O'Brien: The Blue Steel Suite (1966, TV series episode) - Callison

    The Fugitive: The Blessings of Liberty (1966, TV series episode) - Billy Karnes

    The Incident (1967) - Joe Ferrone

    The Detective (1968) - Felix

    The Mercenary (Italy, 1968) - Paco Román

    Metti, una sera a cena (Italy, 1969) - Max

    The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (Italy, 1970) - Sam Dalmas

    The Anonymous Venetian (Italy, 1970) - Enrico

    Grissom Gang (1971) - Eddie Hagan

    The Last Run (1971) - Paul Rickard

    Il caso Pisciotta (Italy, 1972) - Francesco Scauri

    Marcus Welby, M.D.: The Tall Tree (1973, TV series episode) - David

    Toma (1973–1974, TV series, 23 episodes) - Det. David Toma

    Police Story: Fathers and Sons (1974, TV series episode) - Joe Basic

    Judgment: The Court Martial of Lieutenant William Calley [fr] (1975, TV film) - Lt. William Calley

    The Rockford Files: Charlie Harris at Large (1975, TV series episode) - Charlie Harris

    The Desperate Miles (1975, TV film) - Joe Larkin

    Medical Story: The God Syndrome (1975, TV series episode) - Dr. Paul Brandon

    Police Story: Breaking Point (1975, TV series episode) - Sgt. Vince Della Maggiori

    Medical Story: The Quality of Mercy (1976, TV series episode) - Dr. Hoffman

    Origins of the Mafia (Italy, 1976, TV miniseries) - Michele Borello

    Police Story: The Other Side of the Badge (1976, TV series episode) - Jack Mitchell

    Nowhere to Hide [it] (1977, TV film) - Joey Faber

    Goodbye & Amen (Italy, 1978) - John Dhannay

    Break Up (Italy, 1978) - Paolo Naviase

    My Husband Is Missing (1978, TV film) - Derek Mackenzie

    Breaking Up Is Hard to Do (1979, TV film) - Sal Falcone

    The Thirteenth Day: The Story of Esther (1979, TV film) - King Ahasuerus

    High Ice (1980, TV film) - Lt. Col. Harris Thatcher

    American Playhouse: Weekend (1982, TV series episode) - George

    Notturno [it] (Italy, 1983) - Jurek Rudinski

    The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984) - Pete

    Rearview Mirror (1984, TV film) - Vince Martino

    MacGruder and Loud (1985, TV pilot episode) - Caferelli

    The Trap (Italy, 1985) - Michael Parker

    The Repenter (Italy, 1985) - Vanni Ragusa

    The Equalizer: Pretenders (1986, TV series episode) - John Parker

    Nutcracker: Money, Madness and Murder (1987, TV miniseries) - Vittorio

    Night Heat: Grace (1987, TV series episode) - Roy Barnett

    La collina del diavolo (Italy, 1988, TV film) - Daniele

    Jesse Hawkes: Little Girl Lost (1989, TV series episode)

    Appuntamento a Trieste [it] (Italy, 1989, TV miniseries) - Kirk Mesana

    Il barone (Italy, 1995, TV miniseries) - Baron Sajeva

    Deep Family Secrets [fr] (1997, TV film) - Lennox

    Oz (1997, TV series, 7 episodes) - Nino Schibetta

    Nothing Sacred: Song of Songs (1997, TV series episode) - Gary

    Exiled: A Law & Order Movie (1998, TV film) - Don Giancarlo Uzielli

    Acapulco H.E.A.T.: Code Name Million Dollar Man (1998, TV series episode) - Rocco Santora

    The Deep End of the Ocean (1999) - Angelo Cappadora

    The Seventh Scroll [it] (1999, TV miniseries) - Duraid Al Simma

    The Yards (2000) - Seymour Korman

    Un bacio nel buio (Italy, 2000, TV miniseries)

    As the World Turns (2000–2003, TV series) - Joe D'Angelo

    100 Centre Street (2001, TV series, 3 episodes) - Albert Esposito

    Life as It Comes (Italy, 2003) - Karl, the Professor

    Traffic (2004, TV miniseries) - Alex Edmonds

    Promessa d'amore [it] (Italy, 2004) - Amilcare

    Pompeii [es] (Italy, 2007, TV miniseries) - Alpius

    We Own the Night (2007) - Jack Shapiro

    Pupetta - Il coraggio e la passione [it] (Italy, 2013, TV miniseries) - Don Luigi Vitiello