Vito Giusto Scozzari (January 26, 1918 – June 5, 1996), also known as Vito Scotti, was an American character actor who played both dramatic and comedy roles on Broadway, in films, and later on television, primarily from the late 1930s to the mid-1990s. He was known as a man of a thousand faces for his ability to assume so many divergent roles in more than 200 screen appearances in a career spanning 50 years and for his resourceful portrayals of various ethnic types. Of Italian heritage, he played everything from a Mexican bandit, to a Russian doctor, to a Japanese sailor, to an Indian travel agent.
Vito Giusto Scozzari was born January 26, 1918, in San Francisco, California.[1] He was the son of Giusto and Virginia Ambroselli Scozzari.[2] His family spent the early 1920s in Naples. The family returned to the United States on July 4, 1924, and lived briefly at 802 South 8th Street in Philadelphia before moving to New York City the following year.[citation needed]
In 1925, after the Scozzari family had returned to the United States, his mother became a diva in New York City theater circles and his father an impresario. Scotti worked the night club circuit as a stand-up magician and Mime artist mainly following the Commedia dell'arte style.[1] He made his debut on Broadway in Pinocchio, where he played a small role.
Film and television
After serving in World War II,[citation needed] Scotti entered movies and television in the late 1940s. He made his film debut with a trio of uncredited roles in 1949.
By 1953, Scotti replaced J. Carrol Naish as Luigi Basco, an Italian immigrant who ran a Chicago antique store, on the television version of the radio show Life with Luigi. Five years later, he portrayed another "ethnic" character, Rama from India (among other characters) in the live-action segment "Gunga Ram" on the Andy Devine children's show, Andy's Gang,[3] where he also played music teacher Pasta Fazooli, a foil to the trickster Froggy the Gremlin. He was cast as French Duclos in the 1959 episode "Deadly Tintype" of the NBC Western series, The Californians.
In 1955, Scotti was reportedly injured while filming with an Elephant named Emma. Emma was reportedly spooked by the faux flora used to dress the set. The elephant shook Scotti and fellow actor Nino Marcel from her back. Scotti suffered a concussion and broken arm.[4][5] Scotti would work successfully with animals later in his career.
In 1963, Scotti was cast as the Italian farmer Vincenzo Peruggia in the episode "The Tenth Mona Lisa" of the CBS anthology series, General Electric True, hosted by Jack Webb. In the episode set in the year 1911, Peruggia steals the Mona Lisa from the Louvre museum in Paris but is apprehended by a French detective when he attempts to unload the painting on an art dealer.
He appeared four times on Gilligan's Island in the 1960s: in season one, episode 15 (1964–65) as a Japanese sailor who did not know World War II was over, later in season one, episode 31, as the same sailor in scenes where Ginger, the skipper, and Mister Howell reflect in diaries on their versions of how a rescue transpired in the above-mentioned episode 15, and twice as Dr. Boris Balinkoff, a mad scientist, in seasons two and three. He appeared in 5 episodes (1973-1975) of the original Columbo, as a befuddled maître d’, a snobbish clothing store salesman, a soliciting undertaker, an erudite street bum, and a soybean wholesaler, and in one episode (1989) as Vito when the series was revived.
Scotti was cast as a Mexican bandit in two one-hour episodes of Zorro titled "El Bandido" and "Adios El Cuchillo" alongside Gilbert Roland, and an Italian restaurant owner in episode 35 of season one of Bewitched.
The actor appeared in hundreds of film and television roles, including a prominent role as the "Italian Train Engineer" in Von Ryan's Express who leads the escaped prisoners to Switzerland, as Nazorine in The Godfather (1972), as Vittorio in Chu Chu and the Philly Flash (1981), and most notably[citation needed] as the scene-stealing cook in How Sweet It Is! (1968). In the pivotal[citation needed] scene, Scotti grabs a flustered Debbie Reynolds and plants a kiss on her midriff.
He portrayed Colonel Enrico Ferrucci in The Secret War of Harry Frigg (1968) and later appeared in the Academy Award-winning comedy Cactus Flower (1969), as Señor Arturo Sánchez, who unsuccessfully tries to seduce Ingrid Bergman's character.
He voiced the Italian Cat in the Walt Disney animated film The Aristocats (1970), and appeared with Lindsay Wagner on her television special, Another Side of Me (1977). His last screen performance was as the manager at Vesuvio's in the criminal comedy Get Shorty (1995).
In addition to his accomplishments as an actor, Scotti was highly regarded as a cook.[6] He loved cooking, especially the recipes of his beloved mother and grandmother. Two generations of Hollywood's top names always left his dinner parties raving about the food and wine. Scotti also enjoyed painting in his spare time.[6]
Scotti was married to former Peruvian Flamenco dancer Irene A. Scozzari from 1949 until her death at age 54 on April 15, 1979. They had two children together; Carmen Antoinette (born 1953) and Ricardo Antonio (born 1956).[6] After Irene's death, Vito married Beverly Scotti. They were together until his death. Scotti was a dedicated fundraiser for the "Carmen Fund", set up by the Joaquin Miller High School Parents Guild, to assist the school's special-needs students. The fund was named after the Scotti's daughter, one of the first patients to undergo pioneering spinal implant surgery.[3]
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References
1 2 "The Real VIto Scotti". San Bernardino Sun. Gannett. February 28, 1982. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
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