Radio Man

Last updated
Radio Man
Radio Man with Hat.png
Radio Man in 2021
Born
Craig Castaldo

1950 (age 73–74)
Other namesCraig Schwartz
Citizenship
  • United States
Occupation
  • Actor
Years active1989–present

Craig Castaldo, known as Radio Man (or Radioman) (born 1950) [1] is an American background actor known from making over 300 cameo appearances in films and TV shows. He is known for wearing a radio around his neck. [2]

Contents

He has made cameos in the TV series 30 Rock and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and in the films The Departed , Shutter Island , Just My Luck , Romance & Cigarettes , Elf , Two Weeks Notice , Glitter , Keeping the Faith , Godzilla , Ransom , Big Daddy , Mr. Deeds , The Secret Life of Walter Mitty , The Other Woman , The Bourne Trilogy , and other films and television shows.

He is famous in New York City [3] and has been written about in The New York Times [4] [5] and the New York Daily News. [6] Whoopi Goldberg took him to the Oscars as her guest one of the years she hosted. [7]

Biography

Castaldo grew up in Brooklyn. He once worked for the U.S. Postal Service. Castaldo served in the Vietnam War. He was homeless for almost two years, staying at Penn Station. He found a job at a newsstand in Manhattan and acquired subsidized housing in Brooklyn. [4] [5]

His first cameo occurred when he was asked to move so that a shot could be filmed at his newsstand. When he refused, he ended up in the scene. At the time, Castaldo was homeless and suffered from alcoholism. He would often heckle actors who passed by his newsstand. [5] He began visiting movie sets in 1989, starting with The Fisher King , in which he met Robin Williams. [4] He was able to locate film sets with the help of Teamsters or by finding "No Parking" signs that indicate an upcoming shoot. [5] In the 1990s when he was drinking he was arrested and had a 6-month evaluation at a psychiatric hospital, but he continued to visit film sets after his release. He gave up alcohol and has not had a drink since. [5] As of 2004, he lived in Brooklyn and earned money from selling autographs [8] as well as from his film appearances. [5]

According to The New York Times, he is a life member of the Screen Actors Guild and "knows the whos, whens and wheres of just about every film production in New York." [5] As an actor, he typically plays homeless or disheveled-looking characters. [5]

Documentary

A documentary film about Radio Man entitled Radioman [9] [10] was released in April 2012, premiering at Toronto's Hot Docs documentary film festival. Directed by Mary Kerr, the film won the Grand Jury Prize at Doc NYC. [11] It features such stars as Tom Hanks, Robin Williams, Meryl Streep, George Clooney, Josh Brolin, Johnny Depp, Matt Damon, Ricky Gervais, James Gandolfini, Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Whoopi Goldberg, Helen Mirren, Tilda Swinton, Alfred Molina, Ron Howard, Shia LaBeouf, and Tina Fey talking to and about Radio Man. He was present at screenings of the film and participated in the Q&A sessions. He reportedly stated that Robin Williams was his favorite celebrity and that Martin Scorsese is his favorite director to work with.

Filmography

YearTitleDirectorRoleRef(s)
1991 The Fisher King Terry Gilliam Himself
1996 Ransom Ron Howard Himself
1997 Donnie Brasco Mike Newell Himself
1998 Godzilla Roland Emmerich Himself
1998 The Siege Edward Zwick N/A (stunts)
2000 Keeping the Faith Edward Norton Himself
2000 Little Nicky Steven Brill Himself (scenes deleted)
2000 Miss Congeniality Donald Petrie Himself
2001 Glitter Vondie Curtis-Hall Himself
2001 Zoolander Ben Stiller Himself
2002 Spider-Man Sam Raimi Himself
2002 Mr. Deeds Steven Brill Himself
2002 Two Weeks Notice Marc Lawrence Himself
2003 Elf Jon Favreau Himself
2003 How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days Donald Petrie Himself
2003 Uptown Girls Boaz Yakin Himself
2004 Jersey Girl Kevin Smith Himself
2004 The Bourne Supremacy Paul Greengrass Himself
2005 Romance & Cigarettes John Turturro Himself
2005 Game 6 Michael Hoffman Himself
2006 Just My Luck Donald Petrie Himself
2006 The Departed Martin Scorsese Himself
2007 Spider-Man 3 Sam Raimi Himself
2007 Enchanted Kevin Lima Himself
2010 Shutter Island Martin Scorsese Himself
2010 Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps Oliver Stone Himself
2011 Tower Heist Brett Ratner Himself
2012 Rhymes With Banana Peter Hutchings Himself
2013 Blood Ties Guillaume Canet Himself
2013Radio Man Mary Kerr Himself
2013 The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Ben Stiller Himself
2014 The Other Woman Nick Cassavetes Himself
2015 Ovum, film Matt Ott Himself
2016 The Comedian Taylor Hackford Himself
2019 Nighthawks Grant S. Johnson Himself
2019 The Irishman Martin Scorsese Himself
2023 Killers of the Flower Moon Martin Scorsese Bum

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References

  1. ↑ Teeman, Tim. "The homeless man who's now a film star: Radioman".
  2. ↑ Schwartz, Drew (2023-03-17). "Meet Radio Man: Autograph King, Friend of George Clooney, 'Bum'". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2023-03-22.
  3. ↑ Teeman, Tim (October 9, 2012). "The homeless man who's now a film star: Radioman". The Sunday Times. ISSN   0140-0460 . Retrieved April 3, 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 Botton, Sari (August 25, 1996). "The Self-Made Extra: Radio Man". The New York Times. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Barry, Dan (April 7, 2004). "About New York; Playing a New York Oddball (Wait, Is He Playing?)". The New York Times. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  6. ↑ "Russell Crowe gives homeless celebrity follower 'Radio Man' his winter coat". New York Daily News. December 28, 2009. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  7. ↑ Rush, George (October 15, 2013). Scandal: A Manual. Simon and Schuster. ISBN   978-1-62873-533-8.
  8. ↑ Schwartz, Drew (2023-03-17). "Meet Radio Man: Autograph King, Friend of George Clooney, 'Bum'". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2023-07-18.
  9. ↑ Bradshaw, Peter (October 11, 2012). "Radioman – review". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved April 3, 2020.
  10. ↑ Abbey, Jennifer (November 9, 2012). "Robin Williams Poses With Radioman, His Once Homeless Lookalike". ABC News. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
  11. ↑ Barnard, Linda (April 30, 2012). "Hot Docs: Meet Radioman, star of more than 100 movies, and now his own". Toronto Star. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
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