Dom DeLuise

Dom DeLuise

Portrait by Allan Warren
Born Dominic DeLuise
August 1, 1933(1933-08-01)
Brooklyn, New York, United States
Died May 4, 2009(2009-05-04) (aged 75)[1]
Santa Monica, California, United States
Other names Dom De Luise, Dom DeLuises, Dom Deluise, Captain Chaos
Occupation Actor, comedian, chef, film director, television producer, writer
Years active 1964–2009
Spouse Carol Arthur (1965-2009 his death)
Website
http://www.domdeluise.com/

Dominick "Dom" DeLuise (August 1, 1933 – May 4, 2009)[2] was an American actor, comedian, film director, television producer, chef, and author. He was the husband of actress Carol Arthur from 1965 until his death, and the father of actor, writer, director Peter DeLuise, actor David DeLuise, and actor Michael DeLuise.[3]

Contents

Biography

Early life

DeLuise was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Italian American parents Vincenza "Jennie" (née DeStefano), a homemaker, and John DeLuise, a civil servant (garbage collector). He was the second born and had an older brother named Nicholas "Nick" DeLuise.[3] DeLuise graduated from Manhattan's High School of Performing Arts. He later attended Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts.[4]

Career

DeLuise generally appeared in comedic parts, although an early appearance (in the movie Fail-Safe as a nervous enlisted airman) showed a possible broader range. His first acting credit was as a regular performer in the television show The Entertainers in 1964. He gained early notice for his supporting turn in the Doris Day film The Glass Bottom Boat (1966). In his New York Times review, Vincent Canby panned the film but singled out the actor, stating, "[T]he best of the lot, however, is a newcomer, Dom DeLuise, as a portly, bird-brained spy."

In the 1970s and 1980s he often co-starred with Burt Reynolds. Together they appeared in the films The Cannonball Run and Cannonball Run II, Smokey and the Bandit II, The End, All Dogs Go to Heaven and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. DeLuise was the host of the television show Candid Camera from 1991 to 1992.

DeLuise also lent his voice for animated films and was a particular staple of Don Bluth's features, playing major roles in The Secret of NIMH, An American Tail, A Troll in Central Park and All Dogs Go to Heaven along with their respective sequels and spinoff series. He also lent his voice to Fagin in the Walt Disney film Oliver & Company and made guest appearances on several animated TV series.

The handprints of Dom DeLuise in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

TV producer Greg Garrison hired DeLuise to appear as a specialty act on The Dean Martin Show. DeLuise ran through his "Dominick the Great" routine, a riotous example of a magic act gone wrong, with host Martin as a bemused volunteer from the audience. Dom's catch phrase, with an Italian accent, was "No Applause Please, Save-a to the End." The show went so well that DeLuise was soon a regular on Martin's program, participating in both songs and sketches. Garrison also featured DeLuise in his own hour-long comedy specials for ABC. (Martin was often just off-camera when these were taped, and his distinctive laugh can be heard loud and clear.)

DeLuise was probably best known as a regular in Mel Brooks' films. He appeared in The Twelve Chairs, Blazing Saddles, Silent Movie, History of the World, Part I, Spaceballs, and Robin Hood: Men in Tights. Brooks's late wife, actress Anne Bancroft, directed Dom in Fatso (1980).[5] He also had a cameo in Johnny Dangerously as the Pope and in Jim Henson's The Muppet Movie as a wayward Hollywood talent agent who comes across Kermit the Frog singing "The Rainbow Connection" in the film's opening scene. He also appeared with fellow Brooks regulars Gene Wilder (who directed the film as well), Marty Feldman and Madeline Kahn in "The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother".

DeLuise exhibited his comedic talents while playing the speaking part of the jailer Frosch in the comedic operetta Die Fledermaus at the Metropolitan Opera, playing the role in four separate revivals of the work at the Met between December 1989 and January 1996. In the production, while the singing was in German, the spoken parts were in English. A lifelong opera fan, he also portrayed the role of L'Opinion Publique in drag for the Los Angeles Opera's production of Offenbach's Orpheus in the Underworld.[6]

An avid cook and author of several books on cooking, in recent years he appeared as a regular contributor to a syndicated home improvement radio show, On The House with The Carey Brothers, giving listeners tips on culinary topics.[7] He was also a friend and self-proclaimed "look-alike" of famous Cajun chef Paul Prudhomme. He also wrote seven children's books.

Death

DeLuise died at age 75 on May 4, 2009, at Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California. He was hospitalized at the time, suffering from kidney failure and respiratory problems due to complications from diabetes and high blood pressure. He died from kidney failure and respiratory complications from cancer. He was cremated and his ashes were buried with his parents in New York City.[8][9][10][11] His family was by his side at the time of his death. His good friend Burt Reynolds made a statement in the Los Angeles Times, saying: "As you get older and start to lose people you love, you think about it more, and I was dreading this moment. Dom always made you feel better when he was around, and there will never be another like him." Mel Brooks also made a statement to the same paper, telling them that Dom "created so much joy and laughter on the set that you couldn’t get your work done. So every time I made a movie with Dom, I would plan another two days on the schedule just for laughter. It's a sad day. It's hard to think of this life and this world without him."

Filmography

Television

Video games

Bibliography

Writings for children

Cookbooks

Notes

  1. ↑ Report: Actor Dom DeLuise Dies At 75
  2. ↑ Grimes, William (May 5, 2009). "Dom DeLuise, Comic Actor, Dies at 75". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/07/movies/07deluise.html?hp. Retrieved May 6, 2009. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Dom Deluise Biography
  4. ↑ New York Times Biography
  5. ↑ Horror at the Oscars Part 2: This Time it’s Personal
  6. ↑ "Obituaries: Actors Dom DeLuise and Beatrice Arthur; mezzo Margreta Elkins; soprano Anne Brown, Gershwin's original Bess; composer Lukas Foss dies at eighty-six.". Opera News. July 2009, vol 74, no. 1. http://www.metoperafamily.org/operanews/issue/article.aspx?id=5263&issueID=335. Retrieved June 20, 2009. 
  7. ↑ In The Kitchen with Dom DeLuise — Dom DeLuise's feature on the On The House with the Carey Brothers radio show
  8. ↑ "Actor, Dom DeLuise dies at 75". Associated Press. May 5, 2009. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30581493/. Retrieved May 5, 2009 and http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001123/bio. 
  9. ↑ "Dom DeLuise dies at 75". CNN. May 5, 2009. http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Movies/05/05/obit.deluise/index.html. Retrieved May 5, 2009. 
  10. ↑ Washington Post
  11. ↑ The Independent
  12. ↑ Milton, David Scott. "Gog, Magog, and Little Babylon". http://www.redroom.com/video/gog-magog-and-little-babylon. Retrieved August 9, 2010. 

External links