Vincent Schiavelli

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Vincent Schiavelli

Born	November 10, 1948 Brooklyn, New York, USA
Died	December 26, 2005 Polizzi Generosa, Sicily, Italy

Vincent Andrew Schiavelli (November 10, 1948–December 26, 2005) was an American character actor noted for his work in film and television. He was often described as "the man with the sad eyes".

[edit] Biography

Schiavelli was born in Brooklyn, New York to an Italian American family of Sicilian background. He studied acting through the Theater Program at New York University and began working on the stage in the 1960s.

He first appeared on film in Miloš Forman's 1971 production Taking Off as a counselor who teaches parents of runaway teens how to smoke marijuana in order to better understand their children's experiences. His aptitude and distinctive angular appearance soon provided him with a steady stream of supporting roles, particularly under Forman; he worked with the director in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Amadeus, and the 1999 biopic Man on the Moon. His first television work came in 1972 as Peter Panama in The Corner Bar, the first sustained portrayal of a gay character on American television. Other television credits include Buffy the Vampire Slayer and a recurring role on Taxi as the priest who marries Latka and Simka. He also appeared on a Star Trek The Next Generation Episode Entitled "The Arsenal of Freedom" as the holographic salesman.

Schiavelli's well-known movie roles include Mr. Vargas the biology teacher in the 1982 hit comedy Fast Times at Ridgemont High, a role he reprised in the 1986 television spin-off, Fast Times. In 1987, he starred alongside Tim Conway in the short film comedy, Dorf on Golf.

Schiavelli was cast in a similar role in the cult hit Better Off Dead in which he played Mr. Kerber, an eerily popular geometry teacher. His role as a subway ghost in the 1990 drama Ghost won him much critical acclaim. He also appeared in the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies and as a silent monk in The Frisco Kid. He also appeared as "John O'Connor", one of the evil Red Lectroids in the cult classic The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension. All in all, Schiavelli appeared in over fifty films. In 1997, he was named one of America's best character actors by Vanity Fair magazine [1]

Schiavelli has also authored a number of cookbooks and food articles for magazines and newspapers. He received a James Beard Foundation Journalism Award in 2001 and was nominated on a number of other occasions.

Additionally, he served as honorary co-chair of the National Marfan Foundation, an organization which serves those affected by Marfan Syndrome, from which Schiavelli suffered.[2]

He was married to actress Allyce Beasley from 1985 until their divorce in 1988; he once guest-starred as the love interest of Beasley's character on an episode of Moonlighting. Their son Andrea was born in 1987. In 1992, Schiavelli married American harpist Carol Mukhalian.

He succumbed to lung cancer at age 57, dying at his home in Polizzi Generosa, Italy, the town in Sicily where his grandfather emigrated from and about which he wrote in his 2002 book, Many Beautiful Things: Stories and Recipes from Polizzi Generosa (ISBN 0-7432-1528-1).