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Cesare Danova (March 1, 1926 - March 19, 1992) Born Cesare Deitinger in Bergamo, Italy, Danova is an television and screen actor. He adopted the stage name Danova when he turned to acting in Rome at the end of World War II. He migrated to the United states in the 1950's to make the film Don Giovanni (Don Juan) in 1955.
He tested for a part in Ben Hur, but big break was the role of Apollodorus, Cleopatra's personal servant in the 1963 film, Cleopatra directed by Joseph Mankiewicz and starring Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton and Rex Harrison. While the orignal script called for a major role for Danova, who was to form a trio Cleopatra's lovers alongside Harrison's Caesar and Burton's Marc Antony. Though a number of scenes featuring Taylor and Danova were shot, the script was revised and the role truncated as the Burton-Taylor affair drove tabloid headlines. What remains is little more than a cameo.
In 1967, Danova had a another break with the TV series, Garrison's Gorillas, in which he played the role of Actor. Clearly inspired by the hit film, The Dirty Dozen and the hit TV series Mission: Impossible, the series had an ensemble case but, unfortunately, only ran for 26 episodes.
Two of his best roles were as the neighborhood mafia Don, Giovanni Cappa, in Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets (1973) and as the cuckolded town mayor, Carmine DePasto, in National Lampoon's Animal House (1978).
Danova was an expert horseman and avid polo player as well as an excellent archer. He died of a heart attack at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences headquarters in Los Angeles while attending a meeting of the Foreign Language Film committee.
Danova was married twice and had two sons by his first wife, Pamela. His is a cousin of American poet Frank Judge
[edit] Trivia
Judge is a cousin of Italian-born television and screen actor and Academy member Cesare Danova
[[Category:1926 births|Danova, Cesare]] [[Category:1992 deaths|Danova, Cesare]] [[Category:American actors|Danova, Cesare]] [[Category:Italian actors|Danova, Cesare]] [[Category:Heart attack deaths|Danova, Cesare]] [[Category:People from Italy|Danova, Cesare]] [[Category:People from Los Angeles, CA|Danova, Cesare]]
