Gino Piserchio

Gino Piserchio
Born Eugene Piserchio
September 5, 1944(1944-09-05)
Orange, New Jersey, U.S.
Died March 22, 1989(1989-03-22) (aged 44)
New York City, New York, U.S.

Eugene "Gino" Piserchio (September 5, 1944 – March 22, 1989) was an American actor, composer and musician. Piserchio appeared in two Andy Warhol films including Beauty No. 2, opposite Warhol Superstar Edie Sedgwick.

In addition to his acting credits, Piserchio was noted for being an accomplished musician. He was one of the first musicians to master the Moog synthesizer and would go on to compose and perform the original music for the film 1972 film, Ciao! Manhattan.

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Early life and career

Piserchio was born in Orange, New Jersey, to Joe (1907-1955) and Jennie Piserchio (1909-1975). In the early 1950s, the Piserchio family moved from their Central Avenue home in Orange to Northfield Avenue, Livingston, New Jersey - where Piserchio completed his grammar and high school educations. He graduated with the Livingston High School class of 1962. Subsequent to his high school graduation, Piserchio graduated from the Mannes College The New School for Music in New York City and did graduate work at Columbia University.

In 1970 Piserchio presented three evenings of electronic music in the Moog synthesizer at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City. In about 1971 he participated with his future wife (Gillian Spreckels Fuller) in producing an experimental 16-mm color movie, "The Tacky Woman" in which she appeared as did Holly Woodlawn who starred.

Bell Labs, circa 1971, selected Piserchio to score a movie about molecular dynamics.

Personal life

On February 7, 1972, Piserchio married Gillian Spreckels Fuller, daughter of Andrew Powie Fuller (1916-1994) and Geraldine Anne Spreckels (1919-1998). She is the great-granddaughter of John D. Spreckels, the California industrialist and financier who amassed a sugar fortune, was graduated from The Masters School in Dobbs Ferry, New York, and attended Wheaton College in Norton. The Piserchio wedding was held at the Paragon Restaurant at Aspen, Colorado, where the Rev. Thomas Benton, the Church of Truth, presided. Richie Berlin (sister of Brigid Berlin) was the maid of honor. Richie acted in Ciao! Manhattan. The marriage ended in divorce three years later.

Death

Piserchio died at age 44 of an AIDS-related opportunistic infection on March 22, 1989, in New York City where he had lived variously in London Terrace, Old Chelsea, and Patchin.

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1965 Space
1965 Beauty No. 2
1968 A Lovely Way to Die Michel Alternative title: A Lovely Away to Go
1972 Ciao! Manhattan
Composer

External links