Cyril Delevanti
| Cyril Delevanti | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Harry Cyril Delevanti February 23, 1889 London, England |
| Died |
December 13, 1975 (aged 86) Hollywood, California, USA |
Cause of death | Lung cancer |
Resting place | Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California |
| Occupation | Actor |
Cyril Delevanti (23 February 1889 – 13 December 1975), sometimes credited as Syril Delevanti, was an English-born character actor with a long career in American films.
Delevanti was born in London, as Harry Cyril Delevanti, the son of an Anglo-Italian music professor, Edward Prospero Richard Delevanti (1859-1911) and Mary Elizabeth Rowbotham (born 1861). He married Eva Kitty Peel (born 1890 in Portsea, Portsmouth, Hampshire); they had three children, Kitty (born 1913, married Ford Beebe), Cyril (1914-1975) in Los Angeles), and Harry (born 1915).
His first film appearance was in Devotion (1931). In 1938, he appeared in Red Barry for director Ford Beebe, who would become his son-in-law. From the 1940s, he appeared in countless small roles, frequently uncredited, in films such as Phantom of the Opera (1943), Confidential Agent (1945), Deception (1946), Monsieur Verdoux (1947), Forever Amber (1947), David and Bathsheba (1951), Limelight (1952), Les Girls (1957).
In 1958, Delevanti was cast as the printer Lucius Coin in all twenty-six episodes of the NBC western television series, Jefferson Drum, starring Jeff Richards.[1] He made two guest appearances on Perry Mason during the first and final (ninth) seasons of the series. In 1957 he played florist Mr. Tulloch in "The Case of the Silent Partner." In 1965 he played bookie Craig Jefferson in "The Case of the Silent Six."
Delevanti made guest-starring appearances on Dennis the Menace, U.S. Marshal, The Fugitive, Gunsmoke, Have Gun, Will Travel, The Tall Man, Bourbon Street Beat, The Virginian, Daniel Boone, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Mission: Impossible, Ironside, The Untouchables, Science Fiction Theater, Adventures of Superman, The Twilight Zone, Dundee and the Culhane, Peter Gunn, and Dragnet.
He also continued to act in films, such as Bye Bye Birdie (1963), Dead Ringer (1964), The Night of the Iguana (1964), Mary Poppins (1964), The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965), Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mama's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feeling So Sad (1967), The Killing of Sister George (1968), Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971), The Girl Most Likely to... & Soylent Green both in 1973.
He was nominated for a Golden Globe Award as Best Supporting Actor in The Night of the Iguana.
He died in Hollywood, California of lung cancer. Delevanti is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.
Selected filmography
- The Shadow Returns (1946)
References
- ↑ "Jefferson Drum". ctva.biz. Retrieved December 22, 2012.