Joseph Campanella

Joseph Anthony Campanella (November 21, 1924 – May 16, 2018) was an American character actor. He appeared in more than 200 television and film roles from the early 1950s to 2009.

Campanella was best remembered for his role as Joe Turino in Guiding Light and as Harper Deveraux on the soap opera Days of Our Lives, a role he starred in from 1987 to 1988.

Campanella voiced the character of Dr. Curt Connors/The Lizard on Spider-Man: The Animated Series (1994–97). He narrated the Discover science series on the Disney Channel from 1992 to 1994.

Early life

Campanella was born in New York City to parents Philip and Mary O. Campanella. Campanella was the younger brother of actor Frank Campanella, who died in December 2006, and Philip Campanella. He and his brothers grew up speaking Italian before learning English. The Campanella family were staunchly Roman Catholic.

Campanella served during World War II in the United States Navy. He later graduated from Manhattan College in 1948, and attended Columbia University, where he studied drama.

Career

Campanella appeared in such television shows such as Combat, Decoy, The Eleventh Hour, The Doctors, The Fugitive, Mission: Impossible, Marcus Welby, M.D., Gunsmoke, The Big Valley, Alias Smith and Jones, The Untouchables, Police Story, The Road West, The Invaders, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Rockford Files, The Golden Girls, and Mama's Family.

He had a recurring role from 1959-62 as a criminal named Joe Turino on the long-running CBS daytime drama The Guiding Light. One of his most popular roles was as Lew Wickersham in season 1 (1967-1968) of the television series Mannix as Joe Mannix's boss and friend, before the PI started his own firm, beginning in season 2. Campanella appeared as attorney Brian Darrell from 1969-72 in The Bold Ones: The Lawyers. In 1973, he played an old flame of Mary Richards on the Mary Tyler Moore Show, the twenty-second episode of season 3 entitled "Remembrance of Things Past". Campanella played Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Captain Monty Ballard in the crime drama TV movie Sky Hei$t in 1975.

He played Ann Romano's ex-husband, Ed Cooper, in eight episodes of One Day at a Time(1975–1984) and Barbara Stanwyck's love interest in the first season (1985–1986) of Aaron Spelling's short-lived Dynastyspinoff, The Colbys. He appeared in a second-season episode of The Golden Girls as a detective. He had a prominent role as Harper Deveraux on the soap opera Days of Our Lives from 1987 to 1988, had a recurring role as a doctor in Beauty and the Beast (1989–1990), and a recurring role on The Bold and the Beautiful from 1996 to 2005.

Campanella hosted the Canadian educational program Science Internationalbetween 1976–79, which aired on Nickelodeon as What Will They Think Of Next?. He appeared in the independent comedy, For Heaven's Sake.

On Broadway, Campanella was featured in three productions during the 1960s. His first, The Captains and the Kings, opened in January 1962 and lasted only seven performances. In February 1962, he was cast in A Gift of Time with Henry Fondaand Olivia de Havilland. The show was written and directed by Garson Kanin, and Campanella received a Tony nomination as Best Featured Actor in a Play. His last Broadway performance was in the musical Hot Spot in 1963, which starred Judy Holliday. The show was not well received and delayed its opening four times, resulting in a run of 58 previews and 43 regular performances.

He formerly provided the voice-over for BMW commercials in the United States, intoning, "BMW... the ultimate driving machine". For several years beginning in the 1970s, Campanella was a spokesman for Napa Auto Parts.

Campanella voiced the character of Dr. Curt Connors/The Lizard on Spider-Man: The Animated Series (1994–97). He narrated the Discover science series on the Disney Channel from 1992-94.

Campanella's final film role as that of Donald Meeks in For Heaven's Sake (2008) before retiring from acting in 2009.

Personal life

Campanella met his wife Kathryn Jill Bartholomew, a singer and dancer, in 1963 while he was playing the leading man for Hot Spot on Broadway. They married on May 30, 1964 and had seven sons: Philip (b. 1965), Robert Yale (b. 1966), Joseph Anthony Jr. (b. 1967), Dominic Peter (b. 1969), Anthony F. (b. 1974), John Mario (b. 1977), and Andrew Michael (b. 1979).

Campanella died at the age of 93 on May 16, 2018, at his home in Sherman Oaks, California.

Filmography

• Murder, Inc. (1960) as Panto (uncredited)
• The Young Lovers (1964) as Prof. Reese
• The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967) as Albert Wienshank
• Silent Running (1972) as Neal - Berkshire' Captain (voice, uncredited)
• Ben (1972) as Cliff Kirtland
• The President's Plane Is Missing (1973, TV Movie) as Col. Doug Henderson
• Hit Lady (1974, TV Movie) as Jeffrey Baine
• Child Under a Leaf (1974) as Gerald
• Sky Hei$t (1975, TV Movie) as Captain Monty Ballard
• Mission to Glory: A True Story (1977)
• Meteor (1979) as General Easton
• Defiance (1980) as Karenski
• Hangar 18 (1980) as Frank Lafferty
• Earthbound (1981) as Conrad
• My Body, My Child (1982, TV Movie) as Joe Cabrez
• Great Transport (1983)
• Steele Justice (1987) as Harry
• The Game (1988) as Schekel
• No Retreat, No Surrender 3: Blood Brothers (1990) as John Alexander
• Body Chemistry (1990) as Dr. Pritchard
• Down the Drain (1990) as Don Santiago
• A Show of Force (1990) as Walker Ryan
• Club Fed (1990) as Vince Hooligan
• Last Call (1991) as Morris Thayer
• Cafe Romeo (1991) as Nino
• Space Case (1992) as General Maxwell
• Dead Girls Don't Tango (1992) as Rheinhardt
• The Force Within (1993) as Police Chief
• Save Me (1994) as Barton
• Too Bad About Jack (1994)
• The Glass Cage (1996) as LeBeque
• James Dean: Live Fast, Die Young (1997) as Winton Dean
• Dust (1997) as Mayor Grites
• The Right Way (1998)
• Grizzly Adams and the Legend of Dark Mountain (1999) as Professor Hunnicut
• The Dukes (2007) as Giovanni Zorro
• The Legend of God's Gun (2007) as Narrator
• Christmas at Cadillac Jack's (2007, TV Movie) as Joe Jenkins
• For Heaven's Sake (2008) as Donald Meeks
• Lost Dream (2009) as Emil (final film role)