Ben Piazza (July 30, 1933 – September 7, 1991) was an American actor.

Life and career

Piazza made his film debut in Sidney J. Furie's Canadian film ''

A Dangerous Age ''A Dangerous Age'' is a 1958 film directed by Sidney J. Furie. Plot summary Sidney J. Furie's low-budget tale about young lovers (Ben Piazza and Anne Pearson) on the run from an uncaring adult world – they just want to get married but are ...

'' (1959) followed by his Hollywood debut in '' The Hanging Tree'' (1959). Though he signed contracts with

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

and

Gary Cooper Gary Cooper (born Frank James Cooper; May 7, 1901May 13, 1961) was an American actor known for his strong, quiet screen persona and understated acting style. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice and had a further three nominations, ...

's production companies for five years, he did not make another film until ''

No Exit ''No Exit'' (french: Huis clos, links=no, ) is a 1944 existentialist French play by Jean-Paul Sartre. The play was first performed at the Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier in May 1944. The play begins with three characters who find themselves waiting ...

'' (1962). A prolific television and film character actor, Piazza is perhaps most widely recognized as the wealthy restaurant patron in

John Landis John David Landis (born August 3, 1950) is an American comedy and fantasy filmmaker and actor. He is best known for the comedy films that he has directed – such as ''The Kentucky Fried Movie'' (1977), ''National Lampoon's Animal House'' (1978 ...

' 1980 comedy hit ''

The Blues Brothers The Blues Brothers are an American blues and soul revivalist band founded in 1978 by comedians Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi as part of a musical sketch on ''Saturday Night Live''. Belushi and Aykroyd fronted the band, in character, respecti ...

'' from whom Jake (

John Belushi John Adam Belushi (January 24, 1949 – March 5, 1982) was an American comedian, actor, and musician, best known for being one of the seven original cast members of the NBC sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL''). Throughout his c ...

) offers to purchase his wife and daughter. Prior to that, he also played the violent boyfriend who scars Liza Minnelli's character's face in

Otto Preminger Otto Ludwig Preminger ( , ; 5 December 1905 – 23 April 1986) was an Austrian-American theatre and film director, film producer, and actor. He directed more than 35 feature films in a five-decade career after leaving the theatre. He first gai ...

's ''

Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon ''Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon'' is a 1970 American comedy-drama film directed and produced by Otto Preminger. The film is based on the 1968 novel of the same name by Marjorie Kellogg. Plot Junie Moon is a girl whose face was scarred in ...

'' (1970). Piazza's other film appearances include '' The Candy Snatchers'' (1973); Piazza played a dramatic role in an episode of'' Barnaby Jones'', titled “Bond of Fear” (04/15/1975),''

The Bad News Bears ''The Bad News Bears'' is a 1976 American sports comedy film directed by Michael Ritchie and written by Bill Lancaster. It stars Walter Matthau as an alcoholic ex-baseball pitcher who becomes a coach for a youth baseball team known as the Bears. ...

'' (1976), '' I Never Promised You a Rose Garden'' (1977), '' Nightwing'' (1979),

Peter Bogdanovich Peter Bogdanovich (July 30, 1939 – January 6, 2022) was an American director, writer, actor, producer, critic, and film historian. One of the " New Hollywood" directors, Bogdanovich started as a film journalist until he was hired to work on ...

's ''

Mask A mask is an object normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance, or entertainment and often they have been employed for rituals and rights. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and pra ...

'' (1985), '' Clean and Sober'' (1988), and ''

Guilty by Suspicion ''Guilty by Suspicion'' is a 1991 American drama film about the Hollywood blacklist, McCarthyism, and the activities of the House Un-American Activities Committee. Written and directed by Irwin Winkler, it stars Robert De Niro, Annette Bening, and ...

'' (1991), in which he portrayed Hollywood film director/mogul

Darryl F. Zanuck Darryl Francis Zanuck (September 5, 1902December 22, 1979) was an American film producer and studio executive; he earlier contributed stories for films starting in the silent era. He played a major part in the Hollywood studio system as one of ...

. In 1986, Piazza had a three-month stint on the daytime soap opera '' Santa Barbara'' as Dr. A.L. Rawlings. Piazza also played the role of Walt Driscoll in the sixth season of

Dallas (1978 TV series) ''Dallas'' is an American prime time television soap opera that aired on CBS from April 2, 1978, to May 3, 1991. The series revolves around an affluent and feuding Texas family, the Ewings, who own the independent oil company Ewing Oil and th ...

, between 1982 and 1983. Piazza also wrote plays and a novel, ''The Exact and Very Strange Truth'' (1964), a coming-of-age story about an Italian-American boy in Little Rock, Arkansas, which was Piazza's hometown. However, Ben wrote in the book's introduction that any resemblance between the characters and real people was “irrelevant”, although the parallels to his own life were unmistakable. Piazza dedicated the book to openly gay playwright Edward Albee, who was a close friend.

Personal life and death

Piazza was married to actress

Dolores Dorn Dolores Dorn (March 3, 1934 – October 5, 2019) was an American film and television actress, who was the co-star of '' The Bounty Hunter'' (1954), ''Uncle Vanya'' (1957), ''Underworld U.S.A.'' (1961), and several other films through 1985. On ...

from 1967 until 1979. Piazza was in a committed relationship with Wayne Tripp, from 1973 until Piazza died of AIDS-related cancer in 1991.

Filmography

References

Demetria Fulton; reviewed Piazza in Barnaby Jones episode “Bond of Fear”.

External links

* * * (juvenile credits) *
Ben Piazza
at the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...

'
Actors Studio audio collection
1933 births 1991 deaths American male film actors American male television actors Male actors from Little Rock, Arkansas LGBT male actors American LGBT actors AIDS-related deaths in California 20th-century American male actors Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) Little Rock Central High School alumni LGBT people from Arkansas 20th-century LGBT people {{US-screen-actor-1930s-stub