Eugene "Gino" Piserchio (September 5, 1944 – March 22, 1989) was an American actor, composer and musician. Piserchio was noted for being an accomplished musician. He was one of the first musicians to master the

Moog synthesizer The Moog synthesizer ( ) is a modular synthesizer invented by the American engineer Robert Moog in 1964. Moog's company, R. A. Moog Co., produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 2014. It was the first commercial synthesizer ...

Early life and career

Piserchio was born in

Orange, New Jersey The City of Orange (known simply as Orange) is a Township (New Jersey), township in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 34,447, an increase o ...

, to Joe and Jennie Piserchio. In the early 1950s, the Piserchio family moved from their Central Avenue home in Orange to Northfield Avenue in

Livingston, New Jersey Livingston is a township (New Jersey), township in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 31,330, its highest United States census, decennial co ...

. It was there that Piserchio completed his grammar and high school educations. He graduated from Livingston High School in 1962. Piserchio graduated from the

Mannes College The New School for Music The Mannes School of Music (), originally called the David Mannes Music School and later the Mannes Music School, Mannes College of Music, the Chatham Square Music School, and Mannes College: The New School for Music, is a music conservatory in T ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and did graduate work at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

. In 1965, Piserchio co-starred with Warhol Superstar

Edie Sedgwick Edith Minturn Sedgwick Post (April 20, 1943 – November 16, 1971) was an American actress, model and socialite who was one of Andy Warhol's superstars, starring in several of his short films during the 1960s.Watson, Steven (2003), "Factory Ma ...

in the underground films ''

Space Space is a three-dimensional continuum containing positions and directions. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions. Modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of a boundless ...

'' and '' Beauty No. 2'', directed by

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...

. Two years later, he composed and performed the original music for what would become Sedgwick's final film ''

Ciao! Manhattan ''Ciao! Manhattan'' is a 1972 American avant garde film starring Edie Sedgwick. Written and directed by John Palmer and David Weisman, Warhol superstar Susan Bottomly (International Velvet) was initially intended to star in the film. When Sedgw ...

'', released a year after her November 1971 death. In 1970 Piserchio presented three evenings of

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

in the

at the

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, often referred to as The Guggenheim, is an art museum at 1071 Fifth Avenue between 88th and 89th Street (Manhattan), 89th Streets on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It hosts a permanent coll ...

in New York City. In 1971, he and his future wife, Gillian Spreckels Fuller, produced an experimental 16-mm color movie, ''The Tacky Woman''. The film stars Holly Woodlawn. That same year,

Bell Labs Nokia Bell Labs, commonly referred to as ''Bell Labs'', is an American industrial research and development company owned by Finnish technology company Nokia. With headquarters located in Murray Hill, New Jersey, Murray Hill, New Jersey, the compa ...

selected Piserchio to score a movie about molecular dynamics.

Personal life

On February 7, 1972, Piserchio married Gillian Spreckels Fuller at the Paragon Restaurant at Aspen, Colorado. Fuller is the great-granddaughter of John D. Spreckels, the California industrialist and financier who amassed a sugar fortune. The marriage ended in divorce three years later.

Death

Piserchio died at age 44 of

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

-related complications on March 22, 1989, in New York City.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Piserchio, Gino 1944 births 1989 deaths 20th-century American male actors AIDS-related deaths in New York (state) American male composers American electronic musicians Moog American male film actors Columbia University alumni Livingston High School (New Jersey) alumni Mannes School of Music alumni Musicians from Livingston, New Jersey Male actors from Livingston, New Jersey Actors from Orange, New Jersey Musicians from Orange, New Jersey 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians