Ralph Peduto (March 9, 1942 – May 12, 2014) was an American actor,

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

, writer and director. Peduto's film roles included '' Mrs. Doubtfire'' in 1993, '' The Rock'' in 1996, and '' Patch Adams'' in 1998, while his television credits included guest spots in ''

Cheers ''Cheers'' is an American television sitcom, created by Glen and Les Charles, Glen Charles & Les Charles and James Burrows, that aired on NBC for eleven seasons from September 30, 1982, to May 20, 1993. The show was produced by Charles/Burrows/C ...

'' and ''

Hill Street Blues ''Hill Street Blues'' is an American serial police procedural television series that aired on NBC in prime-time from January 15, 1981, to May 12, 1987, for 146 episodes. The show chronicles the lives of the Metropolitan Police Department staff ...

''. He ultimately appeared in more than 100 film and television roles, as forty television commercials. An acting teacher as well as an actor, Peduto founded Acting On Camera, an acting school in

Santa Cruz, California Santa Cruz (Spanish language, Spanish for "Holy Cross") is the largest city and the county seat of Santa Cruz County, California, Santa Cruz County, in Northern California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city population ...

Life and career

Peduto was born on March 9, 1942, in

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, second-most populous

, to a working-class

Italian American Italian Americans () are Americans who have full or partial Italians, Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeastern United States, Northeast and industrial Midwestern United States, Midwestern ...

family. He was the eldest of three children of James and Helen Peduto. He attended

James J. Ferris High School James J. Ferris High School is a four-year Comprehensive high school, comprehensive state school, public Secondary education in the United States, high school serving students in ninth grade, ninth through twelfth grades from Jersey City, New Je ...

and graduated from William L. Dickinson High School in Jersey City (He was later inducted into Dickinson's Hall of Fame in 2000). Peduto enlisted in the U.S. Army and was stationed in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

era. He then attended

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

after returning to the United States. In 1973, Peduto moved from

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

to the

Monterey Bay Area Monterey Bay is a bay of the Pacific Ocean located on the coast of the U.S. state of California, south of the San Francisco Bay Area. San Francisco itself is further north along the coast, by about 75 miles (120 km), accessible via CA 1 and U ...

to accept a broadcasting position at KRML, an AM

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...

Carmel, California Carmel-by-the-Sea (), commonly known simply as Carmel, is a city in Monterey County, California, located on the Central Coast of California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 3,220, down from 3,722 a ...

. He first began acting at

Cabrillo College Cabrillo College is a public community college in Aptos, California. It is named after the conquistador Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo and opened in 1959. Cabrillo College has an enrollment of about 9,700 students per term. Facilities Classes are of ...

. He soon wrote and produced theater plays at Cabrillo, including "Root Rock," his

autobiographical An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights. This genre allows individuals to share thei ...

musical which debuted in 1979. Peduto transitioned to roles in Hollywood films, television shows and commercials during the 1980s. He appeared in television and films from the 1980s to the 2000s. Peduto also had an extensive career in television commercials. His best known commercial work was as the "Midas Man", a character and spokesman for the

Midas Midas (; ) was a king of Phrygia with whom many myths became associated, as well as two later members of the Phrygian royal house. His father was Gordias, and his mother was Cybele. The most famous King Midas is popularly remembered in Greek m ...

automotive centers, in which he urged consumers to depend on Midas. Peduto was a longtime resident of

Capitola, California Capitola is a small seaside city in Santa Cruz County, California. Capitola is located on the northern shores of Monterey Bay, on the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California. The city had a population of 9,456 at the 2024 census ...

. Ralph Peduto died on May 12, 2014, just twelve days after being diagnosed with leukemia, at the age of 72. He was survived by his wife of 45 years, Laura Peduto, and their two children, Maro Peduto and Oceanna Ceja.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Peduto, Ralph 1942 births 2014 deaths American male film actors American male television actors American male stage actors James J. Ferris High School alumni Male actors from California American writers of Italian descent Male actors from Santa Cruz, California Male actors from Jersey City, New Jersey Rutgers University alumni Cabrillo College alumni 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors Deaths from leukemia in California 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights William L. Dickinson High School alumni Writers from Jersey City, New Jersey People from Capitola, California