Richard Libertini

Richard Joseph Libertini (May 21, 1933 – January 7, 2016) was an American stage, film and television actor.

He was known for playing character roles and his ability to speak in numerous accents. His films include '' Catch-22'' (1970), '' The In-Laws'' (1979), '' Popeye'' (1980), '' Sharky's Machine'' (1981), '' All of Me'' (1984), '' Fletch'' (1985), '' Fletch Lives'' (1989), '' Awakenings'' (1990), '' Lethal Weapon 4'' (1998), and '' Dolphin Tale'' (2011), which was his final film role.

Early life

Libertini was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and graduated from Emerson College in Boston. During his early years, Libertini worked in New York City and in Chicago. He moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career during the 1960s.

Career

He was an original cast member of '' The Mad Show'', a 1966 Off-Broadway musical-comedy produced by '' Mad'' magazine. His first film appearances were in '' The Night They Raided Minsky's'' (1968), '' Don't Drink the Water'' (1969) and '' Catch-22'' (1970).

Two of his more memorable film roles came in the comedies '' Fletch'' (1985), in which he played Chevy Chase's character's doubting editor, a role he repeated in the 1989 sequel '' Fletch Lives'', and '' The In-Laws'' (1979), in which he played General Garcia, an insane Latin American dictator whose closest advisor was a cartoon face drawn on his own hand a la Señor Wences. He portrayed Nosh, an electronics expert who is a childhood best friend of Burt Reynolds's character, in '' Sharky's Machine'' (1981).

He also played a traveling vaudevillian in Terrence Malick's '' Days of Heaven'' (1978), the greengrocer George W. Geezil in Robert Altman's '' Popeye'' (1980), a Hispanic priest in '' Best Friends'' (1982), the servant Giuseppe in '' Unfaithfully Yours'' (1984), spiritual advisor Prahka Lasa ("Back in Bowl!") in '' All of Me'' (1984), the bandit Dijon in Disney's animated feature film '' DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp'' (1990), and a rabbi in '' Lethal Weapon 4'' (1998).

On television, Libertini was a series regular in the first season of ''Soap'' as the Godfather. He appeared as three different characters in episodes of '' Barney Miller''. He also appeared in ''Evaluation'' (1978) and ''Middle Age'' (1979). He guest starred in the '' Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' episode " Accession" as a Bajoran named Akorem Laan, and in the '' Sonny with a Chance'' episode "Dakota's Revenge" as Izzy, an insane mechanic. He also voiced Wally Llama on ''Animaniacs'', and starred in three short-lived sitcoms: '' Family Man'' (1988), in which he played a middle-aged comedy writer who married a much younger woman and became a father late in life; '' The Fanelli Boys'' (1990–1991), in which he played an Italian priest; and '' Pacific Station'' (1991–1992), in which he played a police detective.

Libertini appeared on the TV show ''Supernatural''. His final film role was that of a fisherman in the 2011 film '' Dolphin Tale''. From October 2011 through January 2012, Libertini appeared on Broadway as a rabbi in "Honeymoon Motel", the Woody Allen-penned segment of '' Relatively Speaking''.

Personal life

Libertini married actress Melinda Dillon on September 30, 1963; he had one child with her, Richard. They divorced in 1978.

Libertini died at the age of 82 in Venice, California, on January 7, 2016, from cancer. He had been diagnosed two years prior.

Selected filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Libertini, Richard
1933 births
2016 deaths
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
American male film actors
American male stage actors
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American people of Italian descent
Deaths from cancer in California
Emerson College alumni
Male actors from Cambridge, Massachusetts