Tom Nardini is an American film actor who had a lengthy career in television. His best-known roles were in '' Cowboy in Africa'' (1967), and in ''

Cat Ballou ''Cat Ballou'' is a 1965 American western comedy film starring Jane Fonda and Lee Marvin, who won an Academy Award for his dual role. The story involves a woman who hires a notorious gunman to protect her father's ranch, and later to avenge his ...

'' (1965), for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe award.

Early life

Born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, he was the son of Joseph and Chechi Nardini. Nardini's father worked as an aircraft worker after having a career as a trumpeter and his mother worked in

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

as a

comedian A comedian (feminine comedienne) or comic is a person who seeks to entertainment, entertain an audience by making them laughter, laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolishly (as in slapstick), or employing prop c ...

, dancer, and singer. He attended Morningside High School in Inglewood, graduating in 1963. Nardini went on to El Camino Junior College in Torrance, where he studied theater and joined a Shakespearean group.

Career

Nardini met an agent named Lester Miller, who was able to get him an interview to audition for ''

Mr. Novak ''Mr. Novak'' is an American television drama (film and television), drama television series starring James Franciscus in the title role as a high school teacher. The series aired on NBC for two seasons, from 1963 to 1965. It won a Peabody Award ...

.'' This led to one of Nardini's first roles, appearing in three episodes of ''Novak'' as Abel King from 1964 to 1965. This allowed Nardini to land other roles as guest leads on other television shows such as ''The Lieutenant'', ''

My Three Sons ''My Three Sons'' is an American television sitcom that aired from September 29, 1960, to April 13, 1972. The series was filmed in black-and-white and broadcast on ABC during its first five seasons, before moving to CBS for the remaining seve ...

'' and '' Bewitched''. Nardini was then cast in the television series '' Cowboy in Africa'', where he played the character John Henry. Nardini signed a seven-year contract with Columbia Studios, which produced his film debut ''

'' in 1965. Nardini was cast as Jackson Two Bears, a Native American ranch hand for Cat Ballou's father. Nardini was nominated for Most Promising Newcomer - Male at the 23rd Golden Globe Awards for his performance. In the films ''Cat Ballou'' and '' Africa: Texas Style'', Nardini played a Native American character. In 1966, Nardini co-starred in a pilot about a World War II-era historical novel written by James Jones called ''From Here to Eternity''.

Personal life

Nardini has been married three times, first to Judy K. Cooper during 1966, then Melody Gay Barsocchini from 1970 to 1981 with whom he had one son, and has been married to Ruth Helen Belding, with whom he has two sons, since 1985. Nardini was in the

Air Force reserve The Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) is a major command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force, with its headquarters at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia. It is the federal Air Reserve Component (ARC) of the U.S. Air Force, consisting of commis ...

in 1966, based in Riverside,

Filmography

* '' Chief Zabu'' (2016) .... Gatekeeper * '' Kate & Allie'' (1985) .... (as Tom Nardino) * ''

Siege A siege () . is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare (also called siegecrafts or poliorcetics) is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict charact ...

'' (1983) .... Horatio * '' T. J. Hooker'' (1982) .... Falco * ''Muggable Mary, Street Cop'' (1982) (TV) .... Mugger Inside Supermarket * ''

The Edge of Night ''The Edge of Night'' is an American mystery crime drama soap opera, created by Irving Vendig and produced by Procter & Gamble Productions. It debuted on CBS on April 2, 1956, and ran as a live broadcast on that network for most of its ...

'' (1981) .... Wally Branscom * ''Win, Place or Steal'' (1975) .... Desk Sergeant * ''

Kung Fu Chinese martial arts, commonly referred to with umbrella terms Kung fu (term), kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (sport), wushu (), are Styles of Chinese martial arts, multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater Ch ...

'' .... Matoska (1 episode, 1974) * ''Insight'' .... Rodriguez / ... (2 episodes, 1974) * ''

Love, American Style ''Love, American Style'' is an American anthology comedy television series that aired on ABC from September 29, 1969, to January 11, 1974. The series was produced by Paramount Television. During the 1971–72 and 1972–73 seasons, it was a pa ...

'' .... (segment "Love and the Test of Manhood") (1 episode, 1972) * '' The Smith Family'' (1 episode, 1971) * '' Cade's County'' .... Tom Running Man (1 episode, 1971) * ''

Bearcats! ''Bearcats!'' is an American Western television series broadcast on the CBS television network during the fall 1971 television season. It starred Rod Taylor and Dennis Cole as troubleshooters in the period before the American entry into Wor ...

'' .... Father Liberto (1 episode, 1971) * ''

'' (1970) (TV) .... Jackson Two Bears * ''Harpy'' (1971) (TV) .... John * '' Incident in San Francisco'' (1971) (TV) .... Alfred Cianelli * ''

The Mod Squad ''The Mod Squad'' is an American crime drama series, originally broadcast for five seasons on ABC from September 24, 1968, to March 1, 1973. It starred Michael Cole as Peter "Pete" Cochran, Clarence Williams III as Lincoln "Linc" Hayes, Pegg ...

'' (1 episode, 1970) * '' Land of the Giants'' .... Carl (1 episode, 1969) * '' Hawaii Five-O'' .... Ramon (1 episode, 1969) * ''

Room 222 ''Room 222'' is an American comedy-drama television series produced by 20th Century Fox Television that aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC for 112 episodes, from September 17, 1969, until January 11, 1974. The show was broadcast on 1969 ...

'' .... Robert Salazar (1 Season episode 15 El Genio) 1969 * '' The Devil's 8'' (1969) .... Billy Joe * '' The Young Animals'' (1968) .... Tony * '' Cowboy in Africa'' .... John Henry (26 episodes, 1967–1968) * '' Cimarron Strip'' .... John Wolf (1 episode, 1967) * '' Africa Texas Style'' (1967) .... John Henry * '' The Fugitive'' .... Jimmy Anza (1 episode, 1967) * ''

Gunsmoke ''Gunsmoke'' is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It centered on Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central charact ...

'' .... Richard Danby (1 episode, 1965) * '' Dr. Kildare'' .... Steve Perrona (7 episodes, 1965) * '' Bewitched'' .... Indian (1 episode, 1965) * '' Winter A-Go-Go'' (1965) .... Frankie * ''

'' (1965) .... Jackson Two-Bears * ''

Death Valley Days ''Death Valley Days'' is an American Western (genre), Western anthology series featuring true accounts of the American Old West, particularly the Death Valley country of southeastern California. Created in 1930 by Ruth Woodman, the program was ...

'' .... Steve Avote (1 episode, 1965) * ''

'' .... Abel King / ... (3 episodes, 1964–1965)

Early life

Career

Personal life

Filmography

References

Further reading