Joseph Campanella
TV actor BORN NOVEMBER 21, 1924 - DIED MAY 16, 2018 AGED 93
KNOWN for his good looks and southern Italian charm, Hollywood actor Joseph Campanella starred in a string of TV series and telemovies of the 1960s and 1970s.
With more than 200 parts to his name Campanella, whose career spanned six decades, will be best remembered for his roles in crime drama Mannix, for which he received an Emmy nomination, and as Harper Deveraux in the long-running soap Days Of Our Lives.
Born to Sicilian immigrant parents in New York, both Campanella and his younger brother Frank went on to become successful actors.
After serving in the navy during the Second World War, Campanella graduated from Manhattan College in 1948 and studied speech and drama at Columbia University. During this time he was offered a baseball contract by a minor league team but turned it down in favour of acting.
Before breaking into TV with a role in the western series Gunsmoke, Campanella worked as a radio broadcaster and had stints as a TV stuntman which landed him many on-screen roles.
When playing Judy Holliday’s leading man in Hot Spot, he met his wife Jill whom he married in 1964.
After winning his first major role on Mannix in 1967 he went on to star in TV shows including The Mary Tyler Moore Show, One Day At A Time, The Colbys, The Golden Girls and then in a recurring role in the US soap, The Bold And The Beautiful.
Known for his distinctive voice, he also found work as a voiceover artist including for the animated shows Spider-Man and Road Rovers as well as a variety of TV commercials.
He died as a result of complications from Parkinson’s disease and is survived by his wife Jill and seven sons.