Actor Loggia is dead at 85
Star of ‘Scarface’ and ‘Big’
ROBERT LOGGIA, who danced on an outsized piano keyboard with Tom Hanks in “Big” and played Tony Montana’s nemesis in “Scarface,” died Friday in Los Angeles, his family confirmed. He was 85.
His wife, Aubrey Loggia, said he died at home after a five-year battle with Alzheimer’s disease.
“His poor body gave up,” his wife told the Associated Press. “He loved being an actor and he loved his life.”
Loggia, a veteran actor who first appeared on screen in the 1950s, danced alongside Hanks on a giant piano inside FAO Schwarz in the 1988 hit “Big.”
In 1986, the New York native was nominated for a supporting actor Oscar for “Jagged Edge,” which starred Glenn Close and Jeff Bridges.
Loggia was also nominated for two Emmys, first in 1989 for his role as FBI agent Nick Mancuso in the series “Mancuso FBI” and then again in 2000 for a guest role on “Malcolm in the Middle.”
The Sicilian-American actor won over fans when he appeared as Feech La Manna on season five of “The Sopranos.”
Loggia was born in 1930 in Staten Island. He graduated from University of Missouri-Columbia with a degree in journalism in 1951 but took a liking to acting in his early twenties.
One of his first roles was a small part on “Search for Tomorrow” in 1951.