Dom DeLuise

Dom DeLuise
Dom Deluise Allan Warren.jpg Dom Deluise Allan Warren.jpg DeLuise in 1975
Born	(1933-08-01)August 1, 1933 Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
💀Died	May 4, 2009(2009-05-04) (aged 75) Santa Monica, California, U.S.May 4, 2009(2009-05-04) (aged 75)
Resting place	Calvary Cemetery in Woodside, Queens, New York, U.S.
💼 Occupation	Actor, voice actor, comedian, director, producer, author
📆 Years active	1961–2009
👩 Spouse(s)	Carol Arthur (m. 1965)
👶 Children	Peter DeLuise Michael DeLuise David DeLuise

Dominick DeLuise (August 1, 1933 – May 4, 2009) was an American actor, voice actor, comedian, director, producer, chef and author. He was the husband of actress Carol Arthur and the father of actor, director, pianist, and writer Peter DeLuise, and actors David DeLuise and Michael DeLuise. He starred in a number of movies directed by Mel Brooks, in a series of films with career-long best friend Burt Reynolds, and as a voice actor in various animated films by Don Bluth.

Early life

DeLuise was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Italian American parents Vincenza "Jennie" (née DeStefano), a homemaker, and John DeLuise, a public employee (garbage collector). He was the youngest of three children, having an older brother, Nicholas "Nick" DeLuise, and an older sister, Antoinette DeLuise-Daurio. DeLuise graduated from Manhattan's High School of Performing Arts and later attended Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts. DeLuise was Roman Catholic and had a particular devotion to the Virgin Mary.

Career

In 1961, DeLuise played in the Off-Broadway musical revue Another Evening with Harry Stoons, which lasted nine previews and one performance. Another member of the cast was 19-year-old Barbra Streisand. He was also in the Off-Broadway play All in Love, which opened on November 10, 1961, at the Martinique Theatre and ran for 141 performances. Other New York theater performances included Half-Past Wednesday (Off-Broadway) (1962), Around the World in 80 Days (Off-Broadway) (1963), The Student Gypsy (Broadway) (1963), Here's Love (Broadway) (1963), and Last of the Red Hot Lovers (Broadway) (1969).

DeLuise generally appeared in comedic parts, although an early appearance in the movie Fail-Safe as a nervous USAF technical sergeant showed a broader range. His first acting credit was as a regular performer in the television show The Entertainers in 1964. He gained early notice for his supporting turn in the Doris Day film The Glass Bottom Boat (1966). In his review in The New York Times, Vincent Canby panned the film but singled out the actor, stating, "[T]he best of the lot, however, is a newcomer, Dom DeLuise, as a portly, bird-brained spy."

In the 1970s and 1980s, he often co-starred with Burt Reynolds. Together they appeared in the films The Cannonball Run and Cannonball Run II, Smokey and the Bandit II, The End, All Dogs Go to Heaven and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. DeLuise was the host of the television show Candid Camera from 1991 to 1992. He was a mainstay of Burke's Law, an American television series that aired on CBS during the 1993–94 and 1994–95 television seasons.

DeLuise also lent his distinct voice to various animated films and was a particular staple of Don Bluth's features, playing major roles in The Secret of NIMH, An American Tail, A Troll in Central Park and All Dogs Go to Heaven. All Dogs Go to Heaven also featured Reynolds' voice as Charlie B. Barkin, the cheeky anti-hero, and DeLuise voiced Itchy Itchiford, Charlie's best friend, wing-man and later partner in business. Unlike DeLuise, however, Reynolds did not voice Charlie in any of the eventual film sequels, TV episodes, TV-episode sequels, or TV series. DeLuise also voiced the legendary character of Charles Dickens' Fagin in the Walt Disney film Oliver & Company and made voice guest appearances on several animated TV series.

The handprints of Dom DeLuise in Atlantic City, New Jersey

TV producer Greg Garrison hired DeLuise to appear as a specialty act on The Dean Martin Show. DeLuise ran through his "Dominick the Great" routine, a riotous example of a magic act gone wrong, with host Martin as a bemused volunteer from the audience. Dom's catch phrase, with an Italian accent, was "No Applause Please, Save-a to the End." The show went so well that DeLuise was soon a regular on Martin's program, participating in both songs and sketches. Garrison also featured DeLuise in his own hour-long comedy specials for ABC. (Martin was often off-camera when these were taped, and his distinctive laugh can be heard.)

In 1968, DeLuise hosted his own hour-long comedy variety series for CBS, The Dom DeLuise Show. Taped in Miami at The Jackie Gleason Theater, it featured many regular Gleason show cast members including The June Taylor Dancers and The Sammy Spear Orchestra. DeLuise's wife Carol Arthur also regularly appeared. The 16-week run was the summer replacement for The Jonathan Winters Show. He later starred in his own sitcom, Lotsa Luck (1973-1974).

DeLuise was probably best known as a regular in Mel Brooks' films. He appeared in The Twelve Chairs, Blazing Saddles, Silent Movie, History of the World, Part I, Spaceballs, and Robin Hood: Men in Tights. Brooks' late wife, actress Anne Bancroft, directed Dom in Fatso (1980). He also had a cameo in Johnny Dangerously as the Pope and in Jim Henson's The Muppet Movie as a wayward Hollywood talent agent who comes across Kermit the Frog singing "The Rainbow Connection" in the film's opening scene. He also guest-starred in Season 2 Episode 11 of The Muppet Show, where he interacted with Miss Piggy and appeared with fellow Brooks regulars Gene Wilder (who directed the film as well), Marty Feldman, and Madeline Kahn in The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother, as well as alongside Wilder and Gilda Radner in a later Gene Wilder-directed film, Haunted Honeymoon. He also appeared in Stargate SG-1 as Urgo.

DeLuise exhibited his comedic talents while playing the speaking part of the jailer Frosch in the comedic operetta Die Fledermaus at the Metropolitan Opera, playing the role in four separate revivals of the work at the Met between December 1989 and January 1996. In the production, while the singing was in German, the spoken parts were in English. A lifelong opera fan, he also portrayed the role of L'Opinion Publique in drag for the Los Angeles Opera's production of Offenbach's Orpheus in the Underworld.

An avid cook and author of several books on cooking, he appeared as a regular contributor to a syndicated home improvement radio show, On The House with The Carey Brothers, giving listeners tips on culinary topics. He was also a friend and self-proclaimed "look-alike" of famous Cajun chef Paul Prudhomme and author of seven children's books.

Personal life

In 1964, while working in a Provincetown, Massachusetts, summer theater, DeLuise met actress Carol Arthur. They married in 1965 and had three sons, all of whom are actors: Peter, Michael, and David DeLuise.

Death

DeLuise died of kidney failure on May 4, 2009, at Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California at age 75. He had been battling cancer for more than a year prior to his death.

Burt Reynolds paid tribute to Deluise in the Los Angeles Times, saying: "As you get older and start to lose people you love, you think about it more, and I was dreading this moment. Dom always made you feel better when he was around, and there will never be another like him." Mel Brooks also made a statement to the same paper, telling them that DeLuise "created so much joy and laughter on the set that you couldn’t get your work done. So every time I made a movie with Dom, I would plan another two days on the schedule just for laughter. It's a sad day. It's hard to think of this life and this world without him."

Filmography

Film

List of performances in films

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1964	Diary of a Bachelor	Marvin Rollins
1964	Fail Safe	Sgt. Collins
1966	The Glass Bottom Boat	Julius Pritter
1967	The Busy Body	Kurt Brock
1968	What's So Bad About Feeling Good?	J. Gardner Monroe
1970	Norwood	Bill Bird
1970	The Twelve Chairs	Father Fyodor
1971	Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me?	Irwin Marcy
1972	Every Little Crook and Nanny	Mario Azzecca
1974	Blazing Saddles	Buddy Bizarre
1974	Only with Married Men	Murray West	TV Movie
1975	The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother	Eduardo Gambetti
1976	Silent Movie	Dom Bell
1977	The World's Greatest Lover	Adolph Zitz
1978	Sextette	Dan Turner
1978	The End	Marlon Borunki
1978	The Cheap Detective	Pepe Damascus
1979	Hot Stuff	Ernie Fortunato	Also director
1979	The Muppet Movie	Bernie the Agent	Cameo
1980	Fatso	Dominic DeNapoli
1980	The Last Married Couple in America	Walter Holmes
1980	Wholly Moses!	Shadrach
1980	Smokey and the Bandit II	Dr. Frederico "Doc" Carlucci
1981	History of the World, Part I	Emperor Nero
1981	The Cannonball Run	Victor Prinzi / Captain Chaos
1982	The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas	Melvin P. Thorpe
1984	Cannonball Run II	Victor Prinzi / Captain Chaos / Don Canneloni
1984	Johnny Dangerously	The Pope
1986	Haunted Honeymoon	Aunt Mary Kate
1987	Going Bananas	Big Bad Joe Hopkins
1987	A Taxi Driver in New York	Captain T. Favretto
1989	The Princess and the Dwarf	The King
1990	Loose Cannons	Harry Gutterman
1991	Driving Me Crazy	Mr. B	Alternate title: Trabbi Goes to Hollywood
1992	Almost Pregnant	Doctor Beckhard
1993	Robin Hood: Men in Tights	Don Giovanni
1994	The Silence of the Hams	Dr. Animal Cannibal Pizza
1994	Don't Drink the Water	Father Drobney	TV Movie
1995	The Tin Soldier	Mr. Fallon	TV Movie
1996	Red Line	Jerry
1997	The Good Bad Guys	The Judge
1998	Between the Sheets		Cameo
1998	The Godson	The Oddfather
1999	My X-Girlfriend's Wedding Reception	Father O'Rdeal
1999	Boys Will Be Boys	Chef	TV Movie; also director
1999	Baby Geniuses	Lenny
2000	The Brainiacs.com	Ivan Lucre
2001	Always Greener
2002	It's All About You
2004	Girl Play	Gabriel
2004	Breaking the Fifth	Flealand Cunchulis

Animation (and other voice work)

List of voice performances in films

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1981	Peter-No-Tail		English version
1982	The Secret of NIMH	Jeremy
1986	An American Tail	Tiger
1987	Spaceballs	Pizza the Hutt
1988	Oliver & Company	Fagin
1989	All Dogs Go to Heaven	Itchy Itchiford
1990	Happily Ever After	The Looking Glass
1991	Dragon and Slippers	Goliath the Dragon	English version
1991	An American Tail: Fievel Goes West	Tiger
1992	The Magic Voyage	Christopher Columbus	English version
1992	Munchie	Munchie
1993	The Skateboard Kid	Rip
1994	A Troll in Central Park	Stanley
1996	All Dogs Go to Heaven 2	Itchy Itchiford
1998	An American Tail: The Treasure of Manhattan Island	Tiger	Direct-to-video
1998	An All Dogs Christmas Carol	Itchy / Ghost of Christmas Past	Television film
1998	The Secret of NIMH 2: Timmy to the Rescue	Jeremy	Direct-to-video
2000	An American Tail: The Mystery of the Night Monster	Tiger	Direct-to-video
2000	Lion of Oz	Oscar Diggs	Credited as Dom DeLuises
2003	Remembering Mario	Mario
2006	Bongee Bear and the Kingdom of Rhythm	Myrin

Television

List of voice performances in television series

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1972	The Roman Holidays	Mr. Evictus	Episode: "Hectic Holiday"
1990	Timeless Tales from Hallmark	The Emperor	Episode: "The Emperor's New Clothes"
1991–1992	Fievel's American Tails	Tiger	13 Episodes
1993	Married... with Children	Floyd the Dog	Episode: "Change for a Buck"
1994	The Magic School Bus	Baker	Episode: "Get Ready, Set, Dough"
1995	The Ren & Stimpy Show	Big Kahuna	Episode: "Pixie King/Aloha Hoek"
1997	Duckman	The Governor	Episode: "A Star Is Abhorred"
1997	Cow and Chicken	Jean-Paul Beaver / Governor #2 / Owl #2 / Mayor / Frenchman #3 / Neighbor #2	2 Episodes
1998	Police Academy: The Series	Zeus	Episode: "Bring Me the Turtle of Commandant Hefilfinger"
1998	Hercules: The Animated Series	Bacchus	Episode: "Hercules and the Bacchanal"
1996–1998	All Dogs Go to Heaven: The Series	Itchy Itchiford	20 Episodes
1998	The Wild Thornberrys	Baby Condor	Episode: "Flight of the Donnie"
1997–1999	I Am Weasel	Mayor / Frenchman #3 / Neighbor #2	2 Episodes
1998-1999	The Charlie Horse Music Pizza	Cookie	23 Episodes
1999	Stargate SG-1	Urgo	Episode 316 (S3E16 Urgo)
2002	Rugrats	Director	Episode: "Starstruck/Who's Taffy?"
1997–2003	Dexter's Laboratory	Koosy / Koosalagoopagoop	4 Episodes
2004	Father of the Pride	Duke	Episode: "One Man's Meat Is Another Man's Girlfriend"
2005	Robot Chicken	Victor Prinzim / Himself	Episode: "Gold Dust Gasoline"
2005	Duck Dodgers	Roy Serpenti	Episode: "All in the Crime Family"
2009	Spaceballs: The Animated Series		Episode: "Pilot Part 1: The Avenge of Dark Helmet"

• The Entertainers (1964–1965)
• The Munsters (1966)
• The Dean Martin Summer Show (regular performer in 1966)
• The Dom DeLuise Show (1968) (summer replacement for Jackie Gleason)
• The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1969) – season 2 episode 5 Seaman Elroy Applegate
• The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour (regular performer from 1971–1972)
• The Dean Martin Show (regular performer from 1972–1973)
• Evil Roy Slade (1972)
• Lotsa Luck (1973–1974)
• Only with Married Men (1974)
• The Jacksons Variety Show (1977) [Guest]
• The Muppet Show (1977) [Guest]
• The Jacksons (1977)
• Happy (1983) (also executive producer)
• Amazing Stories, episode: Guilt Trip (1985)
• The Dom DeLuise Show (1987–1988)
• 21 Jump Street (1989)
• B.L. Stryker, episode: "Die Laughing" (1989)
• Precious Moments Christmas: Timmy's Gift (1991) (voice) – Nicodemus
• Candid Camera (host from 1991–1992)
• Diagnosis Murder (1993) ("Murder at the Telethon")(Buddy Blake)
• Burke's Law (1994–1995)
• seaQuest DSV (1994 – Episode: "Vapors")
• Alef Bet Blast-Off Lights of Freedom Pharaoh (1995)
• Tin Soldier (1995)
• Shari's Passover Surprise (1996)
• Beverly Hills, 90210, episode: "I Only Have Eyes for You" (1997)
• 3rd Rock from the Sun (1997)
• Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (1998)
• Charlie Horse Music Pizza (1998)
• Emeril (2001)
• Always Greener (2001)

Video games

• Toonstruck (1996) (voice)

Bibliography

Writings for children

• Charlie the Caterpillar, illustrated by Christopher Santoro, Simon & Schuster, 1990
• Goldilocks (also known as Goldie Locks & The Three Bears: The Real Story!), illustrated by Santoro, Simon & Schuster, 1992
• Hansel & Gretel, by Santoro, Simon & Schuster,1997
• The Nightingale (also known as Dom DeLuise's The Nightingale), illustrated by Santoro, Simon & Schuster, 1998
• King Bob's New Clothes, illustrated by Santoro, Simon & Schuster, 1999
• The Pouch Potato, illustrated by Derek Carter, Bacchus Books, 2001
• There's No Place Like Home, illustrated by Tim Brown

Cookbooks

• Eat This ... It Will Make You Feel Better: Mamma's Italian Home Cooking and Other Favorites of Family and Friends (also known as Eat This), Simon & Schuster, 1988
• Eat This Too! It'll Also Make You Feel Better (also known as Eat This Too!), Atria, 1997
• The Pizza Challenge

External links

Other articles of the topic Biography : BigWalkDog, Kayden James Buchanan, Tony Tinderholt, MrWolfy, Icewear Vezzo, Muhammad Nasiruddin al-Albani, Bankrol Hayden
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• Dom Deluise on IMDb
• Dom DeLuise at the TCM Movie Database
• Dom Deluise at the Internet Broadway Database
• Dom Deluise at Find a Grave
• McLellan, Dennis. "Dom DeLuise dies at 75; actor was a 'naturally funny man'", Los Angeles Times, May 6, 2009.
• Dom DeLuise Daily Telegraph obituary
• Obituary (by the Associated Press) in The Los Angeles Times

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