Leonardo Cimino, American actor (Moonstruck, Dune, Hudson Hawk), died from COPD he was 94

Leonardo Cimino was an American film, television and stage actor who in 1937 appeared in the original stage production of Marc Blitzstein's The Cradle Will Rock. Cimino's most well known roles are in the 1983 science fiction miniseries, V as Abraham Bernstein and the 1987 feature film The Monster Squad as the "scary German guy."

Despite a popular misconception, Cimino was no relation to Oscar-winning screenwriter/producer/director Michael Cimino.

(November 4, 1917 – March 3, 2012)  

Born in Manhattan, Cimino was the son of Andrea and Leonilda Cimino. His father was a tailor. Cimino was initially interested in pursuing a career as a violinist, and studied the instrument at the Juilliard School when he was a teenager. While studying the violin he became interested in acting and dancing, and began studying those as well.^[1] In 1936, at the age of 18, he made his professional stage debut in a supporting role in the world premiere of Gladys Bronwyn Stern's Middle Man in Suffern, New York which starred actor Ernest Truex.^[2] It wasn't until a decade later, however, that Cimino would become dedicated full-time to an acting career. During the late 1930s and early 1940s he studied acting, directing and modern dance at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre.^[1]

After the outbreak of World War II, Cimino joined the United States Army in 1942. He notably participated in the invasion of Normandy, landing with the second wave on June 6, 1944.

After returning to the United States in 1945 he continued to study the performing arts at the Neighborhood Playhouse; notably studying dance with Martha Graham. In 1946 he made his Broadaway debut in a revival of Cyrano de Bergerac which starred and was directed by José Ferrer. It was the first of many projects that Cimino would collaborate with Ferrer on.^[1] He went on to appear in nearly 20 Broadway productions over the next four decades, including a 1962 adaptation of E. M. Forster’s Passage to India and a 1985 revival of The Iceman Cometh. In 1976 he was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for his performance of the role of Jim in Arthur Miller's A Memory of Two Mondays.

Cimino also appeared in numerous Off-Broadway productions during his career, notably winning an Obie Award in 1958 for his portrayal of Smerdyakov in The Brothers Karamazov. He frequently appeared Off-Broadway in Shakespear plays at the Public Theater, including Egeon in The Comedy of Errors (1975) alongside Ted Danson and Danny DeVito. He also appeared in productions in Regional theatres across the United States during his career. In 1970 he was awarded the Joseph Jefferson Award for Best Actor in a Principal Role for his performance in The Man in the Glass Booth at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, Illinois.

Cimino made guest appearances on TV shows, some of those appearances range from Naked City, Kojak, The Equalizer and Law & Order. In 1981 and 1982, he played Alexei Vartova on ABC's soap opera Ryan's Hope.

Cimino died on March 3, 2012 of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at his home in Woodstock, New York.^[1]

Film[edit]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1961	Mad Dog Coll	Wickles - Bar Owner
1961	The Young Savages	Mr. Rugiello	Uncredited
1964	Quick, Let's Get Married	Dr. Paoli
1969	Stilleto	Allie Fargo	Uncredited
1970	Cotton Comes to Harlem	Tom
1972	Come Back, Charleston Blue	Frank Mago
1973	Jeremy	Cello Teacher
1975	The Man in the Glass Booth	Dr. Alvarez
1980	Hide in Plain Sight	Don Angelo Venucci
1980	Stardust Memories	Sandy's Analyst
1982	Amityville II: The Possession	Chancellor
1982	Monsignor	The Pope
1984	Dune	The Baron's Doctor
1987	The Monster Squad	Scary German Guy
1987	Moonstruck	Felix
1988	The Seventh Sign	Head Cardinal
1989	Penn & Teller Get Killed	Ernesto
1990	Q&A	Nick Petrone
1990	The Freshman	Lorenzo
1991	Hudson Hawk	Cardinal
1993	Claude	Daddy V.J.
1993	Household Saints	Mario, a Storyteller
1995	Waterworld	Elder
1999	Cradle Will Rock	VTA - Man in Line
2001	18 Shades of Dust	Connie Broglio
2001	Made	Leo
2007	Before the Devil Knows You're Dead	William	(final film role)

Television[edit]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1949	The Big Story	Tyler	1 episode
1958	Armstrong Circle Theatre		1 episode
1958	Naked City	Shellshock	1 episode
1959	The Phil Silvers Show	Bandit #3	1 episode
1959	The DuPont Show of the Month		1 episode
1959	Brenner	Mr. Jackson	1 episode
1960	Armstrong Circle Theatre	Joe March	1 episode
1960	The Witness		1 episode
1960	The DuPont Show of the Month		1 episode
1960	Naked City	Johnny	1 episode
1961	Give Us Barabbas!	Caleb	TV movie
1961	The Power and the Glory		TV movie
1961	Way Out	Nightime Murderer	1 episode
1961	Route 66	Vendor	1 episode
1961	Naked City	Miklos Konya	1 episode
1961	Naked City	Julio Varraco	1 episode
1962	Naked City	Alberto Russo	1 episode
1963	Naked City	Sid Kitka	1 episode
1963	The Defenders	Ralph Kinderman	1 episode
1965	For the People	LeBlanc	1 episode
1966	ABC Stage 67	Dino	1 episode
1973	Honor Thy Father	Sam DeCavalcante	TV movie
1974	Kojak	Ruby Kabelsky	2 episodes
1976	Kojak	Cordick	1 episode
1976	Arthur Hailey's the Moneychangers	Ben Rosselli	mini-series, 1 of 4 episodes
1980	A Time for Miracles	Italian Priest	TV movie
1980	Rappaccini's Daughter	Rappaccini	TV movie
1981	Ryan's Hope	Alexei Vartova	10 episodes
1983	V (1983 miniseries)	Abraham Bernstein	mini-series, 2 of 2 episodes
1983	Cocaine and Blue Eyes	Orestes Anatole	TV movie
1983	Will There Really Be a Morning?	Adolph Zukor	TV movie
1984	One Life to Live	Antonescu	1 episode
1986	The Equalizer	Thomas Marley Sr	1 episode
1989	The Equalizer	Doctor Molinari	2 episodes
1989	The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd	Orambello Johnson	1 episode
1991	Dead and Alive: The Race for Gus Farace		TV movie
1994	M.A.N.T.I.S.	Benny Cruikshank	1 episode
1996	Law & Order	Costello	1 episode
1997	The Hunger	Nero	1 episode
1998	Witness to the Mob	Neil Dellacroce	TV movie
2000	Law & Order	Tommy Valducci	1 episode

To see more of who died in 2012 click here

Dave Charnley, British boxer died he was 76

David Fraser Charnley  was an English lightweight boxer considered to be one of the greatest British fighters in his weight class died he was 76.^[2] Known as "The Dartford Destroyer", the left-handed Charnley had a 10-year career lasting from 1954 to 1964.

(10 October 1935 – 3 March 2012)

 

Charnley won a bronze medal at the 1954 Commonwealth Games and went on to become undefeated British lightweight champion (1957–63), Commonwealth lightweight champion (1959–62) and European lightweight champion (1960–61).^[1]

Charnley made two unsuccessful world title challenges against his arch-rival Joe 'Old Bones' Brown. He was stopped by Brown on a cut eye in Houston, Texas, in 1959 and was narrowly out-pointed in a controversial 15 round bout in London on 18 April 1961. Ring Magazine called this second bout "Fight of the Year." Many say Charnley should have won.^[3] The decision is still contested by Charnley and most British writers.

He eventually defeated Brown in six rounds in a non-title fight in Manchester on 25 February 1963.

Dave was born in Dartford, Kent, to Scottish parents from Craigneuk, Lanarkshire. Before becoming a boxer, Charnley worked at Vickers Engineering Crayford as a boilermaker. He started competing in 1954 and turned professional the same year.^[4]

He became British Lightweight Champion at 21 by outpointing Joe Lucy, another southpaw, on 9 April 1957, but in his first attempt later that year to win the Empire title on 9 July he was beaten on points by Willie Toweel. In 1958 he met future world champion, Puerto Rican Carlos Ortiz at Harringay Arena where he lost on a 10 round decision.

In a return match against Willie Toweel on 12 May 1959, Dave Charnley punched with such authority that the championship changed hands in the 10th round, when Dave won by a knockout.

Dave challenged for the World Title at Houston, Texas on 2 December 1959, against Joe Brown but was forced to retire in the fifth round with a badly damaged eye. He fought Brown again, this time in London on 18 April 1961, and lost a bitterly contested duel that many fans thought he had won. By way of consolation Dave knocked out Brown in six rounds in a third meeting, but only after the American had lost his World title.

Before his second bout with Brown, Dave added the European Lightweight Title to his British and Empire Titles, when he met Mario Vecchiatto of Italy on 29 March 1960. He forced Vecchiatto to retire in the 10th round.

On 20 November 1961 Dave Charnley met challenger David "Darkie" Hughes of Wales for his third title and stopped the Welshman in 40 seconds, including the count, a record win in the British Lightweight class.

In 1962 Dave went to Jamaica, losing his Empire title on a close point verdict to Bunny Grant, but he won his Lonsdale Belt outright by defeating Maurice Cullen in Manchester on 20 May 1963. That year he also forfeited his European title.

As there were no worthy challengers in the Lightweight division, to continue boxing, it was necessary for Dave to move up to the Welterweight division. He was then game enough to challenge the World Champion, Emile Griffith, but took a bad beating and the fight was stopped in round eight.

Dave retired from the ring in 1964 as unbeaten British Lightweight Champion.

Charnley had a powerful build and large forearms and was often compared to the "Toy Bulldog" Mickey Walker, but he also had good tools. He had double and triple hooks and was a true scrapper with plenty of bottle.

His trademark was an aggressive attacking style. Quiet-spoken and an introvert outside the ropes, his self-effacing modesty was no public relations gimmick; Charnley was merciless once ring battle commenced. Inside the ring he was a furious brawler who gave and took brutal punishment.

Only Joe Brown stopped him on cuts and until his last fight, only welterweight great Emile Griffiths stopped him from going the distance. Charnley ended his career fighting welterweights and was a really tough opponent for anyone.

Charnley estimated his ring earnings to have been in excess of £400,000, a considerable sum at the time, and when he retired from boxing in 1964 he took a different direction in his life and opened and operated hair salons, which became quite profitable for him.^[4]

He later moved into building and property refurbishments buying land and building estates in the Dartford area. He established the offices of his company in Regent Street, where the business expanded through restorations of hotels and other projects. His various business enterprises generated him a lot of money late in his life.^[4]

Charnley's biographer, James Kirkwood, said: "It may be a cliché, but it really was true of Dave that you never heard anybody say a bad word about him." Charnley died of lung cancer on 3 March 2012, at the age of 76.^[4]

To see more of who died in 2012 click here

Steve Bridges, American impressionist (George W. Bush), died from anaphylaxis he was 48

Steve Bridges  was an American comedian, impressionist, and actor who was known for his impressions of politicians, television characters and broadcasters including Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Barney Fife, Homer Simpson, Tom Brokaw, Paul Harvey, and Rush Limbaugh died from anaphylaxis he was 48.^[2]

^{(May 22, 1963 – March 3, 2012)}

<sup>Bridges graduated from Biola University in 1986.[3]

In 2006, he appeared alongside President George W. Bush at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner, mimicking the president by voicing the president's "inner thoughts" during Bush's presidential speech.[4] His accurate portrayal of Bush led to Bridges being cast as the president in episodes of both JAG and its spin-off, NCIS.</sup> 

^{On March 3, 2012, Bridges was found dead by his maid in his Los Angeles home after he failed to return a call the day before. According to his agent, Bridges had just returned from performing in Hong Kong and went to bed complaining that he felt "super-jetlagged".[5] His death was ruled an accident, with the probable cause “upper airway anaphylaxis” from a severe allergic reaction.[6]}

• Nurses (1994) as Torrance
• The District (2000)
• ER (2001) as Leone
• Lange Flate Ballær 2 (2008) as General of the U.S. Navy

As George W. Bush[edit]

• JAG episode "Dangerous Game" (2002)
• "The Nick Cannon Show" episode "Nick Takes Over a Wedding" (2002)
• NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service episode "Yankee White" (2003)
• Whoopi episode "The Vast Right Wing Conspiracy" (2003)
• George Lopez (2003)
• Comedy Central Roast of Jeff Foxworthy (2005)
• Merry F#%$in' Christmas (2005)
• The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
• White House Correspondents Dinner (2006)
• Blue Collar Comedy Tour: One For the Road (Yankee Doody Dandy segment)
• The View (May 29, 2006)
• Larry King Live (2006)
• Lange Flate Ballær II (2008) (Norwegian movie)
• I Love the New Millennium (2008)

  

To see more of who died in 2012 click here