Bruno Kirby
Bruno Kirby | |
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![]() Kirby in When Harry Met Sally... (1989) | |
Born | Bruno Giovanni Quidaciolu Jr. April 28, 1949 New York City, U.S. |
Died | August 14, 2006 Los Angeles, California, U.S. | (aged 57)
Other names | Bruce Kirby Jr. B. Kirby Jr. |
Occupation | Actor, voice artist, comedian |
Years active | 1971–2006 |
Spouse(s) | Lynn Sellers (m. 2003) |
Parent(s) | Bruce Kirby (father) |
Bruno Kirby (born Bruno Giovanni Quidaciolu Jr.; April 28, 1949 – August 14, 2006) was an American actor, singer, voice artist, and comedian. He was known for his roles in City Slickers, When Harry Met Sally..., Good Morning, Vietnam, The Godfather Part II, and Donnie Brasco. He voiced Reginald Stout in Stuart Little.
Early life[]
Kirby was born Bruno Giovanni Quidaciolu Jr. in New York City on April 28, 1949. His father was Bruce Kirby (born Bruno Giovanni Quidaciolu). His brother John Kirby was an acting coach.
Kirby attended Power Memorial Academy.
Career[]
Kirby was a popular character actor through the late 1980s and early 1990s. His film debut was in 1971's The Young Graduates. It was his role in The Godfather Part II as the young Peter Clemenza, that raised his profile in Hollywood. In the summer of 1972 Kirby, in one of his early television appearances, portrayed Anthony Girelli, the son of Richard Castellano's character Joe Girelli, in The Super; Castellano had played the older Pete Clemenza in The Godfather.
Other television appearances include Room 222, and the pilot episode of M*A*S*H, portraying the character Boone (he has no lines). He also appeared in the 1974 Columbo episode "By Dawn's Early Light," alongside his father Bruce Kirby and in the season 2 episode "Seance" of Emergency!, where he was credited as "B. Kirby Jr."
Described by Leonard Maltin as the "quintessential New Yorker or cranky straight man", Kirby appeared in a series of comedies, typically playing fast-talking, belligerent, yet likable, characters. His best-known roles include a colleague of Albert Brooks' film editor in Modern Romance; a talkative limo driver in This Is Spinal Tap; the jealous, comedically impaired Lt. Hauk in Good Morning, Vietnam; and a shifty assistant to Marlon Brando—a parody of his Godfather role—in The Freshman. Kirby balanced comedies with dramatic roles like Donnie Brasco as a double-dealing mobster.
Kirby appeared with Billy Crystal in When Harry Met Sally... (1989)[1] and City Slickers (1991). Both featured Kirby's character as the opinionated best friend to Crystal's character. Kirby refused to sign on for City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold unless script changes were made and was subsequently replaced by Jon Lovitz.
In 1991, Kirby made his Broadway debut when he replaced Kevin Spacey in Neil Simon's Lost in Yonkers. In the last decade of his life, Kirby had success in Stuart Little and was increasingly working in television. He starred as Barry Scheck in a 2000 CBS drama American Tragedy, played a paroled convict in a season three episode of Homicide: Life on the Street, and also directed an episode of that show.
Kirby appeared on the HBO TV series Entourage - Season 3, episode 4 - "Guys and Doll". He portrayed the movie mogul Phil Rubinstein.
Personal life and death[]
Kirby, similar to his character in This is Spinal Tap, was a fan of Frank Sinatra.[2] He enjoyed playing softball in the late 1970s. He was also strongly allergic to horses and needed daily allergy shots on the set of City Slickers (part of the reason he declined to return for City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold).[3] Kirby was invited to be a member of the Actors Studio in 2006, less than six months before his death.
Kirby married Lynn Sellers on September 29, 2003, until his death in 2006.
He died August 14, 2006, from complications related to leukemia, at the age of 57.[4][5] Nearly fifteen years after his death, in 2021 his father Bruce Kirby died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.[6]
Filmography[]
Film[]
- Superdad (1973) – Stanley Schlimmer
- Cinderella Liberty (1973) – Alcott
- Columbo: By Dawn's Early Light (1974) - Cadet Morgan
- Kojak: Acts Of Desperate Men (1975) - Keith Wicks
- Baby Blue Marine (1976) – Pop Mosley
- Between the Lines (1977) – David Entwhistle
- Almost Summer (1978) – Bobby DeVito
- Where the Buffalo Roam (1980) – Marty Lewis
- Borderline (1980) – Jimmy Fante
- Modern Romance (1981) – Jay
- Million Dollar Infield (1982) – Lou Buonomato
- Kiss My Grits (1982) – Flash
- Hill Street Blues (1983) – Louis
- This Is Spinal Tap (1984) – Tommy Pischedda
- Birdy (1984) – Phil Renaldi
- Flesh and Blood (1985) – Orbec
- Tin Men (1987) – Mouse
- Good Morning, Vietnam (1987) – Lt. Steven Hauk
- Bert Rigby, You're a Fool (1989) – Kyle DeForest
- When Harry Met Sally... (1989) – Jess Fisher
- We're No Angels (1989) – Deputy
- The Freshman (1990) – Victor Ray
- City Slickers (1991) – Ed Furillo
- Mastergate (1992) – Abel Lamb
- Hoffa (1992) – Nightclub Comic (uncredited)
- Fallen Angels – Vol. 2 (1993) – Tony Reseck
- Golden Gate (1993) – Agent Ron Pirelli
- The Basketball Diaries (1995) – Swifty
- Sleepers (1996) – Mr. Carcaterra
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1971 | The Young Graduates | Les | Credited as B. Kirby Jr. |
1973 | The Harrad Experiment | Harry Schacht | |
1974 | The Godfather Part II | Young Peter Clemenza | Credited as B. Kirby Jr. |
1997 | Donnie Brasco | Nicky Santora | |
1999 | A Slipping-Down Life | Kiddie Acres Manager | |
1999 | Spy Games | Max Fisher | Alternate title: History Is Made at Night |
1999 | Stuart Little | Reginald "Reggie" Stout (voice) | |
2001 | One Eyed King | Mickey | |
2006 | Played | Detective Allen | Final film appearance |
Television[]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1969–1973 | Room 222 | Herbie Constadine | 5 episodes Credited as B. Kirby Jr. |
1995 | Homicide: Life on the Street | Victor Helms | Episode: "The Gas Man" |
1999 | Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child | The Great One (voice) | Episode: "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" |
2000 | American Tragedy | Barry Scheck | Television movie |
2004 | Helter Skelter | Vincent Bugliosi | Television movie |
2006 | Entourage | Phil Rubenstein | Episode: "Guys and Doll" Final television appearance |
Awards and nominations[]
Year | Result | Award | Category | Film or series |
---|---|---|---|---|
1992 | Nominated | American Comedy Awards | Funniest Supporting Actor | City Slickers |
References[]
- ^ Ragusa, Gina (December 27, 2020). "'When Harry Met Sally …': Director Rob Reiner Describes Carrie Fisher's Four-Way Call as a 'Magic Trick'". www.cheatsheet.com. Showbiz Cheat Sheet. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
- ^ Revealed in an interview on Bob Costas' Later show[episode needed]
- ^ D'Arc, James V. (2010). When Hollywood came to town: a history of moviemaking in Utah (1st ed.). Layton, Utah: Gibbs Smith. ISBN 9781423605874.
- ^ McLellan, Dennis (August 17, 2006). "Bruno Kirby, 57; Movie, TV and Stage Character Actor". www.latimes.com. The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
- ^ "Bruno Kirby dies at 57". today.com. Associated Press. August 16, 2006.
- ^ Evans, Greg (January 26, 2021). "Bruce Kirby Dies: 'Columbo' & 'L.A. Law' Actor Was 95". www.deadline.com. Deadline. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
External links[]
- 1949 births
- 2006 deaths
- American male film actors
- American male television actors
- American male voice actors
- American people of Italian descent
- Deaths from cancer in California
- Deaths from leukemia
- Male actors from New York City
- 20th-century American male actors
- 21st-century American male actors