“R as in Robert Loggia. O as in "Oh my god, it's Robert Loggia.”
December 6, 2015 8:01 AM   Subscribe

Robert Loggia, Rugged but Versatile Character Actor, Dies at 85 [New York Times]
Robert Loggia, an Oscar-nominated actor who had a durable career in television and movies, notably in Brian De Palma’s gangster film “Scarface” and Penny Marshall’s comedy “Big,” died on Friday at his home in Los Angeles. He was 85. His wife, Audrey Loggia, said the cause was complications of Alzheimer’s disease. “He struggled with Alzheimer’s disease for five years,” she said. “It just took its natural progression.”
posted by Fizz (43 comments total) 7 users marked this as a favorite
 
║░█░█░║░█░█░█░║░█░█░║
║░█░█░║░█░█░█░║░█░█░║
║░║░║░║░║░║░║░║░║░║░║
╚═╩═╩═╩═╩═╩═╩═╩═╩═╩═╝

.

The family guy clip about what its like to stand in line behind Robert Loggia has long been something that makes me smile. I have a feeling that Mr. Loggia would appreciate it. He will be missed, a truly talented actor.
posted by Fizz at 8:01 AM on December 6, 2015 [11 favorites]




.

He was a guest star on just about every TV series from the 50's to this year.
posted by fairmettle at 8:10 AM on December 6, 2015


I love his performance in Over the Top. That film is something that probably shouldn't exist but for which we're thankful. I mean how often do you get a father-son bonding story crossed with truck-driving and arm wrestling?! That being said, Robert Loggia gives a great performance as villainous Grandpa who has lots of money and just wants custody of his grand-child.
posted by Fizz at 8:13 AM on December 6, 2015 [3 favorites]


We should all watch Return To Me today in his honor. Of all his great roles, always my favorite. And just a damn good movie.
posted by kuanes at 8:19 AM on December 6, 2015 [3 favorites]


.
posted by valkane at 8:23 AM on December 6, 2015


Woah, Robert Loggia.

I love the hell out of Loggia. He exists somewhere in the realm between a bit part player and a serious actor. "There are no small parts, only small actors", and Loggia was never small.

For some odd reason the performance of his that is iconic for me is in Wild Palms, a sci-fi miniseries that has not aged well. He plays Senator Tony Kreutzer, the evil head of Scientology Synthiotics. There are some delicious scenes of him opposite Angie Dickinson competing to see who can chew the scenery more vigorously.
posted by Nelson at 8:30 AM on December 6, 2015 [10 favorites]


.
posted by Thorzdad at 8:31 AM on December 6, 2015


I watched the Big piano clip again for the first time in a long while, and realized that my enjoyment comes from Loggia not Hanks. Hanks is just this perfect (magical, as it were) character who is effortlessly a big kid, but Loggia is the one who is human and rediscovers playfulness as the scene develops, as his breath grows heavier and his smile wider. It's probably a banal observation about how supporting characters often really make a scene work... But I guess I also felt like I got older and now identify with Loggia and his sense of this rare experience.

.
posted by shortfuse at 8:31 AM on December 6, 2015 [9 favorites]


We should all watch Return To Me today in his honor. Of all his great roles, always my favorite. And just a damn good movie.

Seconded. That's a dear favorite in the Mosley household.
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 8:33 AM on December 6, 2015


Woah, Robert Loggia yt .

I love the hell out of Loggia. He exists somewhere in the realm between a bit part player and a serious actor. "There are no small parts, only small actors", and Loggia was never small.


For those who have not watched the youtube link, watch the youtube link.

Frankly, I wish more commercials name-checked ubiquitous character actors by having their low-key star power overcome objections. "In our house, we do not buy a Dell unless Judy Greer assures us it is right for our computing needs." "I am not 100% sold on Special K; what does Željko Ivanek think of it?" "Sure, this new paper towel absorbs spills quickly, but unless Al Leong turns up right now, I sticking with the leading brand."
posted by ricochet biscuit at 8:35 AM on December 6, 2015 [10 favorites]




As A Jews with many Italian friends, I had long been interested in the fact that some Italian actors sometimes played Jews in films. Loggia had a role in this film, interesting but not well known:

TRIUMPH OF THE SPIRiT, The title of the film is suggestive of human triumph,[5] a view to which star Dafoe subscribed, but others, including actor Olmos perceived its impact differently: "[W]hat does...[the film] project? The moral decay needed to survive in the camp."[2] Lawrence Baron, the author of 2005's Projecting the Holocaust Into the Present, agreed, stating that "the cumulative impression...undermines whatever uplifting impact its title and publicity imply.... A closer scrutiny of the movie reveals that it is not about the triumph of the spirit but rather about 'choiceless choices', to use Lawrence Langer's term for the dilemma faced by death camp inmates, who were never offered any moral alternatives to prolong their survival."[6] Baron suggests that this message is crystallized in one scene where Arouch is set to fight his best friend Jacko, who has already been beaten by the guards, knowing that the loser will be consigned to the gas chamber; when he balks, his friend is executed on the spot.[7]
Another role, this time on tv, he played Yigal Allonm, in Raid on Entebbe Yigal Allon
posted by Postroad at 9:14 AM on December 6, 2015


He was Richard Gere's father in "An Officer and a Gentleman." IIRC, his role was originally a little bigger but got cut.

.
posted by Melismata at 9:35 AM on December 6, 2015 [2 favorites]


That growl *is* the Loggia presence to me. Even the juice commercial linked above boils down his part to that primitive sound.

. for a unique actor.
posted by wenestvedt at 9:50 AM on December 6, 2015 [1 favorite]


"Character actor" is a term I've never understood. Isn't every actor supposed to be a character actor?
posted by hoist with his own pet aardvark at 10:34 AM on December 6, 2015 [1 favorite]


I just yesterday caught the episode of dharma and Greg, where he played an army general friend of gregs father. He played officer so well. Mr Loggia has been such a ubiquitous presence in my media related life. He will be missed, and fuck Alzheimers.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 10:36 AM on December 6, 2015


Innocent Blood [YouTube trailer] is arguably the finest Mafia vampire movie ever made. Don Rickles has a nice turn, as well.
posted by 0rison at 10:39 AM on December 6, 2015 [1 favorite]


Isn't every actor supposed to be a character actor?

My understanding is the term is mostly used for someone who plays a specific character and is not known for a diversity of roles. Gabby Hayes is the canonical character actor for me; if there's a 1930s/40s Western featuring a crazy old coot, it's Gabby Hayes. Loggia was pretty strongly typecast in many of his roles as an Italian tough guy, but his career demonstrated more range than that.
posted by Nelson at 10:46 AM on December 6, 2015


.
posted by Gelatin at 10:49 AM on December 6, 2015


"Character actor" has several, sometimes diametrically opposed, definitions: the actor who plays a single type of role but does it well, the actor who disappears into a role so thoroughly that you find yourself saying "Wait, he was in that?!", the actor who always does a good job but is never a lead, etc.

Generally, what it has come to mean is someone who works a lot and does it well but isn't a "movie star" -- an A-lister who can get people to come see a movie just on their name. Tom Hanks is a movie star, despite more or less playing "Tom Hanks" most of the time; Robert Loggia was a character actor, despite more or less playing "Robert Loggia" most of the time.
posted by Etrigan at 10:52 AM on December 6, 2015 [3 favorites]


.
posted by Joey Michaels at 11:06 AM on December 6, 2015


It's a shame that only the animated intro sequence to an episode of his T.H.E Cat is available. But to this artistic 12-year-old in 1966, that was the best part.
posted by Rash at 11:49 AM on December 6, 2015 [2 favorites]


Generally, what it has come to mean is someone who works a lot and does it well but isn't a "movie star" -- an A-lister who can get people to come see a movie just on their name. Tom Hanks is a movie star, despite more or less playing "Tom Hanks" most of the time; Robert Loggia was a character actor, despite more or less playing "Robert Loggia" most of the time.

Gene Hackman was one of the first to straddle the line between character actor and movie star. While he was an A-lister for decades, he often seemed to stay in a narrow range of corrupt senators, snappish military commanders, and other less-than-fully sympathetic authority figures. It is true that actors are not as pigeonholed as in the Gabby Hayes days, but no one is likely to cast a utility guy like, say, Ron Dean as a romantic comedy lead.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 11:54 AM on December 6, 2015


.
posted by ogooglebar at 12:32 PM on December 6, 2015


Nthing Return to Me. I love him in that.

.
posted by BlahLaLa at 12:40 PM on December 6, 2015


What's funny is that while Loggia did not voice himself in the "standing behind Robert Loggia" gag from Family Guy, he did have two quick live-action cutaways in later episodes:

"Not OK"
"8 fucking hours later"
posted by dhens at 1:18 PM on December 6, 2015 [3 favorites]


.
posted by glaucon at 1:21 PM on December 6, 2015


.
posted by Nat "King" Cole Porter Wagoner at 1:30 PM on December 6, 2015


0rison: "Innocent Blood [YouTube trailer] is arguably the finest Mafia vampire movie ever made. Don Rickles has a nice turn, as well."

It's really a terrible movie but Loggia gave it his all and I have a soft spot for it because part of it was filmed on my street.
posted by octothorpe at 2:19 PM on December 6, 2015


.
posted by Splunge at 3:20 PM on December 6, 2015


.
posted by Token Meme at 3:35 PM on December 6, 2015


.

(Dick Laurent in Lost Highway will be what I remember Loggia for.)
posted by acb at 4:14 PM on December 6, 2015 [2 favorites]


Like nelson, my initial awareness of Robert Loggia came from Wild Palms, which, man, I was just not quite old enough to even vaguely comprehend. Loggia, though, was like the burning center of that confusion, and forever after, the mention of his name makes me recall this utter haze of non-comprehending false memories. All that, and a good actor I always enjoyed when he popped up.
posted by Ghidorah at 5:31 PM on December 6, 2015 [2 favorites]


.
posted by SageLeVoid at 6:23 PM on December 6, 2015


.
posted by oceanjesse at 7:08 PM on December 6, 2015


RIP, Frank. Say hello to Mel.
posted by dbiedny at 9:21 PM on December 6, 2015


.
posted by dbiedny at 9:27 PM on December 6, 2015


The generally bad but harmless "Necessary Roughness" had him as an assistant football coach at the then-fictitious Texas State University.

There was a line he had that was hilarious, only because it was in his voice. If it hadn't had the Loggia growl, the line wouldn't have worked.

Addressing the team, whose head coach (played by Hector Elizondo) was in the hospital, Loggia says to them, to inspire a victory:

"Coach Gennaro's final words to me were, 'Win. Or I'll die.'"

I've seen the movie a dozen times and it still cracks me up.
posted by Thistledown at 4:26 AM on December 7, 2015


Wild Palms was insane, and it's hard to believe it ever happened.

"Bob, there's this edgy, paranoid, futuristic comic strip that runs in the back of this magazine that's basically GQ for college kids."

"Bingo - miniseries! Get me Angie Dickinson, Robert Loggia, and...and...."

"Jim Belushi?"

"My God, brilliant!"


Anyway, Robert Loggia: .
posted by Chrysostom at 8:47 AM on December 7, 2015 [2 favorites]


Utility player is more accurate than character actor.

Innocent Blood [YouTube trailer] is arguably the finest Mafia vampire movie ever made.

I was going to name-check IB if nobody else did. Aside from being a good vampire movie in general, Loggia is great in it. Finish the food.
posted by phearlez at 8:59 AM on December 7, 2015


.
posted by On the Corner at 3:00 AM on December 8, 2015


.
posted by jbenben at 6:53 PM on December 8, 2015


« Older The Wiz Needed a Studio Audience   |   Sprawled Out On The Freezer Case Of Your Heart Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments