"You made a woman meow??": Bruno Kirby dies of leukemia.
Bruno Kirby, whose real name is way toooo long for me to recreate, was a great character actor whose career spanned from the 1972 pilot of "M*A*S*H" to a recent episode of "Entourage", where he played the infantile (make believe) producer of such fare as "Shrek" Phil Rubenstein.
In between, Kirby was a supporting star in such classics as "Donnie Brasco", "When Harry Met Sally", "City Slickers", "The Freshman", "Good Morning, Vietnam", "Tin Men", "This Is Spinal Tap", tv's groundbreaking "Hill Street Blues", "Modern Romance", and such 70's television fare as "Room 222", "Emergency" (was there ever a REAL emergency on this crappy but lovable show? always a cat in a tree.), "Columbo", "Delvecchio", and an uncredited role as, and I quote IMDB: "man greasing up his fist in club" in Freidkin's disaster of a gay nightclub/cop movie starring Pacino, "Cruising".
And of course.
The piece de resistance. A young, portly but not yet obese Clemenza. The man who introduces the future Godfather to a life of crime. A piece of cinema history in "The Godfather Part II".
Just as the recent deaths of great actors Jack Warden and Paul Gleason saddened me, the news of Kirby's passing at the age of 57 is as much a blow. For some reason, it is difficult to relate to the biggest stars, such as Redford, Eastwood, and Newman. They are, to my eyes, a bit godlike. It is, though, the character actors that I can relate and feel a bit of kinship to.
And Kirby, though he pined to be a leading man, was a great character actor.
A great actor, period.
In between, Kirby was a supporting star in such classics as "Donnie Brasco", "When Harry Met Sally", "City Slickers", "The Freshman", "Good Morning, Vietnam", "Tin Men", "This Is Spinal Tap", tv's groundbreaking "Hill Street Blues", "Modern Romance", and such 70's television fare as "Room 222", "Emergency" (was there ever a REAL emergency on this crappy but lovable show? always a cat in a tree.), "Columbo", "Delvecchio", and an uncredited role as, and I quote IMDB: "man greasing up his fist in club" in Freidkin's disaster of a gay nightclub/cop movie starring Pacino, "Cruising".
And of course.
The piece de resistance. A young, portly but not yet obese Clemenza. The man who introduces the future Godfather to a life of crime. A piece of cinema history in "The Godfather Part II".
Just as the recent deaths of great actors Jack Warden and Paul Gleason saddened me, the news of Kirby's passing at the age of 57 is as much a blow. For some reason, it is difficult to relate to the biggest stars, such as Redford, Eastwood, and Newman. They are, to my eyes, a bit godlike. It is, though, the character actors that I can relate and feel a bit of kinship to.
And Kirby, though he pined to be a leading man, was a great character actor.
A great actor, period.
posted by joe sweeney at 10:57 PM
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