Dom DeLuise

Dominick DeLuise (August 1, 1933 – May 4, 2009) was an American actor, comedian, director, chef, and author. Known primarily for comedy roles, he rose to fame in the 1970s as a frequent guest on television variety shows. He is widely recognized for his performances in the films of Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder, as well as a series of collaborations and a double act with Burt Reynolds. Beginning in the 1980s, his popularity expanded to younger audiences from voicing characters in several major animated productions, particularly those of Don Bluth.

Dom DeLuise
DeLuise in 1975
Born	Dominick DeLuise (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.
Resting place	Calvary Cemetery
Alma mater	Tufts University
Occupations	Actor comedian director chef author
Years active	1951–2009
Spouse	Carol Arthur ​ (m. 1965)​
Children	Peter DeLuise Michael DeLuise David DeLuise

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).^[1] He was the youngest of three children, having an older brother, Nicholas "Nick" DeLuise, and an older sister, Antoinette DeLuise-Daurio.^[2] DeLuise graduated from Manhattan's High School of Performing Arts and later attended Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, where he majored in biology.^[3] DeLuise was Roman Catholic and had a particular devotion to the Virgin Mary.^[4]

Career

DeLuise's paid stage debut, at age 18, of Bernie the dog was in the drama Bernie's Christmas Wish.^[1] His first steady gig was as an intern at the Cleveland Play House, 1952–54, as stage manager and actor.^[5]

In 1961, DeLuise played in the off-Broadway musical revue Another Evening with Harry Stoons,^[6] which lasted nine previews and one performance.^[7] 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.^[8] 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).^[9]

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."^[10]

In the 1970s and 1980s, he often co-starred with his real-life friend Burt Reynolds. Together they appeared in the films The Cannonball Run and Cannonball Run II, Smokey and the Bandit II, The End, 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 1993–1994 and 1994–1995 television seasons.^{[citation needed]}

DeLuise also lent his distinctive 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 (also with Reynolds). All Dogs Go to Heaven also featured Reynolds' voice as Charlie B. Barkin and DeLuise voiced Itchy Itchiford, Charlie's best friend, wing-man and later partner in business. Unlike DeLuise, however, Reynolds did not contribute a voiceover to any of the eventual film or television series or sequels.^{[citation needed]}

DeLuise also voiced the incarnation of Charles Dickens' Fagin in the Walt Disney film Oliver & Company and made voice guest appearances on several animated television series.^{[citation needed]}

The handprints of Dom DeLuise in Atlantic City, New Jersey

Television 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 catchphrase, 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.^{[citation needed]}

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.)^{[citation needed]}

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).^{[citation needed]}

DeLuise was probably best known as a regular in Mel Brooks's 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' wife, actress Anne Bancroft, directed Dom in Fatso (1980).^[11]

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.^[12]

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.^[13] 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 summer theater in Provincetown, Massachusetts, DeLuise met actress Carol Arthur.^[14][15] They married in 1965 and had three sons, all of whom became actors, writers, and directors themselves: Peter, Michael, and David DeLuise.^[15]

Death

DeLuise died in his sleep of kidney failure on May 4, 2009, at Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California, at age 75.^[15] He had cancer for more than a year prior to his death and also had high blood pressure and diabetes.^[16]

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."^[17] 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."^[14]

Filmography

Film

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
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
	The End	Marlon Borunki
	The Cheap Detective	Pepe Damascus
1979	Hot Stuff	Ernie Fortunato	Also director
	The Muppet Movie	Bernie the Agent
1980	Fatso	Dominic DeNapoli
	The Last Married Couple in America	Walter Holmes
	Wholly Moses!	Shadrach
	Smokey and the Bandit II	Dr. Frederico "Doc" Carlucci
1981	History of the World, Part I	Emperor Nero
	The Cannonball Run	Victor Prinzim / Captain Chaos
	Peter-No-Tail	Bull	English version
1982	The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas	Melvin P. Thorpe
	The Secret of NIMH	Jeremy (voice)	[18]
1984	Cannonball Run II	Victor Prinzi / Captain Chaos / Don Canneloni
	Johnny Dangerously	The Pope
1986	Haunted Honeymoon	Aunt Mary Kate
	An American Tail	Tiger (voice)	[18]
1987	Going Bananas	Big Bad Joe Hopkins
	A Taxi Driver in New York	Captain T. Favretto
	Spaceballs	Pizza the Hutt (voice)
1988	Oliver & Company	Fagin (voice)	[18]
1989	Happily Ever After	The Looking Glass (voice)	Original title: Snow White: The Adventure Continues
	All Dogs Go to Heaven	Itchy Itchiford (voice)	[18]
1990	Loose Cannons	Harry Gutterman
1991	Driving Me Crazy	Mr. B	Alternate title: Trabbi Goes to Hollywood
	Dragon and Slippers	Goliath the Dragon (voice)	English version[18]
	An American Tail: Fievel Goes West	Tiger (voice)	[18]
1992	Almost Pregnant	Doctor Beckhard
	The Magic Voyage	Christopher Columbus (voice)	English version[18]
	Munchie	Munchie (voice)	[18]
1993	Robin Hood: Men in Tights	Don Giovanni
	The Skateboard Kid	Rip (voice)	[18]
1994	The Silence of the Hams	Dr. Animal Cannibal Pizza
	A Troll in Central Park	Stanley (voice)	[18]
	Don't Drink the Water	Father Drobney	TV movie
1995	The Tin Soldier	Mr. Fallon	TV movie
	The 4th of July Parade	Pizza Guy
1996	Red Line	Jerry
	All Dogs Go to Heaven 2	Itchy Itchiford (voice)	[18]
1997	The Good Bad Guy	The Judge
1998	Between the Sheets		Cameo
	Gormiti: The Animated Movie	Joey the Kangaroo, Blue Monster (voice)	[18]
	The Godson	The Oddfather
	An American Tail: The Treasure of Manhattan Island	Tiger (voice)	Direct-to-video[18]
	An All Dogs Christmas Carol	Itchy / Ghost of Christmas Past (voice)	Television film[18]
	The Secret of NIMH 2: Timmy to the Rescue	Jeremy (voice)	Direct-to-video[18]
1999	My X-Girlfriend's Wedding Reception	Father O'Rdeal
	Boys Will Be Boys	Chef	TV movie; also director
	Baby Geniuses	Lenny
2000	The Brainiacs.com	Ivan Lucre
	An American Tail: The Mystery of the Night Monster	Tiger (voice)	Direct-to-video[18]
	Lion of Oz	Oscar Diggs (voice)	Credited as Dom DeLuises[18]
2001	Always Greener
2002	It's All About You
2003	Remembering Mario	Mario (voice)
2004	Girl Play	Gabriel
	Breaking the Fifth	Flealand Cunchulis	Last on-screen film role
2006	Video Classroom Lesson 1: Space and Sea	Animated School Teacher	Video short
2019	Bongee Bear and the Kingdom of Rhythm	Myrin (voice)	Recorded in 2006; posthumous release; final film role; dedicated in memory

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1962	The Shari Lewis Show	Kenny Ketchem	1 episode
1963	The Joey Bishop Show	Patient	Episode: "My Son, the Doctor"
1964–1965	The Entertainers	Himself	5 episodes
1966	The Munsters	Dr. Dudley	Episode: "Just Another Pretty Face"
1966	The Dean Martin Summer Show	Himself	6 episodes
1968, 1987–1988	The Dom DeLuise Show	Himself/host	11 episodes
1969	The Ghost and Mrs. Muir	Seaman Elroy Applegate	Season 2 Episode 5 Seaman
1971	The Des O'Connor Show	Regular performer
1971–1972	The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour	Regular performer
1972	The Roman Holidays	Mr. Francis Evictus (voice)	Episode: "Hectic Holiday"
1972–1973	The Dean Martin Show	Regular performer
1972	Evil Roy Slade	Logan Delp	Television film
1973–1974	Lotsa Luck	Stanley Belmont	22 episodes
1974	Only with Married Men	Murray West	Television film
1977	The Muppet Show	Himself	[19]
1977	The Jacksons	Himself	1 episode
1983	Happy	Roger Handover	Also executive producer
1985	Amazing Stories	Guilt	Episode: "Guilt Trip"
1989	21 Jump Street	Uncle Nick	Episode: "Wooly Bullies"
1989	B.L. Stryker	Toby Beaumont	Episode: "Die Laughing"
1990	Timeless Tales from Hallmark	The Emperor (voice)	Episode: "The Emperor's New Clothes"
1991	Precious Moments Christmas: Timmy's Gift	Nicodemus (voice)	Direct-to-video
1991–1992	Candid Camera	Host
1991–1992	Fievel's American Tails	Tiger (voice)	13 Episodes
1993	Married... with Children	Floyd the Dog (voice)	Episode: "Change for a Buck"
1993	Diagnosis Murder	Buddy Blake	Episode: "Murder at the Telethon"
1994	The Magic School Bus	Baker (voice)	Episode: "Get Ready, Set, Dough"
1994–1995	Burke's Law	Vinnie Piatte	25 episodes
1994	seaQuest DSV	Nick Piccolo	Episode: "Vapors"
1995	The Ren & Stimpy Show	Big Kahuna (voice)	Episode: "Aloha Höek"
1995	Alef Bet Blast-Off Lights of Freedom	Pharaoh
1995	Tin Soldier	Mr. Ted Fallon	Television film
1996	Shari's Passover Surprise	Himself	Television film
1997	Duckman	The Governor (voice)	Episode: "A Star Is Abhorred"
1997	Cow and Chicken	Jean-Paul Beaver / Governor #2 / Owl #2 / Mayor / Frenchman #3 / Neighbor #2 (voices)	2 Episodes[18]
1997	Beverly Hills 90210	Magic Morton	Episode: "I Only Have Eyes for You"
1997	3rd Rock from the Sun	Mr. Timmy Polone	Episode: "Auto Erodicka"
1998	Sabrina, the Teenage Witch	Mortimer	Episode: "The Pom Pom Incident"
1998	The Charlie Horse Music Pizza	Cookie	Season 1 - Season 2
1998	Police Academy: The Series	Zeus (voice)	Episode: "Bring Me the Turtle of Commandant Hefilfinger"
1998	Hercules: The Animated Series	Bacchus (voice)	Episode: "Hercules and the Bacchanal"
1996–1998	All Dogs Go to Heaven: The Series	Itchy Itchiford (voice)	20 Episodes[18]
1998	The Wild Thornberrys	Baby Condor (voice)	Episode: "Flight of the Donnie"[18]
1997–1999	I Am Weasel	Mayor / Frenchman #3 / Neighbor #2 (voices)	2 episodes
1997–2003	Dexter's Laboratory	Koosy / Koosalagoopagoop (voice)	4 episodes
1998–1999	The Charlie Horse Music Pizza	Cookie (voice)	23 episodes
1999	Stargate SG-1	Urgo / Togar	Episode 316 (S3E16 Urgo)
2001	Emeril	Himself	Episode: "One Man's Cornbread"
2002	Rugrats	Director (voice)	Episode: "Starstruck/Who's Taffy?"
2004	Father of the Pride	Duke (voice)	Episode: "One Man's Meat Is Another Man's Girlfriend"
2005	Robot Chicken	Victor Prinzim / Himself (voices)	Episode: "Gold Dust Gasoline"
2005	Duck Dodgers	Roy Serpenti (voice)	Episode: "All in the Crime Family"[18]
2009	Spaceballs: The Animated Series	Pizza the Hutt (voice)	Episode: "Pilot Part 1: The Avenge of Dark Helmet" (Final acting role)

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1996	Toonstruck	'Fingers' the Cashier

Theme parks

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1990	An American Tail Theatre	Tiger
1999	Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls	Bear

Works

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