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Charles Victor Buono (February 3, 1938 - January 1, 1982) was an Academy Award- and Golden Globe-nominated American actor and comic.

Biography

Buono was born in San Diego, California, the son of Myrtle Belle (née Keller; 1909-1979) and Victor Francis Buono (1907-1981). His maternal grandmother, Myrtle Glied (1886-1969), had been a Vaudeville performer on the Orpheum Circuit. When he was a little boy, she taught him songs and recitations and encouraged him to perform for visitors.

Career

Early life and career

Even though the young Buono enjoyed the polite applause of those captive audiences, he thought he wanted to be a doctor. When he was sixteen, Father John Aherne of St. Augustine High School in San Diego cast him as Papa Barrett in the play The Barretts of Wimpole Street. Buono appeared in three plays a year while attending high school, which included Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp and Shakespearean dramas. He even played the title role of Hamlet.

He soon forgot about having a medical career. He started appearing on local radio and television stations, and at the age of eighteen he joined the Globe Theater Players in San Diego. The director had confidence in Buono and cast him in Volpone, Midsummer Night's Dream and other Globe presentations. He received good notices for his various Shakespearean roles and in modern plays such as The Man Who Came To Dinner and Witness For The Prosecution.

In the summer of 1959, a talent scout from Warner Bros. saw the heavyset Buono play Falstaff at the Globe and took him up to Hollywood for a screen test. He made his first network TV appearance playing the bearded poet Bongo Benny in an episode of 77 Sunset Strip. Over the next few years he appeared on numerous shows playing menacing heavies in just about every Grade "A" private eye series. He also appeared on The Untouchables. Because of his overweight stature and early hair loss, Buono usually played older characters. After appearing in a few motion pictures uncredited, he was cast by director Robert Aldrich in the psychological horror movie What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) with screen luminaries Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. He played the part of the ne'er-do-well musical accompanist, Edwin Flagg. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for this performance.

Noteworthy film roles

He appeared in Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964) playing Big Sam Hollis, the father of Bette Davis, who had the title role, which was also directed by Aldrich. And he appeared in The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) starring Max von Sydow, Michael Anderson, Jr. and Carroll Baker, which was produced and directed by George Stevens. Buono played the role of the High Priest Sorak in this story about Jesus.

He also appeared in such movies as 4 for Texas (1963), Robin and the Seven Hoods (1964), The Silencers (1966), Who's Minding the Mint? (1967), Target: Harry (1969) and Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970) and The Mad Butcher (1972).

Buono had a vast body of work in movies, and among his extensive TV appearances were the recurring roles of the demented Count Manzeppi on the popular (CBS) series The Wild Wild West starring Robert Conrad and Ross Martin, which ran from 1965 to 1969, and he also played unrelated characters in that series' premiere episode and in the second and final Wild Wild West reunion movie.

Villainous television roles

He played King Tut on the (ABC) series Batman with Adam West and Burt Ward, which ran from 1966 to 1968. King Tut was a timid history professor who, after being hit in the head with a brick at a peace rally, donned the persona of the Egyptian royal. When he suffered another blow to the head, the villain would return to his meek demeanor. He was in demand to play villains of various nationalities and ethnic origins on many programs between 1964 and 1970. He made a guest appearance as Hannibal Day in the Get Smart episode "Moonlighting Becomes You" originally airing January 2, 1970.

Comedy record albums and comic poetry

In the early 1970s, Buono released some comedy record albums, which poked fun at his extra large stature, and a book of comic poetry called It Could Be Verse. He would sometimes recite his poetry on guest appearances of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. The most popular of his poems was "Fat Man's Prayer". It included many widely quoted stanzas such as:

We are what we eat, said a wise old man, And Lord, if that's true, I'm a garbage can!

At oleomargarine I'll never mutter,

For the road to hell is spread with butter.

And cake is cursed, and cream is awful,

And Satan is hiding in every waffle.

Give me this day my daily slice -

But cut it thin and toast it twice.

Later career

In the late 1970s and in 1980, Buono played the memory-impaired Reverend Jim Ignatowski's millionaire father on Taxi. Buono died before the end of the series, and another actor played the role briefly. The character was eventually killed-off and an episode dealt with Jim coping with his father's death. Another recurring role in the late '70s was as Mr. Schubert, the main villain on Man from Atlantis.

His later roles were more of pompous intellectuals and shady con men. He could also play straight roles. In the TV miniseries Backstairs at the White House (1979) he portrayed President William Howard Taft and delivered a poignant tribute to the late Mrs. Taft.

Personal life

Buono liked to read and write, and one of his main hobbies was Shakespeare. "The more you study him," he said, "the greater he grows". He was also highly regarded as a gourmet chef.

In regards to relationships (and the implicit questioning of his sexuality), Buono is quoted as saying "I've heard or read about actors being asked the immortal question 'Why have you never married?' They answer with the immortal excuse 'I just haven't found the right girl.' Because I'm on the hefty side, no one's asked me yet. If they do, that's the answer I'll give. After all, if it was good enough for Monty Clift or Sal Mineo..." Buono died of a heart attack at his ranch in Apple Valley, California.

External links

• Please use a more specific IMDb template. See the documentation for available templates.
• The 1966 Batman TV Villains - Victor Buono

• 1938 births
• 1982 deaths
• American film actors
• American radio actors
• American stage actors
• American television actors
• California actors
• Deaths by stroke
• Gay actors from the United States
• People from San Diego, California