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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

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.

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

Career

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

In 1961, DeLuise played in the off-Broadway musical revue Another Evening with Harry Stoons, which lasted nine previews and one performance. 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. 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).

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, "he best of the lot, however, is a newcomer, Dom DeLuise, as a portly, bird-brained spy."

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.

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 while DeLuise voiced Itchy Itchiford, Charlie's best friend, wing-man and later partner in business. Unlike DeLuise, however, Reynolds would not contribute a voiceover to any of the eventual film or television series or sequels.

DeLuise also voiced the incarnation of Charles Dickens' Fagin in the Walt Disney film Oliver & Company and made voice guest appearances on several animated TV series.

TV 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.

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.)

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).

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).

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.

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. He was also a friend and self-proclaimed "look-alike" of famous Cajun chef Paul Prudhomme and author of seven children's books.

DeLuise also voiced the incarnation of Charles Dickens' Fagin in the Walt Disney film "Oliver & Company" and made guest appearances on several animated TV series.

Personal life

In 1964, while working in a summer theater in Provincetown, Massachusetts, DeLuise met actress Carol Arthur. They married in 1965 and had three sons, all of whom became actors, writers, and directors themselves: Peter, Michael, and David DeLuise.

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. He had had cancer for more than a year prior to his death and also had high blood pressure and diabetes.

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." 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."

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

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

References

1. ^ "Larger Than Life". Los Angeles Times. January 10, 1999. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
2. "Dom Deluise Biography (1933- )". filmreference.com. Retrieved May 18, 2011.
3. Nathan Southern (2009). "Dom DeLuise Biography". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 9, 2009. Retrieved May 18, 2011.
4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on July 6, 2011. Retrieved November 20, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
5. Brown, Tony (May 6, 2009). "Dom DeLuise's acting roots traced to Cleveland in the early '50s". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
6. "Barbra Archives". Archived from the original on April 4, 2013. Retrieved February 17, 2013.
7. Streisand, Barbra. "Value". Live at the Bon Soir (1962). Archived from the original on May 11, 2014. Retrieved February 17, 2013.
8. "All in Love Original Off-Broadway Cast - 1961 Off-Broadway". www.broadwayworld.com. Retrieved November 25, 2016.
9. "Dom DeLuise Theatre Credits". www.broadwayworld.com. Retrieved November 25, 2016.
10. Vincent Canby (June 10, 1966). "Movie Review: The Glass Bottom Boat (1966)". The New York Times. Retrieved May 18, 2011.
11. Heather Buckley (March 9, 2010). "Horror at the Oscars Part 2: This Time it's Personal". Dreadcentral.com. Retrieved May 18, 2011.
12. "Obituaries: Actors Dom DeLuise and Beatrice Arthur; mezzo Margreta Elkins; soprano Anne Brown, Gershwin's original Bess; composer Lukas Foss dies at eighty-six". Opera News. Vol. 74, no. 1. July 2009. Retrieved June 20, 2009.
13. "In The Kitchen with Dom DeLuise". OnTheHouse.com. Archived from the original on June 9, 2010. Retrieved May 18, 2011.
14. ^ McLellan, Dennis (May 6, 2009). "Dom DeLuise dies at 75; actor was a 'naturally funny man'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 18, 2011.
15. ^ Grimes, William (May 5, 2009). "Dom DeLuise, Comic Actor, Dies at 75". The New York Times. New York City. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
16. "Dom DeLuise dies at 75". CNN. June 6, 2011. Retrieved May 5, 2009.
17. "Actor, Dom DeLuise dies at 75". Today.com. Associated Press. May 5, 2009. Archived from the original on March 14, 2014. Retrieved May 5, 2009.
18. ^ "Dom DeLuise - 36 Character Images". Behind The Voice Actors.
19. Garlen, Jennifer C.; Graham, Anissa M. (2009). Kermit Culture: Critical Perspectives on Jim Henson's Muppets. McFarland & Company. p. 218. ISBN 978-0786442591.

External links

• Dom DeLuise at IMDb
• Dom DeLuise at the TCM Movie Database
• Dom DeLuise at the Internet Broadway Database
• Dom DeLuise at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Dom DeLuise discography at Discogs
• Dom DeLuise at Find a Grave
• McLellan, Dennis. "Dom DeLuise dies at 75; actor was a 'naturally funny man'", Los Angeles Times, May 6, 2009.
• Dom DeLuise Daily Telegraph obituary
• Obituary (by the Associated Press) in The Los Angeles Times

• 1933 births
• 2009 deaths
• 20th-century American comedians
• 20th-century American male actors
• 20th-century American male opera singers
• 20th-century American male writers
• 20th-century American non-fiction writers
• 20th-century Roman Catholics
• 21st-century American comedians
• 21st-century American male actors
• 21st-century American male singers
• 21st-century American male writers
• 21st-century Roman Catholics
• American children's writers
• American comedy film directors
• American cookbook writers
• American food writers
• American male chefs
• American male comedians
• American male film actors
• American male musical theatre actors
• American male non-fiction writers
• American male opera singers
• American male stage actors
• American male television actors
• American male voice actors
• American people of Italian descent
• American Roman Catholic writers
• American television directors
• Audiobook narrators
• Burials at Calvary Cemetery (Queens)
• Catholics from New York (state)
• Chefs from Cleveland
• Chefs from New York City
• Comedians from Brooklyn
• Comedians from Los Angeles
• Deaths from kidney failure in California
• DeLuise family
• English-language film directors
• Film directors from New York (state)
• Film producers from New York (state)
• Filmmakers from New York (state)
• Male actors from Los Angeles
• Male actors from Brooklyn
• Singers from Brooklyn
• Television personalities from New York (state)
• Tufts University School of Arts and Sciences alumni
• Writers from Brooklyn
• Writers from New York (state)