# Joseph Bologna

Joseph Bologna (December 30, 1934 – August 13, 2017) was an American actor, playwright and screenwriter notable for his roles in the comedy films My Favorite Year, Blame It on Rio, and Transylvania 6-5000.

## Life and career

Bologna was born in the Parkville section of Brooklyn, New York to an Italian-American family. He attended St. Rose of Lima school and Brown University, where he majored in art history. Bologna served with the United States Marine Corps. Bologna was hired to produce and direct Manhattan-based TV commercials.
Bologna enjoyed a long run in film and television. His breakthrough film Lovers and Other Strangers adapted with his wife Renée Taylor from a play they co-wrote, was based on the true-life circumstances of organizing a wedding on short notice with the involvement of his Italian extended family and her Jewish clan. Several relatives performed as extras in the final cut. The couple shared an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. A year later, in 1971, the couple again collaborated to write and perform in the film Made for Each Other.
Bologna stayed close with his old-neighborhood aunts and uncles after becoming successful. Two of them were slightly famous on their own: His Uncle Pat was Blacky the Bootblack, whom Joseph Kennedy credited as his main influence when he sold all of his stock holdings in the summer of 1929 (the market crashed in October); his aunt Pauline was one of the better-known celebrity chefs, working for Jackie Gleason, Burt Reynolds and others.
Bologna's aunt Pauline chastised him for starring in Blame It on Rio (starring Michael Caine), which contained some nudity; Bologna remarked "Blame it on me. It's the last time I invite Aunt Pauline to a film premiere." In 1976, he starred in the television drama What Now, Catherine Curtis? with Lucille Ball. Other film roles for Bologna include:
* playing the brother of James Caan's widowed protagonist in Neil Simon's 1979 romance Chapter Two
* portraying the Sid Caesar-based character King Kaiser in the 1982 comedy hit My Favorite Year (which starred Peter O'Toole in the role of drunken film star Alan Swann, modeled after Errol Flynn)
* as Lenny Koufax, the frustrated father of perpetual slacker Sonny Koufax (Adam Sandler) in the 1999 comedy Big Daddy
In 1987, Bologna starred in the TV musical sitcom Rags to Riches as Nick Foley, a millionaire mogul turned adoptive father.
He played the mad scientist Dr. Malavaqua in the 1985 comedy Transylvania 6-5000.
From 1996 to 1998, Bologna voiced Inspector Dan Turpin in Superman: The Animated Series. In 2006, he voiced Mr. Start in Ice Age: The Meltdown.
He and his wife Renée Taylor had a son Gabriel. Gabriel became an actor, writer and director, and directed his father in his last film, "Tango Shalom". Taylor and Bologna starred together on stage and on television. Bologna played a love interest for his wife in the episode "Maternal Affairs" of the sitcom The Nanny in the sixth and final season, in which Taylor plays Sylvia, the mother of Fran Drescher's character. He also appeared in the first-season episode "The Gym Teacher" as a famous actor for whom Maxwell Sheffield once interned.
From 2012 until before his death in 2017, Bologna appeared in numerous roles on TV and in motion pictures, including roles on Funny or Die, stage productions, and national commercials.
In 2017, Bologna received the Night of 100 Stars Oscar Gala Lifetime Achievement Award from actor comedian Richard Lewis and his peers to celebrate his 60-year career and to recognize his efforts to save the Motion Picture Home and Hospital in 2012.

## Death

Bologna died on August 13, 2017, at City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte, California from pancreatic cancer at age 82.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1971 | Made for Each Other | Giggy | Also writer Nominated — Writers Guild Award for Best Comedy Written Directly for the Screen (shared with Renee Taylor) |
| 1973 | Cops and Robbers | Joe | |
| 1974 | Mixed Company | Pete | |
| 1976 | The Big Bus | Dan Torrance | |
| 1979 | Chapter Two | Leo Schneider | Credited as Joe Bologna |
| 1982 | My Favorite Year | King Kaiser | |
| 1984 | Blame It on Rio | Victor Lyons | |
| 1984 | The Woman in Red | Joey | |
| 1985 | Transylvania 6-5000 | Dr. Malavaqua | |
| 1989 | It Had to Be You | Vito Pignoli | |
| 1990 | Coupe de Ville | Uncle Phil | |
| 1991 | Alligator II: The Mutation | David Hodges | |
| 1992 | Jersey Girl | Bennie | |
| 1993 | Deadly Rivals | Anthony Canberra | Credited as Joe Bologna |
| 1994 | Night of the Archer | Reggie | Credited as Joe Bologna |
| 1996 | Love Is All There Is | Mike | Also director/writer |
| 1996 | Ringer | Goldstein | |
| 1997 | Heaven Before I Die | unknown role | Credited as Joe Bologna |
| 1999 | Baby Huey's Great Easter Adventure | P.T. Wynnsocki | Direct-to-video |
| 1999 | Big Daddy | Lenny Koufax | |
| 1999 | Blink of an Eye | Renfro | |
| 2001 | Squint | Mel Kingman | Short film |
| 2001 | Dying on the Edge | Cal Roman | |
| 2002 | Returning Mickey Stern | Mickey Stern | Also producer |
| 2003 | Red Zone | Principal Pugliese | Credited as Joe Bologna |
| 2005 | Boynton Beach Club | Harry | |
| 2006 | Ice Age: The Meltdown | Mr. Start | Voice role |
| 2007 | Dancing on the Edge | Captain Reynolds | Short film |
| 2012 | Driving Me Crazy: Proof of Concept | Martin Brown | |
| 2021 | Tango Shalom | Father Anthony | Released posthumously Also writer/producer |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1973 | Honor Thy Father | Salvatore "Bill" Bonnano | Television film |
| 1973 | Acts of Love and Other Comedies | Arthur Hellman | Television film Also writer Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for Comedy, Variety or Music (shared with Renee Taylor) (1973) |
| 1973 | Calucci's Department | — | Series creator / writer (3 episodes) |
| 1974 | Paradise | David, Biff, Tony | Television film Also writer Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy/Variety, Variety or Music (shared with Renee Taylor) (1974) |
| 1975 | Three for Two | — | Television film Writer |
| 1976 | What Now, Catherine Curtis? | Peter | Television film |
| 1976 | Woman of the Year | Sam Rodino | Television film Also writer |
| 1977 | Good Penny | — | Television film Director/writer/producer |
| 1979 | Torn Between Two Lovers | Ted Conti | Television film Credited as Joe Bologna |
| 1980 | A Cry for Love | — | Television film Writer |
| 1983 | One Cooks, the Other Doesn't | Max Boone | Television film |
| 1983 | Lovers and Other Strangers | — | Television film Writer/producer Nominated — Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay Nominated — Writers Guild Award for Best Comedy Adapted from Another Medium (shared with Renee Taylor & David Zelag Goodman) |
| 1984 | Bedrooms | Host, Bill, David | Television film Also director/writer |
| 1985 | Copacabana | Rico Castelli | Television film |
| 1986 | A Time to Triumph | Chuck Hassan | Television film Credited as Joe Bologna |
| 1986 | Sins | Steve Bryant | Recurring role (3 episodes) |
| 1987 | Not Quite Human | Gordon Vogel | Television film |
| 1987 | The New Hollywood Squares | Himself (Panelist) | Episode: "03.23.1987" |
| 1987–1988 | Rags to Riches | Nick Foley | Series regular (20 episodes) |
| 1988 | Win, Lose or Draw | Himself (Contestant) | Episode: "10.17.1988" |
| 1989 | Prime Target | Ralph Manza | Television film |
| 1990 | Thanksgiving Day | Ned Monk | Television film Credited as Joe Bologna |
| 1991 | Married... with Children | Charlie Verducci | Recurring role (2 episodes) |
| 1991 | An Inconvenient Woman | Arnie Zwillman | Miniseries (2 episodes) |
| 1991 | Top of the Heap | Charlie Verducci | Series regular (7 episodes) |
| 1992 | Citizen Cohn | Walter Winchell | Television film |
| 1992 | The Danger of Love: The Carolyn Warmus Story | Detective Pollino | Television film |
| 1992 | Murder, She Wrote | Brynie Sullivan | Episode: "The Mole" |
| 1993 | Daddy Dearest | Dr. Di Napoli | Episode: "Offensive Care" |
| 1994 | L.A. Law | Jack Barbara | Episode: "Cold Cuts" |
| 1994 | Revenge of the Nerds IV: Nerds in Love | Aaron Humphrey | Television film |
| 1994–1999 | The Nanny | Dr. Joe Razzo, Alan Beck | 2 episodes |
| 1995 | Burke's Law | Max Barnett, Leo Barnett | Episode: "Who Killed the Movie Mogul?" |
| 1996 | Caroline in the City | Lou Spadaro | Episode: "Caroline and the Ex-Wife" |
| 1997 | Temporarily Yours | Mike DeAngelo | Episode: "By Design" |
| 1997 | The Don's Analyst | Vincent DeMarco | Television film |
| 1997 | Cosby | Chuck | Episode: "Older and Out" |
| 1997–1998 | Superman: The Animated Series | Dan Turpin | Voice, 12 episodes |
| 1998 | Jenny | Bernie | Episode: "A Girl's Gotta Come Through in a Clutch" |
| 1998 | The Simple Life | Phillip Devine | Episode: "The Luke & Sara Show" |
| 1998 | Astoria | Unknown role | Television film |
| 1999 | Marital Law | Alistair Temple | Episode: "24 Hours" |
| 2000 | Chicken Soup for the Soul | Rabbi Goldman | Episode: "14 Steps/Damaged Goods/Ballerina Dreams" |
| 2002 | The Chris Isaak Show | Uncle Corky | Episode: "The Hidden Mommy" |
| 2002 | Arli$$ | Ned Balfour | Episode: "Profiles in Agenting" |
| 2005 | Jane Doe: Til Death Do Us Part | Louis Angelini | Television film |
| 2005 | Fathers and Sons | Noah | Television film |
| 2005 | Everwood | Max Barrett | Episode: "Pieces of Me" |
| 2006 | According to Jim | Bill | Episode: "Daddy Dearest" |
| 2010 | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Giovanni "Papa" DiMasa | Episode: "Meat Jekyll" |
| 2013 | Celebrity Ghost Stories | Himself | Episode: "Cherie Currie/Joseph Bologna/Diane Farr/Estella Warren" |