Alex Rocco

Alessandro Federico Petricone, Jr. (February 29, 1936 – July 18, 2015), known professionally as Alex Rocco, was an American actor. Often cast as a villain, he is best known for his portrayal of Moe Greene in The Godfather. He did a significant amount of voiceover work later in his career, and was known for his gravelly voice.
==Early life==
Rocco was born as Alessandro Federico Petricone, Jr.Obituary, cbsnews.com; accessed July 20, 2015. in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1936, but raised in nearby Somerville, the son of Italian immigrants, Mary (née DiBiase; 1909–1978) and Alessandro Sam Petricone (1896-19??).
According to organized crime turncoat Vincent Teresa, Alex was a hanger-on with the Winter Hill Gang of the Boston area. An unwanted advance toward Petricone's then girlfriend on Labor Day, 1961, touched off the Boston Irish Gang War of the 1960s. Georgie McLaughlin, who made the advance, was beaten by Winter Hill Gang members.Teresa, Vincent. "My Life in the Mafia." Howie Carr, a Boston-area journalist and radio personality who has written extensively about the Boston underworld, has written that the young Petricone (whose nickname was "Bobo") was arrested in Charlestown in November 1961 along with Winter Hill boss Buddy McLean for questioning following the death of Bernie McLaughlin of the McLaughlin gang, the first murder of the war. Petricone was released without charge, and shortly thereafter left the Boston area. (When he returned to the Boston area in 1972 to play a bank robber in the film The Friends of Eddie Coyle, Petricone — now styled "Alex Rocco" — set up a meeting between Robert Mitchum and local Irish-American gangsters to help Mitchum research his part as Eddie Coyle, a low-level Irish-American criminal. Rocco introduced Mitchum to Howie Winter, leader of the Winter Hill Gang. Another Winter Hill Gang member who met with Mitchum was Johnny Martorano, who had murdered Billy O'Brien, a low-level gangster.)
After his arrest, Petricone moved to California in 1962 and began using the name Alex Rocco. He first worked as a bartender in Santa Monica, California and took acting lessons from actor Leonard Nimoy, a fellow Boston native. Nimoy was not impressed with Rocco's heavy Boston accent and told him to take speech lessons. Rocco followed through with Nimoy's instructions and after ridding himself of the accent came back to study under Nimoy and character actor and teacher Jeff Corey. 
==Career==
Rocco played the part of Moe Greene, a Las Vegas casino owner, in the film The Godfather. Greene's character represented the top Jewish mobster in Las Vegas; although he sought an Italian role, director Francis Ford Coppola remarked "I got my Jew!" on seeing Rocco. Other notable films in which Rocco appeared include The Wedding Planner, as Salvatore and appeared uncredited in Smokin' Aces. In the film That Thing You Do!, Rocco played Sol Siler, the founder of Playtone Records. 
In the fall of 1975, Rocco starred in the role of Pete Karras, a widowed father, writer, and photographer, in a 12-week CBS drama series Three for the Road, with Vincent Van Patten as his older son, John Karras, and Leif Garrett as his younger son, Endy Karras. After the death of their wife and mother, the Karrases sell their house, buy a recreational vehicle, and roam throughout the United States.
He played Charlie Polniaczek, Jo's father on The Facts of Life. In 1989, he played Gus Keller in the Corey Feldman and Corey Haim movie Dream a Little Dream. From 1989–90, Rocco was a regular on the television comedy series The Famous Teddy Z as "Al Floss", a Hollywood talent agent. He received an Emmy Award as Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for this role in 1990. In 1997, he appeared (along with Rodney Dangerfield) in the annual Thanksgiving episode of the ABC sitcom Home Improvement.
Rocco also had a recurring part in the long running animated series The Simpsons as the head of Itchy and Scratchy Studios, Roger Meyers, Jr. In DVD commentaries, Rocco expressed true gratitude to The Simpsons' staff for allowing him his first voice-over role. He did further voice work on two early episodes of another Fox sitcom, Family Guy. Rocco did a voiceover on the 1998 Disney/Pixar film A Bug's Life, deeming it his "greatest prize in life" as he was paid $1 million to record eight lines.
In 2008, he starred in Audi's Super Bowl commercial for the Audi R8 supercar. The commercial was inspired by one of the films Rocco was in: The Godfather. He played a rich man who finds the front fascia of his luxury car in his bed, a nod to the scene from the original movie in which Jack Woltz, a rich movie producer, finds the head of his prized racehorse in his bed. He most recently was one of the stars of the Starz cable channel's crime-drama series, Magic City.
==Personal life==
After moving to Los Angeles, Rocco became a member of the Bahá'í Faith, and he appeared in a number of productions related to the religion over the years. He also thanked Bahá'u'lláh in his Emmy Award acceptance speech.
His first marriage was to Grace Petricone, and they have one daughter, Maryann. After moving to California, he married Sandra Elaine Rocco (September 1, 1942 – June 12, 2002) on March 24, 1964. He adopted her son, Marc King, who became known as Marc Rocco (June 19, 1962 – May 1, 2009), a film producer, screenwriter, and director. The couple had two children, a daughter Jennifer and a son, Lucien, and one grandson. 
Sandra Rocco died of cancer, aged 59. Rocco remarried, to Shannon Wilcox on October 15, 2005.Obituary for Sandra Rocco, uga.edu; accessed July 20, 2015.
Alex Rocco died on July 18, 2015 from cancer in Studio City, Los Angeles, at the age of 79.
==Film==
Year	Title 	Role 	Notes
1965	Motorpsycho 	Cory Maddox 	
1967	 	Diamond 	
1968	 	Detective at Apartment of Victim #10	Uncredited
1970	Blood Mania 	Lawyer 	
1971	Wild Riders 	Stick 	
1971	Brute Corps 	Wicks 	
1972	 	Moe Greene 	
1972	Stanley 	Thomkins 	
1973	The Outside Man 	Miller 	
1973	Bonnie's Kids 	Eddy 	
1973	Slither 	Man with Ice Cream 	
1973	 	Jimmy Scalise 	
1973	Detroit 9000 	Danny Bassett 	
1974	Three the Hard Way 	Lt. Di Nisco 	
1974	Freebie and the Bean 	D.A. 	
1975	A Woman for All Men 	Lt. Biase 	
1975	Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins	Vinnie 	
1975	Hearts of the West 	Earl 	
1977	Fire Sale 	Al 	
1978	Rabbit Test 	Sergeant Danny Bonhoff 	
1979	Voices 	Frank Rothman 	
1980	Herbie Goes Bananas 	Quinn 	
1980	 	Police Chief Jake 	
1981	 	Jerry Anderson 	
1984	Cannonball Run II 	Tony 	
1985	Stick 	Firestone 	
1985	Gotcha! 	Al 	
1985	Badge of the Assassin 	Detective Bill Butler NYPD 	
1987	Return to Horror High 	Harry Sleerik 	
1987	P.K. and the Kid 	Les 	
1987	Scenes from the Goldmine 	 	
1988	Lady in White 	Angelo "Al" Scarlatti 	
1989	Dream a Little Dream 	Gus Keller 	
1989	Wired 	Arnie Fromson 	
1991	 	Cardinal Rocco 	
1992	Boris and Natasha: The Movie 	Sheldon Kaufman 	
1995	Get Shorty 	Jimmy Cap 	Uncredited
1996	That Thing You Do! 	Sol Siler 	
1997	Just Write 	Mr. McMurphy 	
1998	A Bug's Life 	Thorny 	Voice
1998	Goodbye Lover 	Detective Crowley 	
1999	Dudley Do-Right 	Kumquat Chief 	
2000	 	Poker Player 	
2001	 	Salvatore Fiore 	
2002	 	Rip Holland 	
2003	 	Vernon Cray 	
2006	Find Me Guilty 	Nick Calabrese 	
2007	Smokin' Aces 	Serna 	
2011	Batman: Year One 	Carmine Falcone 	Voice
2014	Scammerhead 	Ben Sarnus 	
===Television===
Year 	Title 	Role 	Notes
1967 	Batman 	Block 	Episodes: "A Piece of Action" and "Batman's Satisfaction"
1970 	That Girl 	Biff 	1 episode
1972 	 	Matt Wilnor 	1 episode
1972 	Cannon 	Hit Man 	Season 2, Episode 11 - Hear No Evil
1973 	Cannon 	Walter Koether 	Season 3, Episode 5 - Target in the Mirror
1973 	Circle of Fear 	Joseph Moretti 	1 episode
1974 	 	Earl Fisher 	1 episode
1975 	Cannon 	Paul 	Season 4, Episode 24 - Search and Destroy
1975 	Three for the Road 	Pete Karras 	14 episodes
1977 	Barnaby Jones 	Harry Stroop 	1 episode
1977 	Starsky & Hutch 	Thomas Callendar 	2 episodes
1977 	The Mary Tyler Moore Show	Ben Sylver 	1 episode:
1978 	 	Ralph Corliss 	telefilm with Carol Burnett
1981–1988	 	Charlie Polniaczek 	Jo's father
1980 	CHiPs 	Ansgar 	Episodes: "The Great 5K Star Race and Boulder Wrap Party": Part 1 and Part 2
1984 	St. Elsewhere 	Roger 	Episode: "Breathless"
1985 	 	Glen O'Brien 	Episode: "That Was No Lady"
1985 	 	Sonny Monroe 	Episode: "Champ!"
1987 	Rags to Riches 	Michael Rapp 	1 episode
1989 	Murphy Brown 	Al Floss 	1 episode
1989–1990	 	Al Floss 	Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor - Comedy Series
1990 	 	Roger Meyers, Jr. 	Episode: "Itchy & Scratchy & Marge"
1991–1992	Sibs 	Howie Ruscio 	23 episodes
1994 	 	Harry Rossetti 	11 episodes
1995 	Can't Hurry Love 	Michael O'Donnell 	Episode: "Daddy's Girl"
1996 	Pinky and the Brain 	Floyd Nesbit 	Episode: "Fly"
1996 	Mad About You 	Mark Slotkin 	Episode: "Outbreak"
1996 	 	Roger Meyers, Jr. 	Episode: "The Day the Violence Died"
1997 	Early Edition 	Barney Kadison 	Episode: "Home"
1997 	Home Improvement 	Irv Schmayman 	1 episode
1997 	 	Roger Meyers, Jr. 	Episode: "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show"
1998 	Michael Hayes 	Bernero 	1 episode
1999 	Family Law 	Goodman 	1 episode
1999 	Family Guy 	Soccer Mom 	Episode: "Mind Over Murder"
2000 	Walker, Texas Ranger 	Johnny "Giovanni Rossini" Rose	Episodes: "Wedding Bells"
2001 	Family Guy 	Bea Arthur 	VoiceEpisode: "Ready, Willing and Disabled"
2001–2004	 	John Exstead Sr. 	14 episodes
2005 	ER 	Martin Trudeau 	Episode: "Two Ships"
2007 	 	Larry Herschfield 	Episode: "The Fantasy"
2010 	Party Down 	Howard Greengold 	Episode: "Constance Carmel Wedding"
2012 	Magic City 	Arthur Evans 	4 episodes
2012 	Private Practice 	Ed 	Episode: "Aftershocks"
2014 	Episodes 	Dick LeBlanc 	2 episodes
2015 	Maron 	David Rosen 	Episode: "Stroke of Luck"
==References==
==External links==
*
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*Alexander (Bobo) Petricone
 
 
Category:1936 births
Category:American male film actors
Category:American people of Italian descent
Category:American male television actors
Category:American male voice actors
Category:Cancer deaths in California
Category:Male actors from Boston, Massachusetts
Category:American Bahá'ís
Category:American former Christians
Category:Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series Primetime Emmy Award winners
Category:People from Somerville, Massachusetts
Category:Winter Hill Gang
Category:21st-century Bahá'ís
Category:Male actors of Italian descent
Category:Former Roman Catholics
Category:20th-century American male actors
Category:21st-century American male actors
Category:2015 deaths