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Cesare Danova

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Cesare Danova (March 1, 1926 - March 19, 1992), born Cesare Deitinger in Bergamo, Italy, was a television and screen actor. He adopted the stage name Danova when he turned to acting in Rome at the end of World War II. He migrated to the United States in the 1950s to make the film Don Giovanni (Don Juan) in 1955. He was contracted to MGM in 1956. Other appearances include The Man Who Understood Women. He tested for a part in Ben Hur, but his big break was the role of Apollodorus, Cleopatra's personal servant in the 1963 film, Cleopatra directed by Joseph Mankiewicz and starring Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton and Rex Harrison. While the original script called for a major role for Danova, who was to form a trio of Cleopatra's lovers alongside Harrison's Caesar and Burton's Marc Antony. Though a number of scenes featuring Taylor and Danova were shot, the script was revised and the role truncated as the Burton-Taylor affair made tabloid headlines. What remained was little more than a cameo. The following year he starred as Count Elmo Mancini in Viva Las Vegas as Elvis Presley's rival for both Ann Margaret's Rusty Martin and for the Las Vegas Grand Prix (predictably losing both to Elvis's Lucky Jackson). In 1967, Danova had another break with the TV series, Garrison's Gorillas, in which he played the role of Actor. Clearly inspired by the hit film, The Dirty Dozen and the hit TV series Mission: Impossible, the series had an ensemble cast but, unfortunately, only ran for 26 episodes. Two of his best roles were as the neighborhood mafia Don, Giovanni Cappa, in Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets (1973) and as the corrupt town mayor, Carmine DePasto, in National Lampoon's Animal House (1978). He also acted in three episodes of The Rifleman, and regularly appeared as a guest star on numerous television series, including Murder, She Wrote, Maude, Falcon Crest, and the revival of Mission: Impossible (1988–90). He died of a heart attack at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences headquarters in Los Angeles while attending a meeting of the Foreign Language Film committee. His mausoleum is in Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery. Danova was married twice and had two sons, Marco & Fabrizio, by his first wife, Pamela. He was an expert horseman, avid polo player, and an excellent archer. Description above from the Wikipedia article Cesare Danova, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.


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Born:
Mar 1, 1926 In Bergamo, Italy
Movie/TV Credits:
20
First Appeared:
In the movie The Captain's Daughter 1947-10-08
Latest Project:
Movie Animal House 1978-07-28
Known For
Filmography
Movie Animal House Mayor Carmine DePasto 1978-07-28
Movie The Astral Factor Mario 1978-02-01
Movie Tentacles John Corey 1977-02-25
Movie Scorchy Philip Bianco 1976-10-08
Movie A Matter of Wife... and Death Dottore 1975-05-03
Movie Death Cruise Captain Vettori 1974-10-30
Movie Mean Streets Giovanni Cappa 1973-10-14
Movie Decisions! Decisions! Dieter Klaus 1971-09-11
Movie Che! Ramon Valdez 1969-06-27
Movie Honeymoon with a Stranger Second Ernesto 1969-12-23
Series Garrison's Gorillas 1967-09-06
Movie Chamber of Horrors Anthony Draco 1966-10-19
Movie Gidget Goes to Rome Paolo Cellini 1963-08-07
Movie Tender Is the Night Tommy Barban 1962-01-19
Movie Valley of the Dragons Hector Servadac 1961-10-31
Movie Tarzan, the Ape Man Harry Holt 1959-10-01
Movie The Man Who Understood Women Major Marco Ranieri 1959-10-02
Movie Crossed Swords Raniero 1954-05-20
Movie I tre corsari Carlo di Ventimiglia, il Corsaro Verde 1952-10-16
Movie The Captain's Daughter Piotr Grinev 1947-10-08
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