RIP Mr. Vargas...aka Vincent Schiavelli..Dies at 57

....Mr. Vargas in Fast Times At Ridgemont High... :(



December 26, 2005

ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051226/NEWS11/51226004
Vincent Schiavelli
ROME (AP)  Vincent Schiavelli, the droopy-eyed character actor who appeared in scores of movies, including One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest and Ghost, died Monday at his home in Sicily. He was 57.

He died of lung cancer, said Salvatore Glorioso, mayor of Polizzi Generosa, the Sicilian village where Schiavelli resided.

Schiavelli, whose gloomy look made him perfect to play creepy or eccentric characters, made appearances in some 150 film and television productions, according to the Internet Movie Database.
Among the movies: Fast Times at Ridgemont

High, Amadeus, Batman Returns, and The People vs. Larry Flynt. He was selected in 1997 by Vanity Fair as one of Americas best character actors.

Schiavelli, who was born and raised in New York, studied acting at New York Universitys School of the Arts.

He also wrote three cookbooks and many food articles for magazines and newspapers, possibly inheriting his love for cooking from his grandfather, who had been a cook for an Italian baron before moving to the United States, according to IMDB.

He was a great friend, a great chef and a great talker, Glorioso, who has known Schiavelli for almost four years, said in a telephone interview.

With a smooth, witty conversation, he would make everything look more colorful. Ive lost a brother, he said.

Schiavelli also had worked in Italy, including in 2001 when he directed a theater piece in Sicily based on nine fables.

A funeral service will be held Tuesday in Polizzi Generosa, Glorioso said.

I met him once, very briefly, at Copia, in the Napa Valley.

He was gracious and kind to his fans.

And he seemed very real and down to earth.

I always enjoyed his acting.

I have loved Vincent since I was a child - always one of my favorites, and I was always excited when he appeared in a show or movie.

Great actor, who, I think, never got his critical due or the chance that he really needed - I think he could have been an excellent starring role actor instead of just a character actor.

RIP Mr. Schiavelli!

Schiavelli played the delivery guy from the deli. Winkler plays a milquetoast who never complains and never sends food back (and the deli gets it wrong every time). When he gets an egg salad with mustard instead of mayo, Schiavelli cops an attitude, opens the sandwich, and wipes it along the length of Winkler's door frame.

Winkler loses it. One of the coolest moments in the film and my ultimate Schiavelli moment.



:toast:

I'm sorry to hear he passed away so young. :(

his films...hence the list above, including some great pictures.

He was always a joy to watch -- always added much, no matter how small the role.

RIP, Mr Schiavelli.... :-(

:cry:

I also enjoyed him in Buckaroo Banzai and the X-Files episode, "Humbug." I'll really miss him.

He was in so many movies, and he was one of those character actors who you'd point to and say, "oh, that guy," not knowing his name. I finally did learn his name. Not too many years ago, I remember seeing him on a cooking show and he'd talk about his Sicilian family. I was so surprised to see him in a cooking show, but I see that he was really into that. And who could forget him as the guy who married Latka and Simka on "Taxi."

RIP, Vince.

He was the only redeeming part of Ghost and was great in so many oddball roles.