Ben Gazzara, the character acting stalwart and stage star, has died at the age of 81.
He was born in New York in 1930, and caught the acting bug at the age of 11 when he saw a friend perform in a play at the Madison Square Boys Club. He joined up and began working, eventually finding his way to the Dramatic Workshop. He auditioned for Lee Strasberg’s famed Actors Studio, which helped shape his career alongside such notable fellow actors as Marlon Brando and Rod Steiger.
His big screen career included a wide variety of movies, including The Big Lebowski, Dogville, Inchon, The Spanish Prisoner and Todd Solondz’ Happiness. His fluent Italian helped him land roles in Italy, and he traded time between working in the US and overseas. Above all, however, he was best known in cinematic circles for his work with John Cassavetes, for whom he acted in the likes of Husbands and The Killing Of A Chinese Bookie.
On television, he was seen on the likes of Run For Your Life and Playhouse 90. He eventually graduated to directing episodes of such shows as Columbo.
But while he was known for his character roles on the screen, when it came to the theatre, he was an undisputed star and leading man. He was the original Brick in the first staging of Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, and then left that production to stat in A Hatful Of Rain, which earned him a Tony Nomination. While his theatrical career had its ups and down, he accrued an impressive list of credentials.
His personal life was even more turbulent – married three times, he’s survived by his wife Elke Stuckmann and two daughters.