Eduardo Ciannelli

Eduardo Ciannelli (30 August 1888 – 8 October 1969) was an Italian baritone and character actor with a long career in American films, mostly playing gangsters and criminals. He was sometimes credited as Edward Ciannelli.

Early life Ciannelli was born in Lacco Ameno, on the island of Ischia, where his father, a doctor, owned a health spa. He studied surgery at the University of Naples, and worked briefly as a doctor, but his love of grand opera and the dramatic stage won out and he became a successful baritone, singing at La Scala and touring Europe.

He went to the United States from the Port of Naples as a first cabin saloon passenger on board the steamship San Guglielmo, which arrived at the Port of New York on 19 March 1914.

Career Theatre In New York, Ciannelli appeared on Broadway in Oscar Hammerstein II's first musical Always You and later in Rose-Marie. He appeared in Theatre Guild productions in the late 1920s, co-starring with the Lunts (Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne), and Katharine Cornell. During that period, he appeared in Uncle Vanya, The Inspector General, and The Front Page. In 1935, he played Trock Estrella in Maxwell Anderson's Winterset on Broadway and repeated his performance in the film version (1936). He played Cauchon in Shaw's Saint Joan in 1936, after which he left Broadway permanently, except for one notable occasion when he returned to play in Dore Schary's play The Devil's Advocate in 1961, for which he received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor.

Film

Ciannelli's Hollywood career consists of close to 150 film and television appearances. Notable among these are Marked Woman (1937) with Bette Davis, Strange Cargo (1940) with Joan Crawford and Clark Gable, and perhaps his most famous role, as the fanatical Thuggee guru in Gunga Din (1939) with Cary Grant. In the 1940 serial Mysterious Doctor Satan, he played the villain, an evil scientist with an army of robots.

In the 1950s and throughout the 1960s, he divided his time among U.S. films, including Houseboat (1958), The Visit (1964), The Chase (1966) with Marlon Brando, and The Secret of Santa Vittoria (1969), with Anthony Quinn and Anna Magnani, and Italian films such as The City Stands Trial, directed by Luigi Zampa, Attila (1954) with Anthony Quinn and Sophia Loren, and Helen of Troy (1956).

Television Ciannelli appeared in American TV shows such as Climax Mystery Theater, The Time Tunnel, Perry Mason, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Johnny Staccato, The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor, and Dr. Kildare.

Personal life and death Ciannelli was married to Alma Wolfe from 1918 until her death in 1968. They had two sons, Eduardo and Lewis E. Ciannelli, who is also an actor.

Ciannelli died in Rome on 8 October 1969, at the age of 81, and was interred in the Cimitero Flaminio there.

Filmography Year Film Role Director Notes 1917 The Food Gamblers The Italian Albert Parker 1931 Così è la vita 1933 Reunion in Vienna Pofferoff aka Poffy Sidney Franklin 1935 The Scoundrel Maurice Stern Charles MacArthur 1936 Winterset Trock Estrella 1937 Criminal Lawyer Larkin Jimmy Anderson (assistant) Marked Woman Johnny Vanning Michael Curtiz The League of Frightened Men Paul Chapin Alfred E. Green The Girl from Scotland Yard Franz Jorg Robert G. Vignola Super-Sleuth Professor Herman Ben Stoloff On Such a Night Ice Richmond Ewald André Dupont Hitting a New High Andreas Mazzini Raoul Walsh 1938 Law of the Underworld Rocky Lew Landers Blind Alibi Mitch Lew Landers 1939 Risky Business Philip Decarno Arthur Lubin Gunga Din Guru George Stevens Society Lawyer Jim Crelliman Edwin L. Marin Bulldog Drummond's Bride Henri Armides James P. Hogan The Angels Wash Their Faces Martino Ray Enright 1940 Strange Cargo Telez Frank Borzage Outside the Three-Mile Limit Dave Reeves Lewis D. Collins Zanzibar Koski Harold Schuster Forgotten Girls Gorno Phil Rosen Foreign Correspondent Mr. Krug Alfred Hitchcock The Mummy's Hand The High Priest Christy Cabanne Mysterious Doctor Satan Doctor Satan As "Edward Cianneli" Kitty Foyle Giono Sam Wood 1941 Ellery Queen's Penthouse Mystery Count Brett James P. Hogan Sky Raiders Felix Lynx Ray Taylor They Met in Bombay Giovanni Riccio, Hotel Manager Clarence Brown I Was a Prisoner on Devil's Island Dr. Victor Martel Lew Landers Paris Calling Mouche Edwin L. Marin 1942 Dr. Broadway Vic Telli Anthony Mann Cairo Ahmed Ben Hassan W. S. Van Dyke You Can't Escape Forever Boss Greer Jo Graham 1943 For Whom the Bell Tolls Johnny Salvini Sam Wood Uncredited They Got Me Covered Baldanacco David Butler The Constant Nymph Roberto Edmund Goulding Adventures of the Flying Cadets Kurt von Helger, alias Corby Ray Taylor 1944 Passage to Marseille Chief Engineer Michael Curtiz The Mask of Dimitrios Marukakis Jean Negulesco The Conspirators Police Colonel Almeida Jean Negulesco Storm Over Lisbon Blanco George Sherman 1945 Dillinger Marco Minelli Max Nosseck A Bell for Adano Maj. Nasta Henry King Incendiary Blonde Nick the Greek George Marshall Crime Doctor's Warning Nick Petroni William Castle Uncredited 1946 Gilda Cartel Member Charles Vidor Uncredited Perilous Holiday Señor Aguirre Edward H. Griffith The Wife of Monte Cristo Jacques Antoine Edgar G. Ulmer Heartbeat Baron Ferdinand Dvorak Sam Wood Joe Palooka, Champ Florini Reginald LeBorg 1947 California Padre John Farrow Seven Keys to Baldpate Cargan Lew Landers The Lost Moment Father Rinaldo Martin Gabel The Crime Doctor's Gamble Maurice Duval William Castle Rose of Santa Rosa Don José de Garfias Ray Nazarro 1948 I Love Trouble John Vega Caprillo S. Sylvan Simon On Our Merry Way Maxim King Vidor To the Victor Firago Delmer Daves The Creeper Dr. Van Glock Jean Yarbrough 1949 Prince of Foxes Art Dealer Henry King Uncredited 1950 Volcano Giulio William Dieterle Fugitive Lady Ralph Clementi Pact with the Devil Giacomo Mola Luigi Chiarini The Fighting Men Barone Occhipinti Roberto Savarese Rapture Arnaldo Goffredo Alessandrini 1951 The People Against O'Hara Sol 'Knuckles' Lanzetta John Sturges It's Love That's Ruining Me Capo delle spie Mario Soldati 1952 Lieutenant Giorgio Barone di Polia Raffaello Matarazzo The City Stands Trial Alfonso Navona Luigi Zampa Prisoners of Darkness Marchese Rionero Enrico Bomba 1953 Voice of Silence G. W. Pabst Sul ponte dei sospiri Inquisitore I Vinti Claudio's father Michelangelo Antonioni The Ship of Condemned Women Michele Raffaello Matarazzo 1954 The Stranger's Hand Dr. Vivaldi Mario Soldati Mambo Il padre di Giovanna Robert Rossen Uomini ombra Ammiraglio Zora Attila Onegesius, counsellor to Attila Pietro Francisci Proibito Vescovo Mario Monicelli La tua donna Public Prosecutor Giovanni Paolucci 1955 New Moon don Giuseppe Luigi Capuano 1956 Helen of Troy Andros Robert Wise I Love Lucy Mr. Martinelli 1957 Il ricatto di un padre Alessandro Arlandi Monster from Green Hell Mahri Kenneth G. Crane 1958 Tumulto de Paixões Houseboat Arturo Zaccardi Melville Shavelson 1959 Wagon Train Clyrio Soriano 1962 The Untouchables Gregory Pindar / Joe Genna 1962–1965 Insight Friedrich Nietzsche / Prisoner 1964 The Visit Innkeeper Bernhard Wicki Grand Canyon Massacre Eric Dancer Stanley Corbett 1966 The Chase Party Guest Arthur Penn Uncredited 1966 The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Arturo 'Fingers' Stilletto / Carlo Farenti 1967 The Time Tunnel Count Enrico Galba The Spy in the Green Hat Arturo 'Fingers' Stilletto Joseph Sargent 1968 The Brotherhood Don Peppino Martin Ritt 1969 Mackenna's Gold Prairie Dog J. Lee Thompson Stiletto Don Andrea Bernard L. Kowalski The Secret of Santa Vittoria Luigi Stanley Kramer Boot Hill Judge Boone Giuseppe Colizzi 1970 The Syndicate: A Death in the Family Parker Piero Zuffi Released posthumously (final film role)

Selected Television YearTitleRole Notes 1958 Have Gun – Will Travel Renato Donatello Season 1 Episode 23: "Bitter Wine" 1959 The Father Season 2 Episode 39: "Gold and Brimstone" 1962 Alfred Hitchcock Presents Priest Season 7 Episode 19: "Strange Miracle" Mr. Marino Season 7 Episode 20: "The Test"