Cesare Danova
Acting • Born 1926-03-01 – Died 1992-03-19
Biography
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.
Filmography
90 credits
Mean Streets
Movie • 1973
Giovanni Cappa
Viva Las Vegas
Movie • 1964
Count Elmo Mancini
Dappled Mare
Movie • 1953
Sandro Fabbri
Animal House
Movie • 1978
Mayor Carmine DePasto
Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number!
Movie • 1966
Pepe Pepponi
Decisions! Decisions!
Movie • 1971
Dieter Klaus
Chamber of Horrors
Movie • 1966
Anthony Draco
I tre corsari
Movie • 1952
Carlo di Ventimiglia, il Corsaro Verde
Valley of the Dragons
Movie • 1961
Hector Servadac
Scorchy
Movie • 1976
Philip Bianco
El correo del rey
Movie • 1951
Marcos de Malta
Tarzan, the Ape Man
Movie • 1959
Harry Holt
Honeymoon with a Stranger
Movie • 1969
Second Ernesto
The Man Who Understood Women
Movie • 1959
Major Marco Ranieri
Processo contro ignoti
Movie • 1952
L'avvocato Enzo Pirani
Horowitz in Dublin
Movie • 1973
George
Gidget Goes to Rome
Movie • 1963
Paolo Cellini
The Captain's Daughter
Movie • 1947
Piotr Grinev
Tentacles
Movie • 1977
John Corey
Pentimento
Movie • 1952
Sandro
Incatenata dal destino
Movie • 1956
Kirk Mauri
Crossed Swords
Movie • 1954
Raniero
These Sacred Holidays
Movie • 1956
Ralph Carigan
El final de una leyenda
Movie • 1951
Carlos Montaña
Che!
Movie • 1969
Ramon Valdez
The Astral Factor
Movie • 1978
Mario
Cleopatra
Movie • 1963
Apollodorus
Monaca santa
Movie • 1949
Loves of Three Queens
Movie • 1954
Il conte Sigfride (segment: I Cavalieri dell'illusione)
The Fate of Two Queens
Movie • 1954
Don Giovanni
Movie • 1955
Don Giovanni
Toys and perfumes
Movie • 1953
Lorenzo
Tender Is the Night
Movie • 1962
Tommy Barban
Death Cruise
Movie • 1974
Captain Vettori
A Matter of Wife... and Death
Movie • 1975
Dottore
Non scherzare con le donne
Movie • 1955
Cesare il fusto
Falcon Crest
TV • 1981
Count Antoine de Muriac
Murder, She Wrote
TV • 1984
Lt. Edmund Cavette
Magnum, P.I.
TV • 1980
President Manuel Ebenez
Garrison's Gorillas
TV • 1967
Trapper John, M.D.
TV • 1979
The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.
TV • 1966
Count Egan
Simon & Simon
TV • 1981
The Lucy Show
TV • 1962
Umberto Fabriani
That Girl
TV • 1966
Chico and the Man
TV • 1974
Maude
TV • 1972
Russell Asher
Charlie's Angels
TV • 1976
Frank Bartone
Sanford and Son
TV • 1972
Mannix
TV • 1967
Hotel
TV • 1982
The Hardy Boys / Nancy Drew Mysteries
TV • 1977
The Mod Squad
TV • 1968
Medical Center
TV • 1969
Hart to Hart
TV • 1979
Arrest and Trial
TV • 1963
Night Gallery
TV • 1970
Man (segment "Smile, Please")
Cannon
TV • 1971
Hunter
TV • 1984
Roger Duquesne
The Fall Guy
TV • 1981
Outlaws
TV • 1960
McMillan & Wife
TV • 1971
The Sandy Duncan Show
TV • 1972
Vega$
TV • 1978
The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo
TV • 1979
Police Story
TV • 1973
Daniel Boone
TV • 1964
Michelet
McCloud
TV • 1970
Matt Houston
TV • 1982
Adventures in Paradise
TV • 1959
Father Juan Perez
Automan
TV • 1983
Captain Romano
The Rifleman
TV • 1958
Count Di Montova
The Manhunter
TV • 1974
Blacke's Magic
TV • 1986
Nick Gasparini
Honey West
TV • 1965
Abbott
Eischied
TV • 1979
Stoney Burke
TV • 1962
Nero Wolfe
TV • 1981
Breaking Point
TV • 1963
Vacation Playhouse
TV • 1963
Mario Cellini
The Roaring 20's
TV • 1960
13 Queens Blvd.
TV • 1979
The Green Hornet
TV • 1966
Felix Garth
Matt Helm
TV • 1975
Knebel
Daniel Boone
TV • 1964
Henri Le Gaux
The Name of the Game
TV • 1968
Alfieri
Airwolf
TV • 1984
Alonzo Delomo
Charlie's Angels
TV • 1976
Franco Cirella
The Love Boat
TV • 1977
Fedalio Cevini
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
TV • 1964
Count Cesare Guardia