Alex Rocco

At 79 years old, Alex Rocco has this physical status:

Alessandro Petricone Jr. (February 29, 1936 – July 18, 2015), also known as Alex Rocco, was an American actor.

He is best known for his role as a villain in The Godfather and his Primetime Emmy Award for Supporting Actor in a Comedy for The Famous Teddy Z. Rocco did a lot of voice-over work later in his career and was known for his gravelly voice.

Early life

Rocco was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1936, but he and Mary (née DiBiase; 1909–1978) married Alessandro Petricone (1896–1949), a native of Gaeta, Italy. During the Korean War, Rocco served in the California Army National Guard.

Personal life, death and funeral

After moving to Los Angeles, Rocco became a member of the Bahá Faith and appeared in a number of productions related to the faith over the years. In his Emmy Award acceptance address, he also thanked Baháh, the Prophet Founder of the Bahá Faith.

Grace Petricone's first marriage was to her one daughter, Maryann.

Sandra Elaine Rocco married Sandra Elaine Rocco (September 1, 1942 – June 12, 2002) after moving to California. Marc King, a film producer, screenwriter, and director, adopted her son, Marc King, who became known as Marc Rocco (June 19, 1962-May 1, 2009). Jennifer and her son, Lucien, and one grandson were among the couple's two children, as well as one grandson. Sandra Rocco died of cancer at the age of 59.

Shannon Wilcox married Rocco on October 15, 2005.

Alex Rocco died on July 18, 2015, from pancreatic cancer in his Studio City home at the age of 79.

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Acting career

Petricone and his wife divorced after serving his prison term for the diner assault, and he moved to California. "I had to get out of Boston," he said, "I had to get out of Boston," he continued, "Heads, Miami, tails, California." Leonard Nimoy, a Boston native, began teaching acting lessons. Nimoy collaborated with him to reduce his snobby Boston accent and had him take speech lessons. After seeing the "Rocco" on a bakery truck, Rocco continued working in film, adopting the word "Alex Rocco" after learning Nimoy's instructions.

Russ Meyer's Motorpsycho was his first film role. In 1965, the first automobile was invented in the United States.

In Coppola's The Godfather, Moe Greene, a Las Vegas casino owner, appeared in 1972. Greene's image portrayed Las Vegas's top Jewish mobster; although he wanted an Italian role, director Francis Ford Coppola remarked, "I got my Jew." Rocco is a film about Rocco. In the film The Friends of Eddie Coyle, the actor returns to the Boston area to face a bank robber. He arranged a meeting with Robert Mitchum and local Irish-American gangsters to support Mitchum with his studies into his role as Eddie Coyle, a low-level Irish-American criminal. Mitchum was introduced by Rocco to Howie Winter, the Winter Hill Gang's leader. Johnny Martorano, another Winter Hill Gangster who had murdered Billy O'Brien, a low-level gangster, was another Winter Hill Gangster who met Mitchum.

In the 10-week CBS drama series Three for the Road, Pete Karras, a widowed father, writer, and photographer, appeared as his older brother, John Karras, and photographer Endy Karras. The Karrases sell their house, buy a recreation vehicle, and roam around the country after the death of their wife and mother. Charlie Polniaczek, Jo's father, appeared in the long-running 1980s TV series The Facts of Life. Gus Keller appeared in the Corey Feldman and Corey Haim film Dream a Little Dream in 1989. Rocco appeared on television comedy series The Famous Teddy Z as Al Floss, a Hollywood talent agent, from 1989 to 1990. In 1990, he was named Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for his role. In the 1995-19 Travolta mob drama, Get Shorty appeared as Jimmy Cap, a tough Miami mob boss. In 1997, he appeared with Rodney Dangerfield and others in the ABC sitcom Home Improvement's annual Thanksgiving episode.

Rocco performed in 1996's film That Thing You Do! as Sol Siler, the maker of Playtone Records, a role that was rated as his "favorite [part] in the film by The Observer's reviewer. Salvatore appeared in the 2001 film The Wedding Planner, as well as (uncredited) in the action thriller Smokin' Aces.

Roger Meyers Jr., the head of Itchy and Scratchy Studios, was a recurring voiceover artist in the long-running animated series The Simpsons. Rocco expressed genuine gratitude to The Simpsons' workers for allowing him his first voiceover job in the DVD commentary series. He did further voice work on two early episodes of Fox's hit sitcom Family Guy, as well as on the 1998 Disney/Pixar film A Bug's Life. Since being paid $1 million to record eight lines, he considered the former to be his "most prize in life."

Rocco appeared in the Audi R8 supercar's Super Bowl commercial in 2008. The Godfather influenced the advertisement. He played a wealthy man who finds the front fascia of his luxurious car in his bed, a nod to the scene in which Jack Woltz, a wealthy movie director, finds the head of his prized racehorse in his bed. Magic City, the Starz cable television network's crime drama film, also included him. His last role was in the 2010s BBC2 television series Episodes, portraying Matt LeBlanc's "curmudgeonly" father.

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