# Vincent Schiavelli - A \*real\* "Ghost" now :( **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 26, 2005, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vincent-schiavelli-a-real-ghost-now/337258 "2005-12-26T17:34:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![UntouchedTakeaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d78d45/32.png) [@UntouchedTakeaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UntouchedTakeaway)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2005, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vincent-schiavelli-a-real-ghost-now/337258/1 "2005-12-26T17:34:01Z")
Notable character actor Vincent Schiavelli has died of lung cancer at the much-too-young age of 57. [http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/Movies/12/26/obit.schiavelli.ap/index.html](http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/Movies/12/26/obit.schiavelli.ap/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2005, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vincent-schiavelli-a-real-ghost-now/337258/2 "2005-12-26T17:50:12Z")
Oh no! I loved him. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2005, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vincent-schiavelli-a-real-ghost-now/337258/3 "2005-12-26T18:19:22Z")
> [@](#): > > 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. Wow! He was a pretty well rounded fellow. (Didn’t he play one of the Stoogies once or twice?) I’ll always remember him for his mental patient role in _Crazy People_. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2005, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vincent-schiavelli-a-real-ghost-now/337258/4 "2005-12-26T18:35:03Z")
Bummer. He was always good at playing the creepy guy. OTOH, he was good in _Better Off Dead_ as the beloved math teacher. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2005, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vincent-schiavelli-a-real-ghost-now/337258/5 "2005-12-26T21:23:26Z")
Mr. DiPesto is dead? Damn… ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2005, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vincent-schiavelli-a-real-ghost-now/337258/6 "2005-12-26T21:32:21Z")
I remember him from Buckaroo Banzai…how sad. I especially liked how he held his face and carried himself; a very convincing alien! ---
**Author:** ![scotandrsn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@scotandrsn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotandrsn)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2005, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vincent-schiavelli-a-real-ghost-now/337258/7 "2005-12-26T21:50:47Z")
He was a favorite of mine as well. I was making my way around the tables of the Los Angeles Book Fair about 7 years ago, and noticed a volume called Bruculinu, America with him named as the author. I called out “Cool! Vincent Schiavelli! I love him!” I looked up to see him standing right there. It’s an autobiography/cookbook. He graciously signed it for me while his personal manager stratically placed me in front of him in order to prevent access by another fan who was, shall we say, less balanced than I. He will be missed. ---
**Author:** ![jimmmy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@jimmmy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimmmy)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2005, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vincent-schiavelli-a-real-ghost-now/337258/8 "2005-12-26T22:50:30Z")
His IMDB [entry](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001704/) – Fall Guy, Who’s the Boss and Head of the Class credits all mixed with with credits for Ghost, Fast Times, One Flew, Batman Returns, Man in the moon and Valmont [major releases] all together in a crazy quilt – really a wonderful career. “Character Actor” in its broadest most positive sense does it justice. “Character Actor” like those guys from earlier decades who are instantly recognizable and you kind of smile when they show up on the screen. I thought he might be a cool guy despite his scary appearnce which **scotandrsn’** story makes clear was the case ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2005, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vincent-schiavelli-a-real-ghost-now/337258/9 "2005-12-26T23:34:08Z")
Total bummer- such a great actor. And such a morbid irony he died of lung cancer when his most famous line from his most famous role was as a dead man saying “I’d give anything for a drag!”. He totally deserved an Oscar for _Ghost_ imo. RIP, Vincenzo. Your talent will be long remembered even if your name was never known. So the king of the unusual and distinctive looking “there’s what’s his name” actors is dead. Long live Christopher Lloyd, I suppose. Ironically Schiavelli’s female counterpart in unusual looking frizzy haired character actors was Allyce Beasley, bka the receptionist from _Moonlighting_, and they were married in the 1980s. They have a son, Andrea- I would be curious to see a picture of him because it’s so often the case that parents who are “not comfortable with their appearance” (Allyce’s line from a genuinely touching episode of _Cheers_) are gorgeous. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2005, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vincent-schiavelli-a-real-ghost-now/337258/10 "2005-12-27T00:01:26Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > They have a son, Andrea- I would be curious to see a picture of him [Here you go.](http://www.planetmullins.com/showcase/showcase/andrea.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2005, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vincent-schiavelli-a-real-ghost-now/337258/11 "2005-12-27T02:12:03Z")
Oh, bummer. I loved him in the Humbug episode of The X-Files. And everything else, of course. > [@](#): > > RIP, Vincenzo. Your talent will be long remembered even if your name was never known. Oh, his name was known by lots of people. It’s just plain fun to shout out “Hey! It’s Vincent Schiavelli!” [Fametracker “Hey It’s that Guy!” Write-ip](http://www.fametracker.com/hey_its_that_guy/schiavelli_vincent.shtml) ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2005, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vincent-schiavelli-a-real-ghost-now/337258/12 "2005-12-27T14:22:20Z")
Sad. Very sad. Incidentally, Schiavelli was a close friend of director Milos Forman, and appeared in all but two of his American films.