Great Character Actors

Richard Libertini
(1933 - )

He is one of the funniest character actors ever, and if you compiled a Top 10 List of the most hilarious character actors, Richard Libertini would be near the top. He was a tall, medium framed man with a long face, a graying beard of varying lengths, long but balding dark hair, deep set dark eyes and a tenor voice. His ability to mug, use various ethnic dialects, even gibberish, and play over-the-top, way-out, eccentric characters was well utilized in films and on TV. He was in a category by himself as far as these roles went. He’s probably best know for his role as the bewildered high priest in “All of Me” which starred Steve Martin and Lily Tomlin. He was born on May 21, 1933 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Very little is known of his early years but he began his performing career in music as a professional trumpet player. Lucky for us, he found his way to the “Second City” comedy troupe in Chicago, where he developed his comedy skills. He later formed a duo with comic MacIntyre Dixon called “The Stewed Prunes” and they toured New York Off-Broadway in revues and cabarets with much success in the 1960s. Eventually Libertini went off on his own and had a successful solo career on the Broadway stage. With his remarkable penchant for comedy it was inevitable that he’d soon appear in films. His films include: “The Night They Raided Minsky’s” (1968) as Pockets, his film debut and a role he’d performed on stage; “Don’t Drink the Water” (1969) as Drobney; “The Out-of-Towners” (1970) with Jack Lemmon and Sandy Dennis, as Railway Porter, Boston; “Catch-22” (1970) as Brother John; “La Mortadella” (1971) as Tim; “I Wonder Who’s Killing Her Now” (1975); “Fire Sale” (1977) as Painter; “Days of Heaven” (1978) with Richard Gere, as Vaudeville Leader; “The In-Laws” (1979) with Alan Arkin, as General Garcia, a terrific role; “Popeye” (1980) with Robin Williams, as Geezil; “Sharky’s Machine” (1981) as Nosh; “Soup for One” (1982) as Angelo; “Best Friends” (1982) as Jorge Medina; “Going Berserk” (1983) as Sun Yi; “Deal of the Century” (1983) as Masaggi; “Unfaithfully Yours” (1984) as Giuseppe; “All of Me” (1984) as Prahka Lasa, a wonderfully bizarre performance; “Fletch” (1985) as ‘Frank’ Walker; “Big Trouble” (1985) as Dr. Lopez; “Betrayed” (1988) as Sam Kraus; “Fletch Lives” (1989) as Frank; “Animal Behavior” (1989) as Dr. Parrish; the animated film “Duck Tales: The Movie – Treasure of the Lost Lamp” (1990) as Voice of Dijon; “The Lemon Sisters” (1990) as Nicholas Panas; “Awakenings” (1990) with Robert De Niro, as Sidney, a Patient; “Bonfire of the Vanities” (1990) as Ed Rifkin; “Nell” (1994) with Jodie Foster, as Dr. Alexander Paley; “Cultivating Charlie” (1994) as Glosser; “Lethal Weapon 4” (1998) with Mel Gibson, uncredited, as Rabbi; and “Telling You” (1998) as Mr. P. On TV he was a regular on the series: “That Was the Week That Was” (1964-65) as Himself; “Story Theatre” (1971); “The Melba Moore-Clifton Davis Show” (1972) as a Regular; “Soap” (1977-81) as The Godfather (1977-78), one of his typical hilarious portrayals; “Family Man” (1988) as Shelly Tobin; “The Fanelli Boys” (1990-91) as Father Angelo; “Pacific Station” (1991) as Det. Richard Capparelli and the animated series “Pinky and the Brain” (1995-98) as Various Voices. He also appeared in the mini-series “House of Frankenstein 1997” (1997) and TV movies including: “Three on a Date” (1978); “The Trial of Bernhard Goetz” (1988); “Extreme Close-Up” (1990) and “Vendetta” (1999). He has guest starred on such TV series as: “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”; “The Jeffersons”; “The Bob Newhart Show”; “Baretta”; “Charlies Angels”; “Good Times”; “Barney Miller”; “Twilight Zone”; “Mork and Mindy”; “Moonlighting”; “Murder, She Wrote”; “L.A. Law”; “Law & Order”; “Chicago Hope”; “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine”; “Cosby”; NYPD Blue” and “The District.” He was married to actress Melinda Dillon and they had one son, the marriage ended in divorce. He continues adding to his fine list of credits.

From Great Character Actors, Page 9.